Bulgarian Child, Inc.  Love and Loaves to Those in Need
7522 Campbell Rd. - St. 113 - 172 - Dallas, TX

 

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A child from one of the orphanages that we worked in coming up to the car to say hello (click on any photo on page to enlarge).

Team from Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, Spring '07

The Towne View Twelve had a great ministry here this past week.  It was the first team from this church to come to Bulgaria on a BCI mission team. We hope it is only the beginning of their involvement.

They arrived on Tuesday, the 29th, and traveled straight (yes, I know that the mountain road is very curvy) to the town of Berkovitsa.  They began their work the next morning by visiting 6 classes at the public school in the gypsy village of Rakovitsa. Many of the children in this village do not attend school at all, and many others are very sporadic in their attendance. The children were encouraged to continue their education and to be serious about attending on a regular basis.

At the Rakovitsa public school.

The volunteers were prepared to speak about the great state of Georgia, bringing with them GA quarters, flags, stickers, etc., for each child.  The presentation included a short introduction to the state with pictures, teaching of the song Georgia on my mind, presenting each classroom with specially prepared calendars featuring sites in the state, the teaching of a Bible verse, and presentation about special churches in the state. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that our currency has the words "In God we trust" printed on them.  We were able to present this same program to classes at the Health school one morning. It was of great interest to students AND teachers.

VBS at Berkovitsa IV

The daily afternoon schedule included work at both Berk 4 (home for handicapped children and youth) and Berk 3 (home for school-age children without parental care.)  At Berk 4, some of the team worked with the especially severely handicapped children providing sensory and therapy activities. Hyacinth Crooks, a nurse practitioner; Teresa Denmark, a sensory and speech therapist; Bobbie Bruce (grandmother/baby holder); and Andrew Ridgway worked mostly with this group.

Other volunteers went from room to room telling a Bible story, doing an ability-appropriate craft and a game. One of the stories was about Zaccheus. The activity involved gluing a Zaccheus figure on a tree. We were especially blessed when one of the more handicapped kids asked for another figure to represent Jesus!

Hanging out with children at Berkovitsa III.

The children especially enjoyed role-playing and the acting out of the story. There was one interesting twist when the child portraying Jesus decided he did not care for the behavior of one of his disciples, so he just leaned over and slugged him!  Oh well, I guess we all fail in our efforts to be Christ-like. Several team members took part in the preparation and presentation of these stories and activities: Lorraine Roote, Trey and Jennifer Lyon, Patti Lowe, Kim Dyson, Daniel and Melanie Connell, and Taylor Jansen. Translators were Vasco Vacilev, Vladi Raichinov, Yordanka Tesheva, and Denitsa Papratilova.

The team used the same stories and activities at Berk 3. There, however, Patti Lowe and Stephanie worked with some of the older teenage girls in a more intimate circle where the girls felt freer to talk and share about their lives, hopes, and fears.  The environment was totally non-threatening. We made friendship bracelets, gave manicures and braided hair as we talked!

Playing basketball at Borovtsi.  The basketballs were donated by the team.

Organized outdoor activities were a great hit at this home with many kids getting involved and working off some of that pent-up energy.

We took these same activities to the home in Borovtsi on Saturday morning. The kids there were thrilled to get some one-on-one attention.

A highlight of the whole week was the celebration of the International Day of the Child on June 1.  The kids from Berk 4 had put together a Sports Spectacular!  They made all their outfits. They had sewn black pants with a white sports stripe down the side. The fabric has come on containers, and of course they used sewing machines purchased by FBC, Cabot. They all wore t-shirts shipped from Cabot, also.  They were donated by a school that had them left over from a band tour!  Some of the older girls had made cheerleading costumes,  complete with pompoms and white headbands.  They were soooo proud!

Getting ready to march the flag.

At any rate, the show consisted of a flag ceremony, gymnastics, relays, bike-racing, and singing. It was terrific.  I was so proud of these kids.  One of the high points was a gymnastic dance that had Nellie (a 16-year-old that does not speak) waving flags while standing on the knees of two of the boys.  Yavor (8 yrs. old) and Stancho (28) sang at the end. Though the team had nothing to do with the preparation for this event, the members served a vital part by being a very appreciative audience! The children really needed to show what they could do, and our Georgians were more than happy to clap and cheer them on.

Gymnastics.

On Sunday morning the team served in the church in Rakovitsa. The children from the community kept pouring in until we simply had to begin turning them away due to lack of space. We had around 100 children there for Bible stories, activities, and singing.  Around twenty-five children from Berk 4 came. We sent our vans to pick them up. All the children sang two songs in the worship service, and then the kids from Berk 4 sang Jesus Loves Me, all 3 verses.

Two children from Berkovitsa IV

Lorraine Roote introduced the Georgia team and they all sang "We Are One in the Spirit". We were especially blessed by the sermon given by Teo Angelov. He spoke to our hearts about real treasure. He so inspired the orphanage worker that had accompanied the children that she asked to address the congregation! After the service the ladies in the church had prepared a special treat of many kinds of banitsa, a Bulgarian pastry specialty. Unfortunately, we left there to go immediately to lunch!  Then it was on to Sofia for souvenir shopping outside in a downpour!

The team left early Monday morning, tired but happy.  This was a week of hugging and establishing relationships. The good-byes were very difficult for the children and for the team members, but we are hoping that this is merely the beginning of these friendships.

--Judy Ridgway

 

Bulgarian Child, Inc. is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

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