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