Home, Sweet Home!

We're back everyone! Gonna be sharing with our family at Calvary Bullhead this weekend and catching up on some much needed rest.

Stay tuned to this blog as we start planning soon for next year's trip! If you're interested in going with us, drop me a message...

Heading Home

Our time in Bulgaria is drawing to a close. Last night, we returned to Elin Pelin for a final service with our dear family there. Vernon, Joey, Roy, Linzi, and me all shared a bit with the church and, of course, our sister Christina fed us until we couldn't breathe!

Today, we took the public transportation into the city and spent some time as tourists in a new mall with a group of the teenagers from here. This evening, we returned and joined the Blaga Vest church for their evening service. After a joyful time of worship through music, I shared a message from Colossians 1. We stayed afterward for a sweet time of fellowship with the church before heading upstairs to clean and pack.

The team is drifting off to sleep and we're up early in the morning to head to the airport for the flight home. We have a 22 hour trip ahead of us so keep us in prayer. Bullhead City, see you soon!

God is Faithful in Fakulteta

A shy gypsy girl watches us from the doorway

Today, we spent several hours in Fakulteta. The Roma (gypsy) people account for 10-15% of the population of Bulgaria but are considered an unwelcome minority within the culture and treated as such. The majority of them live in isolated villages or, within the cities, in large ghettos known as mahalas. Fakulteta, located here in the capital city of Sofia, is the second largest mahala in Bulgaria and holds at least 40,000 Roma in an area of several square miles.

Please consider reading my post from last year that offers a more in-depth look at the Roma culture within Bulgaria and the struggles they face here. Also, a photojournalist named Cinzia Dambrosi offers an incredible visual look at the culture in his photo blog.

I believe the gypsies of Bulgaria offer the greatest possibility for revival in this country. They are unloved and uneducated, with little hope for their lives apart from Christ. Sin has corrupted their culture, leading to rampant alcoholism and drug use, crime, and prostitution. For all that, they are ripe for the message of the gospel and power of God to change lives and cultures. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound!

Roy and Brijon walk past a home

Today was more exploratory than anything. We had no concrete plans or expectations but have known that the Lord was calling us to this place for some time. We came with a handful of tracts outlining the gospel message, a bagful of candy, a guitar, our bibles and lots of prayer. As we turned the corner and entered Fakulteta, the change was remarkable. We left behind a modern city of concrete and glass and entered a third-world ghetto that reminded me of the worst neighborhoods in Mexico. It was eerie to walk their streets while still hearing the Sofia traffic only blocks away and seeing jets fly low overhead toward the airport.

Praying together in a Fakulteta church

Simona sharing in Bulgarian

From the first moment, God had His hand on today. We brought along three Bulgarian friends: Simona and Teddy (sisters) and Emi. None of them had ever done anything like this before and, although nervous, were excited to come along and be used by God. As we exited our vehicles parked just outside the area, Simona began to ask some of the residents about any churches in Fakulteta. After talking with two others unsucessfully, a woman walked up to her smiling and introduced herself as Lilia. She was a Christian and walked us into the community and down a street to her church... named Jehovah Jireh. The pastor was away, but we were greeted by his son, Assen, and welcomed into their church building where we talked for some time. Afterward, we prayed with several women from the congregation that came to see the Americans and continued on our journey.

Roy leads worship

Linzi shares candy and love with kids

We began handing out candy to children and the gospel message to the adults we encountered. Before long, our Bulgarian friends began stepping out on their own, sharing the love of Christ with strangers... gypsies. What a blessing for us to see them taking a step that is quite radical in their culture! One crowd, after hearing that we were Christians brought several children, including a newborn baby boy, to be prayed over by us. They were believers as well and we embraced as brothers and sisters in Christ. Further down the street, Roy used his guitar to lead our entire group in a worship song that drew a small group of people to share with.

Three cultures join in prayer

We continued to pray for the Lord's leading and several streets later found ourselves in front of an even smaller church than the first one. The pastor, Nayden Borisov, was out front with a small group of people and eagerly welcomed us into his church building after hearing who we were. After hearing about their ministry with neglected children and sharing our desire to serve the Bulgarian gypsies, we joined hands together and prayed. Then, Roy played another worship song accompanied by one of the Romani on a drum as we all sang together. When we finished, the church exploded into a worship song of their own. The gypsy music and singing style was completely different than the worship we have experienced in the Bulgarian churches. The presence of the Lord filled the place as we blended our two cultures together in worship!

Impromptu worship service

We came with no plan, but the Lord had one for us. We shared Christ with a people in need, we contacted and encouraged two Roma pastors, and we were able to demonstrate practical evangelism to several Bulgarian teens and see them grow spiritually today. God is truly good!

Please keep the Roma people of Bulgaria in prayer. They need to experience true revival borne out of repentance that will change their culture from within. God wants to heal their brokenness and we are so blessed to be a part of His work among them.

Back in Sofia!

My apologies for the  lack of update for the last day and a half. Yesterday, we left the camp at the Black Sea and drove back across Bulgaria to Sofia. With the packing and traveling, we didn't have much time, or energy, for writing. :-)

Breaking bread with the family of Christ from three nations

Last night, we took a group of friends out for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. In addition to several teenagers from the Blaga Vest church who live nearby, we were also joined by the Goshev family. Mite (pronounced Mee - tay) Goshev pastors a Blaga Vest church in Skopje, Macedonia a few hours from here. His daughters, Lidija and Ani, have been attending camps with us four about 8 years now and are good friends of ours.

The Church in Macedonia is much smaller and faces unique struggles in their mission to reach the nation for Christ. They have a large, and growing, Muslim population along with the traditional Orthodoxy that prevails in Bulgaria. Also, like Bulgaria, Protestant Christianity is seen as a fringe sect to be alienated. The church there needs our prayers and support. Pastor Mite is a loving, joyful man with a real heart for his people and we have been blessed by our relationship with him!

Today, we embark on a new adventure. We will be going to Fakulteta, a Roma (gypsy) mahala of several square miles in Sofia filled with about 40,000 Roma people. The living conditions in these ghettos throughout eastern Europe are way below the standard of the people around them. They live with illiteracy and unemployment rates above 70% and are seen as outcasts by the rest of society. But God loves them!! And so do we.

For pictures and more info on the Roma of Fakulteta visit the blog of photojournalist Cinzia Dambrosi.

We have no plans or expectations for today. We are going to see what God will do and to learn more about this area for future ministry opportunities. Please be praying for the Lord to lead us and for opportunities to share His love with a people who desperately need it. I'll post pictures and an update this evening (morning in the US). God bless and see you soon, Arizona!

Update from Megan

Hiking near Sofia with Stevie, Itzo and Zhoro

Hey Everyone, this is Megan. I'm very excited to be sharing with you my experiences from this trip. This year I was given a unique opportunity to come to Bulgaria two weeks early. It was a really awesome time for me. I got to spend time with some old friends, and it was really amazing to be able to fellowship with them in a completely new way. Normally, I only get to hang out with friends for a brief time during the busy schedule of our team, but on this trip I got to really focus on enjoying the relationships God has given me with a few of the people here in Bulgaria.

Making new friends in the gypsy village of Stolnik

I also got to attend my first ever Blaga Vest service, and that was really awesome for me. One of my favorite things was being able to sing along in Bulgarian to the worship songs. I can read the language, so any time they have words projected I get to worship God in a foreign language.

The first two weeks of my trip were really awesome, and since the rest of the team arrived I have been a lot busier, but I'm very happy to be serving alongside them. I've been in Bulgaria for almost a month now, and I have loved every day. It's wonderful to be at my home away from home.

Tour of the Camp

Hey everyone... Roy and I recorded a quick little video to show you the camp where we spend a week on the Black Sea. We've included a short tour of our bungalow where we four guys are living. Hope you enjoy!

Treasure Hunting at the Black Sea

Moni (blindfolded) is led up the street by his team

Today, we put on an epic adventure for the kids at the Black Sea camp where we are serving. We organized a treasure hunt that sent four teams out of the camp and across the town of Chernomorets to take part in various challenges in order to obtain clues. Each clue led to another challenge and finally led them back to camp.

The challenges were based on the topics of the camp from the week and included:

A team runs to their next challenge

• ...a reenactment of Saul being led into Damascus while blind. Our kids had to take turns leading one blindfolded team member up two streets marked as Way to Damascus and Straight Street to a location labeled House of Judas. Along the way, they had to collect colored markers and turn them in at the end for the next clue.
• ...a lesson in the Great Commission. Children were reminded that they need to be able to share Christ and teach His word at any time, in any place. To demonstrate, each group was asked to find three strangers and teach them a traditional Bulgarian dance on video, then share the love of Jesus.
• ...an opportunity to serve (ministry). The oldest or biggest members of the team had to carry their teammates up a flight of stairs from the beach, one at a time. Then, they had to find a store, buy water, and serve everyone a cupful.
• ...spiritual warfare and God's armor. The team had to rescue Roy, who was oppressed (tied up). While helping him, they came under attack from water gun-wielding enemies and had to use their shields to fend off the assault.

The winners with their prize

Finally, they returned to camp where they had to solve a riddle to gain access to an area with a hidden key. The team that found the key, used it to unlock a door and discovered a large box decorated as a bible and filled with chocolates. 

Samuil enjoys his chicken and potatoes

Afterward, we had an amazing dinner (by camp standards) of пиле със картофе (chicken with potatoes) and then worshiped with a few songs before listening to Joey speak on spiritual warfare. He pointed the kids toward the reality of an enemy in our lives and the challenges we face through his attacks.

Joey shares on Spiritual Warfare

Tonight, we adults will be sharing in a seaside meal of grilled fish and vegetables. We will be sitting on the rocks overlooking the Black Sea as we enjoy a friendly evening of fellowship and food. Two more full days of camp before we return to Sofia on Monday. Keep praying for us and God's perfect plan here! Лека нощ (Good night!)

Update from Brijon

Visiting an orphanage in Sofia

Hello everybody, it's Brijon. First off I would just like to say that Bulgaria is AMAZING and I hope it's not wrong of me to say that I really don't miss America at all.Whenever I travel I miss home, but Bulgaria feels like home.This trip I have done things that are way out of my box, but I pray all the time for God to calm my heart and I feel much better.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia

 So Monday we arrived at camp and let me just say it feels like I have been here forever. I am not complaining or anything! I have had a great time so far! The Black Sea is great, but I do not like the crabs. They are in love with my feet and I am scared of them.The food here at camp is good. Sometimes I do not eat everything, but the one thing I do eat a lot of is the bread. If I can, I try to eat 3 to 4 pieces at lunch and dinner. The teachings are also amazing and each of them really spoke to me. I also taught on Wednesday and I was so nervous. I had all my notes down and I went over my teaching in my mind and with a couple people of what I was going to say, but as soon as I sat down I forgot everything that I was going to say. It did not come out the way I planned it, but I think I got my point across. One girl came up to me and told me how she thought that it was great that I came here to do what God called me to do. That made me feel much better.

Making a friend in Elin Pelin

 Before we got to camp we went to a church in Elin Pelin. I got to talk to a lady about what I am doing here and about many different subjects in life. The one question that she asked me that I will never forget is "Why?" I had told here how I was nervous about doing some things here because it was out of my box, but when it came time to do it I felt totally fine. All my nervousness went away. I told her that I would pray before I had to do it and after I had prayed I felt a calmness about it because I knew this is what God has called me to do this summer.

On the airplane traveling to Bulgaria

 All in all this trip so far has been amazing and I have seen God work in many ways through many people and I am very blessed to be here. I am happy that God has called me here this summer because I feel like I have grown more and I know that God is with me all the time. Everything here is great! The food is good, the people are great, and the kids are amazing. They love on you like they have known you their entire lives. I ask that you would continue praying for the team and everything else for the remainder of the trip and I ask that even when we come back that you would continue praying. :)

Update from Roy

Roy talking about worship music in Elin Pelin

My name is Roy, and today is the 4th day of camp. Very early this morning I got to spend time with one of the teenagers here. He has been going to church his whole life, and in the middle of the conversation he accepted Jesus in his heart. I also got to share with him the things I struggled with, and the past sins I was apart of. I used them to help him learn from my mistakes, so that he might not do them also. I also encouraged him to continue seeking God, to read His word, and to talk with Him. There is so much that God has done, and that he will continue to do. Please pray for the team that we may continue surrendering to God and His will. God bless you.

Black Sea Camp in Photos

Less talk, more pics... That's the theme for this update. Here are a bunch of pics from the camp this week in the town of Chernomorets on the Black Sea. Enjoy!

Teaching the Word

Mike teaches Monday night on Coming to Christ

Niki Draganov explains the armor of God

Brijon shares with teens today

Vernon teaches tonight on Sharing Christ

Games with the Kids

Kids tangled in a human knot

The knot begins to untangle

The "Minefield" game

Trying to grab a water bottle without touching a mine

Vernon watches out for a blindfolded kid

Food

Megan tries some tsatsa (fried fish)

Fish dinner at the camp

Kebapche dinner at the camp

Camp Creatures

Emi with a live crab from the Black Sea

Camp spider... Yes, its really that big!

Scenery

The Black Sea from a Chernomorets street

Storefront in town... Coffee, ice cream & a payphone: what more do you need?

Moon over a chicken yard behind the camp... our daily wakeup call!

Miscellaneous

Joey playing games in the evening

The girls at the beach

Kids making a team flag for camp

Hanging out in the boat at camp... Why its there? No one knows!

Linzi hangs out with some of the Bulgarian leaders

Megan with Emi

Young man from Gabrovo paints camp shirt

Brijon gets her first tattoo (not real... henna!)

Bri sports her tattoo... "YaYa" in BG (her new nickname)