Bulgaria has been full of surprises for me… the first being how beautiful it is! This country is gorgeous, especially right now, in the fall. I’m so thankful that I am able to experience a month of fall, my favorite season, during this year- what a gift! And in a place with so many mountains, fields, and trees, it literally couldn’t have been better. I even got to RIDE A HORSE one day when we went to a local farmer to buy our milk! God has blessed me over and over again in this place.
A view from the fields behind the center
Making the most of raking leaves!
I had prayed for the opportunity to pet one of the many horses I’d been seeing, but God blessed me with the chance to ride one in a beautiful field!
The town where we are staying is called Dobromirka- which means “good peace.” With a population of 600 people (now 607 with us in it;), it is a very slow, mostly quiet town, with only a general store to do basic shopping (aka chips and bread- the basics). Our big outing of the week is driving to a town 25 kilometers away to go grocery shopping- and stop and get the “best ice cream in the world” according to Val, our host (I have to admit, it is very good:). The conference center that we are working and living at is beautiful- it sits on a fenced in piece of land with green grass, a pavilion, a porch, and a badminton net that they left up for us to play with. The center has a large dining from, an open conference hall, a little snack bar, a huge, fully supplied kitchen, and about 20 guest rooms. During the week, we are responsible for cleaning each of the rooms, the bathrooms, and all of the general areas in order to prepare for the conferences. A few weeks ago we helped to host one 9 day women’s conference where we became friends with many of the ladies and were even able to worship and pray with them. During the conferences, we help in the kitchen (I’m learning lots of traditional Bulgarian dishes!) and work to keep the building clean.
Making banitza, a traditional Bulgarian breakfast pastry with eggs and cheese
Mopping the dining area- I spilled this bucket of water as I was moping and was called Denis the Menance through Google Translate
This woman who attended the conference wanted to give more than she received for her birthday, so she gave EACH of us one of her own shirts! Here we are with her wearing them.
Last weekend, we hosted a ministry group that came to join together to pray, learn, and worship together. A few of the younger people attending spoke English, and we got to spend time with time while going out into the town to pray for people and share the Gospel. One night, they invited us to go have a bonfire with them… this is when I learned that trespassing in Bulgaria doesn’t really exist. We hiked two miles in the moonlight through random fields to find a small piece of woods where we lit a fire (another new thing for me, lighting a fire in the middle of the woods!) They took time to share what they were learning with us and asked if they could pray for and over us. It turned out to be an super encouraging night, and through them, God reminded me once again that He knows and loves me. These guys, whom I had never met before, shared the words that God gave them for me that spoke right to my heart- about stepping out in trust, about following Him as sheep follow their shepherd (another blog on that later:), and even through the image of a horse. I love that God can work through us to encourage each other, and that His Spirit is the same within us!
Our bonfire in the middle of the Bulgarian wilderness
The next day they asked if we wanted to join them in going to visit with and pray for the people in the retirement home up the street. I was so excited to go with people who could translate for me so that I could encourage some of the older people who hardly ever get visitors. We got there and were welcomed with big smiles and lots of handshakes from the nurses. I went around and greeted each of the residents, smiling, taking their hand, and saying “Dobra den!” with as much of a Bulgarian accent as I could muster. They smiled their welcome back, shaking their head back and forth as a warm greeting (in Bulgaria, they shake their head back and forth to say yes, or to agree, and nod their head up and down to say no… it can be a little misleading at times for us Americans!)
The group started to pray with people, and I assumed my position in the back corner, praying as I looked on that God would work in each of the lives of the people there and draw them to Himself. I tried my best to communicate with some of the nurses and the women around me, asking their name and laughing together at my inability to communicate with them. One of the guys from the group came and asked if I wanted to pray for Valsilica, the woman I had been smiling with next to me. He asked her if she had any pain, and told me her knee was hurting her. I knelt down and placed my hands on her leg and prayed that, in the name and power of Jesus, her knee would be healed, she would feel no pain, and she would be filled with freedom. As I was praying, she interrupted and said her leg had goosebumps and was feeling warm. I finished my prayer, and she looked to the guys around me and said it was feeling better, and they told me what she said. Extremely surprised, I exclaimed “REALLY!?” The guys translating for me laughed and said “Yes!” The woman said she wouldn’t know how it really felt until she walked around on it. She sat there and smiled at me, expecting me to get up and walk away, but I asked if she wanted to walk on it now to see how it felt. She agreed, and we helped her out of her chair and she started walking around the room, saying that her knee felt light and that she felt no pain!
Praying for Valsilica
PRAISE GOD! I couldn’t believe that God had used me as His vessel to show His power to this lovely woman.
On our way out, the nurses at the home gave us homemade bread and a box of chocolates to show their appreciation for us coming to visit. As we walked back, I realized that I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw that Valsilica’s knee was no longer in pain after I asked God to take it away- why would I ask if I didn’t think He was listening or going to do it!? We are equipped with the Holy Spirit- God’s power in us. Through that, He can do more than we can even ask for, and darkness has no way of winning. How humbling, that He, in His infinite power and goodness, chooses to work through His children as they follow Him.
This was a new sort of experience for me- I didn’t doubt that God could heal people when we pray, but I never really expected Him to do it through me. This lined up exactly with one of the things the guys had shared with me the night before- I need to step out in trust, knowing that God is always there and working, and I don’t ever need to move in fear of people or of God not showing up. His Spirit is in us, and because of that, we get to see Him do amazing things.
What an amazing Father we have.
