Oh how I truly love Bulgaria. Once you leave America for the first time and travel into a new country with a foreign language and a complete new way of living it can be a bit overwelming. My week in Bulgaria was packed full, we started off in the city called Sofia. It was absolutely beautiful, we went all around downtown, we walked all day long but it was most certainly worth it. We saw so many lovely buildings, churches, and the people were just truly breathtaking. But by the end of the day I was tempted to crawl or make my team carry me to the Chinese restaurant I was worn out. Another thing I wanna share about is the the food oh the food, banitsa is delicious, cappy is a very popular juice In Bulgaria (it's basically their minute maid) the food well makes you never want to go back to eating American food ( except taco bell) The people oh the people! are the most beautiful, sweet and opened hearted people you will ever meet! They surely have stolen my heart. We got to venture into a gypsy village one of the highlights of the week. We had the privilege of being able to worship with them, it was so moving. Though we didn't speak the same language we sang and worshiped and loved the same God. They told us a word in Bulgarian that meant " praise God" we sang that all together in unity and it brought me to tears. My heart was heavy as I looked around I see people who are in deep poverty with daily struggles to provide for themselves. And yet these sweet families also serve with their heart’s so focused on praising God even in the midst of difficulties. Their worship and love is so genuine. It was truly beautiful and eye opening. Sometimes we get so used to the normal, waking up every Sunday and going to church doing the same old thing, listening to a sermon singing a few songs & we forget the importance of praise and giving up our time to thank him by giving him our hearts fully to him every ounce of love and thanking him for our countless blessings. We let the smallest things blur our hearts on what should be our main focus. Later on throughout the week we got to teach English to some wonderful kids. It was so much fun! the kids sure know how to make you smile! It was a funny day for sure, we played sharades, and I was completely embarrassing myself but it gave the kids a good laugh! Also we got to visit a "nursing home" wasn't much of a nursing home more of an orphanage for the elderly, Janie played the flute beautifully and we gave them some treats and to see their sweet faces light up was just the most wonderful thing. There was so much sadness in that place but those people truly loved to see people care for them to bring them treats. We also made some amazing friends from the church in Burgas we got to go to the Black Sea with them every day and get to know them we would go back and forth talking about where we live, our beliefs much more but it was always so much fun they are truly remarkable people. We hope to always stay in contact with them for a very long time and send them American food such as poptarts and cheeze itz. This trip was amazing. Yes there was some frustration and lack of sleep, but I wouldn't take back one moment in this beautiful country. I await my next visit there. Gods love reaches to the ends of the earth, his love has no boundaries. God opened my eyes, we went on a mission trip hoping to bring a few people to the lord and In hope of God opening there eyes and heart to see his wonder and his unfailing love, he also opened my eyes in the process. So there you go, a little insight of my unforgettable trip to Bulgaria.
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AuthorI'm just a 17 year old girl, who has a passion for Jesus and longs to encourage and connect with other people through the shifting seasons of life, and the lessons learned through them. Archives
July 2023
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