“Travel day” to Bulgaria started Saturday morning while it was still dark outside. After disassembling our tents and shoving our possessions in our packs, we loaded into taxi cabs and drove to the train station. The train took us to Bucharest, Romania, where we spent the next 11 hours waiting for our train to depart at 9pm that evening.
This month is unlike the others in that we, as a team, are in charge of arranging our contact, accommodations, and work while here in Romania. We (my team, along with Team Proclaim I 61) were told just two days prior to leaving that we would be staying in Bulgaria for the following 34 days. Most of these arrangements were made with the help of Google in the McDonalds of the Bucharest train station.
We arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria at 6am Sunday morning, sleep deprived and sore from travel. After 24 hours of traveling, we wanted nothing more than sleep. Still unsure that our new contact would show, we waited and prayed that we wouldn’t be homeless this month. Promptly at 7am, a Bulgarian man named Jan met us with a 17 year old girl named Kali. He introduced himself and told us that Kali would be our “guide.”
So, with Kali as our guide, we hauled our back-breaking packs to McDonalds to wait for her church to open. We also learned at this point that not only would we be attending the Sunday morning service at Sofia Church of God, but that we would also be witnessing the marriage ceremony of two of her close friends. We thought we may have misunderstood her, but she confirmed our suspicion by showing us her bridesmaid dress.
Around 8:30, we geared up once again and embarked on our half mile journey to the church. Immediately, we were put to work blowing up handfuls of yellow balloons to decorate for the wedding. Shortly after settling into the pews, Bulgarian worship music began playing. The congregation was very welcoming of the 14 scrappy American foreigners seated in the first two rows. And then, to our surprise, somewhere between the worship songs and the opening prayer, a beautiful Bulgarian bride was walked down the aisle.
After church, we met Al and Bob, two Americans who kindly took us on a tour around the city and treated us to a Bulgarian pizza (quite different than American pizza) lunch. Al invited us to stay with him and his wife in his home in a nearby city called Petrich. We decided to take advantage of this retreat and planned to use this as an opportunity to formulate a game plan for the month.
A bus ride later, we arrived in Petrich. We were welcomed by Al’s wife, Diane who had provided us the comfort of home in the form of grilled cheese and soup. The best was yet to come just an hour later when we discovered not only beds to sleep in, but beds with sheets, and pillows, and real blankets. A warm shower and a washing machine was only icing on the cake. We were elated with these simple pleasures and eternally grateful for these strangers opening their homes to us.
We aren’t quite sure all that Bulgaria has for us this month. If the following 33 days are anything like the first, we are looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead of us.
An update about support:
I am so thankful for everyone God has provided to support me both financially and spiritually. It is such a comfort knowing that there are people at home praying for me and reading my blogs. The Lord has been so faithful in providing my financial needs, but I am still in need of $4,000. I need to have $2,000 in my account by the first of next month. Please continue to pray that God will provide this money. If you would like to support me, please click on the “Support Me” link on my blog page. If you would rather, you can also send a check to Adventures in Missions, 6000 Wellspring Trail, Gaineville, GA, 30506. Please be sure to include my name in the memo of the check. Thank you again for all of your support! If you have questions or any encouraging words, please email me! I would love to hear from you!
Love,
Emily
