Bulgaria was such a surprise – full of beautiful landscapes and beautiful memories with our squad. We started out the month in Varna, Bulgaria, where our squad leader team spent time together in worship, prayer, and just being friends. We planned our Leadership Development Weekend that was taking place at the end of the month, and spent a lot of time praying over upcoming team changes. Since we are usually split up during the month visiting teams, time together is always very special.
RJ, Shannon, Kayla, and Amy – our fearless squad leader team!
We headed to the quaint village of Dupnitsa to be with Team Wolfpack, who were partnered with a protestant church in the town. The pastor purchased a building in the center of town 12 years ago, and has been slowly remodeling it since. We painted, spackled, sanded, and cleaned each morning. It was messy, but a great time to talk and laugh with the team! One Saturday, Emily and I (Kayla) got to teach English to 3-8 year olds. We sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes about 50 times, but it was such a fun day.
Sanding away – as you can see Kayla is covered in dust!
RJ had several “special projects” since he was the only guy 🙂
The host Damien showing the girls how to stir paint
The cute little church – we lived on the third floor and services were on the second floor
Team time one night consisted of pizza and gelato!
We left Dupnitsa and headed to the capital city, Sofia, to hang out with Team Summit for the remainder of the month. The team was doing ATL (Ask the Lord) ministry. This means they did not have a host or anywhere to live when they entered the country. They had found an amazing AirBnB and were praying and asking God what they should do each day. This freedom in ministry left a lot of space for us to spend time with individual members of the team. We got to spend whole days with several of the girls, and really got to know and encourage them.
One day in particular, I (Kayla) headed out with a few of the girls to do a free walking tour of Sofia. I LOVE walking tours, and have been blessed to be able to go on several during our time in Europe. We wanted to learn more about the history of Bulgaria, but we were also looking for a chance to meet someone and minister to them through relationship. When we arrived at the starting point for the tour, there was already a huge group there. The tour guide, Viki, bounded over to us, and asked where we were from and why we were in Sofia. When we told her about the World Race, she got so excited and wanted to hear all about it! She couldn’t believe we were traveling all over the world! She gave a very informative tour, and afterwards, we hung back and asked her if she would like to hang out sometime. She was so excited and humbled that we would ask her, and she readily agreed. I didn’t get a chance to go to coffee with her, but the other girls did, and they talked to her for hours about faith, the differences between Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, and just life in general. It is such a testament to how God will use ordinary experiences to connect us with people!
Not a flattering picture, but the only one I got of Viki
At the end of the month, we were blessed to be able to go to Athens, Greece with Team Summit. It was so amazing to experience the history and culture of Greece, as well as the beauty of the sea. We even got the chance to make a friend with a refugee and pray with him.
Look at the Acropolis in the background!
Us and Rachel on the island of Aegina
In front of the Parthenon
RJ, Sarah, Kayla, Miranda, Taylor, and Edna at the beach
Rachel, Alyssa, Kayla, our friend Annas, and RJ
At the end of the month, we headed back to Sofia for Leadership Development Weekend with our entire squad. When we were planning the schedule in Varna, I (Kayla) volunteered to give a teaching. Once it came down to a few days before the event, I was nervous. I had never taught in front of our whole squad before! I went to a coffee shop by myself for about 6 hours and just prayed, read my Bible, and started typing. I wrote what seemed like a lot, then decided to time myself reading it aloud…it only took me 7 minutes! I fleshed it out a bit, but then just decided that I would say what I had to say, regardless of how long it took. The morning of my teaching, I prayed that God would speak through me, and He did! My talk, the same one that I had timed at 7 minutes, lasted almost an hour! I spoke about many themes I wrote about in a previous blog – What I Learned at PVT – and how I was scared to go to Africa. Many people on my squad said they felt similarly and thanked me for helping to put words to their feelings. It was an awesome experience, and I’m glad I didn’t let fear get the best of me!
Kayla being very animated during her teaching
Overall, Bulgaria was a month of manual labor, deepening relationships with our squad, and saying no to fear. It will forever remain one of our favorite months.
I love this Kayla!! I’m sure you did a fantastic job teaching! I got goosebumps reading and just seeing the photo of you!!