Let’s go back to almost two weeks ago, to when I was hopping borders. To when my team and I were leaving Romania and entering Bulgaria. To when my team and I spent almost ten hours bounding down bumpy country roads, through furry looking fall mountains, and *finally* arrived in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
Is this city not gorgeous? This is the air I get to breathe for the next month. These are the mountains I get to glimpse between houses, the streets I get to watch change color, and the sky I get to live under with 140,000 other people. As soon as we entered Bulgaria I felt it. It was a scream inside my chest that told me this month would be beautiful and full of light. It was breathtaking then and it is just as breathtaking two weeks later.
This city has already been home to opened doors, answered prayers, and blessings upon blessings. Let me tell you why.
Our ministry hosts are from California. We were blessed months one and two to be in close community with English speakers. There’s something extra, however, that comes with being in a foreign country and being able to speak your language with another person from your country (who is not on your team…LOL). Our hosts have lived in Bulgaria as teachers and missionaries for about 25 years. They took us out for dinner our first night here, invited us into their home the next night for dinner, and have been incredibly hospitable every day since. It has been an infinitely huge blessing to be partnered with a couple who are so committed to ministry in their community and present us with new ministry ventures each day.
We get to clean. Like I said, this month has been full of ministry opportunities. Because the majority of our ministry is with people, I am mentally and emotionally over-stimulated many days. Do I love it? Absolutely. Am I tired? Oh boy, you betcha. This month we get to clean and organize a warehouse and an office. There’s just something about a doing a mindless task that resets your brain, amiright? It may seem funny, but sometimes climbing up a ladder to squeegee a window is just what you need to feel rested. And yeah, okay, it helps that I’ve always wanted to use a squeegee. Add that with the fact that I love the smell of cleaning supplies, and you’ve got yourself blessings upon blessings.
We’re doing children’s ministry in Roma communities. Last month, half of my team worked predominantly with children from the Roma (gypsy) community. Our last few days in Romania, I became aware of how much I was going to miss that ministry. We arrived in Bulgaria and what is one of our first ministry opportunities? We get in a car and drive 10 minutes to a Roma village, where we sit inside an old train car, sing children’s songs, and hear a Bible story. Then we go back a couple of days later and play musical chairs and share our testimonies. We clean the yard with 20 Roma children and have a heck of a lot of fun doing it.
Then we go back to the village and throw a carnival for those same goofy kids. Except now they aren’t 20 kids chattering to you in Bulgarian, they are 40 children screaming their pleas for another piece of candy. I got to head up the face painting. I sat down with my supplies and when I looked up, a literal swarm of children had materialized. This might sound awful to some of you, but to me, this was hilariously fun. It was incredible to be sitting in an open field on a hill in Bulgaria that overlooks the entire city of Stara Zagora, with mountains in the distance, the perfect temperature, completely surrounded by children waiting to get a little paint on their face. To look up and have my vision swarmed with Roma children entertained by simple activities, and seeing them love life for a couple of carefree hours was beautiful—it may be my new favorite Race moment.
We get to spend time with the elderly. Do you know how much I love the elderly? If there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I am a 65-year-old woman stuck in a 22–year-old’s body. When our ministry host first explained this ministry to us, she turned to me and said she would specifically like for me to come. She knew I studied art therapy and said she would like to incorporate it into a visit. She had gone to a conference where they learned about art therapy and did a workshop—she already had a bag with the supplies and directives. Not only am I being blessed by getting to spend time with a population I love, but I was also asked to use the skills I spent four years of my life learning. Since applying for the Race, several people have made comments to me about using art therapy on the Race. Here I’ve been praying about seeking opportunities and our ministry host hands me one without even knowing. Wow.
We’re forming relationships with women in prostitution. One of the initial reasons I was interested in applying for the Race was for the opportunities to work with victims of human trafficking and women in prostitution. This is a population I have wanted to work with for so long, and I didn’t think I would get the opportunity to see that dream fulfilled until we got to Africa, or even Asia. Trafficking is very common in Eastern Europe. Our ministry host told us that some parents stop sending their children to school after a certain age for fear they will be snatched on the walk to or from, or even out on the playground. Women find themselves in difficult situations that lead to prostitution, and it’s extremely difficult to leave. Part of our ministry is driving on the Ring Road, the highway that encircles the city, and stopping every couple of kilometers to talk to the women working. We give them hot coffee, cool water, and some kind of snack or sandwich. Our host has been doing this ministry for the past several years and has established deep roots and relationships with these women to the point where they come running when they see her car. Our host translates, and we are able to hear their stories and connect with them. As incredible of an experience it is for us to talk with these women, it is so much more powerful to see the impact our host has made and continues to make in their lives.
We have an opportunity to visit a refugee camp of 2500. When Greece was removed from our route I thought we had lost the opportunity to work with refugees, and I was pretty disappointed. I knew that ministry with any population would be impactful, but for the past couple of years I have had a longing to work with displaced people such as refugees. Our ministry host explained to us that there is a nearby refugee camp where they have taken past teams. This is a refugee camp of 2500 displaced people. My team has been praying for the chance to visit this camp, and last week the youth pastor met with the superintendent of the camp. We finally got word that it is very likely we will get to visit the camp very soon. Praise God.
It’s a lot, but these are the things I’m so very thankful for. I’m thankful for the ways the Lord has been speaking to me and my team, and the ways He has been so intentional in the ministry opportunities this month. I’m thankful for doors leading to ministry that speaks to my heart, and the way they have been flung open. And I’m thankful for the freedom that I have in sharing it.
I’m also so very thankful for YOU, the one reading my blog.
Please continue to pray for Team Centurion as we develop relationships with the people of Stara Zagora. Please pray for us as we are missing our family and friends back home, and as we make new family and friends in each place we go. Please pray for us as we continue to fundraise (I am currently $2,266 away from being FULLY FUNDED. WOW). Please pray for us as we choose the Lord each day and what He wants for us. Thank you so much for supporting me on this journey. God be with you!
