'Precious and Beloved' Draws New Audience in North Macedonia

Nikola and Nena promote Precious and Beloved episodes and engage with the listeners in North Macedonia.

Just months since promotions began, TWR Women of Hope’s Precious and Beloved has attracted over 10,000 Facebook followers in North Macedonia.

Despite their busy lives with a newborn baby, Nikola and Nena Ginevska actively prepare the program promotions and announcements as well as interact with listeners.

Nena, now 36 years old, was born in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, into a third-generation Methodist family. Though raised in the local United Methodist church, she went through a time of searching:

“Sometime around my teenage years, I walked away from the faith of my parents and grandparents, trying to find fulfillment in the world. That episode of my life lasted for about six years, when at the end of it, I found myself in a spiritually desperate situation. The hope and fulfillment I was looking for couldn't be found because I was looking for it in the wrong places.

“During that phase, I realized that I have much in common with the Prodigal Son. As a prodigal daughter, I remembered the love and acceptance I had heard about as a young girl, which God offers to those who come to him in faith. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit's witness in my heart, and through my family and church, by the grace of God, I decided to come home — home to the arms of the heavenly Father.”

Since then, Nena has used her gift of music both on the worship team and in youth ministry at her local church and in settings such as youth camps, women’s gatherings and conferences.

When Nena and her husband, Nikola, met Biljana Dolić of Ikonos Media, a partner of TWR, new ministry ideas started taking shape.

“As we sat and got to know each other, we talked about the possibility of expanding the TWR ministry in Macedonia,” Nena said. “A few weeks after that initial conversation, we officially started by translating some of the materials. As we promoted those materials, we realized that the spiritual content received much more favorable responses from women, compared to men.”

This set the stage for introducing Precious and Beloved to the region, and Biljana approached Nikola and Nena with the idea of expanding the online ministry to women through the program.

“We saw it as a great opportunity to serve women with the specific needs and questions they have,” Nena said.

To date, 26 episodes have been translated. YouTube statistics show that episodes about growing old in a godly way, being thankful, dealing with a broken heart and addressing distrust have been the most popular. Nena described these episodes as practical, useful and of interest for women.

Each week, Nikola and Nena post four times on their social media and podcast platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Instagram). Three of the posts are photos with Bible verses and/or biblical wisdom, and the fourth is a link to a Precious and Beloved episode. 

Of their social media platforms, they’ve had the most success on Facebook.

“So far, it’s difficult to gain a good audience on our YouTube channel,” Nena said. “When creating promotions through Google Ads, the greatest challenge is that the Macedonian language is not supported …”

Nikola and Nena look forward to starting more conversations about God through the ministry and they welcome listeners to give topic suggestions for future episodes.

“We would love to see this ministry continue since we see it as something valuable and as an important resource that will be there for women whenever they need it, now and in future generations.”

When asked how we can pray for her, Nena expressed the joy it would bring her and her husband to hear testimonies of lives changed through the episodes.

“Also, pray for the rest of the TWR projects we have in Macedonia,” Nena said. “We would love to see people coming to faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and becoming active and mature members of local churches throughout the country.”