On the 19th march I set out with two other drivers to take a van loaded with electrical equipment across Europe to Bulgaria. Having gone through France , Germany , Switzerland , Italy and Greece we arrived in Sofia the capital at 5:30 am on the 23rd.
Four hours later we drove another six hours across the country to our first venue in Bourgas!! (The lack of sleep suddenly springs to mind!). Our aim with the other eleven people who flew out there was to tell the Bulgarians about Jesus and what he did for us in a non-cringeful way. Western music and drama is very popular in the Eastern block countries so we decided to take a band and drama team out there to show them the gospel through music and mime.
An average day would consist of travel , seminars , setting up the stage , sound checks , prayer times of course and the n the gig itself. Come eleven p.m. we would be longing for a bed to sleep in which was given to us without grumbling from many people throughout the country.
I did not know what to expect of Bulgaria , I never really took any notice of it as a country except when watching gymnastics or weightlifting on Grandstand! But I was saddened to see a fairly run down country which barely survives legally. (Around 70% of Bulgaria’s income is gained from the black market or from the Mafia’s businesses).
Communism is still popular even though the communist government has turned socialist. All it really means is that the majority of politicians have changed their party on paper but still maintain their seat with Communist views and practices. Indeed everywhere you look you can still see vivid reminders of communism and its support.
The country itself is in need of repair. The roads are in a terrible way , and some stretches of road are closed because the tarmac is too dangerous to drive on and the government cannot afford to repair it. They actually have an amusing way of repairing roads when they get round to doing it. The diggers come and scrape away the old worn out tarmac leaving a huge hole , then they go away and leave it until the next group of workers (the ‘tarmacers’) come and fill the hole. This could take months and during this time no warning signs or lights go up , so basically its pay attention at all times when driving!!
The average house is a two bedroom flat in a rundown estate which are all identical everywhere you go in the country. The problems of litter , stray dogs , abandoned cars and gypsies are all common place on an average estate in a city. But if you go into the city centres you find grand structures , monuments of past leaders and huge squares depicting the power of communism. Quite a contrast to the suburban parts of the cities.
But amongst this we did find positive things as well. The hospitality of the Bulgarians is quite charming and after a long day we would always find a wonderful spread on the table , followed by a warm bed. This was a little comfort which we were grateful for I can tell you. Sometimes though the language barrier was a problem , but if we could not speak in pidgin’ English we would speak in bible verses!! Slava na Boga!! As they say in Bulgaria. Praise the Lord for you uneducated types!!
We toured seven cities in all . Sofia , Bourgas , Varna , Plovdiv , Gabrovo , Veliko Turnovo and Lovech , which made us cover most of the country , and some of the views were quite breath taking causing us to realise that Bulgaria was a beautiful country as well.
People who came to our concerts did not know that we were Christians because we only advertised it as a Western band , so when we started to ask them such things as why do you exist and what if God was one of us they seemed a little bewildered. But as time went on they listened to our music and talking and watched our drama’s , and gradually the gospel was shown to them. In a recent prayer letter from Anthony a worker out there it said that many peoples image of Christianity as being a boring thing was shattered and many realised that God could be for them.
To be honest though it was quite a nerve racking thing doing the gigs and trusting in God to provide an audience. Most of the people who came were leather clad rockers who I thought would leave when we mentioned why we were there which would be embarrassing , but God got them to stay and He showed me that I shouldn’t be embarrassed if someone does walk out when I am speaking about Him.
This was my first taste of mission work and I was slightly
nervous to say the least.I was also quite apprehensive about
working in a team of relative strangers but God really
brought us together so quickly it could only have been of
Him. Seventy two hours in a van with two drivers , six
countries and twelve hours sleep do not make a good
cocktail of harmony at the start of a long trip , but thanks
to God there was never a cross word between us and now the
other drivers Glen and Jason are two of my closest friends.
Eph.4:1-13 talks about the unity in the body of Christ , and we found complete unity in Jesus. As in 1 Cor.12:12-30 we were many parts of a body that came together with Jesus as the head to glorify his name.I praise and thank the Lord for what he did in the team as we all found our job and rightful place without argument , jealousy or resentment. This was a powerful thing for me to realise that God can bring strangers together and get them to work so well for Him without a single argument taking place.
We also relied heavily on God’s strength to keep us going during the tour. Average sleep was six to seven hours tops a nd with a fifteen to sixteen hour day we needed strength to continue. God provided yet again and everytime we asked He gave us His strength which renewed us and made us feel like spring chickens on the stage!!
Since going to bulgars’ the team out there have seen people start coming to bible study groups and Christians have been strengthened in their faith by the message and encouragement we gave them.
Bulgaria is a needy country in many ways , but most importantly it needs Jesus bigtime. the Orthodox church which is linked with the government doesn’t like ‘Jesus people’ coming in and telling the truth about God because it lessens their hold on the people , but that is what is needed. It needs more support , literature and people to flood Bulgaria on a long term basis to break the misconception that Jesus is a nothing and to show them that Jesus is Lord and that He is relevant to them.
I now long to serve God again in a way where it will glorify His name and show needy people the love God has for them.
Some prayer points.
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