Sliven

Yesterday afternoon, we traveled to the town of Sliven, which is about an hour from Stara Zagora. There is a large gypsy area on the edge of town. In the large cities, the gypsies live in what I would describe as ghettos. In the smaller towns, they live on the edge of town; what we might call the wrong side of the tracks. There is very little integration in Bulgaria. This is a congregation lead by a pastor which whom we have a lot of history. Last summer (2012) he and his son and our Bulgarian partner, Dinko and his father all stayed at our house for three days when they came through on a tour of the U.S. Prior to that, we had been to this church and taught here many times. So we always feel very welcome here. When we entered the sanctuary, there was a huge picture of us being projected on the back wall, welcoming us back! Most of the time, Pat and I team-teach. But this time, we split up. For three hours, I taught the men, which included about 15 pastors, on tithing. Upstairs, Pat taught the women on the subject of finding our purpose in life. Both of these topics are rarely discussed in gypsy churches and they are big problems for these people. Most of what they get is very spiritual but they don't really understand how to apply the lessons of scripture to their daily lives. Also, as is true at home, many of these pastors are reluctant to teach on the subject of money and giving and so they don't hear that much. After the teaching sessions, we had church for a couple of hours. When they have church, it is more like a big party with some preaching thrown in; it is SO much fun. The gypsy people really know how to make fabulous music and how to worship with abandon! It is unlike any worship experience I have ever had and every time it is just amazing. I can't really do it justice; you just have to experience it. Here are some pictures of Pat in action and the church service. I still don't have my camera yet.