Ministry in Bulgaria is…
Pulling weeds out of the concrete sidewalk. So. Many. Weeds. Let’s be real. I strongly dislike any sort of yard work. My mother knows this all too well and so do the poor plants that used to live in my classroom. But the Lord is showing me, as he always does, that while I sometimes can’t choose the ministry, I can choose my attitude. And the attitude I choose is one of joy.
Ministry is listening to the women who work at the center for at-risk children and children with disabilities. Asking them questions about what they do and who they are and what their lives are like. Learning from them about this culture that is often so different from our own. Encouraging them in their labor and thanking them for taking time out of their day to let us in.
Ministry is going to the local high school and helping Tim teach English to his 9th graders and helping with the English clubs at the church…Turns out you can cross borders and nations and teenagers are still teenagers no matter where you go. Who knew? I’m quickly learning that I love them just as much here as I do back home.
Ministry is going on the church retreat and taking care of all the kids while the adults are in session so that they can rest, be refreshed and be filled. I definitely realized over the weekend how long it’s been since I’ve been in the children’s world – where you have to watch out for the lava and trade cool rocks for other cool rocks and cross rivers and go on adventures in the jungle and play mommy and baby. Oh dear Lord. It’s been a long time, but the Father is stretching and rebuilding this atrophied muscle in me.
Ministry is going on long, slow walks with the church group through fields and pastures and mountains. It is fellowship and building relationships with the local believers. It is slowing down long enough to see the beauty of Christ in people. To hear their stories. To share ours. To live life together in community.
Ministry is spending time in prayer. Constant, steady, listening, heartfelt, bold. Prayer days and prayer walks. Writing prayers, speaking prayers, listening to prayers. Praying in new ways, for new things, for new life, for new strength, for new people.
Ministry is going on morning runs and meeting new people along the way. Note to everyone out there – I’ve only done this once, but my teammates Abbie and Louise do this almost every day. The day I ran with them we met a 70-something year old man with his 2 goats sitting on the hillside overlooking the town. He didn’t speak any English and we only speak a few phrases of Bulgarian but he wanted to be friends. That broken conversation somehow led us to pops’ house and us sharing food together. And he invited us to come again as we were leaving. Open doors and open hearts aren’t normal in Bulgaria, but on ministry runs they are.
Ministry is spending time with our ministry host and team. Getting to know them, playing games with them, loving them. It’s praying for them and encouraging them. It’s cleaning the church for them. It’s going over to their houses and having dinner with them. It’s living life with them. And it’s doing the same with our own.
For us, every conversation, every person, every place is an opportunity for ministry, an opportunity to be the love of Christ.
We decided at the beginning of this journey that we would be a team that says yes.
Yes to every opportunity to go deeper with the Lord.
Yes to every opportunity to grow with each other.
Yes to every opportunity to build his kingdom.
What will you say?
