Here we are in Vidin, Bulgaria.
We’ve made it to month 6th and to Eastern Europe. And it’s SUMMER time here! I hadn’t seen my arms in like a month so these past few days of summer sun and Vitamin D on my arms has been refreshing to say the least.
Just want to give a quick update and low down on what ministry is going to look like for us this month. We have left no time to waste even after a 7 hour time change and extreme jet lag wiping us out for the past few days as well.
MINISTRY:
- Outreach to Gypsy communities
- Trash clean-up around the city of Vidin
- Visit orphanages
- Visit Nursing Homes
- Spend time with a member of the church, Ivan, a disabled man who just gave his life to Christ 3 months ago! We’ll spend time with him everyday encouraging, doing bible studies, worship and he wants to spend a lot of our time outside doing spontaneous street evangelism. He’s a pretty cool guy who can rock a fedora and bright yellow shoes.
- Clean the 400+ year old church that was built to be a merchants warehouse originally and after having multiple uses since then is now being rented as the church! It’s temperature always stays the same, which feels cold compared to the warm outside temp, it’s moldy and damp, and needs some attention in some areas!
- Volleyball ministry with church members and kids in the community
The Pastors daughter went to an English High School and speaks fluent English to help us get around and translate for us while here.
Some fun insights into our month already:
- Gypsy kids will steal your water bottles and run away while the parents clap and cheer them on.
- After it rains giant snails come out. You can collect them, keep them over night, and cook them the next day in boiling water, season with tomato paste and garlic. It just rained again…snails may be on the menu soon.
- Even if you don’t speak Bulgarian you can have a successful market trip for fresh veggies and fruit. (a kilogram of cherries is ~$2.50, so cheap!)
- You can flush toilet paper here! (Central and South America you couldn’t due to poor drainage systems)
- There are coffee machine dispensers on every corner.
- What they call “the beach” is a patch of grass next to the Danube river where 4-5 shirtless old men sit, tan and chit chat.
- Unless you know them, strangers on the street don’t greet you when you walk by. Not even with a smile.
//Thank you for reading! More updates to come. Prayers that God uses us in new ways this month and through it more lives are saved.//
