This morning we started our day with Jennifer sharing about Gods love for people. The scripture she referenced was Romans 12, where the Word says to share with the Lords people who are in need. After devo, we walked to Cities for Jesus Church of God for Sunday morning service. Steffi once again led worship for us. It was so cool to be in corporate worship with the people of Burgas! We sang "Amazing Grace" and there was such a powerful presence of Holy Spirit. It was beautiful! Each, singing in their own language! Even though there is a language barrier, there is understanding in Worship. One mind, one accord, one God, one Savior! Pastor Jamie played the piano and led the congregation in "How Great is Our God" before bringing the Word. She then preached a powerful message on Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones. Praise the Lord, 5 souls were saved and 12 people rededicated theirs lives. Nubya, Steffi, and Christina were invited to teach in the children's church. Nubya spoke on prayer. The precious children were taught that praying to God is just like talking to your best friend. We then gave the children strips of paper to write down names of people they wanted to pray for, after which, we made a paper chain out of the strips for them to hang in their classroom. The chain is to help them remember to pray for their friends and family. The children were so open and willing to share! It was amazing:) When the church service was over we stood at the door and blessed each person as they left. It was such an honor to speak life into each of them. After the service, we were blessed to visit Baba Binka, Steffi's maternal grandmother, in her home for lunch. She is an owner/chef of a local restaurant, so you can imagine how amazing the food tasted! It was incredible! It was so humbling to listen to her share stories about standing strong in the faith under the communist rule. We were moved by the stories of how limited food was in the country and how she would stand in line for hours just to get a spoon of yogurt for her baby! After lunch we returned to the house to prepare for the evening service at our second Gypsy church. As we arrived at the the Gypsy village, we heard the energetic, "baliwood" style worship music. As we entered the church building, we were excited to see the chairs we purchased for them still wrapped in the plastic. The smiles on the peoples faces let us know how grateful and proud of the gift they were! Although it was a newly constructed building, the pot belly stove and the concrete floors spoke of the simplicity of the people. They are thankful for all they have! They have so little, and they love God SO much! They depend on Him for every provision in their lives. When service began, Nubya was able to pray a blessing over the children in the community and we gave them each candy as a special treat. They were so delighted:) Becky exhorted the church before Pastor Jamie got up to preach. She preached on "burying the past". She encouraged the people to stay strong and keep holding on through the trials. She then prayed over each person. It was an amazing time of prayer and exhortation. After the service, we were invited into the Pastors home for another authentic Gypsy cuisine. Once again, the food was delicious! We were overwhelmed to fellowhip with the leadership in the community. As the Pastor shared his testimony of his conversion, we were amazed at how Holy Spirit moved in his life.
