Blagodarya is the Bulgarian word for “thank you.” It was the third word I learned to say, right after dah for yes and ne for no. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it was the hardest. I practiced it in the car on the way from the airport. Blagodarya, blagodarya, blog… ah… dar… ee… yah! I didn’t know then how important this word would be to me.
You see, while our ministry contact Rumen does speak English, he is not the person we’re staying with. Rumen lives 3 hours away and we see him maybe once a week. The couple we do ministry with, Nasko and Didi, speak very little English. Ahh… I had to battle not to be discouraged by this when I first arrived. The idea of not being able to communicate was crushing. One of my driving passions in coming on this trip was for the opportunity to connect with those working in full time ministry around the world. I so want to come alongside them- to learn from them and then bless and support their work in any way I can. I felt so defeated by the language barrier. I was afraid something like this would happen on the race and here it was, month one. I remembered thinking back home that a better use of my time might be to choose one country to work in, learn the language and culture, and then just go there. But I’d already made my decision. I found myself in the middle of the situation I feared.
So I decided to do something about it.
Right away I made a concentrated effort to learn some important Phrases in Bulgarian. Nasko’s bilingual daughter-in-law was visiting for a few days and I took advantage of the opportunity to have a tutor. I used Google translate, listened to podcasts and YouTube videos, whatever I could. Still, how do you make a real connection with someone when you can barely do more than introduce yourself, say sorry, and count to ten?
It’s funny but last week in the Bible reading plan that we are doing together as a team we came across the account of the Tower of Babel (coincidence?) As I read about God confusing the languages of all the people, I had to cry out “Come on God, now we are limited in what we can do for You!” There’s a laugh for you. I was still thinking that God needs me and my ability to communicate in order to accomplish His will. When is it going to click for me that He chooses the weak? This language barrier reminds me that I am limited, but I know that He is not. I am unable to do and accomplish everything I want to, but I know that His arm is not shortened. It gives Him plenty of room to do something amazing, and all the glory goes undeniably to Him. And still I reap blessing, because not being able to talk freely has opened my eyes to things I may have missed otherwise.
Sharing my testimony through a translator
The first time that I was prayed for in Bulgarian was a strange experience. First of all, the prayer was in Bulgarian, so I didn’t know what was being said. But secondly and more importantly, I was being prayed for by about ten different people all at once. In the U.S. when we pray in groups, everyone politely waits their turn to speak, one at a time. Not so in Bulgaria. Everyone begins at once, their words mixing and overlapping, here and there voices rising and falling, and as time goes some get louder and louder until the air is just saturated with all the praise and petition and who knows what else because I can’t understand a word anyway. But no, there were some things that I could understand. I understood meaning behind pitch, volume, rhythm, and tone. I understood the tears and sighs and the words like hallelujah! that don’t need translation. When a woman I had only just met laid her hand on me and wept as she prayed I couldn’t help but weep too! She was crying out to God on my behalf with such passion… I was overcome. All I could do was praise God and pray blessings over her, and I was swept away knowing that we were united in something so deep that no words were even needed.
Over the past few weeks I have learned to thank God for this gift that at first looked like a curse. Blagodarya. If not for the language barrier, I would have missed out on the stretching, growing opportunity to tackle a daunting challenge. Blagodarya. If we had had a translator, I would have missed out on the powerful experience of being washed in prayers that were more for God’s ears than mine. Blagodarya.
I love listening to my brothers and sisters in Christ speak in Bulgarian. The sound is so different from English. I listen to it so much during the day, Didi on the phone, Mission Possible staff chatting away, the kids from the village yelling and hooting, that I have started hearing it in my dreams. I am reminded of the hard “ch”s and sharp “t”s in the tinkling I hear as I dig through the silverware drawer searching for a bread knife. I can’t help but think of the soft swishing “z”s and “sh”s as I listen to the fan whirring overhead. I am blown away that to me it’s just a melodic collection of sounds, and the same with English for them, but our One God hears and understands us all. What’s more, He sees the heart. My prayer is that we would all learn to speak His language. Blagodarya.
