It’s springtime in Eastern Europe. The grass has come back green after a long winter under who knows how many feet of snow and the trees are in full bloom, their white blossoms in stark contrast with the bright blue sky.
As we sit outside soaking up the warm sun and worshipping with our Bulgarian sisters Svetlana and Daniella, I hear the Lord say “I am the God of Bulgaria and of Europe and I have not forgotten.”
I remember when I first saw our race route back in February 2011. I had been praying about where the Lord would have me serve, and He had put China and Serbia on my heart. If you know me at all…that’s just WEIRD. For one million dollars, I couldn’t have told you where Serbia – or Bulgaria – was on a map. My heart beats to an African drum, and Europe is a far cry from anything African.
But I trusted His voice and the inkling that He put in my heart that Eastern Europe would be a place I would remember.
And now here I am, on Chrin and Sara’s EuroTour 2012, visiting 6 countries over a 4 week span.
And here I sit, humbled and in awe. Again. (I pray this never gets old!)
Chrin and I have the privilege of visiting our teams in Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia and seeing first hand what God is doing in each of these beautiful countries. (In case you’re wondering about the other 3 countries we’ve spent time in…we’ve visited Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic and we’ll be spending a few more days in Budapest, Hungary before heading to debrief and month 9 in Guatemala!)
The people here just blow me away with their hunger for the Word and their passion and dependency on God.
In Serbia, to renounce the Orthodox church is basically to say you are not Serbian. We had the privilege of working with Predrag, an ex-Mafia member and his sweet wife Angela and their church in Subotica – these people are crazy passionate about Jesus! We partnered with FOKUS ministries, part of Campus Crusade for Christ’s international project.
In Bulgaria, I made friends with a woman who held illegal Sunday school classes so that her kids could learn about Jesus. It eventually expanded into 120 kids and a published youth magazine. We also preached and worshipped in Roma (gypsy) churches – let me tell you, the Holy Spirit is alive and moving in Bulgaria! Here we worked in Sofia with Mission Possible.
It is such an honor and blessing to be a part of the international body of believers, to stand and worship the same God despite the language barrier and the cultural differences, and to know that is God's divine plan to bring His kingdom here and now, on earth as it is in heaven, through my life. (And YOURS!)
Since you asked so nicely for more videos, I figured I'd just throw all of my clips together. Clearly, I've gotten worse at remember to take videos as there are waaayyy more from months 1 & 2 than the others. Nevertheless, enjoy!
