If you asked me, “Dusty, what skill do you think you got honest from your Mama?” I would no doubt have to say that Mama has taught me how to make friends with everybody… I don’t meet a stranger, haha…
Since we've been in Bulgaria, I have made some solid friendships, that I believe will be life long. Our ministry this month, like i’ve said before, is incredible. Our contacts are solid folks who love Jesus and know how to have fun, and I am so appreciative for them and what they have done for us since being here!
One of our first nights here, we had the opportunity to do a youth night with the kids from church. So we sent out the invites, made a plan for the night filled with games, food, and fun… and got ready to entertain! I could hardly wait!
So the night came, and the place was fairly packed out! We had such a great time!
While everybody was playing a big group game, I noticed one of the guys, sitting off to himself just observing. The Lord told me to go over and try and talk to him. So, I did the only thing I knew to do (other than the Lord giving me the gift of tongues, lol)… I hopped on the computer and headed to google translator!
Here I set… Myself, google translator, and some guy named Ventsi. I’m sure he thought I was nuts, but I did what I could to correspond with him. Eventually, I enlisted the assistance of our contact’s 16 year old daughter, Sara.
I want to share Ventsi’s story with you. It’s incredible. It paints a beautiful picture of how good our God is and how much He loves us.
I believe one of the first things that caught my attention about Ventsi, is the fact that he reminds me of one of my best friends in the whole wide world… Casey Jennings! Haha… I knew this guy had to be legit as soon as I made that connection.
Ventsi is 30 years old. He works at a tire factory here in Vidin. He has a beautiful wife named Rosie. And best of all, Ventsi loves the Lord… His story hasn’t always been this nice though.
Ventsi was raised in an orphanage his whole life. From a young age he said he remembers having to hide from the older kids at the orphanage. Often times, the children there were molested sexually by the other children whom were older… as well as some of the staff. He talked about how terrible it was growing up there. Living in fear of what might happen.
He had a couple friends growing up, but one of his best friends in the orphanage was a girl who lived there.
Fast forward to more recent…
A few years back, Ventsi was falling apart. He had moved out of the orphanage. He didn’t have anything to live for and sure wasn’t living for Jesus. He had fallen in love with a girl named Rosie and was trying his best to get her attention and hoping she felt the same.
Ventsi would lay outside of Rosie’s apartment day and night, trying to get her to let him in. She wasn’t having it though. She told him that she wouldn’t marry a non-believer. Eventually he realized that if there was ever a chance this would work out, he was going to have to make some changes and find out who this Jesus guy, whom Rosie talked about, was. So one day, severely depressed and desperate, he made contact with our ministry contact and Pastor, Yavor. He knew him previously because of the work our ministry here, did in the orphanage he grew up in. Ventsi knew he needed the Lord in his life and anyways, what was there to lose? His life wasn’t much anyways he thought. So after talking to Yavor, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior! He realized that either way, from now on, it didn’t matter if Rosie accepted him or not. He had a loving Father above who cared for him and loved him and things were gonna be different.
Rosie was praying all during this time that she would be so in love with Jesus, that whomever the guy was that was pursuing after her, would have to go to God first to find her.
Fast forward again… Almost a year later… Ventsi and Rosie are happily married and all is going great! Jesus has completely changed Ventsi’s life around for the better and they are faithfully serving the Lord…
And you wanna know one of my favorite parts about the whole story…?
That girl at the orphanage who was Ventsi’s best friend all those years… That was Rosie.
God is so good. He is so faithful. He loves us so much.
Love y’all.
P.S… Rosie is currently in the hospital and will be in there for a total of 2 months, due to contracting tuberculosis at her job. Please keep her in your prayers as she recovers and also for Ventsi, that he will stay encouraged and know the Lord is in control.
