Lisa goes “International”

Lisa has expanded her home grown business “Desserts by Design” by going “International.” A few weeks back Lisa was asked to bake a birthday cake for the birthday party of her friend and language helper “Nade” (short for Nadeshda). Of course it was a big hit as the traditional birthday cake that we are use to in the States is quite different than the cake here. The cakes here are good, but they are usually very heavy and accompanied with some kind of fruit. You can see by the pictures that Lisa has taken her design skills international as well, as the cake writing is in Bulgarian “Nade, Chesteet Rozhden Den” – “Nade, Happy Birthday.” The party was a good time to interact with our Bulgarian friends and share in their customs and traditions, as we injected some of ours traditions – like Birthday Cake!

VIDEO - 2006 Orphan Summer Camp

Pictures from the 2006 Orphan SummerCamp in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria set to the music of "Thousand Foot Krutch" - "This is a Call"

The Bus Gestapo

I had my first run in with the “Bus Gestapo” Wednesday on bus N^o 313. I was the last person to squeeze onto a bus that was so full the doors literally hit me in the behind when they closed. Traveling by bus this way is a lovely experience, especially in 80 degree heat with 90% humidity. In order to validate your bus ticket you have to manually punch it in these little “machines” on the walls of the bus. Of course, they are not conveniently located near the doors, you have to actually get up the stairs and into the bus to get near them. I pulled out my ticket and planned to get mine validated after a few people cleared. 3 stops later, the bus was still full, but had cleared a little and I thought, “After the next stop I should be able to get to the machine and punch my ticket.” One thought too late for the bus Gestapo - the lady next to me proceeded to rip out and put on her “controller vest.” She looked directly at me and asked for my ticket and made no attempt to look at tickets of those near me. In my broken Bulgarian I said, “I want to, but can’t” and handed her my ticket. She took my ticket, mocked me to some nearby passengers repeating what I had tried to say and handed me a 7 leva fine. A fine for not having a ticket while keeping mine. I refused to pay the “on the spot” ticket, which is the custom here, because I felt that if she was going to single me out, I was going to make her go to the trouble of writing me a paper ticket. I know this was not a very “Christian” attitude and it was stubbornness on my part. I should have just paid the ticket, but I didn’t. She proceeded to ask for my Litchna card, our Bulgarian identification card. Thinking she was just going to use it to write me a ticket and then give it back - I handed it over. Instead, she just placed it in her bag. Now in English, I ask her how to get it back? She made a motion for me to wait but spoke to me only in Bulgarian - most of which I didn’t understand. As stops passed by, the passengers on the bus started sticking up for me. I assumed they were pleading my case and telling her to give my card back.

Given what happened next, I should have just paid the 7 lev ticket. We finally got off the bus and my “friend,” the bus lady, starts briskly walking. So I follow - for six blocks I follow her and all I can understand is her saying “chef”- which means boss in Bulgarian. She takes me like her personal prisoner, bound by the fact she still has my ID card, to the main city bus office. I thought we would get there, she would write me a ticket and I’d go on my way - that’s the way civilized society should work! Right? I think I’ve mentioned before, but assumptions don’t work so well in Bulgaria.

She proceeded from office to office with me not letting her out of my sight. People kept shooing her away. She then walked in on a meeting in her boss’s office and again was told to go away. At this time I took out my cell and called Marc. Marc wisely suggested I get a Bulgarian on the line so I called my friend Mimi to find out exactly what was going on. Mimi talked to her and translated to me that as soon as her boss was done we would talk to him and be done. I kept Mimi on the line to explain my side of the story to her boss. Mimi then talked to the boss and they began chatting about the people he knew in Florida and Chicago – how random is that? After they got off the phone, Mimi translated that she would write me a ticket and he dismissed us.

I am finding all of this unbelievable. It is now 45 mins after my little bus infraction and I have walked 6 blocks to this office. The woman then takes me to a room, pulls the tickets out of the SAME bag she had with her on the bus and begins asking me basic questions – now in ENGLISH (this is the first English she has spoken to me since this started!) Her boss was not needed for the process; he didn’t even look at the ticket. Come to find out, she should have taken me off the bus at the very next stop and written me a ticket there. The only reason I should have been taken to the station is if I didn’t have Bulgarian identification AND refused to pay the ticket.

I was ready to catch a flight back to the US last Wednesday. However I have now simmered down and think most of it is funny. At least I know what to expect next time!

-Lisa

A Week at Orphan Camp

Last week we were privileged to share in a unique experience. We served as counselors at an Orphan Camp with 5 other Bulgarian Christians and Christina, an American on our SEND team who served as the camp director. The camp brought two different orphanages together with a goal of providing a carefree and enjoyable environment where God'’s love could be witnessed and experienced.

Overall I was impressed by the group of kids. Given they do not have parents I expected there to be more behavior problems. Granted, we had a buffered view as we couldn't understand what they said most the time and were not around late in the evening due to Drew'’s bed time. However many of the kids, even the older teenage boys, were playing with and lovingly interacting with Drew. We were also impressed by the Bulgarian counselors. This team is not only committed to a week at camp, this summer will be the third camp they have facilitated for orphans. They also visit to the orphanages at least once a month to interact with the kids and build relationships.

I first noticed that the kids were in need of love and understandably so. Almost immediately, even though we could barely communicate, we had kids hugging on us. The highlight of my time at camp was meeting and playing with two of the youngest kids at the camp (maybe 7 or 8) Annie and Emil. Both were vibrant kids full of energy and always wanting to play with Drew. Another highlight was watching Marc befriend and care for the youth. Marc willingly went, but I know that this type of thing is a bit out of his element. I knew that he was making an impact on the kids when a group of older boys asked him to pull up a chair to sit down with them as they smoked. (Anti-smoking campaigns have not yet made it to Bulgaria, practically everyone 13 and older smokes.)

The English lessons, while very basic, were rewarding for me. It was exciting to see how excited a few of the kids were to learn. We didn't get through much, but hopefully it will spark a desire for the youth to learn more. One of the boys in my class goes to our church, so it will be good to continue to see him on a regular basis.

Because of the orphanage is a state run institution, the camp could not be a "“Christian Camp." However the youth attended "small groups" everyday where they read the Max Lucado book, You are Special, which teaches life principles and morals. There was an open forum session the youth could voluntarily attend where they could ask faith based questions. 14 of about 36 youth attended and the Bulgarian counselors fielded the questions. The counselors felt it was a very encouraging session.

We don'’t know how effective we were - however our hope is that the kids were able to witness what a loving family unit looked like. We also hope that they felt loved and that they know there is a committed group of Christians who care for them. Please continue to pray for this group of youth who have so many large obstacles to overcome!

-Lisa for the 3 of us

To view more pictures of camp, click on the the title "A Week at Orphan Camp" above or click the following link: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/