Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Roma in Sofia






In the midst of the big city of Sofia, which is home to at least 1.4 million people, there is a significant Roma population. Sofia is increasingly becoming a more modern city, especially since joining the EU in 2007. Despite these advancements, the Roma people are living in a very similar manner as before. Here are a few pictures.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

International Church, Sofia




"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." Revelation 7:9

Yesterday Eric had the privilege of preaching at the International Church in Sofia, Bulgaria. The text he used was Ephesians 2:1-10. It was a wonderful time of worship and teaching. The service is conducted completely in English except for the offertory prayer is in a different language, which changes each week. There are many countries represented in attendance at the church. There were people in attendance from Nigeria, Israel, Russia, Iran, Korea, South Africa, U.S.A., Bulgaria, and other places as well! The church is truly a beautiful sight of what heaven will look like!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Boot in Bulgaria

Today has been a very productive day! By 10:00 a.m. we had been to the hospital to have my blood work done, went to Starbucks, got a boot put on our car wheel for illegally parking (which we didn't know was illegal!!), and got the boot successfully taken off. All of that by 10:00 a.m.!! God was very good to help us get the boot taken off our car.

First of all we had no idea we were illegally parked. We were just trying to go to Starbucks and the place we parked looked perfectly fine to us. So we went into Starbucks and enjoyed our time there and then we were really surprised to see the bright yellow boot on our tire wheel when we returned to our car. Parking is a little different here than in Skopje, Macedonia, where we live. In Skopje pretty much any kind of parking is fine. Many people there park up on the sidewalk. They even often drive on the sidewalk and drive across pedestrian walkways. So I guess we need to be more careful here in Sofia and remember that it is not Skopje!

When we saw the parking boot on our car we really didn't know what we were going to do because we had forgotten our cell phone and we only speak a little Bulgarian. Thankfully Eric had spotted a security man that was very helpful! God was so faithful even though we are so unworthy. His provisions for us never cease to amaze me! And the great news is that the parking fine was only 10 leb (a little less than 10 dollars)! Whew! What a morning! Well at least we got a Dark Mocha Frappuccino and a piece of cheesecake! Now for the rest of our day...