Summer Reflections

I will come home to the Seattle area in a few days and although I miss being home, I will miss being here in Bulgaria as well. It has been an amazing summer full of hope and promise. I had a conversation with Nadia last night and am even more encouraged about her faith and the growth we are continuing to witness in her. Nadia is the girl from Roman,in whose flat we have been having the bible lessons. A week ago Viktor went back to her apartment and confronted the people who have been causing so many problems with calling the police and making Nadia feel so unwelcome. This time Vikor was armed with Bulgarian law. Although he never became angry, his attitude was firm and his argument sound. "How can a 22 year old orphan girl with virtually no life skills integrate into society without any help and with so much opposition from you?" he would ask. There was no response. They were informed that they were breaking Bulgarian law with their prejudices, and although one older woman was still quite belligerent,the rest were seemingly quite repentant and Nadia has been treated well from that point on. Praise the Lord!
I recently spend 9 days in Obzor with the children from both facilities from Roman and a small team from the Seattle area and from Vancouver, BC. We had a sweet time with the kids and the Lord's presence was evident throughout. Although we were met with a little resistance at the beginning of the daily bible lessons, the Lord blessed our time and children from other orphanages came to check us out and stayed for worship and lessons. Many thanks to Craig and Cathy Dulin, Vlady Mladenov, Alex Mladenova, Illyana Mladenova, Avia Mladenova, Joelle Burch, Brittney Derouin, Bre McDaniel, and Jon Boks for their contributions and efforts in the "VBS" Bulgarian style. It was a huge hit and the kids were blessed.
I had a great conversation with Ludmill Yatanski, the senior pastor at Blaga Vest, the Calvary affiliate in Sofia. We discussed mutual goals with the children from Roman and possible future alliances, with an emphasis on orphan outreach, which admittedly, they are very weak in at the moment. We also talked about CCE's mission trip to Bulgaria in the summer of 2011, and ways to best meet the needs of the children. I will be in touch with him throughout the year and I know that we can count on him for prayer and support! Please be praying for host families for the children involved in the Bulgaria Child Project.
I will travel to Roman on Monday for one last visit with the kids before returning home. Viktor will travel with me and for this I am thankful and blessed. We will spend the night in Roman and I will pass on your greetings to the children.
All for now from Sofia, Bulgaria. Thank you all for being so faithful with your prayers throughout the summer. See you soon! In His love and for His glory, Mark

Greetings from Balchik

Balchik, Bulgaria is a picturesque town 40 minutes north of Varna. I am taking a few days of r&r before the team from Washington State and British Columbia arrive. I am looking forward to seeing the forthcoming smiles and embraces when we meet with the children at the seaside in Obzor on the 10th of August.
On a serious note, many of you are aware of the difficulties we have been experiencing with some of the tenants in the apartment complex where Nadia lives. People in Bulgaria are not tolerant of dark skinned gypsy population, but are even less tolerant of people who read and study the bible with out the aid of an Orthodox priest. That includes all evangelicals in Bulgaria. We are considered sects and are feared. Nadia's neighbors, whom I have met on 2 occasions, have collected signatures to have us stopped and to have Nadia evicted. I have contacted a civil rights attorney and he has assured me that no Bulgarian laws have been brooked and that Nadia should go to the authorities and lodge a complaint against these people who have been causing her so much grief. the landlord is sympathetic with our cause but is fearful of police retribution. This is a serious matter and is worthy of our prayers.
On a lighter note, 3 of the kids from Roman were given an abstract thinking test last weekend by Blaga Popova, a Bulgarian educator in charge of one of the Christian schools in Sofia. The test was comprised of 2 parts. The first, tested kids up to age 13. The second, people from age 13 to adult. All three, Mariella, Svetla, and Pati, scored extremely well on the first part, and Mariella and Svetla scored in the high average in the second part with Pati not far behind. The most important ingredient, motivation, was present in all three.
It has been suggested that the best way to educate these kids is to bring them into Sofia for the entire school year. This will take a lot of co-ordinating and host families willing to take on the burden, will need to be found. This is a worthy endeavor and will benefit all concerned. Please be praying for this.
Thank you all for coming alongside me in our efforts here. Our endeavors will have eternal benefits.
Mark 9:37  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
All for now...In His grace and for His Glory, much love to you all, Mark

Greetings once more from the great city of Sofia, Bulgaria

We have returned from a week long mountain camp in the Balkan Mountains (stara planina: the old mountains). This is the 2nd summer camp that some of the older children have attended and this continuity brings a stability to their otherwise unstructured summer. The kids thrive on structured time. This camp was well planned and had much less free time than previous camps. For this I am grateful. There were workshops, small groups, hikes, sports, and loads of worship and teaching. It is a great joy to see the kids with their bibles and singing praises to the Lord, even some of them singing word for word in English! How sweet.
We will be having our weekly bible study in Nadia's apartment this Tuesday evening. As you recall, the last study was quite eventful. Hopefully we can have it this week without a visit from the local police!
Will go out to Roman this week for a day...just to visit and say hi to all of the kids and follow up on some of those who are serious about their commitment to the Lord. I will also be making arrangements to bring Mariella, Patricia, and Svetla in to Sofia with me on Friday to prepare for the trip to Dolna Banya, and the upcoming scholastic evaluation. This will be a huge step in launching the BulgariChildProject. Please be praying for this.
I am very excited to announce that all of the preparations have been made to bring a small team from the US and Canada back to Bulgaria this August. Craig and Cathy Dulin, Brittney Derouin, from the States, and Joelle Burch, Jon Bok, and Breanne McDaniel, from Canada.
This is a great opportunity to fellowship with all the kids from the orphanage, as we will accompany them on their yearly outing to the Black Sea in Obzor, Bulgaria.
We will have daily (covert but not so covert) bible studies and worship in the afternoons. This daily devotion was a big hit last year along with Joelle's art classes. We love seeing the children worshiping the Lord with such enthusiasm!
My summer here is more than half over...hard to believe. The extended stay this summer has given me a more acute insight for the need of a longer lasting presence for me in Bulgaria. Please be praying about this. My language skills are improving but I still have much more to learn.
Last but certainly not the least, please be praying for Sara, the girl to the left. On the last night of Vlady's camp, a couple of girls from the isalt team from Illinois were praying with her and she asked Jesus to be her savior. This is a joyous occasion, but please be praying for protection and follow up. I have witnessed the vortex of the orphanage and it will be trying to such her back in. This will be an ongoing labor of love. All for now from the beautiful country of Bulgaria...wish you were all here to share it with me. In His grace and for His glory, Mark

Hello All,

Greetings from Bulgaria. I have a few things to report since our last meeting. Tuesday evening we held our weekly bible study in Nadia's apartment. There were a handful of regulars and the message seemed to resonate with them. We discussed Romans chapter 7 and the paradox that Paul found himself in from time to time. How easy it is, when we let our guard down, to refrain from doing those things we know is right; the things that bring us joy, and to practice those things which we hate; the things that steal our joy. By the nods of their heads, I could see that the message was sinking in. I challenged them along with myself, to invest in those things that keep us looking up.

At the beginning of the study, a lady was waiting outside Nadia's apartment to collect a "foyer tax" for general upkeep of the lobby area. Quite frankly, she didn't seem to be a very friendly person. After taking the 7 leva, she asked Nadia who we were, and Nadia told her we were her friends and that we were going to have a bible study. Her response was icy at best.

Just as we were finishing the study, we heard a knock on the door. I could tell by the look on Nadia's face that something was up. And up it was. There were 2 police officers at the door wanting to check our documents. Even though we had done nothing to provoke a visit by the local authorities, the woman had called the police. For what reason I don't know and we received no explanation from the police. They entered our information into their data base and left.

Bulgaria is similar the the United States back in the 60's. If you are a person of color, your life can be very difficult. Romi (gypsies) are oppressed every day in this country. Bulgaria is also an orthodox country and many people consider evangelicals to be cults. These 2 facts may have contributed to the phone call.

Through it all, emotions were running high but it provided a great opportunity for us to call on the Lord and not let the police or this woman steal our joy. Mission accomplished!

Please keep praying for the kids, both in Roman and in Sofia. It is an uphill battle but we're in it for the long haul.

~that God will provide a way for continued mentoring in their lives
~for the BulgariaChildProject...that God will bless this and that it would be fruitful
~for next year's CCE TeamBulgaria
~for my health (slight bronchial infection)

God bless you all, thanks for your faithfulness! Mark

Hello Everyone,
It has been a while since i last updated, so here we go!

We have tweaked the candidate list for the first two to be assessed for the Bulgaria Child Project. Mariella will remain on the list, while Pati will be added. This change was made due to some insights acquired recently. During the past two or three camps I have noticed Pati taking care of all the small children. She is very good with them and quite patient. Her love for them is obvious. It was discovered that when she leaves high school and eventually the orphanage, she would like to study in a university and become a teacher for kindergarten or elementary age children. Please be praying for this change.

We have completed our first camp with the older kids and even through some rather in-climate weather, there was some beach time and time for fellowship, small groups and praise. Most of the kids had a week without cigarettes and we discussed the advantage they now have in their ability to quit. Some desire this, but time will tell...another thing to pray for.

The kids from Roman performed a skit on how sin entered the world and how it was defeated by Jesus, on the cross at Calvary. Through my proud, teary eyes, I noticed the other kids, the ones from Sofia and some of the adults were also welling up. Jesus IS making an impact in the hearts of these kids from Roman.

We are now back from a week at the seaside with the smaller children. Mrs. Tosheva, one of the teachers, was there with the children. She is a solid believer and a great strength to those kids who choose to follow Jesus. It is a delight to watch Zoiya and some of the others join in with the praise music so intently. There was, however, and incident worthy of reporting. One of the children from Roman was staying in a room at the camp with a couple of girls from Sofia. When 40 leva went missing, (about $33) it was no stretch to realize who had done this. The bigger issue was, would she own up to it? After 20 minutes, she did admit that she had stolen the leva, and that she felt ashamed. We are tankful for this step of faith on her part, (most children clam up when confronted about bad behavior) and extended our patience and mercy to her and did our Lord to us. It was reinforced to her that Jesus will always love her no matter what and the He is her advocate in times like this.

It was discovered the one of the children, Yulia, 10 years old, cannot read, while Zoiya, 1 year her junior, can read proficiently. I see the need now, more than ever, to launch Bulgaria Child Project. To that end, I will be meeting with Blaga Popova this week to discuss plans to have Pati and Mariella assessed. Also, I will be meeting with Vlady Raivhinov tomorrow to finalize plans for his youth camp starting the week after next. Please be praying for this as it is a great opportunity for the kids to grow closer to the Lord.

I spent a day and night in the mountains above Vratsa with a Dutch group and some of the older kids from Roman. This was a relationship building visit and the leaders and team members were gracious and engaging. This group have been going to Roman for 11 years, and have accomplished many capital improvements at the home and have developed strong bonds with the children. It was good for the kids to see us working together.

I gave photos to some of the kids from Roman that I had brought with me of some of our children from CCE, holding pictures of the children from Roman. The children from Roman were told that the child holding his or her picture would be praying for them. The smiles on their faces were from ear to ear!

Well, all for now...In His grace and for His glory, Mark

Let's Roll Up Our Sleeves

We have been to the orphanage twice now, and it is never easy to leave. The most recent visit was yesterday with my dear friends Vlady Riachinov and Geri Donkova. The children greet us always with hugs and kisses and are in need of "good" attention. Ivet, the director was in good spirits yesterday and we discussed many things about the changes in the orphanage system in Bulgaria. Most of the changes seem good from afar, but without the core belief in Jesus, they chase only after the symptoms but not the problems. Our efforts continue to focus on the changes in the hearts of the children through the knowledge of the Master of change, Jesus.
To that end, we began the first bible study for the kids who have left Roman for living in the big city; Sofia. We held it in the apartment that we are renting for Nadia. We will use this apartment for many studies throughout the summer. Tuesday night, the kids learned something that is most difficult for them, having grown up in an orphanage. That is that the tongue is the most difficult part of the body to control. We discussed ways to practically apply this message to their lives today. Two of them said emphatically that they could not pray for someone who has hurt them. I am thankful for their honesty. One of them, Ivan, said that he has not yet given over his heart, but knows that Jesus is real, and is still "thinking". I love this; their ability to be transparent and to be genuine. To photo to the right is the kids preparing refreshments for the bible study.
In regards to the Bulgaria Child Project, Ivet, the director of the orphanage, has agreed to let some of the children be assessed this summer for scholastic aptitude and has even agreed to let them come into Sofia during the school year for special tutoring, to help bring them up to Sofia standards.
Blaga Popova, the director of Scripture Union in Bulgaria, has agreed to assess 2 of the children this summer and advises us to start slowly. I am in full agreement with this advice. She is involved with a similar program with an 18 year old girl from another orphanage, and has shared with us the difficulties of such an undertaking. That being said, we are encouraged and trust the Lord for the opportunities.
The two candidates that will be tested are Mariella, above, and Karina to the left. Both of them are smart and want to learn and have a desire to continue on with their education after the orphanage. Please be praying for this.
Both of these kids have a knowledge of their savior, and this will be a tremendous way not only to give them what they may need for later on in life, but also for the life to come. We will be praying for the right teachers, with a Christian background.
There is sad news on the Conie front. On Sunday, Conie went to a part of Sofia where there is a transition home for kids who have left orphanages throughout Bulgaria. This is where Conie had her start. Unfortunately, the bad guys know where this home is and were waiting for her. She has gone back with them, but I know that the conversation that Conie, Viktor and I had, resonated with her. We told her that we wanted nothing from her and that the only thing that the Lord wants is her heart. Please be praying for her. Although she is living in a very dangerous situation, we know that He is with her and will finish what He has started.
All for now, please stay tuned...

Small Unsustained Victory

Conie returned to Nadia's apartment yesterday, and it is abundantly clear that she wants to be freed of the lifestyle that she has been living for the past 3 years. She is ashamed of her behavior and is ready for change. We asked her if she would like to come with us to church on Sunday, and (тя каза да) she said yes.
We are organizing a weekly bible study at Nadia's apartment for some to the young adults from the orphanage who are now living in Sofia. Please be praying about this effort. It is important for them to understand what it means to follow Jesus. I am looking forward to these studies.
Another area of concern is for them to find jobs and begin to learn how to care for themselves. This sounds easy to us, but I am finding out just how difficult it is for them. They have been cared for their whole lives, and have always had their needs met by others.
I trust God for this and we will be patient with them as He is patient with us! All for now...чао за сега (bye for now)

The Battle Begins

Stefi's 1st birthday away from the orphanage was full of games and laughter, but later on that evening we were reminded of the battle that is being waged all around us.
The young girl in the photo, whose name is Conie (pronounced with a long O), is from the orphanage in Roman but has been walking the streets of Sofia since she was 16 years old. She is now 19 and has 2 children.
Our prayer that evening was for forgiveness and redemption. Conie desperately wants to change her ways and for a few days, stayed with Nadia, another girl from the orphanage, for whom we are renting an apartment.
Unfortunately, she left yesterday with an unidentified man in a car, without her identity documents. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. She has heard the gospel message from the beginning of our work here, but the enemy is active and keeps drawing her away. Conie is a child of God and we will not stop praying for her. Please join in with us as the battle rages on.

Stefi's Birthday

It's Sunday morning and a beautiful day in Sofia. We were in Roman yesterday for a few hours and it was so good to see the kids again. After a few hours in Roman, we loaded up Rosa, Stefi's sister and two of Stefi's best friends, Karina and Zoiya. Once in Sofia, they were treated to the Circus Balkanski.
We are anticipating an eventful day with all sorts of fun activities for the children. More later...

We're in Sofia now...it's going to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, but that won't distract us from the joy of going to Roman today to pick up some kids to bring in for Stefi's birthday party. For those of you who don't know the details, Stefi is the 11 year old (12 tomorrow) who was adopted by my dear friends, Viktor and Beny. We will bring in from Roman, her sister, Rosa, her best friend, Karina and her other best (I know this is a contradiction of terms) friend, Zoiya. Stefi is learning how to adapt to family life and even through the challenges, one can see the resolve and joy in her countenance. The Lord's hand is in this and a miracle is in progress! stay tuned...

On My Way

I had a great flight from Seattle to London. I left Seattle around 7PM and once in the air, I slept all the way. This is a first for me. The secret...work yourself to a frazzle 2 or 3 days before you depart, like I did. It works!
With much anticipation, I'll be leaving for Sofia tomorrow and on to Roman by the end of the weekend.
Today, the weather in London is much like Seattle's has been lately...grey and overcast.
Thanks for the ride, Harley!
Please be praying that the kids in Roman will hear and heed their calling! God is faithful and will finish that which He starts. What a great and comforting promise!
All for now...In His great love,
Mark