That’s
right…
Team Chayil has been
sent to Bulgaria, ALONE!
Due
to a small amount of ministry contacts in Bulgaria, only one team would be sent
here from our squad while the other 7 teams were sent to Moldova.
As
I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, and for one of the first times on
the race I do feel alone because nobody is around me! & let me just add
that it feels GOOD to get alone time when you generally don’t find it.
It’s good to be alone!
Our team has been able
to bond so much closer together.
Our
first bonding experience happened after leaving from our quite refreshing month
4 debrief in Brasov, Romania. We headed
out in a van with a guy that did not speak a single word of English. After
several hours into the ride we were all very hungry, but our driver did not
understand us when we asked him to stop for food. Then, we got to the point of
our ride where we were to take a ferry, and we thought our driver would be
coming with us, just to find out that he was not coming along for the ride. So,
after a couple trips to the ATM and some time standing on a sketch street corner
in the middle of the night, we walked with our packs to the ferry. The entire day we had no idea how our
ministry contact was going to find us on the other side. I was walking on
the ferry leading the way of our team and I got to the very back of the ferry
and asked a girl if she spoke English, which she did, and then I found out she
was from Bulgaria, and that she had a phone that she would let us use. God provided. We got off of the ferry
and our ministry contact was standing there waiting for us.
We
walked into this month being told we would be “working with the youth.”
I’m
going into month five of The World Race and I have realized to let my
expectations of what my month will look like to just go.
We
come to find out that we will not necessarily be working with the youth, but
our focus will be more on the elderly and praying for them.
Then,
when we get our schedule translated we realize we will be doing much more than
that.
Here’s a glimpse into
our ministry this month:
Holding
on and loving on orphans.
Visiting
and praying for the elderly.
Sharing
about The World Race in front of many congregations.
Spending
quality time with the teens of the church (who speak ENGLISH!).
Spending
time with adult special needs orphans.
Going
on long bus rides to get to our ministry locations.
Speaking
at a Gypsy church and sharing testimonies of the race.
Praying
for those in the churches.
Hosting
youth events to reach out to the youth of Vidin.
Cleaning
out sandboxes at one of the orphanages.
I’m
sure we will get our hands on many other ministry opportunities as well!
As you can tell, we
have a good month before us!
It
seems like we have a pretty busy schedule, but this is the most relaxed schedule I have had in three months, which is a
HUGE blessing.
Our accommodations for
this month:
Vidin,
Blugaria is the poorest city in all of the European Union.
The
city is pretty big, but not many people live here.
Vidin
is right along the shore of the Danube River that separates Bulgaria and Romania.
The
church that we are partnering with has a rock band, The Revelation Band, they
are rather legit.
We
live in an apartment with a guy from the church, Bisa.
We
are staying in his living room, all six ladies in one room.
We
are either sleeping on a bed, couch, or floor with a mattress.
We
have awesome hot showers and western toilets.
We
are cooking our own food this month, but we don’t cook it at our apartment.
We
walk to the church which is a ten minute walk away and we cook all of our food
there.
There
is no wifi at the apartment, but there is some really good wifi at the church.
I’m excited to be here for this month
of ministry.
Be praying for me this
month to walk into what the Father has for me. I am learning a lot about who He
has created me to be and the gifts that He has given me.
One
last thing…
Today,
I was sitting and looking at my excel sheet that I have of my support raised.
Since I have launched in July, I have had several people stop giving funds
towards my account, for unknown reasons. Which has left me $1,000 shy of the
$15,500 deadline. The last thing in the world I want to do is to ask for more
money, but alas this is what I have to do. If you would like to give
anything big or small, click here. Thank you for your continued love and support, it means the world to me!
