During a recent youth gathering at the church we have been working at, their pastor, Emil, slowed it down and opened up the floor for a group of young Bulgarians to share their testimonies with us. I didn’t think I would end up nearly as moved as I was by the way God has been working in these people’s lives.
The first boy to speak was a 15 year old named Jeff*, I had been playing ping pong with him just a few minutes before. He spoke about how his parents had started going to church, but they were very skeptical that he would ever come around, he said he had always been a bit of a problem child, and that for a long time he felt a darkness to his life. He said he felt like there wasn’t any good in him. Eventually, his parents managed to drag him to church, and he said the moment service started he felt as though he was struck by something, and he immediately fell to the ground. Right there, in that moment, he said, the darkness inside of him turned to light, and he felt God and knew how loved he was by Him. The thing I loved about this story was that it was God who changed Jeff, without any act from Jeff other than following his parents into a building.
Next up came Peter*, a man in his mid 20s, who we found out through Pastor Emil had watched his uncle be murdered in front of him at a young age. Peter didn’t have quite the same “Wow” moment in his testimony, but God found him during a very dark time, while returning home to Bulgaria from France, where he had worked and lived homeless on the streets to bring back money for his family. The thing that took me the most about Peter though was his joy, and passion for The Lord. We were talking about him with the Emil later, and he said that Peter had a job offer in Silistra over winter (a huge deal in a farming country like Bulgaria) and he turned it down, all because he felt that he needed to stay in his village because his parents had started to open their eyes to God, and he wanted to be there for them. In his mind, kingdom work was better than any other type of work.
Finally, came one of the most difficult stories I’ve had to sit through. It was by a man named Ivan* who had been orphaned at about 5, and was forced to live in an orphanage. He explained that in the orphanages, the older boys would beat the younger children. He told us about one story in particular about a time when two older boys grabbed him by his arms and feet and threw him off a second story balcony. It appeared that he may be mentally challenged, and this explained why. But then he told the story of how these Christian missionaries, who came into the orphanage and shared Jesus with him, and the excitement that overtook him was evident. He moved on to talk about how he would read his Bible all the time and would have to hide it under his pillow every time the older boys came to beat him. He talked further about how he just loved sharing Jesus with everyone, and that he didn’t get why people didn’t follow Him.
The thing about this time that hit me the most was that these people could not stop saying “Hallelujah” and “Praise God”. As I sat there, I felt so deeply challenged, I complain to God about the smallest things, when I haven’t experienced half of the things Peter had, and couldn’t fathom living in a Bulgarian orphanage like Ivan. The only thought that kept running through my mind was “These people get it”. They really and truly know what the point is. They understand that God is more valuable than health, or a home, or comfort, and their hearts are in this position of worship at all times because they know they possess a treasure that will never spoil.
God is working in very real and amazing ways in Bulgaria, and just a week in, I feel more blessed by the people here than I could have imagined. Please join me in continuing to pray for Bulgaria. Pray for the orphanages, and orphans living there. Pray for the missionaries working here. Pray for hope and revival, and for more miraculous stories like those of Jeff, Peter, and Ivan. And finally, pray for Pastor Emil’s church, they are doing kingdom work here, and the fruits of it are remarkable.
I love you guys,
Andy
I am about $2000 short of my fundraising goal, if you feel God pressing on your heart to give, there is a link to the donation page at the top if you click on the progress bar or the “Donate Here” link on the left side bar. If you cannot donate, please continue to pray for The Lord’s provision over this trip.
*Names changed to protect privacy
