Greetings from Borovtsi, Bulgaria!
Borovtsi is in the Montana region, the northeastern part of the country. It is actually the poorest part of the entire European Union. There is poverty, depression and some broken people…but it is also a beautiful place.
It’s a bit of a change from the last three months, and not simply the fact that the high temperature is 39 today after an entire month of 90 degrees in El Salvador.
Although it’s a different world, it’s one I am enjoying living in. So here is a little recap of life in Bulgaria…and my very special ‘Boys of Bulgaria’.
The first week in Bulgaria was spent living in the capital city, Sofia. My team of 7 is staying with Pastor Scott, of the Sofia International Baptist Church, his wife and 22 year old son. They are incredible hosts and although having 10 of us in their two-bedroom apartment is a tight fit we have loved every moment of staying with them. We get home cooked meals for dinner, have laundry, wifi, couches and truly have a place to call ‘home’.
The church we are partnering with has a congregation of nearly 150 people, most of which speak English. They are unique in the fact that half their congregation consists of refugees, predominately from the Middle East and all over Africa.
We have had the privilege of helping out with church services, bible studies, worship, English classes and children’s Sunday School. The guys built some shelves and the entire team organized their storage room into a somewhat organized system. We host ‘refugee’ day on Thursdays, where the church has a worship session, bible study, ESL class and then a lunch with nearly 40 refugees in attendance.
Each day brings a new form of ministry, but if ministry is sharing the love of Jesus Christ than each day is just like the day before.
As for the city of Sofia it’s a pretty cool city to spend April in. I quickly learned you don’t say it like ‘So-Fee-uh’, but the locals say ‘Sof-ya’. There is a lot of history here, a metro system that is really easy to navigate and some beautiful areas to visit. I’ve noticed that most people don’t where colors, or smile that often…but after you get to know them they have big hearts. We like to spend our off time hanging out at the parks and enjoying the local musicians, while eating gelato from our favorite spot called ‘Confetti’.
This week we’ve spent out in the Bulgarian countryside. We’re working at a transition home for guys that are too old to be in an orphanage anymore, but need to learn some skills before they transition to the rest of society. They boys take care of the crops in the field, take classes (including English) and learn some other skills like construction and carpentry. Most importantly they learn about the love of Jesus Christ.
They just recently had a class ‘graduate’ and move out to the surrounding town, Sofia and one is even heading to Germany…but we are lucky enough to have 5 guys currently in the program while we’re here.
We’ve spent the mornings and early afternoons painting the last part of the building that needs completion. The building is 3 stories and the nicest/biggest building within many miles. We were working on completing the last set of rooms for boys to live in, so this fall intake can reach their full capacity of over 20 young men.
The afternoons and evening were spent hanging out with the guys, and as a team. We took walks to the reservoir nearby, played basketball and soccer, played monopoly, had bible study and worship sessions, just hang out and swapped our favorite music…I even found myself watching a Turkish soap opera with one of the guys at one point!
The truth is I love my Bulgarian Boys.
They don’t know a lot of English. They’ve had really tough upbringings and harsh lives.
They have also been some of the most welcoming hosts and have the purest hearts that I know. A great reminder that no matter how much crap the world throws your way, our hearts can’t be touched unless we let them.
Tomorrow is a sad day because we head back to Sofia, and we have 9 more days in Bulgaria until we head to Albania.
Although my time here with the Boys of Bulgaria was short, it will be a time I always cherish. I hope I impacted them as much as they did for me.
In life we cross paths with so many people by the time we’ve run our course…to leave a mark on someone that stays…that’s special.
