Monday, September 29, 2008

June 2008-Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Team






June is rushing past in a flood of activity! We sent off George and Dorothy Hayner early Tuesday morning. We miss them already. They have done so much for us these past few weeks. They have helped with preparing schedules (including hotel room assignments and menus) for 3 teams; labels for thousands of container items; sorting and boxing ministry items in our storage building, basement, and warehouse; doing household chores such as cooking, cleaning, dishwashing, and laundry; caring for a post-op dog who had to visit the vet every other day for a dressing change; etc, etc, etc, They are hard workers, great encouragers, and loving friends. We thank them for the time they gave us.





We are so thankful for the people who come to share in the ministry here. Last week we had a group of folks from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. Patti Lowe organized a team of 8 from her Sunday School class there. Patti had already been to Bulgaria last May with a group from her parents' church. The teen girls in Berk.3 stole her heart at that time and she had to come back. This time she brought her husband, Jim with her and a whole crew of hard working volunteers: Stacey McCarver, Jim Mock, Darla Childs, Jill Kearney, Robin Nelson and Stephanie Loomis.





They arrived on a Saturday evening with only half their luggage. This is not an encouraging way to begin a trip, but they adapted their activities so that they could do without the missing items and even made do with the few clothes they had packed in their carry-on luggage. As I said, they arrived on Saturday and the last of the luggage was not delivered until Thursday! Patti was the last person to get her bags. Must be some kind of special reward waiting for her!





All the bags were packed full of wonderful surprises for the people here. I have never seen any group bring over so much stuff for distribution. They had worked many hours locating just the right items to put in gift bags for each group of children. The activities they prepared required lots of forethought and planning. Of course, the children were very pleased with all they did.
This team was quite adept at multi-tasking! They came prepared to serve in many ways in a variety of settings. On Sunday morning at the gypsy church in Rakovitsa, Jill led about 70 children in activities that included a Bible story, songs, and related craft activity. The other team members helped in all of this of course. During the worship service, Stephanie led in worship with two special solos. The congregation warmed to her singing and actually joined in as they could in Bulgarian. Stacey brought the message and Paul translated for him. It was a special time in the church.





After a quick trip to the wonderful rock formations of Belogradchik, we made our way to the Danube city of Lom. There we attended the evening services in the Lom Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist churches in Bulgaria. Stephanie sang again – but different songs that she used in the morning. Stacey abbreviated and adapted his sermon for the short, less formal evening service. Though shorter, the sermon was still well organized and meaningful to all. After the service, the team had dinner with the pastor and his wife at a river-side restaurant.
Monday morning found the team hard at work at the home in Lom for children without parent care . This home is unique in that it has preschoolers and school-age children living together. There were around 30 little ones and 40 or more older kids.




While the ladies began working with the children with Bible stories, neat craft activities, etc. the guys started work on some remodeling projects. This continued for 3 days with the team working in the orphanage from 9-3:20 each day. We did take an hour out for lunch that was prepared by the great cooks at the Lom church.By Wednesday, the guys had scraped, patched, plastered, and painted the end of a hallway and stairwell. They did this will the very enthusiastic help of some of the older residents of the home!They also replaced broken sidewalk tiles and relaid a large area of the sidewalk at the entrance of the home. I was especially pleased that they were able to eliminate a dangerous situation in the cafeteria serving line – there were 3 or four rusty, ragged-edged short pipes coming up for the floor – right where the kids walk to get their food. The guys got rid of these all together making a much safer environment for the children.




The Bible stories and the activities with the children were really blessed. The little ones loved all the attention they received and the craft projects that brought some color and beauty to their rooms. The older ones were thrilled with their activities too, especially the jewelry making. But more than that, they were very attentive and tuned-in to the discussion of spiritual matters. Many gained a lot of understanding about the message of God's love. 





Of course, I was not content to let these folks rest after their day's work in the orphanage! From 4 to 6 each afternoon they had a totally different type of ministry! Robin Cook led a Bible study/prayer time for the ladies at the Lom Baptist Church. Stephanie again contributed beautiful with singing some familiar old hymns. The ladies loved to sing a long. A few took the opportunity to sing solos,also.The ladies were encouraged by their time together. The prayer time was especially sweet as they shared the needs from their hearts and prayed earnestly for each other. The team had prepared small gift items and certificates for all participants.
While the ladies were occupied at the church, the guys worked with children at a social center serving underprivileged gypsy (Roma) children. They taught computer skills to the children and to the teachers at the center. While there, they repaired and reprogrammed some of the computers. Again, the team had prepared special certificates for those completing the short course.





On Thursday we shifted gears entirely and moved to the town of Berkovitsa. Here we were warmly met by the children and youth at the home for handicapped (Berk 4). They love to hear the Bible stories and to get to act out the parts. Any personal attention they get is so appreciated. While the story team was busy moving from group to group, Jim Mock, Darla Childs and Stephanie Loomis worked with the young men at the sheltered home on the orphanage grounds. Their project was to teach the residents some cooking/kitchen skills. MMMM! Andrew and Patti worked with some of the more severely handicapped chidlren.
We were thrilled when the children did a special program – a short play and lots of singing – in our honor. Each team member was presented with gifts made by the children in the workshops in the home.Patti was recognized especially because she had worked in this home last year. They even sent gifts to Patti's mother, whom they remembered from last year.





We also worked in a more difficult situation in Berk 3, a home for school-aged children without parental care. There is no discipline in the home. The home is severely understaffed, and the aggressive behavior of the children goes unchecked. We had all the younger ones together for Bible stories and activities. It took most of the team to maintain order and to keep their attention. Patti, Stephanie and Robin had the teen girls together for some good “talk time” and quiet activities. Jim Mock's father-in-law had cut some beautiful race cars and other vehicles from wood. The older boys were well behaved as they painted these.




Then the younger ones joined them and the excitement of racing the vehicles was just too much.With much prayer we continued there the next day. God worked in His way to calm the spirits of these troubled children. They listened attentively to the Bible story, and even enjoyed acting it out several times. The activities went without incident this time. I always have difficulty taking teams to this home because of the wildness and sometimes violence we see there. But I know that they need the attention and certainly the love of the Lord there as much as anywhere.
So, we had a very busy week in His service! He blessed the events as they happened and will continue His work in all the people we touched this week.





Thank you, Patti, and thank you Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for putting together this team of volunteers!

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