Micah Kafka
Photo Editor
Every day of Boro Isailovski’s life suffered from a certain sameness. He’d sleep until late afternoon, watch a few movies, hit the town on his skateboard, and come home late. That was 16-year-old Isailovski’s life since moving to Santa Monica from Macedonia a few months earlier. Today would certainly be the same.
He didn’t see the two smiling strangers trying to stop him as he skated down Third Street. Eventually they got his attention. Isailovski stopped; he had nothing better to do. They weren’t the regular Third Street end-of-the-world prophets or out of work Vietnam vets.
They didn’t tell him to take his skateboard somewhere else or try to sell him a psychic cat. They just wanted to talk, to get to know him. They seemed interested in his life, what he was doing and feeling. They treated him to his first teriyaki chicken dinner, and after words, invited him to church.
Four years later Isailovski, a sophomore at Pepperdine University, hasn’t ventured far from Third Street geographically but light years away spiritually. “Before, I had little hope,” said Isailovski.
“Like every adolescent, I had no direction and no sense of identity. Becoming a disciple of Christ has changed my perspective on life, my relationship with God, and given purpose and a desire to see others do the same,” Isailovski said.
Isailovski grew up an only child to his adopted parents Miroslav and Christina Isailovski in Skopje, Macedonia. Over two million people live in Macedonia, a country just slightly larger than Maryland.
“If you drive three hours you’ve passed Macedonia,” Isailovski said while looking through pictures of his homeland.
The country is full of rich evergreens and mountainous landscape. Skopje itself is located in the Vardar River valley and houses historical monuments such as the Stone Bridge built in the 15the century.
Because of the country’s small size, people tend to stay close to their extended family. Macedonia’s size also affects the country’s culture.
“You’re much more exposed to social life,” Isailovski said. “The community is much tighter.”
Unlike the streets of Los Angeles, in Macedonia, people gather on the streets to socialize in the evenings. Even though Skopje is Macedonia’s capital, the streets are still safe. Isailovski’s parents didn’t worry about what people might do to their son on the streets, only what he might do to himself.
“I always believed in God… but never followed that,” Isailovski said. “I never believed in hell; for some reason, it wasn’t appealing to me. The way you grow up in
Macedonia is according to tradition. It’s Christian Orthodox so you go to church once or twice a year, light a candle when somebody dies.”
Isailovski didn’t respect the Christianity he saw in Macedonia. He began smoking at 13 and since Macedonia has no minimum drinking age, it was easy for him to get alcohol as well.
“I had this reputation of being a hardcore punk. I was just a part of the crowd, wherever the crowd went without even thinking I’d follow,” he said. “I was a likeable person, that was my security.”
Around the same time Isailovski started hanging out at discotheques and clubs. American individualism was emerging in Macedonian youth and it was easy to get lost in the emerging underground culture.
“When I came out here, everything changed,” he says.
Isailovski’s road to the United States began when his mother, who already had a green card, moved here. The plan was for Isailovski and his father to join her as soon as possible, but it was difficult for them to get proper visas. It wasn’t until his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer that they were able to get a six month tourist visa to join her.
After they arrived, Isailovski’s mother began chemotherapy therapy and underwent surgery to remove the cancer. By the time Isailovski and his father’s tourist visas had expired, his mother had gained American citizenry, which allowed the entire family to stay in the states.
The absence of Macedonian social life on the streets of Santa Monica was hard for Isailovski to adjust to, so he spent his days skateboarding on Third Street just to be around people. After meeting two strangers, Isailovski began to get involved in church and finding out what Christianity was really about. Isailovki says it amazed him that people would actually do what they believed in.
“In Macedonia that was weird, (it) meant becoming a pope,” said Isailovski.
Isailovski’s time at Pepperdine has helped him grow into his faith.
“I’ve definitely figured out a lot of stuff at Pepperdine, only because a lot of people have been in my life to hit me in the head and say, ‘Think a little bit,’” he says.
While at Pepperdine, Isailovski has been an important part of his ministry at church.
“Boro is willing to take an honest, objective look at the reality of the situation, even if it means taking responsibility for a problem,” said Perkins.
Perkins led the teen ministry that Isailovski was baptized into and now leads the campus ministry that Isailovski participates in.
“He also doesn’t get caught up in a lot of the hype or image of the ‘American Way,’” he said. “Boro will help lead many to God, because he is real in his faith and really makes no pretenses that he is super-spiritual. He fails, we all do, yet Boro is completely sincere about following God and giving it all he has.”
Perkins also sees Isailovski’s commitment to growing and learning.
“With God on your side that’s enough to part the Red Sea,” Perkins said.
Perkins said Isailovski’s commitment to being true to himself and his beliefs set him apart from others. Even in the difficult times, Isailovski presses forward in his faith. Isailovski said this past year has been difficult for him and has made him recommit to his faith.
“I started thinking, do I really, really from the depth of my heart believe that this is how I’ll live my life, until the day that I die?” Isailovski said. “I’m thankful to God that I worked out through all that fear to say this is really what I want to do.”
April 17, 2003