April Activities

April has been a wonderful, full month! There have been some great experiences that I will treasure. It was especially joyful to be able to celebrate Easter here in Bulgaria. Read on if you would like to hear about the events of the month.


The first weekend in April/last weekend in March we had the pleasure of Dr. Arnold Klaus visiting us from EuNC and teaching a course on History of the Church of the Nazarene. It was neat to take this class in Bulgaria, taught by a German. Three wonderful people, whom I've been friends with since I came to Bulgaria in 2006, were part of this class: Zhana, Lydia, and Galin. I enjoyed catching up with them and spending time with them. We went out to eat with the professor a few times, and stayed at the restaurant till late, swapping stories and enjoying the company. It was great. Just two weekends later, we had another professor come visit us. Ron Compton from Michigan came and led a seminary on four parables, one from each of the Gospels. He was here for Easter and held the sermon the next day. I enjoy learning alongside of my Bulgarian brothers and sisters, for their perspective helps me see things in ways I would not have been able to see on my own.

On April 7th we went to Silistra for a youth conference. Silistra is the northeastern most point in Bulgaria, and you can see Romania if you look across the Danube River. It was a good conference, and a beautiful day for it! I was proud of the teens, they spent the whole drive studying John and preparing for the quiz. However, when we got there, it turns out we did not have a Bible quiz. We did do a demonstration, though, and got some more people excited about it. :) We will have a quiz on June 2nd. There will be another youth conference, and this time we will host it! So, we will have the quiz on that day. More weeks to prepare! Please pray for the teens to continue to be motivated to study the Scriptures, and pray God speaks to them as they put God's word in their hearts.

We had a wonderful Easter here; it was so special! For a better description of Easter here in Bulgaria, look at the previous post. Here I'm just going to mention a few things I didn't mention in that post. We had a great baptismal service on Palm Sunday. Three people were baptized at church by pouring, and then we went to a lake and three people were baptized in the lake. It was a special time of God with us, feeling the Holy Spirit surrounding us all.

The whole week leading up to Easter we had something happening every day. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were at church for several hours each day, preparing the church for Easter. I did a lot of cleaning. I enjoyed getting to see my church family every day of the week and spending more time with them. We had a great footwashing service on Maundy Thursday, and shared a big meal together. It was a great time as we also participated in the Lord's Supper. Friday after the Good Friday service, we drove to Sofia. The professor flew in on Friday afternoon, so we drove to Sofia on Friday and came back on Saturday (about a six hour drive each way). We were able to stop at several monasteries and historical sites along the way, and learned more about Bulgarian history. It was very interesting to participate in the Good Friday service at the Bulgarian Orthodox Church at the Troyan Monastery. Saturday night, late, we went to the Orthodox church in Razgrad to participate in the midnight Easter service. Everyone got candles, and lit them from the candle lit by the flame in Jerusalem, and tried to keep their candles from blowing out. It was quite a trick, because it was pouring down rain outside! I also enjoyed participating in that significant event. Christ is the light of the world, there is none other. Easter Sunday was amazing. I could feel the Holy Spirit surrounding us. It was such a joyous time of worship!! God filled me with joy. I am so blessed to have been able to participate in Easter here in Bulgaria.

I have been able to see friends this month, too. I've had fun at English Club getting to know the teens more as we play games together. Three times this month I ran into friends from English Club while out around Razgrad. I saw my friend Gabi in the grocery store one night, and we talked for twenty minutes there in the store. The week before Easter, I went to a Easter card drawing / coloring competition fundraiser put on the Red Cross, and I got to see my friend Zhivka (who volunteers with the Red Cross). It's wonderful to see friends around town. : )

Last Sunday I was able to teach Sunday School, and I taught about unity in the church. For God to work through us, we need to be working together. I taught about how we can multiply churches and allow God to use our willingness as a way to reach out to others. This Sunday I will be teaching Sunday School again, and talking about multiplying pastors. There is no shortage of people called to ministry, there is a shortage of people who respond to God's call. Pray that people's hearts are open as God speaks to them. Thank you for your prayers!