God is Working Here!

Shoveling Snow at Church

It has been a cold, busy last two weeks! The last weekend in January was a big Gospel concert we’d been planning for a while, and it was a great success. We have had very cold temperatures recently, with lots of snow, more snow, ice, even more snow, and oh, did I mention we’ve had snow? ;)


English Club

Two weeks ago for English Club we learned about teamwork. It has been hard starting up English Club again after Christmas break; hardly any teens have come. One reason for this is that a large number of the teens in this English Club are part of a dance group that will be participating in “Bulgaria’s Got Talent” in April. They were good enough to move up to the next level, and thus they have practice every week… on Monday nights. However, there are some teens that still come, teens that are not in the dance group. This particular night there were five girls, Semah (the leader), and I. We talked about the definition of some words related to teamwork, and then we did some activities. The first activity related to trust. We had to partner up, sit on the ground, then stand up without using our hands or arms. The next activity was building a tall, freestanding tower out of straws. My team won, because the other team used tape to hold theirs to the ground, which was not allowed. It was fun to get to interact with the teens and use teamwork.

Bible Quizzing

Bible Study that week consisted of Galyia, Joanna, and I meeting together at church. We met at church because we were expecting guests to arrive at our home that evening, but they never showed up. Joshua had quite an adventure going to Bucharest with Pastor Nikolay to pick up our two guests, Brian and Jacek. It was dangerous, scary, and freezing cold, but God was with them. (Check out Joshua’s blog at: http://haunbulgarianexperience.blogspot.com/2012/01/two-americans-man-from-poland-and.html). Anyway, the girls and I had a good Bible study, going over John chapter 6. We talked about the Lord’s Supper, and then we discussed what it meant for Jesus to remain in Jesus, and Jesus to remain in us (see John 6:53-56 for the particular verses we were discussing). We had a good conversation, and learned more about what it means to live for God and allow God to live in us.

Gospel Music Workshop

On the last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of January we were supposed to have Gospel Music Workshops, but due to the terrible snowy conditions between Bucharest and Razgrad, Brian and Jacek (and Pastor Nikolay and Joshua) did not make it to Razgrad until Thursday night, instead of Wednesday evening. Brian is originally from the States, but has lived in Poland for the past few years, leading Gospel Music workshops. Jacek, a talented musician, is from Poland and is Brian’s partner. Together they led Gospel Music Workshops and taught a group of people eight different Gospel songs. We ended up having workshops from 4:30-8:30pm Friday and 1-6m Saturday. We also had a rehearsal Sunday afternoon before the concert.

Jacek, Debbie, and Brian

Many people came to the workshops! There were about seventy people or so, many of them were not from RazNaz (Razgrad Church of the Nazarene). It was great that so many people came. The church led and organized this event, but worked in conjunction with the Razgrad Municipality, so we met in the Razgrad Philharmonic Hall. During the workshops, Brian would teach everyone a song, and then talk to us about the meaning of the song, and what the song is saying. For each song, he described how it worshiped God. He talked about how the Spirit of God must be in us in order for us to live for God, worship God, and sing Gospel music (otherwise the Gospel music is just fake). Brian did a good job presenting the Gospel in an exciting, real way. One could tell he lived what he was sharing. He was passionate about living for God, and that passion spilled over onto the people who came to the workshops.

Friends, New and Old

Debbie and Zhivka

Several girls that I knew from English Club came to the Gospel Music workshops, and I was excited to see them. My friend Zhivka (the one I went to coffee with in December) and I sat beside each other during the workshops, so we got to talk with each other. She is Orthodox, but is not a practicing Orthodox. (Although her dad is, or was, an Orthodox priest, she lives with her grandma now and it is too far or too difficult to go to an Orthodox church on Sundays.) I am glad she came to the Gospel Music Workshops, because God was speaking to her and touching her life. She shared with me one day that she was tearing up as Brian was talking about heaven, and describing everyone worshipping God together. I was able to talk with her and encourage her to live for God.

The other girls from English Club sang in a different section than me, but I got to see them during breaks each day. They introduced me to some of their friends, so I made new friends. One girl I met had studied in South Carolina a few different summers, and had recently graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics. She has a passion for photography, and had brought her camera to take pictures of the concert Sunday. It was great to meet new friends and make connections, sharing with other people about what I’m passionate about. Whenever we sang, I sang to God and worshipped God. I want others to see that I am living for God, that my life belongs to God, and that I love God.

Gospel Music Concert

RazNaz Choir

Many people came to the Gospel Music concert that Sunday. The concert was from 5-7pm, held in the Philharmonic Hall. Other choirs performed, too, because this concert was in conjunction with the Razgrad Municipality. In addition to the Gospel Music Choir, there was a woman’s choir, a classical choir, a youth choir, a church choir (our’s - RazNaz). For the church choir, we sang three songs. One was in English and two were in Bulgarian. Joshua, Katie, and I had a special part in the English one. One of the songs in Bulgarian was very fast, but I was able to sing most of it. My Bulgarian language skills are coming along well. The Gospel Music Choir contained people from all of the other choirs, with around seventy (or more) people in all.  The Philharmonic Hall was filled with people who came for the concert. Less than one third of the people there were from church, so many people were there to here the Gospel message.

One of the other Choirs

In between songs for the Gospel Music, Brian shared the Gospel. Many people, both in the audience and in the choir, were crying. God was moving! A few people were grumpy that the Gospel was being shared, but those were former Communist leaders. God can still be working in their heart, even if they are not accepting of the Gospel at this moment. It was a great evening. The audience did not just sit there and watch during the Gospel Music, but they stood to their feet, clapped their hands, and sang along on the chorus for some of the songs. The whole concert went well, and the Razgrad Municipality invited Brian and Jacek back again.

Me all bundled up

Snow, Snow, Snow!

It has snowed just about every day since January 25th. It has been very cold here. This Saturday, the temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit! (That is warmer than the previous two week’s temperatures combined.) However, everything that melted during the day froze overnight, and all the streets and sidewalks were covered in ice. It wasn’t safe to drive, for everything is ice! I had quite an adventurous walk getting to church, but I did not fall even once. :-) I slid several times, and came close to falling a few times, but made it all the way to church and back without falling. Since then, it has snowed even more. I like the look of the snow, it is very pretty. However, it makes things cold. Also, when it snows, my internet hardly works. This presents a problem, for I have an online class that just started this week. Please pray that I will be able to access the internet when I need to. Please pray that we continue to stay warm! My teammate Joshua may be getting pneumonia, so please pray for him.

Icicles on the Door into the Churchyard

Fun with Teens

Last night we went to church to hang out with some teens. For highschool here, half of the teens have morning classes (8am – 1:30 pm), and half have afternoon classes (3pm – 7:20 pm). Halfway through the school year they switch. Today is the first day of the new schedule, and yesterday was no school. So, some teens got together and invited us for a fun night of games. We played several fun games, and enjoyed ourselves. The girls team totally dominated the boys team. ;) We all had fun! I look forward to Wednesday, when we will all gather again for youth Bible study.

May God bless each of you! Thank you for your prayers and your support.