So I have been in Bulgaria for a week or so now and its certainly different than back home, but let me start from the beginning. We left the airport in Atlanta on the 9th to Chicago airport that got us into an awesome 10 hour lay over. Finally we got on the plane flew about 11 hours to Istanbul and finally a last flight to Sofia, Bulgaria. We spent the night in a hostel there and the next morning was a 7ish hour bus ride to Silistra which is on the opposite side of Bulgaria that borders Romania. After another 15 minute ride from the bus station to our hosts home we finally arrived to our home for the next month.
When we arrived it was around 7 at night they had made us a traditional Bulgarian meal for the night. (It was delicious) And at that time we got to sit down with our hosts and really get to meet them for the first time. Their names are Roger and Gail and they are missionaries that have made a home here after spending the first 60 years of their lives in Australia. They are truly wonderful people! In 2002 they felt God was calling them to go and they didn’t know where. They had a friend that did some missions in eastern Europe and he invited them to take a trip with them to Bulgaria. So they went with him and they really felt like Bulgaria was the place they needed to be. So every year for the next almost decade they made there way to Bulgaria to live for a while then they would go back to Australia. In late 2011 they prayed that if that was really where God wanted them then they were ready to move there permanently. So 6 months later they had their house and all their stuff sold and made the move here to Bulgaria where they have been ever since.
There they met pastor Emil and have been working closely with him since they have lived here. And that is the church that we are have been working with on our time here. We were able to go to church there on Sunday and it was great! All of the songs were in Bulgarian but you could really feel the spirit moving and the freedom in which they had to worship. And it wasn’t just one or two people, it was the everyone in the church. Back home its rare to see a church where everyone is unashamed to worship God. So we left church that day knowing that God is in Bulgaria.
This continued on Tuesday night when we went to a youth gathering at the church. The night started of with us hanging out with the kids playing ping pong and other what nots. After that Marius spoke a word and then some of the people started to give testimonies and what some of them said really touched my heart. One man in particular had been brought up in an orphanage. He was beaten as a child by the older boys in the orphanage and at one point even thrown off a second story balcony by them. But one day a group came in and started sharing Jesus at the orphanage and he knew right then he needed Jesus. Now he is grown up and in his 40s and it he said it still amazes him that when he shares that people don’t want to accept Christ. And as he was sharing his story all you could hear was hallelujahs and praise Gods. There are people here in Bulgaria that love God and that really get it. They don’t take it for granted like many of us do. Thats the kind of love for God that I want.
Communism fell in Bulgaria in 1989 but the effects of it are still felt today. With communism everything was provided for you and didn’t have a chance to think for yourself. So today many older people wish that communism was still in effect because the economy is so bad here. And still many others that do whatever they want just because there is no one there to tell them no. As Roger puts it the rules are there just as guidelines and they are going to push the envelope until they get caught. There is also the orthodox church in Bulgaria. Most of it just has to do with rituals and not anything to do with a relationship with Jesus. So because of these different things the Bulgarians don’t really care much about anything. They view themselves as not having much hope because the economy is so bad and all of the people that are smart choose to leave the country and find work making more money elsewhere and decide not to come back. The Bulgarian population has decreased by one fifth in the last 20 years because people are leaving.
All of this sounds bad and it is but they have a hope in Jesus. The people of this church love God as do Roger and Gail. They have a heart for the people and some people are accepting Christ. So Im asking that you pray with me, my team, Roger and Gail, and the church that God would continue to soften peoples hearts. God is in Bulgaria! God bless
