The beginning of this past month my team set out for the beautiful country of Bulgaria to help serve along Mission Possible, a international missions agency that seeks to support local churches and do outreach among the local people. We stayed with our gracious hosts DeeDee and Nasco, who were an elderly Bulgarian couple who spoke no English, but loved us so well. Upon entering the country we were told that our main ministry would be to help with general cooking, cleaning and upkeep of the retreat center in the small village of Dobromirka. Little did we know that our ministry would not be limited to mere manual labor, but God would produce numerous opportunities to reach the people around us with his good news.
With only having two major events, a children's camp and a seminar for a Bulgarian church group (one at the beginning of the month at one at the end), our team found ourselves with much more down time that we had expected or even wanted. For a time, my team felt very discouraged at our purpose for being in Bulgaria and began to struggle with spending our time wisely. The middle of the month was a very dark time for me as it seemed as though I would go through a series of injuries and illnesses which caused much frustration and exhaustion for me. Between slamming my finger in a door, getting several bug bites that made my extremities swell up well beyond normal, and taking a trip to the doctor for extreme stomach pains, I had had just about enough to make me frustrated, tired, and honestly a bit angry at times.
Looking back now, in retrospect though I can see how God was working through these times of frustrations, stagnation and during times with seemingly no ministry. One expectation that I had when I first came on the World Race was that ministry opportunities would be set up for us, what I came to realize by the end though was that the Lord was ultimately in control of every situation we found ourselves in.
It's amazing to see the countless opportunities we had to impact the people in the town of Dobromirka. One day we were just sitting in our house, when a couple of young girls, who just happened to speak English found their way to our door to ask if we wanted to come watch them dance. Little did we know that by saying yes we would open the door for many more opportunities to cultivate relationships with them. Another day a few of us decided to go on a walk and bumped into our new friends, Verda, Roman, and Mano who told us they would guide us on a hike up the mountain facing the village. We ended up spending the whole next day with them hiking, playing soccer, frisbee and just loving them.
Through playing soccer with our new friends, we began to attract a crowd of young boys on the outskirts of our fence. We waved to them and motioned to them to see if they wanted to play soccer. Every day following that we had a small group of young boys that would come to play soccer. Two of the boys Sasko and Mariancho, both gypsies and brothers, would come back everyday just to spend time with us. One of the hardest things about this month has been seeing the relationships of the people in the town and their interactions with one another. There seems to be a lot of hatred, segregation and revenge that saturates the culture of the people. It was such a blessing to be able to set an example of how to interact with each other in a loving way.
Another day we bumped into another English speaking man at the local shop. He was such a blessing to us as he helped to translate for us and guide us through everyday interactions with the people. One day we were walking to the store when Mickel, the English speaking cowboy stopped us because the Orthodox monk from the town wanted to ask what we were doing in Dobromirka. We sat down and had coffee with both of them and entered into a dialogue about what we were doing there as well as expressing our beliefs. It was amazing to see how God was directing the conversation and lead it to him, not only to reach the monk but also Mickel. Later Mickel invited us to go up and see his horses and meet his wife Dee and son Sky. We were able to spend the whole evening with them and continue to cultivate relationships with each of them.
Another day my teammate Katie and I were sitting out in the yard when two young boys, Juan and Yodan, started to play soccer in the courtyard beside our yard. They kept 'accidently' kicking their soccer ball over the fence multiple times. After a few minutes of this, we invited them in to play soccer but they were hesitant and said no. So we decided to go out beyond our fence to play with them instead. A few days later the children's camp began and we were astonished and so pleased to see them come into the services where they could hear Bible teaching and sing songs for perhaps the first time. They kept coming back every day with an excitement and almost hunger for more. We were so blessed to be able to love them through spending time with them.
By the end of the month it became so hard to say goodbye to our friends, Sasko, Mariancho, Theo, Nikeoli, Yodan, and Juan. We were blessed to have been able to give them each Bibles before we left as well as a soccer ball and some notes. We asked if we could pray and were somewhat taken aback when they said yes. With no Christian witness in the area and a church that only opened when people pass away, it was discouraging at first to see the lack of hope in the village. But I know that I can rest easy in knowing that the Lord used us this month to accomplish his purposes, to reach Sasko and Mariancho with a hope they haven't experienced before and by setting an example of what it means to follow Jesus, to speak truth to Mickel and the Orthodox monk, to display love to Verda, Roma and Mano.
Please pray for the village of Dobromirka, for its beautiful people who so desperately need to know the Lord. Pray that Sasko and Mariancho, Theo and Nikeoli, Juan and Yodan, Roma, Verda and Mano would have someone in their lives to help guide them to truth. Pray that the Lord would draw them to himself. Pray that they would come to know the hope then can only have in Christ.
Our village friends, Theo, Tarcan, Mariancho, Sasko and Evelyn.
Peter, one of the boys from the children's camp
Our contact Roumen, director of Mission Possible along with my team and squad leaders.
Spending time with Mickel and the Orthodox Monk
Sasko and Nikeoli, our village friends.
Giving Bibles, a soccer ball, and notes to Sasko and Mariancho.
