This month in Bulgaria, our team was given a special directive, one that none of us had received before:
You will find your own ministry.
Called “Ask the Lord” or “No Host” Month, our team was given the challenge of seeking God’s guidance to tell us which city to go to, and what form of ministry to pursue. From the onset, His hand has been evident in what proceeded from that directive.
We got a new team this month. My team is mostly women from my last team (Parresia), plus a couple different ones. You can learn about them in my blog “Allied Forces”. Getting a new team means choosing a new name. If you’ve read the aforementioned blog, you’ll know why we chose the name Fortress. Anyway, just hours after choosing our new name, we had to chose a city to live in for the month.
Various members of the team heard, through various avenues, God guiding us to water, specifically the coastalcity of Burgas. Here’s proof of God’s hand, part 1!!
The name Burgas, or “bourgas”, likely derives from the Latin “burgos” (like the city in Spain) or Greek “pyrgos” meaning ‘tower’. These words passed through to the Turkish, Gothic, and Thracian languages, taking on the connotation of “fortified and consolidated walled villages”… or perhaps, fortresses!?!
So, lo and behold, we have been living in Burgas. And wow, is it beautiful. We found an Airbnb within budget that’s a 2-minute walk from the pier and 5 minutes from the town center, where one can find wide (and inexpensive) pickings of kebabs, ice cream, or coffee.
Ministry looks different for each of us, and our schedules are different every day, but here are the main ones:
Fellowship with believers at local churches on Sundays,
Young women’s group with migrant girls on Saturdays,
Building relationships with high schoolers at midnight at the clubs,
Prayer meeting for the city every morning,
Picking up trash from the beach,
Ministering to storeowners- chiefly, our friend from France who runs a laundromat/cafe,
and
Hosting a Good Friday fellowship/worship service.
We have interacted (*actually learned the name of and shared life stories*) with over 85 people. Some are believers, some are not; some we shared our faith with, some we didn’t; some we may see again, some we may not; but we hope and pray that they someday come to know the Love and Joy of our Father, whether it’s in part because of our time here or not.
And when we come face to face with Him, I pray He marks our time here as Mission: Accomplished. Not by our power, but by His own, He is calling all people to Him.
