June 5th Update from Bulgaria
Dear friends,
Greetings from soggy Sofia. After a long dry winter, Bulgaria is receiving more than its share of spring rain! It rained almost continuously for two weeks, then we had a reprieve with a week of off-and-on showers. Now we are bracing for two or three days of heavy rain. We have already experienced some major flooding in several areas. A bridge a couple of blocks from our home was closed last week due to damage to a support.
Container news: Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The FINAL permissions have been granted for us to distribute the items for this last container sent by FBC Cabot, Arkansas. AND we have the right to receive other containers of humanitarian aid without paying custom duties and taxes. All of this was signed, stamped and sealed by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy. It will be reviewed after six months, but with a good record of deliveries, there should be no problem with getting a permanent permission. The final documents were finished at the customs office today, and we are all set to start the deliveries. Even after this season of trials, Paul still has some dark hair amidst the white!
On May 26th, we were invited to sing at the wedding of the son of the Indian ambassador. His family attends the International Baptist Church here in Sofia. Ray Smith, interim pastor of the church, performed the ceremony, but in the building of the congregational Church here. Charlene Smith was responsible for directing the event. Paul and I had prepared a duet and were quite shocked to hear the Congregational church choir rehearsing the same number as we entered the church. THEY had prepared to sing it for the wedding, too! Fortunately, we had our song folders with us so we found another option, but one we had never sung in English before! Then later, Paul, Andrew and I sang together. At the reception at the ambassador's residence, we met ambassadors from several other countries. We were asked to be involved in special events sponsored by several different embassies. I guess the unrehearsed song went okay! We will keep you posted!
On Thursday, June 7th, the church-based medical center will be dedicated in Sliven. Sliven is about a 4-hour drive from Sofia and we will attend the dedication services. This clinic completion has been a long time in coming. Pastor Yuri Vulkov has dealt with many difficulties and set-backs but persevered til the completion. He believes that this will be a vital outreach ministry for his church. The church and we are thankful to Jesse and Terry Wilson for sponsoring this clinic. The doctor and nurse are ready to go and we expect wonderful results.
Team from Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Towne View Twelve had a great ministry here this past week. It was the first team from this church to come to Bulgaria on a BCI mission team. We hope it is only the beginning of their involvement.
They arrived on Tuesday, the 29th, and traveled straight (yes, I know that the mountain road is very curvy) to the town of Berkovitsa. They began their work the next morning by visiting 6 classes at the public school in the gypsy village of Rakovitsa. Many of the children in this village do not attend school at all and many others are very sporadic in their attendance. The children were encouraged to continue their education and to be serious about attending on a regular basis.
The volunteers were prepared to speak about the great state of Georgia, bringing with them GA quarters, flags, stickers, etc., for each child. The presentation included a short introduction to the state with pictures, teaching of the song Georgia on my mind, presenting each classroom with specially prepared calendars featuring sites in the state, the teaching of a Bible verse, and presentation about special churches in the state. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that our currency has the words "In God We Trust" printed on them. We were able to present this same program to classes at the Health School one morning. It was of great interest to students AND teachers.
The daily afternoon schedule included work at both Berk 4 (home for handicapped children and youth) and Berk 3 (home for school-age children without parental care). At Berk 4, some of the team worked with the especially severely handicapped children providing sensory and therapy activities. Hyacinth Crooks, a nurse practitioner; Teresa Denmark, a sensory and speech therapist; Bobbie Bruce, grandmother/baby holder; and Andrew Ridgway worked with this group mostly.
Other volunteers went from room to room telling a Bible story, doing an ability-appropriate craft and a game. One of the stories was about Zaccheus. The activity involved gluing a Zaccheus figure on a tree. We were especially blessed when one of the more handicapped kids asked for another figure to represent Jesus!
The children especially enjoyed role-playing and the acting out of the story. There was one interesting twist when the child portraying Jesus decided he did not care for the behavior of one of his disciples, so he just leaned over and slugged him! Oh well, I guess we all fail in our efforts to be Christ-like. Several team members took part in the preparation and presentation of these stories and activities: Lorraine Roote, Trey and Jennifer Lyon, Patti Lowe, Kim Dyson, Daniel and Melanie Connell and Taylor Jansen. Translators were Vasco Vacilev, Vladi Raichinov, Yordanka Tesheva and Denitsa Papratilova.
The team used the same stories and activities at Berk 3. There, however, Patti Lowe and Stephanie worked with some of the older teenage girls in a more intimate circle where the girls felt freer to talk and share about their lives, hopes and fears. The environment was totally
non-threatening. We made friendship bracelets, gave manicures and braided hair as we talked!
Organized outdoor activities were a great hit at this home with many kids getting involved and working off some of that pent-up energy. We took these same activities to the home in Borovtsi on Saturday morning. The kids there were thrilled to get some one-on-one attention.
A highlight of the whole week was the celebration of the International Day of the Child on June 1st. The kids from Berk 4 had put together a Sports Spectacular! They made all of their outfits. They had sewn black pants with a white sports stripe down the side. The fabric had come on containers and, of course, they used sewing machines purchased by FBC, Cabot. They all wore t-shirts shipped from Cabot, also. They were donated by a school that had them left over from a band tour! Some of the older girls had made cheerleading costumes, complete with pompoms and white headbands. They were SO proud! I will have lots of pictures in the newsletter! At any rate, the show consisted of a flag ceremony, gymnastics, relays, bike-racing and singing. It was terrific. I cried all the way through it. I was so proud of these kids. One of the high points was a gymnastic dance that had Nellie (a 16-year-old that does not speak) waving flags while standing on the knees of two of the boys. Yavor (8 yrs. old) and Stancho (28) sang at the end. Though the team had nothing to do with the preparation for this event, the members served a vital part by being a very appreciative audience! The children really needed to show what they could do and our Georgians were more than happy to clap and cheer them on.
On Sunday morning, the team served in the church in Rakovitsa. The children from the community kept pouring in until we simply had to begin turning them away due to lack of space. We had around 100 children there for Bible stories, activities, and singing. Around twenty-five children from Berk 4 came. We sent our vans to pick them up. All the children sang two songs in the worship service, then the kids from Berk 4 sang all 3 verses of "Jesus Loves Me." It did my heart good! Lorraine Roote introduced the Georgia team and they all sang "We Are One in the Spirit." We were especially blessed by the sermon given by Teo Angelov. He spoke to our hearts about real treasure. He so inspired the orphanage worker that had accompanied the children that she asked to address the congregation! After the service, the ladies in the church had prepared a special treat of many kinds of banitsa, a Bulgarian pastry specialty. Unfortunately, we left there to go immediately to lunch! Then, it was on to Sofia for souvenir shopping outside in a downpour! The team left early Monday morning, tired but happy. This was a week of hugging and establishing relationships. The good-byes were very difficult for the children and for the team members.
Bonne Jensen arrived from Cabot, Arkansas, on Monday afternoon. She and I will work with the kids at Berk 4 on making Nativity Scenes! And we will be delivering goods from the container. It is neat that Bonne can be here for this, because she did the paperwork involved in sending this container!
Blessings,
Judy
Greetings from soggy Sofia. After a long dry winter, Bulgaria is receiving more than its share of spring rain! It rained almost continuously for two weeks, then we had a reprieve with a week of off-and-on showers. Now we are bracing for two or three days of heavy rain. We have already experienced some major flooding in several areas. A bridge a couple of blocks from our home was closed last week due to damage to a support.
Container news: Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The FINAL permissions have been granted for us to distribute the items for this last container sent by FBC Cabot, Arkansas. AND we have the right to receive other containers of humanitarian aid without paying custom duties and taxes. All of this was signed, stamped and sealed by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy. It will be reviewed after six months, but with a good record of deliveries, there should be no problem with getting a permanent permission. The final documents were finished at the customs office today, and we are all set to start the deliveries. Even after this season of trials, Paul still has some dark hair amidst the white!
On May 26th, we were invited to sing at the wedding of the son of the Indian ambassador. His family attends the International Baptist Church here in Sofia. Ray Smith, interim pastor of the church, performed the ceremony, but in the building of the congregational Church here. Charlene Smith was responsible for directing the event. Paul and I had prepared a duet and were quite shocked to hear the Congregational church choir rehearsing the same number as we entered the church. THEY had prepared to sing it for the wedding, too! Fortunately, we had our song folders with us so we found another option, but one we had never sung in English before! Then later, Paul, Andrew and I sang together. At the reception at the ambassador's residence, we met ambassadors from several other countries. We were asked to be involved in special events sponsored by several different embassies. I guess the unrehearsed song went okay! We will keep you posted!
On Thursday, June 7th, the church-based medical center will be dedicated in Sliven. Sliven is about a 4-hour drive from Sofia and we will attend the dedication services. This clinic completion has been a long time in coming. Pastor Yuri Vulkov has dealt with many difficulties and set-backs but persevered til the completion. He believes that this will be a vital outreach ministry for his church. The church and we are thankful to Jesse and Terry Wilson for sponsoring this clinic. The doctor and nurse are ready to go and we expect wonderful results.
Team from Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Towne View Twelve had a great ministry here this past week. It was the first team from this church to come to Bulgaria on a BCI mission team. We hope it is only the beginning of their involvement.
They arrived on Tuesday, the 29th, and traveled straight (yes, I know that the mountain road is very curvy) to the town of Berkovitsa. They began their work the next morning by visiting 6 classes at the public school in the gypsy village of Rakovitsa. Many of the children in this village do not attend school at all and many others are very sporadic in their attendance. The children were encouraged to continue their education and to be serious about attending on a regular basis.
The volunteers were prepared to speak about the great state of Georgia, bringing with them GA quarters, flags, stickers, etc., for each child. The presentation included a short introduction to the state with pictures, teaching of the song Georgia on my mind, presenting each classroom with specially prepared calendars featuring sites in the state, the teaching of a Bible verse, and presentation about special churches in the state. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that our currency has the words "In God We Trust" printed on them. We were able to present this same program to classes at the Health School one morning. It was of great interest to students AND teachers.
The daily afternoon schedule included work at both Berk 4 (home for handicapped children and youth) and Berk 3 (home for school-age children without parental care). At Berk 4, some of the team worked with the especially severely handicapped children providing sensory and therapy activities. Hyacinth Crooks, a nurse practitioner; Teresa Denmark, a sensory and speech therapist; Bobbie Bruce, grandmother/baby holder; and Andrew Ridgway worked with this group mostly.
Other volunteers went from room to room telling a Bible story, doing an ability-appropriate craft and a game. One of the stories was about Zaccheus. The activity involved gluing a Zaccheus figure on a tree. We were especially blessed when one of the more handicapped kids asked for another figure to represent Jesus!
The children especially enjoyed role-playing and the acting out of the story. There was one interesting twist when the child portraying Jesus decided he did not care for the behavior of one of his disciples, so he just leaned over and slugged him! Oh well, I guess we all fail in our efforts to be Christ-like. Several team members took part in the preparation and presentation of these stories and activities: Lorraine Roote, Trey and Jennifer Lyon, Patti Lowe, Kim Dyson, Daniel and Melanie Connell and Taylor Jansen. Translators were Vasco Vacilev, Vladi Raichinov, Yordanka Tesheva and Denitsa Papratilova.
The team used the same stories and activities at Berk 3. There, however, Patti Lowe and Stephanie worked with some of the older teenage girls in a more intimate circle where the girls felt freer to talk and share about their lives, hopes and fears. The environment was totally
non-threatening. We made friendship bracelets, gave manicures and braided hair as we talked!
Organized outdoor activities were a great hit at this home with many kids getting involved and working off some of that pent-up energy. We took these same activities to the home in Borovtsi on Saturday morning. The kids there were thrilled to get some one-on-one attention.
A highlight of the whole week was the celebration of the International Day of the Child on June 1st. The kids from Berk 4 had put together a Sports Spectacular! They made all of their outfits. They had sewn black pants with a white sports stripe down the side. The fabric had come on containers and, of course, they used sewing machines purchased by FBC, Cabot. They all wore t-shirts shipped from Cabot, also. They were donated by a school that had them left over from a band tour! Some of the older girls had made cheerleading costumes, complete with pompoms and white headbands. They were SO proud! I will have lots of pictures in the newsletter! At any rate, the show consisted of a flag ceremony, gymnastics, relays, bike-racing and singing. It was terrific. I cried all the way through it. I was so proud of these kids. One of the high points was a gymnastic dance that had Nellie (a 16-year-old that does not speak) waving flags while standing on the knees of two of the boys. Yavor (8 yrs. old) and Stancho (28) sang at the end. Though the team had nothing to do with the preparation for this event, the members served a vital part by being a very appreciative audience! The children really needed to show what they could do and our Georgians were more than happy to clap and cheer them on.
On Sunday morning, the team served in the church in Rakovitsa. The children from the community kept pouring in until we simply had to begin turning them away due to lack of space. We had around 100 children there for Bible stories, activities, and singing. Around twenty-five children from Berk 4 came. We sent our vans to pick them up. All the children sang two songs in the worship service, then the kids from Berk 4 sang all 3 verses of "Jesus Loves Me." It did my heart good! Lorraine Roote introduced the Georgia team and they all sang "We Are One in the Spirit." We were especially blessed by the sermon given by Teo Angelov. He spoke to our hearts about real treasure. He so inspired the orphanage worker that had accompanied the children that she asked to address the congregation! After the service, the ladies in the church had prepared a special treat of many kinds of banitsa, a Bulgarian pastry specialty. Unfortunately, we left there to go immediately to lunch! Then, it was on to Sofia for souvenir shopping outside in a downpour! The team left early Monday morning, tired but happy. This was a week of hugging and establishing relationships. The good-byes were very difficult for the children and for the team members.
Bonne Jensen arrived from Cabot, Arkansas, on Monday afternoon. She and I will work with the kids at Berk 4 on making Nativity Scenes! And we will be delivering goods from the container. It is neat that Bonne can be here for this, because she did the paperwork involved in sending this container!
Blessings,
Judy
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