Well Happy New Year to all. We apologize again for our long awaited (I’m sure) blog post. These past few weeks have simply been a time that we have been busy with small things and yet still finding time to rest and recuperate from the holiday hustle and bustle. I pray that you and your families had such a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We have made memories that will definitely never be forgotten. The last time I updated we were about to begin our walk in the snow to the city center where we were going to “Ring in the New Year” alongside the rest of the Razgrad community, including many friends from the church. We arrived in the city center at 11:30. In the States at 11:30 you can hardly get into New York City for all of the people on Time Square, at 11:30 everyone is finding their place near the television to watch the ball drop. At 11:30 everyone who was playing games or watching movies has put everything on hold anticipating the much awaited night of the beginning of a new year! Well… not in Bulgaria. At 11:55 everyone began to show up. Everyone had wine bottles and plastic cups to share with their friends. Many had firework and were setting them off in the midst of everyone. Not to mention the music that was being played over loud speakers. We laughed and threw snowballs at each other and played around and then quietly to ourselves Joshua and I counted down from 10 to the beginning of a New Year. Everyone popped open their wine and liquors and cheered as the first five minutes of the New Year passed. Once the fireworks ceased a Bulgarian band walked onto the balcony of the theater and began playing traditional folk songs. Before we knew it we were in the midst of hundreds of people holding hands and dancing. Of course being the wonderful mentor that he is, Pastor Nikolay takes our hands and throws us into the lines. It took a few rounds to learn the steps; however, soon we were dancing well among the Bulgarians. There were people dancing everywhere. In the city center where the Christmas tree is placed there were people completely surrounding it. We were on one side of the tree and while taking a break from dancing we turned to find Pastor Nikolay making a snow ball and throwing it across the fountain where the tree is placed. With hedges as our shield we all began making and throwing snowballs over the fountain. Not caring who they hit, and not long after we had people throwing back. This went on for half an hour as we laughed and hid and tried to not get hit by a snowball. We finished our snowball fight and began another round of dancing. The last song we danced to went on for nearly 20 minutes. Our feet and arms were crying out for a break. As the musicians ended everyone cheered and many left and began the walk home. Despite the cold we were all sweating and very tired. We said goodbye to our friends that began to walk back home in the freshly fallen snow.
Here are some pictures from our New Years Eve festivities!
This was our amazing dinner!
The next few pictures are pictures of us celebrating and ringing in the new year!
Happy New Year from Bulgaria!!
Let the dancing begin!
This is a video of the dancing that we did for a couple hours nonstop.
It was so much fun! How fast do you think you would pick up the moves?
And ladies do you think you could do it in heels while holding a purse?
It was so much fun!
The next morning, as many of you know, was a special day because it was mine and Joshua’s first Anniversary of being married. Here in Bulgaria it is a custom that instead of you receiving gifts from others on your anniversary and birthdays you thank everyone else for being a part of your lives and to thank them you pass out candy. We arrived at church early so that Joshua could help shovel the snow off the sidewalks and I was going to go get the candy from the store nearby. Little did I know that unlike on Christmas, EVERYTHING closes on New Year’s Day! We had no idea that everything would be closed so we hurriedly tried to figure out what we could pass out to everyone to thank them for celebrating with us. We quickly called Debbie and she stopped at the small 24/7 shop that was opened and she found a small bucket of 50 pieces of chocolate. We were so relieved. We enjoyed a great Sunday service and then we were blessed to be able to share with all of our friends and thank them for being with us on our anniversary. After service many of the kids wanted to make a snowman so we went out into the cold and had snowball fights, built a snowman and so much more fun. Once we were all soaking wet from rolling in the snow (whether from being forced or willingly making snow angels) we all went home to get warm. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing because we knew the day ahead of us tomorrow would be exhausting and that we would need as much rest as possible.
From the beginning he was out to cause trouble and Joanna caught him in the act!
He just picked me up and threw me down....
Getting supplies for our snowman... rocks, sticks, carrot, etc.
Вяра wouldn't cooperate!
These pictures were taken by Rosen Ivanov! Thanks for capturing priceless moments!
We had such a fun filled anniversary. Many blessings from the adults in the church
and lots of laughter with the kids!
Monday morning came and we were going to spend the day in Varna! Pastor Nikolay drove the hour and a half drive to the gorgeous coastal Black Sea and on the way we made a pit stop at the Stone Forest. Nikolay pulled the van over and everyone who had previously been sleeping woke themselves up, and we began wandering through all of the rocks. The Stone Forest was once below sea level and completely covered in water. We looked as some of the rocks had been eroded with nature-made holes directly through the center of the rocks. Joshua being the brave one that he is decided he was going to climb a rock… Well getting up was rather “fun” but getting down had everyone worried. At one point Nikolay made a statement about driving the 5 miles into Varna buying rope and coming back. The tall rock was surrounded at its base by sharp smaller rocks so jumping simply wasn’t an option! We were all observing the rock closely to find foot and hand holds that he could use to get down. None were found. He had pulled himself up once he climb 2/3 of the way up the rock so there were no foot holds or hand holds to guide him back down. But Nikolay Kolev came to the rescue and stably planted himself on a lower level of the rock and let Joshua use his hands as a foot hold to get to a level where he could climb down by himself… Needless to say I wasn’t happy and I told him I didn’t want him to climb anymore. Before I knew it he had ME climbing the rocks! I climbed the tallest one and it was all I could do to not fall off. Debbie Joshua and I all three climbed up on the rock and sat on the top when clearly there was maybe room for one! It was an amazing rush. I will probably never do it again but it was a memory that will never be forgotten.
After the Stone Forest we went and visited the former associate pastor of the Razgrad Church of the Nazarene. He and his family now live in Varna because he and his wife are both employed there, and rather than travel every day it made more sense to live there. Pastor Nikolay has been working closely with this man in developing the church plant that has already been established there. The church plant consists of many gypsy families that are living in poverty. The man was telling us that some of the homes where the services were held were in such bad condition. In just one home more than ten people were living among 2 rooms, and these rooms are not the size of bedrooms in America. These rooms are typically all there is to the home. One is the kitchen and one is the bedroom. The kitchen sitting area folds out into a bed as well as probably some cots made on the floor. The bedroom may have two small beds that 2 people each sleep in. Not a full size or a queen but most likely a twin and sometimes smaller. Pastor Nikolay informed us that these people have no money and they simply find hope and joy in serving the Lord. Because Varna is the coastal city many people move there for work. Therefore Pastor Nikolay says that there are enough former Razgrad members that a new church could be formed. He has been working diligently with these people to get them all organized, and to extend the Nazarene Church into Varna.
We left the pastor's home and we began driving further into the city center of Varna. Pastor Nikolay tells us now that we are going Ice Skating. And by we he means we are all ice skating and he is watching. The entire Kolev family went with us and we had such a fun time. Neither Joshua nor I fell at all! We were very proud of ourselves!! After leaving the ice skating rink we went and parked on the side walk and began walking toward the sea! Did you catch that? Yes, I said we parked on the side walk. It seems that here in Bulgaria the roles have switched. The cars park on the side walk when there is a no parking on the street sign and the people walk on the road because there isn't any room on the side walk. It is amazing the cultural differences that there are that we would NEVER see in America. If you were a soccer mom and all the parking spots were full and you had a van full of kids and you were in a hurry by the time you got your van on the side walk there would be an officer there handing you a citation. We watched in amazement as more and more people began to do the same things!
Keeping our balance to take pictures!
As we walked toward the Black Sea, Pastor Nikolay says that they have a family tradition. Anytime they are visiting Varna (for pleasure not business) that they go to a restaurant on the sea and eat fish and chips. We arrived at the restaurant and sat outside literally inches from the coarse sand, watching seagulls fly over head and baby kittens walking around trying to get any scrap piece of food that they can, and hearing the soft sea rolling onto shore. We sat at 2 tables and Nikolay ordered for us all. Each table received two plates of fish and two plates of chips! Plus a bowl of fish soup that Joshua and I shared. Let me tell you a little something about these fish.... THE HEADS WERE STILL ON!!! (pictures posted below) I am NOT kidding. I had a very hard time with it at first then I noticed that many of the other girls that went with us were not eating their heads either. They informed me that is was a preference thing and they all didn't like it so they didn't eat the heads... While many of the girls had a pile of heads covered by a napkin beside them. (some of the heads were also fed to the kittens)(What....??? They looked hungry..) all of the guys were putting the whole things in their mouth... anyways... I must admit the fish were very good once you got past the whole head thing! The soup also was very tasty. It was much like a chicken noodle soup except instead of chicken there was fish. The soup was nice as we were a little cold outside, but how could we resist sitting outside in the fresh sea air? We left the restaurant and went to the mall. Neither Joshua, Debbie nor I had 'proper' winter shoes according to Nikolay and Yanita. Therefore we spent 3 hours going through every shoe store in the mall looking for shoes... "They can't just be cute. They have to be cute and warm and water proof!" (in the words of Nikolay) We each went home that evening with new winter boots that are now being used almost daily in the snow and rain! Our day in Varna was a success and we were so blessed to be able to spend a day with friends having a blast!
On Wednesday of that week we were able to go to one of the grandmother's homes for a movie night with the teens. All of the teens were out of school and got together and watched a movie for Joanna's birthday. It was great because the movie was in English with Bulgarian subtitles so we were all able to enjoy it. We are still involved in language lessons and we are all learning many new vocabulary words as well as understanding the rules of grammar. It is definitely hard but we are going to be at this for many more weeks and our teacher is great! She pushes us and yet she helps us understand and doesn't just make us memorize. We are truly blessed to have made great relationships with people here so quickly. Every Tuesday and Thursday we go to the church and hang out and talk with any one who stops by. Thursday night is also bible study so we spend lots of time at the church with Bulgarian friends. Bible study has been wonderful. Joshua and Debbie are really enjoying it. I have made a new friend named Вяра (pronounced Ve-ah-ra) she is three and she is a HANDFUL! She comes into the church every Thursday night and during Sunday school and comes and sits in my lap then quietly whispers in my ear that she wants to go play! So I have volunteered to keep nursery whenever needed to assist so that the parents can enjoy the lessons. I can't imagine in a few months having to tell her goodbye.
Debbie has begun leading a bible study for any teenager interested in Bible Quizzing. It is once a week at our home and is such a joy to have young teens who are interested in learning God’s word. Debbie is in charge of hosting and preparing for a quiz this year here in Razgrad. Because quizzing is not widely known in Bulgaria the Razgrad church will host one quiz in April to let everyone see just what quizzing is. Debbie has been working hard preparing for bible study and much more. She is in charge of writing all of the questions and also getting the questions and rules to all of the Nazarene pastors who are interested in bringing teens. However, it is has been difficult for her to do this because it must all be in Bulgarian. Thus coming up with questions that will translate well has been a task.
The sun rise is often this beautiful and typically the sunset to follow that evening is equally as beautiful. The sunrise above and the sunset below were in the same day. WOW!
We have the most amazing views of the sun setting from our back balcony.
We were blessed to able to have Pastor Nikolay and his wife Yanita as well as another Bulgarian church friend, Nasko, over to our home for a Mexican meal. We wanted to share with them our favorite food! We ate chicken burritos with rice, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and best of all SALSA! We were very excited for them to try the salsa! It was a wonderful night of fellowship.
Today has been a very snowy day. It is simply beautiful and I wanted to share it with you!
Enjoy the following pictures of our snowy day!
(Joshua bought me this flower and it is SO gorgeous. Bulgaria is known for their Valley of the Roses and the rose oil that is produced naturally there. Many flower shops have deliveries from the Valley of the Roses. We really want to visit here before we come home. I am sure it will be a sight to see. Could you imagine a valley filled with roses this gorgeous everywhere that is natural?)
We have begun hanging some of our clothes outside however when you do not have a screened in or windowed balcony the smoke from the chimneys absorb deep into your clothes and you smell of smoke for days so until the weather is warmer and the smoke is few I do believe towels will be the only laundry that is hanging to dry outside.
We are looking forward to the weeks to come as many new things are going to be taking place. We are having gospel singer, Brian Fentress, here next week for a gospel music seminar and concert where those that have been in the seminar will perform for the city next Sunday. It is very exciting because it is a new genre of music for all of Bulgarians. Joshua has diligently been working on this concert and has been coordinating and been in charge of all communication with Brian. Joshua has become very good with being the liaison between the Bulgarian’s and Brian Fentress. We are soon going to be starting an aggressive form of evangelism known as “Each One Win One” by Dr. Louis Bustle and Gustavo Crocker. We have been reading and preparing for this and Pastor Nikolay has been spending much time preparing to train the leaders of the small prayer cells that will be formed and this is why Joshua has taken responsibility over the Gospel seminar.
We are excited for all of these events to take place but as these events take place so does school work for Joshua and Debbie. The spring courses begin around the first of February and they are still completing class work from the fall semester due to our late arrival. So prayer are appreciated with that. Books to read, papers to write, as well as all of the responsibilities with the church it will be a challenge that I know they can overcome but will need as much patience and prayer as possible. We know that once they are turning in class work and looking forward to due dates that the time here will simply fly by and we wish that it would not go by too fast. It is hard to believe we have been here for over two months. It feels like we have been here so much longer and yet we hate that it is going so quickly. Please keep us in your prayers whenever you think of us. God has us in the center of some amazing plans for the Bulgarians here especially in Razgrad.
Blessings to all, Katie
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