Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Last night in Varna, we had a marvelous spontaneous Holy Ghost party at the little Italian restaurant where we had dinner. There was so much joy in our hearts from all that God had done that day, and this joy was absolutely uncontainable. "Spaghetti Pizza and New Wine" takes on an even more vivid meaning for all of us now.
Then we boarded the overnight train and headed off for Bulgaria's capitol city of Sofia. We rode in first class sleeper cars. We could feel the train bouncing beneath us every step of the way. We were so excited and visited each other's cabins long into the night, it was like we were participating in one big rolling pajama party.
We arrived into Sofia at 6:00 AM and had a nice breakfast at our hotel where we checked in and got refreshed. Some went on great shopping expeditions while the rest of the group stayed back at the hotel to just relax and have some quiet time.
That afternoon we regrouped and headed off to visit two Gypsy locations.
The first was a small dilapitated camp of about 40 homes along the highway, just on the outskirts of Sofia. Pastors Zhoro and Mariana had discovered this camp almost one year ago and they have been going there ever since. They have brought Georgian and Winnie there several times over the year, and for the Banovs it was love at first sight. These precious people are God's treasures.
The pastor of this little clan had gotten so discouraged over the last few years. He had lost hope and began drinking. Georgian and Zhoro had ministered to him over the past year and restored him. Now he and his wife are back in the camp bringing the fresh bread of Heaven to the people.
The conditions there are so tragic. Their homes are made out of those little metal train cars, and there is only one bathroom for the entire camp. They are so desperately poor and there is trash everywhere. The camp sits on top of a steep embankment which has always overlooked a huge stinky smelly trash heap. Just a few months ago a little toddler tumbled down the embankment and they found her dead amongst all of the garbage. Since Bulgarian and American Christians have been going there regularly, and since Pastor Zhoro had complained to the mayor, the city removed all of the garbage and built a metal fence to protect any more little children from falling. Wow, thank you Jesus!
The Gypsies welcomed us and we had a marvelous time praising God together. One of the men there grabbed his drum and joined right in with us. We had a great time dancing and hugging one another. We gave out little praise instruments and toys to the children and they were elated. The pastors there have recently turned one of the train cars into a church, and they brought us in to see the fresh coat of green paint and neat little rows of mis-matched plastic chairs.
Then we gathered the people together in an open area outside and Georgian minstered the Gospel to them. We prayed for all of them, and gave an altar call. You could see the presence of God on the people, and several of the Gypsies got up to testify. Georgian and Winnie will bring Rolland and Heidi to this camp in September when they come, we are so excited. Lord, let your Glory be made known to these people. Fill them with your Spirit, and do a mighty work in their lives, Amen!
After that, we drove to the large neighborhood in Sofia that we have visited every year. It was wonderful to see so many of the familiar faces and reflect on our first visit when they were originally so timid and reserved. Now they are full fledged lovers of God, and they jumped right into worship and praise. During one point as Georgian was ministering, he started speaking to the children from the stage. As he began bending down and leaning forward, all of the children began clinging to him like hundreds of barnacles clinging to a ship. Spontaneously he began pulling them up on the stage with him, and before you knew it, he had an entire choir of children singing with him. The voices were heavenly and their angelic sounds could be heard throughout the courtyard. A sweet presence of the Lord filled the place while the rest of us walked around praying for the people. It was 100% pure bliss.
After that we marched through the streets as a massive praise parade. All of us from Global Celebration plus all of the Gypsies from the crusade... we marched behind a van with speakers tied on the roof, wireless connection to Georgian's guitar and voice. Georgian led us and together we sang simple phrases in Bulgarian like "Jesus we love you!" "Glory to God!" " Jesus loves you!" and things like that. Wherever there was a good spot, we would stop and sing and people would come out from their houses to see what all of the commotion was about. There must have been about 300 of us marching through the streets.
At one point, we prayed for a little boy who was partially deaf and his ears were opened up. He was healed and everyone rejoiced.
Next we went to visit the church building of a new pastor there. His building was just purchased through Global Celebration, and it was renovated just this month. (It was not fit for habitation before, water was streaming through the floor and it was a shambles. Now it is remarkably clean and freshly painted.) We went in and blessed his new church building, and the pastor and his people were so blessed as we broke out into spontaneous songs. There were several young boys there, about 12 years old, who were so on fire and who prayed with great passion. It was so wonderful to see.
It was well past 8:30, the sun was setting and we had to leave. We headed back to our hotel for a meal and once again went to bed fully satisfied for all that God had done.
Then we boarded the overnight train and headed off for Bulgaria's capitol city of Sofia. We rode in first class sleeper cars. We could feel the train bouncing beneath us every step of the way. We were so excited and visited each other's cabins long into the night, it was like we were participating in one big rolling pajama party.
We arrived into Sofia at 6:00 AM and had a nice breakfast at our hotel where we checked in and got refreshed. Some went on great shopping expeditions while the rest of the group stayed back at the hotel to just relax and have some quiet time.
That afternoon we regrouped and headed off to visit two Gypsy locations.
The first was a small dilapitated camp of about 40 homes along the highway, just on the outskirts of Sofia. Pastors Zhoro and Mariana had discovered this camp almost one year ago and they have been going there ever since. They have brought Georgian and Winnie there several times over the year, and for the Banovs it was love at first sight. These precious people are God's treasures.
The pastor of this little clan had gotten so discouraged over the last few years. He had lost hope and began drinking. Georgian and Zhoro had ministered to him over the past year and restored him. Now he and his wife are back in the camp bringing the fresh bread of Heaven to the people.
The conditions there are so tragic. Their homes are made out of those little metal train cars, and there is only one bathroom for the entire camp. They are so desperately poor and there is trash everywhere. The camp sits on top of a steep embankment which has always overlooked a huge stinky smelly trash heap. Just a few months ago a little toddler tumbled down the embankment and they found her dead amongst all of the garbage. Since Bulgarian and American Christians have been going there regularly, and since Pastor Zhoro had complained to the mayor, the city removed all of the garbage and built a metal fence to protect any more little children from falling. Wow, thank you Jesus!
The Gypsies welcomed us and we had a marvelous time praising God together. One of the men there grabbed his drum and joined right in with us. We had a great time dancing and hugging one another. We gave out little praise instruments and toys to the children and they were elated. The pastors there have recently turned one of the train cars into a church, and they brought us in to see the fresh coat of green paint and neat little rows of mis-matched plastic chairs.
Then we gathered the people together in an open area outside and Georgian minstered the Gospel to them. We prayed for all of them, and gave an altar call. You could see the presence of God on the people, and several of the Gypsies got up to testify. Georgian and Winnie will bring Rolland and Heidi to this camp in September when they come, we are so excited. Lord, let your Glory be made known to these people. Fill them with your Spirit, and do a mighty work in their lives, Amen!
After that, we drove to the large neighborhood in Sofia that we have visited every year. It was wonderful to see so many of the familiar faces and reflect on our first visit when they were originally so timid and reserved. Now they are full fledged lovers of God, and they jumped right into worship and praise. During one point as Georgian was ministering, he started speaking to the children from the stage. As he began bending down and leaning forward, all of the children began clinging to him like hundreds of barnacles clinging to a ship. Spontaneously he began pulling them up on the stage with him, and before you knew it, he had an entire choir of children singing with him. The voices were heavenly and their angelic sounds could be heard throughout the courtyard. A sweet presence of the Lord filled the place while the rest of us walked around praying for the people. It was 100% pure bliss.
After that we marched through the streets as a massive praise parade. All of us from Global Celebration plus all of the Gypsies from the crusade... we marched behind a van with speakers tied on the roof, wireless connection to Georgian's guitar and voice. Georgian led us and together we sang simple phrases in Bulgarian like "Jesus we love you!" "Glory to God!" " Jesus loves you!" and things like that. Wherever there was a good spot, we would stop and sing and people would come out from their houses to see what all of the commotion was about. There must have been about 300 of us marching through the streets.
At one point, we prayed for a little boy who was partially deaf and his ears were opened up. He was healed and everyone rejoiced.
Next we went to visit the church building of a new pastor there. His building was just purchased through Global Celebration, and it was renovated just this month. (It was not fit for habitation before, water was streaming through the floor and it was a shambles. Now it is remarkably clean and freshly painted.) We went in and blessed his new church building, and the pastor and his people were so blessed as we broke out into spontaneous songs. There were several young boys there, about 12 years old, who were so on fire and who prayed with great passion. It was so wonderful to see.
It was well past 8:30, the sun was setting and we had to leave. We headed back to our hotel for a meal and once again went to bed fully satisfied for all that God had done.
