All month we have been going to two different orphanages. One in the morning, the other in the afternoon. At the second orphanage I have felt drawn to a set of brothers; Sasho, age 17 and Slavi, age 14. I couldn’t figure out why for the longest time. It wasn’t until we had a scavenger hunt on Friday that it all started to make sense.
Please bear with me as I try and explain to you why I feel like Ryan and Justin are here with me this month.
For the scavenger hunt we had a list of about 20 things we had to find and take pictures of us completing each ‘task’.
We all got a sheet that had everything in English and then under it, it was typed out in Bulgarian (Thank you Christina!!)
So we were split up into two teams. I was put on Sasho’s team and Slavi was on the other team.
Sasho knows more English than he lets on. So as we were walking around the town one of the things we had to do was chug a can of soda. I handed Sasho a can of Coke we had just bought he looked at me and said, “neigh,” which means no and he shook his finger at me.
You see Sasho goes to the gym everyday and there is NO way he was about to put that in his body. Luckily there were two other kids from the orphanage on our team, as well as two of my teammates, and they didn’t mind. The four gladly took on the challenge.
Another thing we had to do was take a picture with a stranger. Ennis, one of the kids in our group who literally knows everyone in town, stopped to talk to someone. While we were waiting for them to finish their conversation I pointed out the task (take a picture with a stranger) to Sasho then pointed at the man Ennis was talking to. He looked at me like I was crazy and again said, “neigh” (no). He looked embarrassed! He didn’t want to ask to take a picture with this man for some reason. But Ennis asked him for the picture, thankfully, so we were able to check it off.
Another one of the things we had to do was take a picture with a baby. I found this ironic because just moments before Sasho wouldn’t ask the man for a picture but he went and asked this random women if we could take a picture with her baby! And whatever he said actually worked because she let us!!
I would constantly talk to Sasho in English regardless of the language barrier and most of the time he would just laugh at me. At lot of times saying “neigh” and shaking his finger at me. (It’s a very common thing Bulgarians do) Sometimes he just gives me this look that I’m crazy.
If you have met my brothers, the person I just described sounds like my relationship with Justin. Without the language barrier of course.
We are friends and I annoy him. He laughs at me. He won’t always do silly things but will sometimes do crazy things. Oh and he is CONSTANTLY telling me “no” and shaking his finger at me.
We played volleyball with them every time we were together and on Friday’s we would get to play on a beach volleyball court. Sasho and Slavi usually wanted to be on the same team because Slavi always sets to Sasho. But they are constantly bickering! It’s the funniest thing ever!
If you have ever played volleyball with Ryan and I, this probably sounds familiar. We love playing together, always want to be on the same team, but are constantly bickering and blaming each other.
I have built such a great relationship with these two boys this month because they remind me of my brothers. It has been such a blessing but because of that I worry so much about them. I worry about what their future holds. God has been teaching me a lot about worrying this month. He holds their futures and I need to trust Him with all the kids in the orphanage.
My brothers (and myself) have parents that help us out if and when we need it.
Sasho and Slavi will age out of this orphanage, then what? Will they go to college? If they wanted to go to college how would they even afford it? (Fun fact: a private college here costs $2,000 a year! Public college about $800. How crazy is that?!) Who is a constant in their life that actually cares for them? Who is mentoring these kids? Who is going to teach them how to save their money. How to budget and pay bills.
The town they live in does not have a lot of job opportunities. So what happens when Sasho turns 18? What then?
It just hurts my heart that kids like this are all around the world! They are in Denver just as much as they are here in Dupnitsa.
What does it look like to help these kids?
What can I do to help these kids because they need more than just money. They need more than a job. They need someone to mentor them, to teach them. Someone stable they can talk to and lean on.
We handed out the care packages today, that you all made possible, and they were a HUGE success! The kids loved them so thank you to everyone who prayed and donated.
God has been teaching me a lot through all of this. He has been showing me how much he loves these kids. How he cares for them more than I ever could. He has plans for their future and I need to surrender my fear and worry to him. I need to constantly give all of my thoughts surrounding these kids to the Lord. He will provide for them.
(The famous ‘neigh, finger wave)
