My Last Day in Sofia

Posted on February 28, 2013 by opendooreurope

Angie flew back to Germany very early this morning, and I am waiting for my evening flight right now. I had a really nice last day here in Sofia. After breakfast I needed to change money in order to pay my last night’s stay at the hostel. When I did that, having time before Bill was to come pick me up, I went to the center of town and bought some postcards. I don’t always have time to look for postcards, buy stamps, write, and send them. But this time I did. Let’s hope they arrive as they should. Bill had his doubts, but I have faith.

Then he took me to another mall, so now I’ve been to 3 malls in Sofia. I don’t know how many malls Sofia has, but all 3 of these could be in the US because there were so many familiar stores—particularly at the food court: Starbucks, KFC, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, and of course McDonalds. He bought me an Italian cappuccino and told me about his ministry as a Christian businessman. He has plans that will bless others both materially (the homeless, for example) and will be financially very profitable in a very short time. The most impressive things about his ideas are that they are easily sustainable and reproducible throughout Bulgaria and even beyond. He is putting the finishing touches on his business plan, and when he launches his website, they will take off and that is when he will find investors from all over the world.

When the topic turned to technology, I had to admit that my computer is just a really fancy, smart typewriter that helps me to stay in touch with people. He smiled and took me to the technology store to show me what he thinks I need: a tablet. I resisted buying cellphone until 2005, and resisted buying a portable computer until 2009. And so far, I have resisted buying a GPS device, a smart phone and a tablet. But as he showed me how easy they are to use, I felt my resistance crumble. How have I managed without a tablet so far? Well, I have managed. It is something to think about, but do I really need it? I’m tempted, but resisting.

In a few minutes we will be boarding the plane. All electronic devices must be turned off. Ha! They can’t turn my book off! And prayer is always online with God. He will show me if He wants me to get a tablet. God is good!

Our Last Night in Sofia

Posted on February 28, 2013 by opendooreurope

With this prayer trip finished, some of our team flew back to their homes from Skopje, and some of us were flying back from Sofia. The teammates that had driven up to Sofia from Greece drove back home again. We hugged and said our goodbyes, most of us will see each other at the next prayer trip in April.

There is a lot of love and unity that develops when people pray together, and especially when they are praying for each other. This time I was the recipient of a lot of prayers because of a spiritual attack masquerading as a migraine. It came 2 days ago, the evening before our prayer walk in Skopje (see my previous post “Prayer Walking in Skopje”). I suddenly had a very sharp pain just above my left eye and in the left side of my neck just where the spine meets the skull. This was accompanied by nausea. I went to the room, skipping dinner, and I prayed there through the evening session. The next morning, I heard that another one of our team had also felt sick, as with labor pains. Hers was a reaction to what Macedonia was experiencing in the spirit, while mine was a full-blown attack from the enemy.

I know that mine was an enemy attack because I have been attacked this way many times, and it is always just before I go on mission trips. As I prayed, I was in such pain that I was really beyond words. But I heard the Lord say to my spirit, “Relax and rest in Me. Listen to My heartbeat.” I tried, but much of that time I simply couldn’t hear His heartbeat. Finally, after about 2-3 hours, I really can’t say exactly how long, I felt better, and I heard the Lord say, “It has loosened its grip on you.” What He didn’t say was that it was gone.

The next night, after our prayer walking day we were again praying and worshiping. One pastor there said that Macedonia suffers from a spirit of rejection, and that some of the people present also needed to be freed of a spirit of rejection. He invited the people to come forward who needed prayers for rejection. Then he looked at me and said, “Sister, your body language says that you are suffering from rejection.” I had my arms folded across my chest. He said, “Open up and receive the freedom that God wants to give you.” So I opened my arms, and he prayed for me. I suddenly began to cough very violently—it was like the cough came all the way up from the bottom of my abdomen, and I was bent double coughing. He continued to pray and I continued to cough, then I fell to the floor (but I think someone caught me, I really can’t say). Once on the floor, a deaconess from his church came and prayed for me. As she laid her hand on my stomach I began to feel peace and the coughing stopped.

Then I heard the Lord say, “The demon has loosened its grip on you, now you need to loosen your grip on it.” I did. In my spirit I let it go and began to push it away. I turned on my side and began coughing again, and then it was gone. I turned onto my back again and the relief I felt was so great that I began to cry. When I stood again, I returned to my chair feeling exhausted, but good. Then I began to laugh. And I just sat there, laughing and laughing.

Yesterday in the car on the way back to Sofia another attack came. About an hour outside of Sofia we stopped for lunch, but I didn’t eat, feeling again nauseated. They advised me to take authority, but in my weakened state, I didn’t feel like I could. The group prayed for me, and took authority over the thing. The headache and nausea passed, and by the time we were in Sofia, I was feeling much better.

As I was praying about it, the Lord told me that I need to take authority over the demons. The authority is mine, but I need to take it. He said, “When you enter a place, they should all flee in fear of you.” Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of 2 Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline,” (emphasis mine). And I heard Him say, “You shouldn’t be timid. You need to be bold.” And I understood the last words of that verse: “power, love, and self-discipline” as a triangle. That power and self-discipline come from love. It’s like love is the battery that gives power and self-discipline their strength. As I tap into the love, I will find the power to take authority over the demons that they will recognize as His authority, and they will flee from me.

Likewise, by tapping into that perfect love, I will find the self-discipline not to simply ride-out the attack in prayer. Prayer has worked in the past against these attacks, but now I need to exercise the self-discipline to take authority over the demons immediately.

So last night Angie and I stayed another night in Sofia. She is flying back to Germany as I write, and I will fly back to Milan this evening. For our last night in Sofia, Bill and Vasha and Anton took us to the Mall of Sofia, where we ate at the Happy Bar & Grill. Happy features traditional Bulgarian food and sushi. Bill suggested a dish called Happy Bits with corn and cream. I also ordered a Bulgarian salad with the wonderful Bulgarian cheese on it. Angie had sushi, but hadn’t ever tried mixing a bit of wasabi into the soy sauce. I’m not sure that she liked the wasabi so much. For me, it’s just not sushi without wasabi.

After dinner, Angie did some shopping for her family. I had already gotten bears from Bulgaria and Macedonia, so I didn’t need to do any shopping. I definitely want to come back to Bulgaria. The work that the Lord is doing here is amazing, and I love the people here. God is good!

Prayer Walking in Skopje

Posted on February 27, 2013 by opendooreurope

Greetings from Skopje, Macedonia!

After spending our first day in prayer, worship, and planning, we spent yesterday out in the city. First we went to Mount Vodno, to pray at the Millennium Cross over the city. The Millennium Cross is the world’s biggest cross. But we didn’t get to see it up close because the cable cars up to it were down for repairs. Instead we found a scenic overlook area where we could look down upon the city as we prayed for it.

Then we divided into 3 groups for prayer walks:

The University, The National Theater, Art Museum
The Government Buildings, The Holocaust Memorial, a missionary businessman’s businesses, and the Bridge over the River Vardar in the center of town
The Methodist Church, The Orthodox Church, A Mosque, and the office of a Social Worker

I chose to go with the church group. The Methodist Church is the oldest and largest of the evangelical churches in Skopje. There we prayed for unity among the protestant churches and unity with the Orthodox Church.

From there we walked to the office of the Social Worker. Kati had shared with us the day before about the struggles in the family sector. Macedonia has many grave family issues, but few Social Workers and even less money. In fact, the government does not hire new Social Workers when one leaves. Instead, the work simply gets shuffled to someone else in the department—whether that person has any experience or knowledge about Social Work. And with all this institutionalized chaos, the need continues to grow, and more and more people come in looking for help.

As I listened day before yesterday to her explanations about the system, I could see the pain on her face. I know that if it were in her power, she would help every person who comes in for help. She was so grateful to have us come in to pray for her. It encouraged her very much.

From her office we went across the bridge and up the hill to the mosque on top of the highest hill in the city. There we sat on benches outside the mosque and prayed. Then we went back down the hill and across the river again. By this time we had walked such a lot that I was really exhausted. We stopped at a coffee shop owned by the pastor’s friend. While the pastor was talking to his friend I ordered a coffee and sat down. Then the pastor came over and said, “OK let’s go!” I slammed down my espresso macchiato and followed him to the Parliament building, where we were meeting with the two other teams. With some caffeine in my system, I felt revived—thank you Italy for the afternoon coffee habit that revives me!

We prayed at the Parliament Building and then went to dinner. There had been a sort of tension when we came to Skopje, and after our day of prayer walking, the tension was released. That made dinner a much more relaxed time.

As I looked through my pictures of the day, two of them struck me. The first is the statue of Alexander the Great, who the Macedonians call Alexander of Macedonia. The second is the picture of Millennium Cross as seen from the city. The first celebrates the accomplishments of man, while the second celebrates the victory over sin, sickness, and death—something that only God could accomplish. God is good!

Road Trip!

Posted on February 24, 2013 by opendooreurope

Traditional Bulgarian appetizer plate

After church this morning we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant owned by a man from the church. The food was really good, some of the best I’ve ever had. I joked with Bill and Vasha about it being traditional Bulgarian Chinese food.

Then after lunch we divided the team up into 3 cars and headed for Macedonia. On the road we told each other true stories of our lives: funny stories and stories of God’s amazing faithfulness and provision. One story led to another, with each of us encouraging the others by our personal accounts of God’s help. In this way, the miles flew by and friendships grew stronger.

We arrived in Skopje in a rainstorm. The hostel had misbooked the rooms, and I noticed that the people who had ridden in the other cars were irritable and unhappy about it. With some arranging and rearranging, the rooms were eventually worked out. One person said that the irritability could be a spiritual thing about Skopje. Maybe, but if so, then the conversation in our car was the vaccination against irritability.

Leann is a girl who likes to eat real food—as opposed to sandwiches or crackers for dinner. I agree. So the two of us went out in search of a real meal, although I wasn’t so hungry. We had gone out like this before, in Warsaw and again in Prague, and had developed a special bond because of it. We found a restaurant at the end of the block, but they said that their credit card machine wasn’t working. The cash machine around the corner solved our lack-of-Dinar problem, and we returned to the restaurant. Leann had gnocchi in cream sauce and I had a lovely chicken soup.

During these trips we spend so much time with the whole group that it’s nice to get off in a pair like this and have a real conversation. When we got back to the hostel we met the local coordinator, Keith. I know more or less what to expect, having been on several trips with OCE, but since each capital city is unique, there is always something different. We’ll see what Skopje is all about in the next couple of days. God is good!

God’s Favorite Kid

Posted on February 23, 2013 by opendooreurope

I have a friend that I often joke with, saying, “I’m God’s favorite kid.” And the banter goes like this:

I’m God’s favorite kid because I’m the most blessed!

Oh, no you’re not! I’m His favorite because I’m more blessed!

To which I reply: “No, I’m more blessed because He gave me you for a friend!”

And she replies: “You’re right, you are more blessed than me!”

Today was one of those days when I truly feel like I’m God’s favorite. Of course, He doesn’t have favorites, but today it just felt that way.

After breakfast we met at the church and took a bus up the mountain to pray for Sofia from up there. About 70 people from the local church joined us. The participation of local people in these prayers for the capital cities is significant.

The mountain was covered with snow and there were people skiing and sledding all over the mountain top. Nevertheless, it was sunny and much warmer on the mountain than back in Sofia. So from our perch overlooking the city we prayed, proclaimed, and worshiped Jesus, the Lord of Sofia. And we sealed the prayers with Holy Communion.

When we returned to Sofia we went to the Parliament building to pray for the new government, whoever they turn out to be (as you may recall, the government all resigned three days ago when our team arrived in town). A policeman came to see what we were doing, and when we explained that we were praying for the government, he shrugged and walked off. Several minutes later another policeman approached. Two of our group walked over to meet him so that prayers could continue uninterrupted. One of them, a pastor, explained what we were doing and asked the policeman if he could pray for him. The policeman shrugged, but didn’t say no, so my pastor friend and the other man prayed for him. The policeman remained skeptical. He probably thought that we were crazy, but harmless, so he walked off.

Next to Parliament is the university, so we went to pray there. Our host, Bill, had given some of us Bulgarian New Testaments, so one girl decided to do an important prophetic act and bury the Word of God right there on campus. The only problem is that we didn’t have a shovel or any other kind of digging implements. So we had to find ground soft enough to dig up with a stick. The rest of us laughed about how silly this looked, and cracked jokes about how the Christian bookstores should sell shovels, too. But once it was buried, we got back to the work of praying, and one topic for prayer at the university was abortion. Bulgaria has 3 abortions for every live birth—imagine that! Together with the 3^rd highest suicide rate in the world, no wonder the population is shrinking.

After all this, some of us were very hungry, having not had any lunch—me included. There was a lot of discussion about where to eat, when to eat, and whether to eat together. In the end, some went back to the hostel, while others went to eat. Bill offered to take me to a big toy store. I had told him that I always get my grandson a bear from every new country I visit, but I hadn’t had any luck finding a suitable bear in Bulgaria yet. All the bears I had seen so far had scary eyes. I can’t give my grandson a bear with scary eyes! So we went to the toy store, and I found a great bear right away.

Then Bill asked me what I wanted to do next. I told him that I hadn’t had lunch, so I wanted some dinner. He was very pleased when I said that I wanted to have some typical Bulgarian food. So he called Vasha, his wife, and they discussed where to take me. She was just getting off work, so she would be joining us. They took me to a place that was typically Bulgarian in décor, in food, and in music—wonderful!

They asked me a few times what I was hungry for, but I just insisted on typical foods. Bill was so happy for the opportunity to share some of his favorite dishes from childhood. He insisted on getting a few dishes to share, knowing that it would be far more food than we could possibly eat. Vasha told me that later I would probably see people dancing the Horo. Which I did! There was a birthday party across the room, and when the band played the Horo music, the women all got up, laced arms, and danced in a circle.

Bill kept asking me what I was smiling about. I just said, “I’m so happy!” Today, I’m convinced: I’m God’s favorite! God is good!

Speaking to the Foundation

Posted on February 22, 2013 by opendooreurope

Usually an essential means of changing the spiritual atmosphere of a city (especially an ancient city like Sofia) is to speak to the foundation of the city. This is one thing we did today. We went to the place in the subway where the ancient foundation of the city had been exposed when the subway was excavated. There were 12 in our group, 3 of whom are Bulgarians. The number 12 is important because it means government. Three of course is the number of the Trinity, so signifies God’s presence in the government. Half of us were men and the other half women.

First we prayed above at the place of the statue of the goddess of wisdom, Sofia, and then we formed a line, the men facing the statue and the women each with a man at her back, facing the Parliament building. Then we switched places and the women prayed facing the statue and the men facing the Parliament building. Thus an important demonic powerline was broken. And that was important for what came next.

Then we prayed at the foundation of the Eastern Gate and then spoke to the foundation and to the gate. Speaking to the foundation involved proclaiming that the city, originally founded on human wisdom, is now founded on the true cornerstone, Jesus Christ. We also made proclamations that the people of Sofia and of Bulgaria are now free in Jesus Christ. We proclaimed:

Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 24:7-8

These kinds of prayers and proclamations may seem strange, but they are Scriptural. In fact, any time that you use Bible forms, and especially words and phrases from the Bible to speak to a troubled place or situation, it brings all the power of Heaven into that place or situation. This is why memorizing Bible verses is so important: they will be there when you need them, like money in your pocket or arrows in your quiver.

Tonight the pastor told us that because of past deceptions, he is not at all trusting of new people who come into his church. But he said that because the government resigned on the day we arrived, it was a message to him that we had come in the power and authority of God Almighty.

Tomorrow we will go to the mountains just outside of town to speak to the mountains. For this Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you,” (Matthew 17:20, emphasis mine). You don’t merely pray about a mountain, but you’ve got to speak to it before it will move.

God is good!

The Bulgarian Rose

Posted on February 21, 2013 by opendooreurope

Yesterday the team of intercessors with Operation Capitals of Europe (OCE) arrived in Sofia to pray for the city and the country. Yesterday the government also resigned. Often when we pray in a capital, there will be physical consequences. Like one time we prayed at one city’s walls, praying specifically into the foundation of the city, and a week later the whole area was cordoned-off and excavation began into the city’s foundation. But the government’s resignation is the first time that a physical consequence occurred before team prayer began.

Today started with breakfast at a café owned by a man from the local church. Breakfast was followed by worship at the church. This church is both hosting strategic prayer and worship sessions and collaborating with us to pray for their city. There was about 40 or 50 people who joined us for this first session. Having such a big crowd right from the start was very encouraging because it is always better the more locals who join us. Sometimes the team has outnumbered the local intercessors, and it has become quite a challenge because as OCE becomes known, more people have joined with us from all over Europe. The evening session had an even bigger crowd, as the young people and the working people joined us.

Between the two sessions we had two hours of free time, so we went into the city center. We saw the big golden statue of Sofia, goddess of wisdom. There is a drinking fountain near her where in order to drink, you have to bow your head to the statue. Standing in front of the statue, you can see an Orthodox church, a Mosque, and just the other side of the Mosque is a Synagogue. This idol is an example of a place that is likely to be chosen to pray at.

Then we went down into the subway station. When they were digging the subway tunnels, they came across the ruins of old Sofia dating to the time when this was part of the Roman Empire. The ruins were preserved within the subway station. Part of the ruins in the subway is the original Eastern Gate to the city. City gates are also places that are likely to be chosen to pray at.

While in the subway we found several souvenir shops, and many of us, being foreigners, wanted to look for keepsakes and gifts. One shop had all sorts of rose products. The rose is the symbol of Bulgaria, so a rose product like soap or perfume is also likely to be used in prayer as an object to show prayers for Bulgaria.

I keep saying “likely” because it all depends on the leading of the Holy Spirit, and He is unpredictable, even when you’re very well acquainted with Him and His ways.

The evening session included members of the OCE team praying for the local people who came forward for prayers. The language barrier made things a bit challenging, but there were a few people there who could be found to interpret. I prayed for a couple who are pastors asked for prayer together. After praying for them I told them (through an interpreter) that I felt like they were mother and father to their church, and that the people go to mother for comfort and to father for wisdom; and that they have lots of spiritual children. They told the interpreter to tell me that they were never able to have children, so this was a wonderful word from God.

Another woman I prayed for was very elderly. As I prayed for her I saw a beautiful green field with a river running through it. By the river was a big tree and the tree was full of fruit. I told her (through an interpreter) that although she is old, God says that she will continue to bear fruit for the Kingdom for as long as she wants to do so. Her response was not interpreted for me, but mostly it was just hugs and kisses. At the end of the evening, she came to me to hug and kiss me some more.

Then on the way back to the hostel I saw that one of my teammates seemed troubled. She talked out her problem, and then we prayed. I told her that I really value her contribution to the team, and that it seemed like it was mostly a conflict of personal styles. After prayer she was able to understand that she really is a valued member of the team. I think part of the reason why she was feeling troubled by this now is because another teammate who has a ministry and style similar to hers became very badly ill just before the trip and had to cancel.

Please pray for missionaries! We are on the frontline of battle. The enemy was able to sideline our teammate, and then tried to make another doubt her value to the team. He would love to stop what we are doing because we are winning back territory that has been his for centuries. For those of you who are praying, thank you and God bless you! Please know that you are a vital member of our team, even if you’re not here with us. Your prayers are making a difference!

The Light Shines in the Darkness

Posted on February 20, 2013 by opendooreurope

I have written a few stories of actual people who have been trafficked (in both “Look, Listen, Love” and “Laughing in My Dreams”). Those were people that my friend, Clara, the pastor’s wife in Romania told me about. Buck and Nadia work with women in prostitution, and they have been telling me about the women they know.

The first time the issue of human trafficking came to their attention was in the small town three hours from Sofia, where they were pastoring a church. The head of the children’s program at their church came to them with the desire to tell her story. She had gone with a friend to Macedonia because of the promise of a job, and their documents were confiscated and they were told that they would be prostitutes. She was a virgin and lost her virginity to a stranger in his car. Her friend ran away, but was caught, and as the other girls watched, they broke both her legs. Amazingly, the girl did eventually manage to get away, but now, years later, she still struggles with her past.

They said that they tried not to look shocked, but they were. They had never heard of such a thing. But little by little they became aware of the magnitude of the problem. Often, even if the girl manages to get away, the police are reluctant to do anything about the trafficking. The police and local officials are often involved either financially or as non-paying customers. And the girls are mostly foreign and without legal identity documents—they are essentially non-persons. So even non-corrupt police would rather ignore their complaints than get into the massive legal hassles required to help undocumented persons.

When they began working with prostitutes these stories of trafficking became more and more common. One girl told how she had been living with her grandmother and helping her, but she needed to return to her own home about an hour away. She ran into an old friend who invited her to have coffee. Over coffee she told him that she needed to go back to their town, and he offered her a ride. On the way they stopped at a coffee shop, and she didn’t think anything unusual about it except that her brought her a soda that was already opened. Back on the road, she began to feel strange and physically paralyzed. He had slipped her the date rape drug. They went to her house, got her identity card, and he took her to Macedonia. Because of the relaxed borders of the European Union, all he had to do was show both their identity cards to the border guard. Then she saw him receive money for her, and she was put into a brothel and told that this would be her work from now on. She became pregnant in the line of her work and was severely beaten for refusing to have an abortion. Somehow she got away and into a halfway house for girls coming out of prostitution. She said that whenever she looks at her baby, she tries not to remember how he was conceived.

The stories go on and on about husbands who send their wives out to work as prostitutes, and husbands who don’t like for their wives to work as prostitutes, but tolerate it because they like the money. Many of the girls cope by pretending that they are a different person when they are working, and trying not to be present in their bodies during the act. But these are only temporary and imperfect fixes. There is nothing in the world like becoming a truly new creation in Christ Jesus.

No matter where you live, there is human trafficking going on in your country, and probably in your state, and possibly in your own town. Check out the slavery map: http://www.slaverymap.org/.

God is good. God is love. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s love for humankind. Love cannot allow this evil and injustice to continue against approximately 30 million people worldwide. Love demands a response. What are you going to do about it?

Peer Pressure – Pay Your Bill!

Posted on February 19, 2013 by opendooreurope

Here in Bulgaria if someone doesn’t pay their gas bill, the gas company will shut off the gas to the whole building—something they could never get away with in either Italy or the US (or most civilized places). They are counting on the neighbors to put pressure on the offender to pay his bill, and it seems to work pretty quickly. Buck and Nadia don’t suffer much since their apartment is well-insulated, their stove is electric, and there is a backup boiler for heating water.

This method harks back to Communist times, when the government would punish whole blocks or even whole communities where a dissident lived by shutting off the heat. This was easy for them to do because whole communities were heated from gigantic boilers that looked a lot like nuclear reactor cooling towers. The heat was shut off for a whole town like shutting off a faucet.

And speaking of dissidents, I heard about another pastor who had suffered severe persecution under the Communists. There were no details given, and that is either because the family didn’t know the details or because the details are so unpleasant that they didn’t want to speak about it over a meal. After reading “Tortured for Christ” by Richard Wurmbrand, either one is possible.

Some churches seek to keep their people in line by peer pressure, and by preaching about being ever on guard against sin. It’s a very common topic in Italian churches. But a legalistic approach like this is the opposite of grace.

Lately grace has been on my mind. Pastor Fabio preached two weeks ago that when Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished,” He meant that all the curses of original sin and all the works of the devil have been undone and paid for. All our sin, all our sicknesses, and death—all of it has been undone and paid for by Jesus’ blood. No peer pressure is needed to keep us in line. I John 3:6 says: “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” And John wasn’t saying that we would never sin because he also wrote: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One,” I John 2:1. The difference is an occasional sin versus a lifestyle of habitual sinful behavior. Grace covers the first one, while the second neither knows or appreciates grace.

No church and no pastor anywhere will have a congregation of perfect people who never sin. And we need to be aware that not everybody who comes to church—not even every active member—is really and truly born again. That’s what the parable of the wheat and weeds was about (Matthew 13:24-30). Some people love church, love the music, love the activities, but just don’t really love Jesus. No amount of peer pressure will ever change them, either. The only thing that truly changes lives is love. Love triumphs over all, and that is the story of grace. God is good!

Buckaroo

Posted on February 19, 2013 by opendooreurope

Greetings from Bulgaria!

As my plane was landing, I could see that Sofia is a beautiful city, and seeing it on the ground confirmed what I had seen from the air. I am staying with Buck and Nadia, pastors who God had led to leave their church and town to move three hours away to Sofia, but not to start another church. What they had always done is church planting, but here God is calling out of their comfort zone. While they are wondering what to do, Nadia has been working prostitutes and other trafficked people.

I met Nadia at a conference in Estonia in October, and we had hit it off. So when Operation Capitals of Europe set Sofia as their next capital, I contacted Nadia. She invited me to come for a few days before the start of OCE. I think this was divine timing.

Last night Buck and Nadia had some friends over and invited me to a Christian musical that had been locally written and produced. The friends are a couple: Anya is Bulgarian and Sasha (which is a male name) is Russian, and they are both dancers. The conversation was mostly in Bulgarian. My ears grasped at a few familiar sounding words, but mostly it sounded very much like Russian. Buck ordered pizza from Domino’s, and I saw pretty much everyone put ketchup or mustard on their pizza—even my fellow Texan! I tried mustard on mine, and it was really good! I would never put mustard on an Italian pizza, but it’s good on American pizza.

Seeing that my plate was empty, Buck asked me if I wanted another slice, to which I responded, “No, I’m good.” He laughed about how funny it is to say “I’m good” when refusing seconds. I told him about trying to explain the Texanism “fixin to” to non-Texans, and how I had had to train myself to use the more universally understood “I’m getting ready to.” He laughed. He could relate. Now I keep hearing myself saying “I’m good,” when I had always said it unconsciously. But as I thought about it, it’s kind of a nice affirmation to say about myself several times a day. I am good!

The musical was called “John, Son of Thunder.” Of course, it was all in Bulgarian, and set in modern times, but it wasn’t hard to follow along, since I have read the Gospels. The music and dancing were really great, and the set design was imaginative. The audience was most of the spectrum of Sofia’s Christian community, and they pretty much all know each other. I commented on how nice it was to see Christians of all denominations coming together like this—it’s only really happened in Milan with the March for Jesus.

This morning I woke up to snow falling, but it hasn’t stuck. For me, snowfall is always a miracle from Heaven. Who know what God has in store for us today? But I know this: He’s good, and whatever He has for us will be good, too. I’ll say it again: God is good!

Walking By Faith in Europe

Monthly Archives: February 2013