Lion's and Tigers and Bears- Oh My!

A day at the zoo:

We were privileged to go to the zoo with Marc’s coworker, Tony and his wife and daughter, Alena and Iouana a week ago Saturday. After getting somewhat of a grim outlook from one of my Bulgarian friends, I was pleasantly surprised, as the zoo was clean and a fun place to spend an afternoon. It was wonderful after 8 months of being in Bulgaria to meet Tony’s wife and daughter, they are both delightful. The animals at Sofia zoo are much more interactive than any other animals I have seen at other zoos. I think mostly because people feed them (for much of Sofia, just think America of the 70’s.)

It was a fun experience to get to the Elephant (слон-slone in Bulgarian) display at the actual zoo feeding time. Drew and Iouana were captivated for 20 minutes as they watched the elephant eat a whole, large watermelon. I was pretty impressed as well. The elephant picked the whole thing up with its trunk, and then crunched it in half. Drew still talks about it every time he see’s a picture of an elephant. The hippo (хипопотам-hipopotam) was also very fun. It would open it’s mouth wide for people to throw food in. At first I didn’t know whether he was hungry or had had a bad day as he looked quite grumpy with his mouth wide open. Marc thinks he looked straight out of the game hungry hippo. I will have him refrain from trying to feed the hippo marbles the next time we are there. The bear (мечка-mechka) was entertaining as well. He almost looked human as he sat almost straight up on a rock waiting for food to be thrown down to him.

Hope you enjoyed your trip with us to the zoo!

Take care-

Lisa

NFL in Bulgaria

Many of you know that I am an avid football fan. From the many years of playing myself (a long time ago) to living in an NFL town for the last 5 years – I have really become addicted to the sport. One of my largest difficulties in living in Bulgaria is that anytime I mention football they all think I am talking about a bunch of guys who chase around a black and white ball and will get hurt if the wind blows too hard.

So my mission this summer. (Ok- admittedly a self-indulging “side” mission) was to find a way to watch US Football this fall. None of the Bulgarian cable or satellite companies carried any US Football.

I then had to turn to the wonderful world of technology – the internet. I have a good friend in Kansas City whom has a “Slingbox” which allows you to watch TV via the internet. He also has a Tivo unit set up – thus I can watch and record KC cable from here – in Bulgaria. The quality is not the best – but being half way around the world – I cannot complain. I have also found sites on the internet that will allow you to download football games after they have all ready been played. So I have been able to find a fix for my addiction.

As a result I am bringing down the other missionaries with me. Just last week I held a Monday Night Football Party on “Wednesday” night. It felt like back home – a bunch of guys sitting around, goofing off and watching football – real football. I actually invited some of my Bulgarian friends – for some reason they did not seam that interested.

Gotta go… Bears coming on at 8.

The Last Hike

Hopefully it will not be the last hike of the year, but last weekend Lisa and I took the opportunity to go with some friends to the Rila Mountains for an all day hike.

“Rila is the highest mountain (range) in Bulgaria and on the whole Balkan Peninsula. It is a part of the Rila-Rhodope Massif and occupies its north-east end. Rila seems to be a piece of the Alps thrown into the heart of the Balkans with its 130 Alpine peaks above 2000m, glacial valleys and lakes… the most famous and scenic of all - the 7 Rila lakes.” (bgtravel.com)

We left Drew with a baby sitter and we headed out with our friends, Paul and Erin Smith. Paul and Erin are avid hikers and were kind enough to take us along. We hiked above the tree line and the views were spectacular. Of course pictures never do it justice, but you can check them out at the link below. We hiked up to the 7 lakes and ate lunch at a “Hizha.” A Hizha is a shelter/hotel/restaurant up in the high elevations for the mountains. Bulgarians will hike for days from hizha to hizha. The only down side is that our little walk ended up going 8hrs. Our legs were dead - it literally felt as if my hamstring was pulling away from my leg bone by the end of the trip. All in all, it was a great trip and we hope to do it again soon.

Pictures: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/

SEND Regional Conference

This year SEND International (the missions organization we are with) held their Regional conference in Ohrid Macedonia. Macedonia neighbors Bulgaria to the south west and we arrived by bus – a 10 hour one way bus ride from Sofia to Ohrid.

The conference was great, the trip home was not. Our bus turned into a traveling petri dish of sickness. The night before we left the conference, three girls came down with “flue-like” symptoms – by the end of the 10 HOUR bus ride home, over half 20+ had the same symptoms of varying degree. I (Marc) unfortunately become one of them. Half way through the trip I got the chills, then the aches, then the fever, then the chills again – you know how it goes. Fortunately I was able to keep my food down, while an unfortunate few were not. The last 5 hours of the bus trip were very unpleasant, but we finally got home at 12:30am Tuesday. I have since recovered, but it was a rough couple of days and I and others had “lingering” effects for about a week. Praise God that Lisa and Drew were able to avoid this mini-plague.

The conference went well. A church from Pennsylvania came over to help run it. They provided the worship, the speaker/teacher and children programs. The purpose of the SEND Conference is to bring all the missionary families from South/Central Europe together for fellowship and to discuss SEND business matters. The countries represented were Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Hungary, Check Republic, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. All teams gave a country report and shared what was going on within their countries and ministries. SEND also has some business to conduct such as elect new area council members and a new Area Director was moved into office. I enjoyed this piece as I was able to see how SEND operates as an organization and how their leadership structure is put into place. I was also very nice to meet all of the other missionary families. There were 30 family units there – most of them with kids. The supporting church from Pennsylvania also brought about 15 people.

We greatly enjoyed the worship and teaching. It did not hit me until we were there singing that this was the fist time in 8 months that we were worshiping God in our own language with other believers. The teaching was also very practical to our current situation – we appreciated it very much. It was a great time to “re-center” on an emotional and spiritual level.

Small World!

We discovered my parents in Des Moines, IA have neighbors from Bulgaria. The Bulgarian family’s parents visited Des Moines, from Bulgaria, for 3 months this summer and were able to meet my parents. My parents gave them our contact information and the mother, Margarita, called us when they came back to Bulgaria. Drew and I met her for coffee and then went to their apartment. They live about 6 blocks from us, just on the other side of our local grocery store. I was able to speak to her all in Bulgarian and get to know her a little bit. We look forward to more encounters with them. We hope to get to know them better and we pray that my parents will be able to get to know the Bulgarian family there in West Des Moines because of this connection. Who would have figured – two different families, half way around the world, actually live houses/blocks from each other. Crazy -

Lisa

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/

Ministry Update - July

Although we primarily use this blog to show pictures and stories of what we do in and around Bulgaria – I thought you may want an update on what I am actually doing here. From just the Blog one might think we only take vacations and trips to the park, however we really are working to get some tasks accomplished.

The biggest project I am working on now is creating an “Alumni Association” for the graduates of UTF. This is a foreign concept for all of Bulgaria as schools typically do not interact with former graduates. We see great benefits for establishing an alumni program. The primary goal is to establish a support network of graduates. The school will also provide a list of services to alumni from research materials to class audits. The key benefit from a successful alumni program is an increase in future students and donors – both producing finical gain for the school. This will all be kicked off this fall with an Alumni Banquette in September of this year that we are currently planning.

The majority of my time now is spent coordinating the banquette / fall alumni event to be held on September 22nd – 23rd. This will be a two day event for all the UTF graduates since the schools existence (15 years). In addition to a social gathering for the alumni, this event will be used to communicate the concept of the Alumni Association and to roll out the benefits and services involved.

I am treating this as a mini-project and using some project management skills/tools from the business world. We have weekly team meetings involving the UTF staff and the UTF SEND missionary team and I maintain a project plan and an “Action Items” log.

Although I don’t have “impressive” pictures to highlight this entry – I thought I would give you a taste of my world by showing you one of our “meeting minutes” from a recent team meeting discussing the UTF Alumni Event. Please let me know if you have any question.

Thanks again for your support of our “unorthodox” missionary work.

(PS - if you dont like business "Stuff" you can stop reading now)
(PS2 - the format of the meeting minutes below is not quite right - but you get an idea of what we are doing)

UTF Alumni Meeting Minutes
July 12, 2006
UTF - Sofia, Bulgaria

Invitees / Attendees:

Marc Sheppard; Cheryl Shipley; Greg Shipley; Lisa Sheppard; Nick Nedelchev

New Items / Issues / Questions

• We Need Addresses!
• Robin Ulrich has agreed to work with current alumni to track down alumni addresses
• We would like to have addresses collected by 7/31 (as many as possible)
• Discuss Invitations – Cheryl
• Cheryl presented a mock-up, but did not have the most recent copy with her
• Cheryl will also create a response form
• Cheryl will send Marc the final copy this week to be reviewed by Tony
• We will start sending out invitations as we acquire addresses
• Cost – 1.25lv per invitation
• Shipping date – as we obtain addresses with a goal of August 1.
• Discuss keynote speaker – Tony
• Frank nor Michael can attend
• Dick Walton has been asked to be our Keynote speaker
• Cost and Fundraising efforts – Marc
• Just received invitation cost
• Need to determine dinner/banquette cost
• We can use X/Ministry accounts for this event – validated by Paul Smith from Liz Webber
• There is a possibility to use the SCE General or Evangelical fund for this event; would need to be approved
• Waiting to better idea of cost before sending an email to Phil Jackson
• BTA accommodations – Marc
• Dessie will work with BTA to answer the questions below
• Need to confirm cost and what that gets us
• Menu options – Dinner and Breakfast – we should select one for all.
• Table arrangements – group seating
• Decorations for restaurant / table center pieces
• Can we use restaurant for meeting after dinner?
• Hall – use and cost
• Foyer for registration
• Finger foods/drinks for registration and late night social time
• Can we use their table clothes for reception and presentation tables?
• Schedule – Discuss as team
• Team agreed to follow this schedule
• Fri 2-6 – Registration / social time
• Fri 6-7:30 – Dinner
• Fri 7:30-8 – Welcome (Nik video / Tony / Gary)
• Fri 8-9 – Keynote speaker
• Fri 9+ - Social time
• Sat 8-10 Breakfast
• Sat 10-12 Info session (Worship / Tony / Gary / Marc)
• Sat 12 - Dismiss
• Invitee list
• All will be invited but if full, those living in Sofia will need to stay the night at their homes
• Graduates
• UTF Staff / Instructors
• Board Members
• UTF SEND Team
• Dress Code – Dinner
• We will not state a dress code and leave it to the discression of our alumni
• Resource assignments
• Plan the Dinner/Banquette – Dessi (Lisa to help with Decorations)
• Oversee overnight accommodations – Karen G. has agreed to do this
• Decorations – Lisa Sheppard
• Need a UTF Staff member to be the point of contact for incoming mail (registration forms) and via email – Open

New Action Items:

• Need to record a Video Welcome from Nick. – Marc
• Contact Pepi to see if his band can play Friday night - Marc
• Have a “Welcome Logos/UTF Alumni” banner made – Cheryl
• Group picture arrangements - ?

Review Project Plan Dates

• The schedule has been adjusted; still complies with end date.

Next steps

• Complete action items
• Next Meeting
• Wednesday July 19 at 2:00 at UTF

Boulder River

Last week Lisa and I had a meeting at a restaurant at the base of the mountain about an event for the Bible School. We had a babysitter for the afternoon so we decided to head up the mountain to check out this place called “Golden Bridges.” Not sure why they call it that as it doesn’t really resemble bridges, but it’s more like a river of giant boulders. So I have renamed it for myself “Boulder River.”

Check out the top picture: can you see Lisa in the very center of the picture. All of these boulders are bigger than her or I, yet they are positioned in a way that you can climb up and over them with a little strategic planning. We loved this place. It is like an adult playground. We spent an hour or so climbing and jumping from rock to rock.

You can actually see and hear the river running under and around the rocks. Local signs say that it was formed over many (thousands) of years as a result of volcanic activity, water and gravity. Not really sure how it happened – Lisa thinks God got board one day and just started bolling boulders down the mountain. It has definitely become one of our favorite places here in Bulgaria. We can get from our place to hear in about 35-40 minutes from our place. Come visit – we’ll take you!

Rila Monastery

Some friends of ours took a trip to the Black Sea and left us their car for two weeks. We thought we would take advantage of the time with a car and headed south to the Rila Mountain to visit the Rila Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1335 by John of Rila (also known as Ivan Rilski), however it burned down in 1833. It has been rebuilt and restored over the years and is still an active monastery with resident monks – however it is also one of Bulgaria’s top tourist attractions.

It was an overcast rainy day but we enjoyed the drive and taking a step back in time. The monastery had a quiet and peaceful presence throughout the place, nestled in a valley within the Rila Mountains. The church was full of Eastern Orthodox icons – they actually have one icon that contains the bones of Bulgarian saints. The church was entrenched with tradition and rituals, yet you could feel the devotion and love for the Lord these monks must have through their discipline, devotion and craftsmanship. The artwork was amazing – you could have spent hours taking it all in – the walls of the church were almost like a living pictorial Bible.

The Rila Monastery has become a bit touristy over the years, but we were very happy to have visited. You could see the Bulgarians have a close connection with the Monastery, but I desperately want to know if they really know Him. This day-trip helped us renew our reasons for serving here in Bulgaria.

See pictures at: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/

VIDEO - Drews Birthday Prayer

At our church here in Bulgaria, called Bloga Vest (Good News), they have a tradition of calling everyone who has a birthday or anniversary that week up to the front – where they sing and then pray for them. Last Sunday, on Drew’s birthday, Drew was the only one to go up front. So the whole church sang “Happy Birthday” (Честит Рожден Ден / Chesteet Rozhden Den - in Bulgarian) to Drew and then Pastor Lutmil prayed for him. The prayer is also in Bulgarian, however I tried to place my interpreters headphone up to the mic of the camera, but you really cant hear it that well. We thought you may like to share in some of our cultural experiences surrounding Drew’s birthday.

Drew is 2!

It’s hard to believe that Drew’s 2^nd birthday has come and gone already! Sunday evening, July 2^nd we celebrated with many of the members of our SEND team and my language teacher MiMi. We even got to have the grandparents, my brothers and some cousins “come” via the web cam on the computer- we really love the modern technology! It’s really helped being so far away not feel so far away.

Drew’s recent loves are fish (namely Nemo) and monkey’s (no particular character yet) so his cake this year featured both. Thanks to a family on our team, the Faber’s we inherited two American boxed cake mixes so the cake actually tasted like home. For me it was exciting to watch and compare how Drew has grown since his 1^st birthday. He’s walking and talking quite a bit, both developments since last year. This year, he blew out the candles and opened his presents all by himself; you never think such accomplishments are so amazing until you have a child of your own. He is enjoying his numerous trucks, balls, books and animals this week that he got for his birthday.

Drew is such a joy to us! He loves to giggle and play toys. His favorite game right now is, “get Drew.” It involves him coming up to Marc or I and stating, “get Drew” and us chasing him back and forth till we are worn out, Drew is always up for more. He knows his colors and likes to sing and dance. He loves airplanes, trucks, tractors and things that go. Just today we had to stop and watch men in tractors repair potholes in the road for a half hour because of the tractors.

Thanks for indulging a mother gloating on her son!

Love- Lisa

PS to view the entire colletion of birthday pictures, follow this link and click on Drw's 2nd Birthday: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com

Greece

Lisa, Drew and I just returned from vacation in Greece. It was a wonderful and relaxing time. Athens, Greece is only a 1 hour and 20 min flight from Sofia, so given it’s proximity it was one of our desires to visit while we are over here. This was our first vacation with just our own little family – we had to make some concessions due to Drew’s sleep schedule – however the payoff of experiencing new things through his eyes was very rewarding. There is so much to write about, so I’ll just try to give you the highlights:

Athens: The Parthenon atop the Acropolis, Mars Hill and all the ancient ruins along with all the history that goes with it - was all amazing yet too much to absorb in only three days time. Drew loved the Acropolis because there were many rocks for him to throw. At the Parliment, he witnessed the “Changing of the Guard”, however I think his highlight was feeding the pigeons and visiting the nearby “petting” zoo.

Antiparos Island: This was the highlight of our trip and highly recommended for anyone wanting to visit Greece especially if you have children. This is a very small island right off the island of Paros. We were impressed by the people, the architecture and the family atmosphere of the island. We stayed at an “economical” family run studio/hotel on the edge of the small port village. The accommodations were nice and the family who owned it was fantastic. It was more like a bed and breakfast as they treated us like family. Magda and Markos with their two children Ponous (19) and Margarita (16) run the Kastro Hotel. Drew loved playing with the dog, named “Lara Croft” and Ponous gave Drew his childhood toy – a 19 year old plastic buffalo to keep as a souvenir. One memorable moment for me was staying up late one evening in the hotel lobby watching the world cup (US vs Italy) with Ponous and Erik – another guest from Norway. Chatting about this and that throughout the game – the conversation somehow turned “spiritual.” Both Ponous and Erik are trying to figure out who God is and what He is all about. I was able to share who He is to me and the reasons I follow Christ vs. all the other options we have out there. It was a good conversation and a reminder to me that God is always at work – even on “vacation.” The port town of Antiparos has a narrow main (walking) street lined with cafes, restaurants and local shops. Kids ran in the street and parents played bumper buggies with all the strollers. It was safe, quite and peaceful – knowing what we know now – we wish we would have spent the whole week at Antiparos.

Paros Island: We then moved over to the main Island of Paros. We stayed at a nice hotel with a great pool and beach. Although the hotel was nice – it was in the middle of nowhere. If you wanted to visit the villages you needed to take bus or taxi. Taxies were very expensive and it took 15 min to walk to the nearest bus stop. We did take an evening trip to Naussa – a small fishing village. They had great seafood and beautiful scenery – the highlight of the Paros visit.

Things we enjoyed most:

• Antiparos
• The Acropolis
• Playing with Drew
• A step back into western culture (Starbucks!)

Things to avoid in Greece:

• Taxies – they are a rip off! (the metro is great!)
• The Plaka in Athens – very touristy (go to Psiri)

Disclaimer: This may not need to be said, however I feel that it is important to let you know that we used our tax return money to fund our vacation. I state this because I know many of you sacrificially give of your resources for us to be here. I do not want to give the impression that we are touring Europe on your funds. Lisa and I strive to be good stewards of that which you have in trusted us with.

See our (many) pictures at: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com

“Football” Mania - World Cup

I sure hope I do not loose a lot of credibility by writing this… If I told most of you that I spent my Friday night watching football… that wouldn’t surprise most of you – but if I told you it was World Cup “soccer” a few of you would think I had lost it.

Well I find myself getting caught up in World Cup “Football” mania like the rest of Europe. Maybe it is because of the sports withdraw I’m going through, but a few of the games (2 so far) have been quite interesting – or at least they hold my attention. I think my friend Tino from KC would be proud of me (I just hope my family of “FOOTBALL” coaches don’t disown me!)

World Cup Mania is crazy here. Every café, bar, restaurant, house, apartment, TV has a World Cup game on. I guess it would be comparable to the Super Bowl or World Series coverage. It is all the Bulgarians are talking about, and according to the news, most of Europe and the other football nations in central and southern America as well.

When we first got to Bulgaria, their club team “Levski” had just advanced to the quarter-finials of the European Champions League (It’s a big deal over here). Bulgarians were going crazy – something a Bulgarian club team has never achieved before. I am actually trying to find a Levski jersey as a souvenir. In the pictures they are the team in blue. The picture with the red lights in the crowd… those are not lights… they are home made torches! Kind of makes holding up your lighter look real whimpy!

Drew also has a little soccer ball he likes kicking around. Don’t worry… I still have plenty of time to get him back on the right track when we get back home. I’m still able to keep up with my NFL teams (Chiefs, Bears and Cowboys) via the internet – however I am still exploring my options on how to watch the games over here.

Soccer may be interesting – but could never fill the void of smash mouth, trash talking, show boating, put the women and children to bed it’s time to find dinner, sport made for kings – FOOTBALL!

Brilliant!

We have the smartest kid in the world!

OK – I’m sure every parent thinks that once in a while. Today, Drew did something that completely astonished me. He was on the playground playing on the slide and a Bulgarian boy, about 6 or 7 years old, cam up to Drew and said “Kak ce kasvash?” Drew then patted himself on the chest and said “Ondrew.”

I couldn’t believe it. “Kak ce kasvash” means “What is your name” in Bulgarian. We have never said that to Drew. We do tell Bulgarians who ask us what is name it, that his name is Andrew. We tell them Andrew, because that is a common name here, not Drew. (“drew” means “another” in Bulgarian and we just got weird looks when we told them that was his name.)

So without any coaching from us (there or anywhere) Drew understood a question asked to him in Bulgarian and gave the correct response. I am not sure I can even do that. (most the time I cannot!)

So this is just my moment of gloating… please indulge me.

Midnight Orthodox Easter Service 06

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This is the midnight Eastern Orthodox Easter service at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral in the center of Sofia, Bulgaria. So many come that most have to stand outside the church, as you will see in the video. You will see the priest and bishops come outside to perform parts of the service. In the end all light candles for those who have passed on and then parade around the church three times. It was fun to experience.

St. George’s Day - Military Parade

May 6^th was St. George’s Day in Bulgaria. We are not really sure who St. George was or what he did, but we know he is the Bulgarian Saint icon that represents the military of Bulgaria.

They held a “military parade” in the center of the city in which all of the military branches marched in full uniform. They were followed by the showing of Bulgaria’s power and might as they displayed their armory. The parade was lead by a Mi-17 helicopter followed by 6 fighter jets. The parade displayed their new armored Mercedes jeeps along with other tanks, missile launchers, portable bridges and transports. They all looked clean and new – witch is good. Not sure if I want to live in a small country where their military fleet has seen a lot of action.

We are enjoying the Bulgarian culture. There are some things to get use to, but the people are very friendly and tolerant of us “foreigners.” We enjoy learning about the culture and getting to know our new Bulgarian friends better. If you care to know more about Bulgarian culture and their myths and legends around the holidays, please check out the following site: http://knigite.abv.bg/bg_folklore/en/

For pictures of the parade, view the following link: http://sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/

Easter in Bulgaria

We just experienced our first Bulgarian Easter last weekend. The Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on the first spring full moon, which this year was one week later than those celebrating in the western parts of the world. Easter is said to be one of the largest holidays here in Bulgaria. We were not here in December to experience Christmas, but most will say that Easter has more customs and is celebrated more widely than Christmas. This may be because Christmas could not be celebrated under communism; however the Orthodox Church was able to continue the Easter/church traditions. (picture:"Велнкден"="Great Day")

On Saturday evening (technically 12:00am Sunday) we went to the center of Sofia to attend an Eastern Orthodox service at the great Alexander Nevski cathedral. Hundreds of people gathered outside because only a select few could attend the service inside. We were actually told that if we flashed our US passports they would probably let us in. They piped the ceremony outside so all could hear. Later the patriarch and bishops came outside to greet the people and pray. The crowd then all lit candles and walked around the church 3 times – one for every day Christ was in the tomb. It was pretty cool – not really “spiritual” but cool to witness. As one of my friends interpreted the prayer for me – it sounded “right on.” They definitely understand the gospel message and acknowledge Christ’s victory over the grave. However as you looked at the people in the crowd, you could sense that they were going through the motions, just as they had in years past, like their parents and grandparents before them. (not true for all I’m sure, but a general observation)

They have great traditions here. I have no problem with tradition as long as they point back to the central truth of Christ. Many of their traditions do that, unfortunately many more do not. Everyone decorates Easter Eggs here. They decorate them, give them as gifts, hold fights with them (I’ll explain later) and then of course – everyone eats them. The first egg is always died red – to represent Christ’s shed blood. Another tradition they have with eggs are the egg fights – not as the ones you may be familiar with. The children and adults alike with bang eggs together to see which are the strongest. The winner will be named the “fighter” and he/she will receive good health throughout the year. The rest of the egg shells are buried in the garden or put under the threshold so that they will chase away evil spirits through out the year. You can see how the traditions start to take a veer off course.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, Christian, pagan, atheist, communist, orthodox, will greet everyone else with this saying: “Hristos voskrese” and everyone will reply “Vo istina voskrese” translated, “Christ has risen” / “He has risen indeed.” We think this is awesome. Almost everyone takes the Friday and Monday off around Easter. They give each other gifts and everyone seams to be is a great mood. They don’t even know what the “Easter Bunny” is – thank God, but I’m sure he is coming as the west draws near.

This has to be one of the largest enigmas for us in coming to Bulgaria. How can the church be so “right on” yet be so far away? A friend explained it to me this way. They do have Christ, yet they have so many “other” things that Christ seams to get lost in it all. They have so many traditions and icons, that Christ simply becomes just another icon and is no longer the core foundation of their faith.

Lisa and I hope to incorporate some of these traditions into our own family – always decorating the first egg to be red to represent Christ and confirm to everyone that “He has risen in deed.” We also hope to build on these truths to reach out to our Bulgarian friends to encourage them to dig a little deeper and find Christ in the midst of all the clutter.

(pictures can be seen at: www.sheppardbulgaria.shutterfly.com)