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Trajkovski, tall and upright but not stiff, with rich brown hair, a prominent nose, and hands that are often open in welcome, exudes vigor. "What characterizes the president is his strength," says Jovelski, his cabinet secretary.

Trajkovski's family has a history of political activism. His father, Kiril, was jailed for his political and religious ideas for several years after World War II. When the country was under communist Yugoslavian rule, Boris Trajkovski paid a price for being a Protestant, too. "I was driven out of society like a leper," he says. "When I finished law school, I was sent to a village."

The president believes that this banishment to an isolated village helped prepare him for his current assignment. "It was building my will, my courage, and my faith," he says. "It was growing my soul to be strong."

At that time, fresh from a speech given before the Queen of England, Trajkovski preached a Sunday sermon in a 10-by-12-foot room for a congregation of 50 Roma (Gypsy) Christians who had no pastor. In Macedonia, as in most of Europe, the Roma endure great suspicion and discrimination. Roma families often live in squalor. Trajkovski says a lot of people preach the "love of Christ to the Roma, but few will actually eat and sleep with them."

The congregation wondered if Trajkovski would be any different as a Methodist lay pastor. "I knew that you have to sit there to prove what you preach," Trajkovski says. "I ate with them and drank with them. I got to know that God was doing something special there. I discovered that the Gypsies are humans even in misery. I discovered myself, my humanity, too."

Village life was harsh. "It was during the winter, and they were wearing heavy clothes," he recalls. "There was a big smell in the room because of the misery of life."

Despite the ambiance, the future president continued preaching there, and the congregation grew to 150.

"The church gave me a special feeling for people, how to lead people," Trajkovski says. "So now, I meet poor people, rich people, and they respond to my care for them."

After the breakup of Yugoslavia and the creation in 1991 of an independent Macedonian state, Trajkovski returned to public life. His concern for all people has shone through during his political career. When he first ran for president, many Orthodox Macedonians were wary of his Protestantism. An Orthodox bishop denounced Protestants as "worse than vampires," according to local papers.

"Yes, there was some religious tension under the reflection of what's happened in other parts of Yugoslavia," Trajkovski says. But long before the elections, he declared, "The Muslims are our neighbors." As a result, Trajkovski received a majority of the Muslim vote (and even more from the Orthodox), which won him the electoral prize.

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May 21 2001, Vol. 45, No. 7