What does it mean to be a missionary?

I know that I had many stereotypes before becoming one. I've known many missionaries over the years, but in my mind, a missionary was a very godly person going to a poor country where the only real goal was evangelism. While this isn’t completely wrong, there is so much more to it than that. Sharing the gospel is definitely priority, but in doing this, it is also about building relationships, caring for individuals and their needs.

Missionaries are normal people. There is little that makes us different, the only thing really being that I have been sent to a foreign land. Otherwise, like any Christ follower, we are trying to spread the gospel through our actions and our words. I think before I came on the field, I thought that many missionaries were better than the average person, that they somehow were above normal struggles, that even in the hard times, they would never question God. But what I’ve seen is that it is no easier to trust God and see his faithfulness on the mission field than in every-day situations. What I do see is that as we begin to do God’s work, we come under attack, and unless we pray and support each other, it is very easy to give in to despair.

Friday morning, at the Bible study my team leader is leading for all of us interns, we looked at Mark 6:30-52. This includes the very familiar passage of Jesus feeding the 5,000. One thing we looked at was the context of this story. This miracle happens right after Jesus sent out the disciples 2 by 2, without him, into all the surrounding lands to preach, perform miracles and to heal the sick. The disciples had just gotten back and were giving a report to Jesus of all they had done. Just as he was telling the disciples to rest and take a break after their time traveling, a large crowd gathered because they recognized Christ and his disciples. But Jesus did not turn them away. Instead he did three things. He SAW them: he saw their true condition. He understood where they were. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. He then had COMPASSION on them. He empathized with them and ultimately provided for their needs by TEACHING them. I think this is a good example of how we are to live our lives. We are to see people for who they are and to see where they are. Then we need to show compassion by seeing their needs. One thing that is important to remember is that we are not the shepherd. We are also sheep, but since we know who the shepherd is, it is our calling to introduce the other sheep to him. It is not our job to make people believe. We are here to bear witness about who Jesus is and what he has done in our lives. Seeing people as Jesus sees people allows us to love the way that Jesus loves. We exist so we can declare the excellencies of Christ to people caught in the darkness by which we were once enslaved (1 Peter 2:9-12).

This year God has been teaching me so many things about trust, patience, compassion, and His sovereignty. I have had to rely on Him more and more, and I can see Him working in our team, in our work, in our relationships. While there have been struggles and difficult times for many of teammates and roommates this year, it is clear that He holds us all in hands.

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~Isaiah 41:10

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Every time I receive a note from one of you letting me know that you are praying, it brings me great encouragement! I pray that God will bless you and keep you all in this new year! :)

Честита Нова Година! Happy New Year!

I know it has been a long time since my last post, so it is really hard to figure out where to even begin! So much happened in the month of December, so here are a few of the highlights.

We had our first few snows for this year, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of waking up to this view!

We hosted our team Christmas party at our flat, so we had fun decorating. All the snow flakes were made by my roommates and me. 

At the party, we had time of fellowship, singing Christmas carols, and reflecting on this past year and all the things God has done in and through us.

We even got to go and see The Hobbit with a bunch of our Bulgarian friends (there were 20 of us in all!) The movies here are in English with Bulgarian subtitles, so it is always a good way to practice my Bulgarian by trying to match the words to what they are saying. I always feel very accomplished when I can spot the differences. ;)

Chillin' with Gandalf

The next major event was our English Club Christmas party. With two English Clubs up and running now, we decided to combine the two for a large party at our Christian Cultural Center. We were a bit concerned about people coming out to a new location, but our fears were for naught as we had more than 40 people! We sang Christmas carols in English and Bulgarian, as well as read the account of Jesus' birth from Luke in both languages before breaking up into small groups for discussions. Many of the people attending had never read this before. We even had one young man from Turkey who told us this was his first time celebrating Christmas! We closed out the night with some Christmas themed charades and an optional viewing of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Practicing the songs before the party 

Conversations and food

40+ people all discussing Jesus' birth!

A few of the interns hosted an "End of the World" party at their flat on Dec. 21st for some of our Bulgarian friends. We celebrated by introducing them to a great American tradition... S'MORES, roasted over the fire place! Complete with marshmallows and gram crackers from the States.

Roasting marshmallows

This year, I was able to attend the same Christmas concert I went to last year. It has a full orchestra and is conducted by an American here, but the choir is made up of various choirs from National churches. All the songs were sung in Bulgarian, but I was amazed to see how much more I was able to understand than last year at this time. 

Christmas Concert

For Christmas itself, I was able to travel to Vienna, Austria, (one of the cities on my bucket list!) as a Christmas present from my parents. I went with two of the other American interns on my team, and we had such an amazing, relaxing time. We even found a Christmas Eve service to attend, in ENGLISH! It was such a blessing!

Christmas Eve in Vienna

To ring in the New Year, we ended up hosting a party at our flat with our Bulgarian church friends. It was such a treat to be able to experience a New Year's celebration with them. There was much dancing, including them teaching us several traditional dances and us showing them a few of ours. Just before midnight, we all gathered together a few people prayed to thank God for this past year and to lift up the coming year. At midnight, the fireworks began all around us! We all rushed out to our balconies and watched the sky light up in every direction.

What was left of the group around 1:30am

Learning some new dances

As I've reflected some about this past year, I have to just pause and think about how I ended up where I am. God so clearly led me to Bulgaria last year, and affirmed the decision to return for a second year. I really have no clue where God will lead me when my term here is finished, but fortunately there is still plenty of time before then, and it is comforting to know that God has a plan, and he is currently preparing me for the next step.