As yesterday's blog was titled: Slava-na-boga... this means "Praise the Lord!"
We began this morning at the gypsy village of Rakovitsa. We parked at the Baptist Church - which is at the entrance of this village - and walked up the road to greet people and invite the children to church... much like a Pied Piper! When we reached the school in the center of the village - about a 5-10 minute walk (half mile) - we turned around and walked back down to the church for the children's Sunday School.
Not knowing how many children would show up to Sunday School, we did not know what to prepare for. These children do not have a regular Sunday School and they do not go to "big people's church" (the main service) because children do not normally go to it. Thus, the only time that they get presented anything about the Bible is when a group like us shows up. Well, about 100 children showed up for Sunday School this morning!! Slava-na-boga!! Here are some pictures:
During Sunday School we told stories, made a craft, and loved on the children. Skip presented the story of Jesus rising from the Tomb while several people acted the story out: Greg played Jesus, Midge and Debbie played the two Marys at the tomb, and Cindy was the Angel. After this story, Jane talked a little, then Skip, Debbie, Greg, and Midge rang bells.
We then went upstairs to "big church" and worshiped and sang. They first sang songs in their language for us and then we sang hymns in English as a choir for them - they sang along in their language for the hymns that they knew. It is a beautiful thing to have songs sung in different languages at the same time!! We even have a group of 4 Dutch men (from Holland) with our group this week - so they sang with us too! After all this singing, Skip sang a solo, followed by Jim preaching. The people in the church had snacks for us after the service. It was a wonderful fellowship time.
Our God is so good and faithful! We were reminded this morning (from Jim's sermon) that being faithful does not mean that we will get something in return. This is a problem that the gypsies face: they think good works should bring rewards. And Oh! how often we do the same! But we find our treasure in His presence alone! Our teasure from our faithfullness to come to Bulgaria was His presence among us today - in this worship service and in the other activities we did today! Our God is good!
After church, we then went to Klisorski Monastery and walked around. We also ate lunch at this monastery. We definitely are not starving - the food is amazing as always!
After this we went and changed clothes and drove to Borovtsi, where the Learning / Transition Center is. Since we went yesterday to see it, we went back this afternoon with our Dutch friends to show them around. They will be laying laminate flooring this week. They are a fun bunch - speaking very little English - but a good group. They prove that you are not too young or too old to go where God calls. They range from 1 retired/widowed man (70 yrs old) to a teenage boy of 16 (grandson of one of the other men in the group). (They make a total of 4 men).
As for the Center, we ask for your prayers - the people building it are on "Bulgarian time" and are neglecting the fact that their contract says the building should be done next week!! It is months aways from being finished at this time. We just hope to be a help to get things done while we are here - i.e. painting, putting furniture together, setting up rooms and doing whatever is necessary. Please pray that the work gets done quickly and that Judy and Paul find the strength to keep dealing with this building project.After going to the Center, we drove back to Berkovitsa and rested for a little bit (or walked around town) before going to dinner. Again, another nice meal! This was the resturant with excellent fish (yes, with the head still on) and other wonderful food - including homemade baklava!!
Good night to you all here in Berkovitsa. We will sign off for the evening and write again tomorrow (God willing).
Thanks for following our blog!
Blessings,
The Bulgaria Team
