Well we have done it again and we are going to get you
caught up on the month of March. We are going to go through one week at a time.
We are so sorry we have gotten this far behind again but we are filling you in
now! This is the first two weeks of March! We will be working on the blog
better now that school is winding down! I hope you enjoy our blog! We have been
EXTREMELY busy with fun and exciting things! Let’s get you in the loop!
Ok. Here we go! The first week of March was really busy
and exciting. We spent the first week in Asenovgrad. This is a city just south
of the large historical city of Plovdiv in southeastern Bulgaria. We were there
taking part in a Christian Business seminar for starting small businesses. One
of the primary issues in Bulgaria right now is the low economy. Bulgarians are
always in need of new and better paying jobs. It was exciting to learn together
with our Bulgarian friends and hear all about new ideas for starting new
business to help employ the people in the Razgrad community, and how they could
make a kingdom impact through business. Since this trip over a month ago we
have been meeting with these new entrepreneurs to help translate their business
plans from Bulgarian into English as they attempt to win a competition that
will win them an interest free loan for starting their companies.
While
in Asenovgrad we were able to spend our evenings visiting some wonderful
historical sites. One of these sites was the largest working monastery in
Bulgaria. It was such a beautiful place nestled in the foot hills of the
enormous mountains surrounding it. This is the monastery where Patriarch Stefan
is entombed, and we were able to see and touch it! This was such an honor for
me, but I think a little creepy for my lovely wife. Patriarch Stefan played an
amazing role in the salvation of the Jews in Bulgaria during WWII. (By the way
if you do not know the story of the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews find the
book “Beyond Hitler’s Grasp” and read it, AMAZING!) It was absolutely humbling
to witness the endurance of the faith here in Bulgaria. Some of these
monasteries are 1500 years old. When communism ended less than 1 percent of the
entire population was Christian of any denomination. Yet, it is still a country
covered in churches, monasteries, and monuments to many of those who gave
everything to keep the faith alive no matter the obstacle.
While there we also visited Mt. Orpheus. This is the
mountains where the famed cave that leads to Hades is located. Here, Greek
legend says, Orpheus the Thracian descended to Hades to rescue his dead wife. Also, on this mountain there is a large
fortress where the Byzantines, Bulgarians, and Turks guarded the only pass to
the Aegean. We were able to visit this fortress, located on the peak of Mt.
Orpheus, overlooking the Aegean pass. There was also an Orthodox Church located
on the fortress grounds and so we were able to see this from the outside, it
was locked to visitors. L (This is a sad face for me.) 
During our time in Asenovgrad we also celebrated the 8th
of March. This is a Bulgarian holiday that celebrates ALL women! The ladies got
flowers and we went out for an amazing meal that evening at the foot of Mt.
Orpheus. We headed home at the end of
the week driving through the old Thracian Empire, where Spartacus started his
rebellion. The roadsides were covered in the burial mounds of Thracian kings.
As a last stop we visited the Russian built Orthodox Church at the foot of the
Balkan Mountains which commemorates those who fought and died to free Bulgaria from
Turkish occupation. It is an absolutely gorgeous church. (See the awesome
pictures at the end.)
Well after a week filled with fun in southern Bulgaria we
are back in Razgrad and celebrating spring. We began volunteering at an
elementary school this week. We had been invited to sit in on a few English
classes. Many of the students study English but never speak to English native
speakers. We went and read to them and then each one introduced themselves in
English. It is funny because they are in second and third grade and they think
that we hung the moon! We have continued volunteering since when we are
available. Sometime even two times a week.
After everyone arrived at 11 we left and began walking to
go to a picnic area. Two cars left carrying people and they would drop off and
drive along the path we were walking and they would pick up a new load of
people. It ended up becoming about a 10 kilometer “short” walk (this is
approximately 6 ¼. Miles). It was also the warmest day we had seen since
November when we arrived. It was officially the First day of spring! We began
the walk with a group of more than twenty ranging in age from 5 to 50. Slowly
the numbers dropped of those walking to only a few teenagers, college age, and
young adults. We followed a road for a few miles up a LARGE hill and when we
were almost to the top the cars came… still packed with people. They seemed to
not be able to remember where the actual picnic site was. Finally they agreed
and at this point we went off road and began taking paths through the woods to
get to this “perfect picnic area.” We walked for maybe an hour in the woods. It
seemed that no one knew exactly where to go. We finally stopped and called the
group that traveled by car and they were waiting at the campsite. After a few
minutes of them yelling and us trying to locate their voices we began walking
back the direction we had come. We listened as the children screeched and
yelled to get our attention. We finally see the car on top of the hill and make
our way there. 
We arrived at the campsite with our clothes covered in
thorns and snags, worn out, thirsty and ready to sit and enjoy the afternoon.
It was a gorgeous view of the hillside of Razgrad. One of the parents climbed
into a tree and hung a rope swing for everyone to play on for while, some of
the teens and adults played card games, singing old church hymn, dancing, and
just sitting and admiring the wonderful warmth that we had all been so
anxiously awaiting all winter long. It became close to 4:30 or 5:00pm and we all
began to pack up the blankets and place them in the car. The cars filled with
people and we followed the cars out and as we neared the road we realized at
the bottom of the large hill we climbed up we could have been at the campsite
within five minutes walk! It was such a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending
it with friends and the church family. We
discussed how in Tennessee winter isn’t so bad that we look forward to spring
enough to designate a day to celebrate. It was neat that everyone was so
excited that the winter was over to spend a day out in the wonderful warmth of
summer!
This is all we have for now. We will be working on getting the completion of March blogged! We will be working to get the April blog completed soon as well!! Thank you all for being so patient! We hope you enjoyed!
Blessings to you and yours,
Katie and Joshua Haun
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