Backlog - Wednesday, June 8, 2011

I awoke throughout the night, but that’s to be expected. Because we don’t have water from 4:00pm Tuesday until 4:00am Wednesday morning at the BL office, I was a little eager for the morning to come, as I hadn’t taken a shower or used the restroom since I’d arrived (after 4:00pm). Hah :) Well, I awoke the final time around 5:30am and decided to make for the day. By 6:30am I was attacking the morning with Bible reading and prayer and singing until around 8:30. I wasn’t aware of who was coming or going, but I knew Nicky would be arriving with everyone else at some point, and so I went upstairs (I’m living one floor down from the entry level) and found the staff coming down from the office floor above that for morning prayer and planning. That finished about 45 minutes later and Nicky and I spoke about my schedule. An opportunity arose where I could go stay with Hari and Penka in Kardzhali, where they minister among Turkish Bulgarians, many of who are Muslims. They had a schedule that was able to incorporate me immediately and so Nicky and I discussed the situation and decided to make a go of it. We purchased a bus ticket for the afternoon (4:00pm) because I had an appointment with another church planter in downtown Sofia around 1:00. Riding a bus in a foreign country is an experience I need, and so I grew. Nicky said I would have ample space; “it’s not Africa” he said. Hilarity ensued when we found out before my departure that I would be traveling in a smaller, specialized bus, which was filled. I was in the back row with two ladies and a gentleman the size of the rest of us put together. Thankfully, it was air-conditioned, and so even though the man next to me generated massive amounts of body heat, the airflow nullified his power to oppress. Anyway, I was packing my bags after we determined I would go, and Nicky had to go get a vehicle maintenance. His wife took me to the mall when it seemed he wouldn’t make it back in time. We took another of the BL’s vehicles which is on its last legs. It wouldn’t start for a little bit. I just prayed that it would, but I didn’t say anything out loud because sometimes you keep the door closed when God’s performing for His people because of matters of faith and then announce it afterward. The car immediately started on the next try and we were off. We met Nicky and Daniel, another BL staff member, and Nicky and I headed for the mall where I would meet Ludil, whom the brothers call “Lucy.” Lucy is a church-planter in the area affiliated with the AoG. The Lord converted him in his teens; his parents were “Christian because they were Bulgarian, and they weren’t Muslims.” He shared with me about his life and his current work with the church he planted several years ago. He is incorporating some very interesting habits into the church for reaching lost people, as the church is focused on reaching young adults who cannot identify with the current and past forms of Christianity in Bulgaria (or the rest of the world for that matter). One concept is having the “coffee time” in the middle of the service rather than at the end as it is a normal way of life for people here, and it makes the opportunity to engage in conversation with visitors much easier (and keeps them from jetting out the door when the “service” ends because they’re embarrassed to stay for coffee and impose or be asked anything personal). Anyway, Ludil and I met over coffee and he showed me pictures while he shared the story of his life journey. He is in the midst of a great transition in ministry and needs your prayers. His primary partner in ministry, who serves without pay and is a true Barnabas for him, is leaving the country for ministry elsewhere. There is no bitterness between them, only sorrow that the friendship is distanced and his support in ministry is disappearing. Pray that God will raise another brother to partner with him in this work. He is also experiencing the pains of massive migration throughout the European Union. As young people leave and look for new jobs, churches that focus on reaching this generation of orthodox atheists feel the shift hardest. Their giving plummets, and so not only is giving down, but rents are not. Thus, keeping a facility for weekly services available becomes more difficult. God has provided for them every time, but applying such knowledge to increase our faith isn’t always the easiest with this body of death we’re in. Pray for these brothers and sisters. After we finished our meeting, Nicky took me to grab something to eat up in a food court. Fact of the day: A 6” sub of the day is about $2.25 including tax. Well I took a little time to pray and so I had to forego eating in order to make it to the bus stop. Then the bus ride ensued for 4 hours. When Hari picked me up at the bus stop, instead of going home, we decided to go visit a Turkish village where a family of believers lived amid a Muslim community. The fathers in the communities are so desperate for work that they are often away from their families for great durations of time. Thus, the women and children grow in the faith by the time the fathers return, and the fathers remain fairly stagnant and young in the faith. They cannot exercise great godly leadership in the home and often remain besotted by sin. The father of the family we visited, Mustafa, was working creating a hay stack when we arrived. We wanted to hold an impromptu meeting, but he had to finish this work because rain was expected and he needed to preserve this feed for his animals. Hari and I determined to help him and worked piling the hay until the job was finished and then we went inside the house. There are a couple families in that neighborhood who are believers. But, the whole families are not always present because of the work issues. Thus, we met a young girl, Tolga, about to graduate middle school who is growing in the faith. These believers are the family I speak of. After a short while, Mustafa came inside also. Hari had Tolga read from the Bible, which was kept in a high point of the house, and then Hari gave a short devotional about three parables, asking them questions throughout. He directed most of the teaching to Mustafa. He later told me how important our helping him work was to get him inside so that he might grow through learning from the Scriptures. It was a very kingdom-strategic and enjoyable evening. Another blessing is that Tolga has a friend in another village that Hari has never been to for sharing the Gospel. The best way to enter is not as a foreign element, but through a relational connection, such as another Turkish person, like Tolga. Thus, they decided that we would go visit that village on Friday, to potentially share the Gospel with a people who have never had a chance to hear it before. Pray for us. I shared a short song before we left. Upon arrive at Hari’s home (Penka had prepared a great dinner for us of potatoes baked with cheese and chopska salad and ham). We had cherries too :) After dinner I showered from the work and then headed to bed.