Four Days in Assenovgrad

View out my hotel window

We traveled to Plovdiv (in southern Bulgaria) with Pastor Nikolay and family for a conference. It was located in Assenovgrad, a town just outside of Plovdiv. It was a great week!

Read on if you’d like to hear highlights from each of the days.

Beautiful me,
with view from window in background

Tuesday
-Left home at 4:30am for the drive to Plovdiv. Saw many interesting historical things during the 5+ hour drive.
-First day of the International Micro Enterprise Development (IMED) conference. Learned about how business can honor God, and how we can use business to further God’s kingdom.

-Met some people from the States (MN and CA), people from around Bulgaria, and people who’ve moved to Bulgaria (a man from Cameroon, a lady from Russia).
-Walked around Assenovgrad in the evening, ate some tasty corn.

Kenneth, from Cameroon.
His wife is Bulgarian.

Corn with various toppings

Tasty salad!

Wednesday
-Learned about marketing.
-Made some new Bulgarian friends.
-Talked with people about my passion for serving God and what I want to do in life, and listened to others share about their own passions.
-Went to a monastery that was built in 1083. The priests were doing a service, so we stayed there for a bit listening to them chant and sing.
-Went to a Bulgarian restaurant and ate some very delicious food!

Thursday

My roommate and I

-Spent time with my roommate, a nice lady who wants to serve God with her life. She was one of the translators for the conference.
-It was International Women’s Day, so some men from the conference bought each woman a flower, including a flower for many of the hotel staff.

The flower I received

-We learned about financing during today’s sessions.
-We went to Assen’s Fortress, high up in the mountains. It was built in the 9th century, and it was amazing to see. There are many walls left, as well as the church. We got to climb around, look around, and walk around. Pastor Nikolay explained some of the history to us. It’s amazing. It was great to learn more about Bulgarian history. It is so fascinating!
-We went to the same restaurant for dinner as we did the previous night. The food was delicious!

Friday
-Last day of the conference. The sessions during last part of Thursday afternoon and the first part of Friday morning were taught in Bulgarian, without translation, so I got lots of practice listening to and trying to understand Bulgarian. I think I did fairly well! I was able to understand most of what was happening, even if I did not know every word.
-At lunch I talked with a Bulgarian lady in Bulgarian, and she was impressed with how much Bulgarian I knew for only being here for four months. It was encouraging to have her tell me that.
-We drove straight home after the conference ended (after we ate lunch); we will go back to Plovdiv another day. Arif, one of the pastors at a village church near Razgrad, needed to get back to Razgrad that evening instead of late that night. However, we did stop at a beautiful Russian Orthodox church, built to commemorate the Russians defeating the Turkish army and liberating Bulgaria from Turkish Oppression.

Saturday
-Time for homework! :-) I think I get to have coffee with my friend Zhivka this afternoon, so that will be nice! I’ve not seen her since the Gospel Music concert in January.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Keep your eyes open for how God is working around you, for God is continually at work.