Hi everyone,
It's been awhile since the last update, but it's been crazy with off and on internet access, and me (Wendy) wanting to put a bit of thought into it.
I am currently sitting in an internet place in Demetrograd, Bulgaria. This is stop number 3 in Bulgaria, and we have seen more of this country than I expected. Actually, I had no clue what to expect here, but it's different than I thought it would be. This country seems so untouched by human hands. There are so many rolling hills and green pastures for miles and miles. We have driven a lot it seems around this country, and it seems basically unspoiled. I'll try to give you a quick summary of what's been going on.
We left Romania about 2 and a half weeks ago, though it seems like a month or two. We had our vacation time in Sofia, Bulgaria, which we decided on the day we left Romania. THere weren't any real plans of where to go, except that we were leaving. As a team, we decided to go to Sofia, and take an over night train from Romania. On the train, we were on both sides of the Romania/Bulgaria border for a total of 3 hours. When we got to the Bulgaria side, the security on the train told us we needed to close our windows and double lock our doors. Apparently there had been an 'incident' recently. What that means, I have no clue.
I had been battling a cold, along with most of our team, so train ride was pretty miserable. I was happy to be laying down, though. We got into Sofia at around 6 a.m. and had no place to go. Our team leaders made a few phone calls, and then as we were walking out of the train station, a random Bulgarian woman approached us and offered us her hostel for the next few nights. Apparently this is common in this area of the world, and it worked out well, with internet access and a great location. Oh, and TV. That was pretty sweet.
We spent a few days in Sofia, before we got on another train to go to the town of Plovdiv, about 3 hours away. Our contact, Nesco, was to pick us up at the train stations. Communication got crossed as they thought we would be getting in on the first train, 3 hours earlier. But he is an amazingly nice man, and didn't seem to have any problems with hanging out for a few hours.
The team was then transported in 2 vehicles to Hisarya, one of the cutest, most peaceful places I've ever been. It is supposedly a spa town, where mineral water literally flows from the fountains in the parks. There are a few hotels, one of which we went swimming one day, and a few health baths that people go to to cleans themselves. Nate and I ended up staying in a separate house from the rest of the team.
In Hisarya, we had a few programs. We worked in a gypsy village doing a children's program, complete with the acted out version of Jonah, a drama, and random games. We attempted to play redlight, greenlight with them, but no one actually got the idea that you run and stop, not just run to the person. But they seemed to enjoy it, anyway.
We also had a program in a cafe, doing it for the youth of a church. I've been learning the guitar, and this was my debut. It must have sounded awful, especially because my voice was gone from the cold, and I was nervous, but it was fun, and I'm a bit shocked that it happened, actually.
There was also a program in the church on Sunday morning. We did a drama, and the CD started skipping, and bless their hearts, the group just kept on doing the drama. In the complete silence of a church. I'm just glad it wasn't me up there. I might have started laughing and not been able to stop.
We are now in Demetrograd, and it isn't as picturesque as Hisarya. It is actually only 50 years old, built in the communist days, around a factory. Hisarya is ancient with a roman wall dating back to the 4th century. But, we've worked with orphans, and a church here. We have an evangelism meeting on Friday, and who really knows what that means. Flexibility is key, apparently.
Keep us in your prayers. Team funds are running low, and we still have 3 weeks left. We leave for Turkey on Saturday night, late, so pray for that too. We'll be in Istanbul for about 2 weeks.
Will is also in the States, attending his sister's wedding. It's strange having one less person, but we're holding it together.
Oh, and one random fact about Bulgaria. The people here nod their head to say no, and shake their head sideways to say yes. It makes for a sometimes annoying, mostly confusing time. Especially when the main mode of communication is body language.
Hopefully another update will come before Israel.
Hugs and kisses,
Eastern Europe team
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