Thank you all for your prayers. Our trip here went well without any delays (we had seats together one on the aisle on each flight!). Our luggage and ourselves arrived in Sofia on the same plane. Our friends Stefko and Pavel were there to greet us, stuff all the suitcases and large box into the car, and drive us the 3 hours to Stara Zagora. So about 25 hours after we left our home in San Leandro, CA we arrived safe and sound in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. We were sooooo happy to stretch out on a bed and sleep Saturday night!

Sunday morning bright and early we were picked up by Jakup (a student of Jim’s the last time we were here). He took us to his town, to his pastor’s house for breakfast. The pastor’s daughter speaks English so she translated for us and for Jim when he preached. The breakfast was a welcome change from airline food. Walking to church we could hear the people already gathered singing praises to God. Having grown up on the mission field one of Kay’s favorite things on this earth is hearing people of different languages praising God together. A pastor from Germany was also there with a group that had been helping to build a new church building in a nearby town. He spoke for a few minutes in German with a translator into Bulgarian. Then Jim spoke in English (with a translator into Bulgarian) on sin and grace using Genesis 3. He did not know if he was supposed to give a full blown sermon or just a short exhortation, but he ended up giving a sermon, which in our country would have been a regular length sermon. The pastor got up and said, “Well these theologians, they think a lot and preach very short.” So the pastor then reiterated Jim’s sermon with his own commentary. After some more singing and testimonies from several people in the church and prayer, church was over and we shook hands with every person saying “God bless you” in Bulgarian. The German pastor, his translator, the deacon, the assistant pastor (Jakup), the pastor’s family and we all walked back to the pastor’s home for lunch. It was a delicious feast of typical Bulgarian food: beginning with a shopska salad (fresh tomatoes cucumbers a little onion and grated mild cheese, with vinegar & oil dressing), then grilled chicken, sausages, boiled potatoes, roasted p-nuts and almonds and fresh grapes. The conversation was wonderful in three different languages, then we all prayed together in our own languages. The bond in Christ was strong even though our understanding of each other’s words was weak.

Monday, Jim began his class at 9:00 since it was orientation day (regular start time is 8:30am). There are 12-15 students in the class and they are eager learners. Jim is enjoying the teaching. The translation is going OK, although not as smoothly as last time. They have class from 8:30am to noonish, then break for an hour lunch, then go again from 1:30ish to 4:30pm.

All our lunches and dinners are with people that work here at the college. We are humbled by their compassion for their fellow countrymen and the ministries that they have with orphans, elderly people, gypsy children, overseeing 90 churches in this region, some of them going to several churches to preach each week. The need for well trained pastors is great. What an honor that we can have a small part.

John 3:16 in Bulgarian

Building the Kingdom together with you, Jim & Kay