Walking through the streets of Varna, Bulgaria, you can wander through the rows of beautiful flower markets, smell the sweet scent of fresh baked pastries, brave the busy street crossings, and enjoy the strong breeze off the nearby Black Sea. And if that’s all you want to see, that’s all Varna will show you.
However, if you look a little closer, you’ll notice that no passing stranger ever smiles back at you because their eyes always gaze towards the ground. If you listen well, you’ll hear people mention how they know of families who’ve lost loved ones to mafia driven crimes. If you pay attention, you’ll note that the streets are bare and quiet, each night, by ten o’clock. And, you’ll probably wonder why everyone speaks, so casually, about the car bomb that went off near the bank this morning.
If you’re willing to see more, you might leave the city center. You might venture out, just ten minutes or so, to one of the Roma villages. (Roma is the politically correct way to refer to the group commonly referred to by the derogatory title “gypsy”) Here, you’ll pass dead dogs in sewage drains, children playing in the piles of trash that line the overflowing landfill, and rows of old, well worn, laundry hanging outside every home.
Photo by my teammate Caleb Owens. (Check out more of his photos at: https://www.facebook.com/This-Life-I-Live-1794850900741513/?fref=ts&__mref=message_bubble)
If you roam on, past the city limits, you might come across one of the several orphanages housing the nation’s unwanted children. If you ask, you’ll learn that the government encourages families to abandon their children when they are born with mental or physical disabilities, no matter how small, promising that the state facilities will be able to take better care of them; such facilities are overflowed, understaffed, and unhygienic.
At first glance, Varna is bustling, fun, and interesting. At second glance, it seems broken by all the residual effects of the recent communism. But, if you’re willing to take a third glance, looking even deeper this time, you’ll see hope and healing. You might see it in Debbie’s selflessness as she bravely shares her faith with her high school peers, even though she’s just one of three Christians amongst a school of several hundred. Or maybe you’ll see it in Elenka’s tired eyes, who, despite her impoverished life in a Roma village, will humble you with her happiness and hospitality. You might see it in the generous heart of the woman who runs the laundromat and insists you’ve overpaid her when you know you have not, the silly commuter you pass on her way to work that cheers you on as you jog by each morning, or even the toothy grin of the man that sells you hummus from his street stand every week.
Varna is not just a tourist destination, it’s not only a repressed city, it’s so much more. Varna, Bulgaria is a place where things are changing; where people are teaching eachother and growing together. It’s a place where God is moving and good things will be done.
Always take the third look, always.
