First Few Weeks

Hi All!!!

I am still trying to figure out how to get photos to work on here so you all can meet some of the teammates I will be learning and working along side for the internship and meet some Bulgarian friends! As soon as I can figure it out I'll post them!

This past week or so has been really good but also very challenging. It's amazing how easily a person forgets how many differences there are not only in languages but also in cultures. The team I am working with has been super helpful and supportive! Even with these blessings it is amazing how challenging it can be to meld into a society, to learn its ways and thoughts. For a person to take on these new ways as not only possible but to some degree take them and morph them into their own. It's like learning to live all over again, yet to do this once a person has been very used to their former way of living. Challenging. But not impossible!

During this week we have been working on learning the Bulgarian language.  Здрастй!! (Hi!!)

Along with learning some of the basics in Bulgarian we have also met some very beautiful Bulgarians and enjoyed learning about each other. One thing I have learned from the culinary side is Bulgarians eat a decent amount of pork and a good bit of cheese. Yum! Also, I have had random strangers offer to help me like the day I arrived. A bag I was pulling weighed a ton and I was having "fun" with some stairs. An older gentleman came up and offered to help me carry my bag down the stairs. He was so kind!

The land here is so beautiful with snow tipped, green covered mountains on almost every side. Sofia is situated in a plateau type valley with a few different mountain ranges surrounding us. The weather has been wet but is starting to warm up now. Once the sun's effects have finally left the horizon and it is around 9:45pm.

In the two months to come, all the interns will be putting into practice the roles we have been learning about over the last week. With the ministry here we will be helping with English as a foreign language, Community of Faith (the church plant here), Daughters of Bulgaria, among other areas.

Here is another picture of the country side in a mountain town near Bonsko. (If you look really close you'll see a shepherd with a staff watching and walking with his sheep in the field.)

 

Prayer Requests:

That the heart of the people God wants us to impact here for Him will be ready.

For all the finances needed to complete my 11 month internship to be gathered soon (still need around $15,000 to be able to finish past the summer internship part).

That we as a group and body of Christ will be united with God's vision and passion.

For us to be bold in the lives we live for Christ and love those around us unconditionally.

To be able to quickly gain understanding with the Bulgarian language.




Love you all and thankful you are willing to partner with me and my team on this journey God has given us. :)

Much Love,

Ruth