Dear Friends,
Paul and I have just returned from a week in Bulgaria and 2 weeks with Vula in Greece. We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to return and see our friends Gopi and Reni and also assist Vula with her widespread ministry in Greece and beyond.
It was a gift to see all the progress and near completion of the 14 houses in Pamukchi, Bulgaria. We are thankful for Gopi’s oversight in this large undertaking. Before it began there was no water or electricity and the families live in chicken coops. Now these families will have both safe homes and utilities! Besides overseeing the construction project Gopi along with Reni have been pastoring the church in Yastrebovo. It was good to spend time in the village and see some of the people we have come to know as family over the years. While we were there we were able to unpack some of the boxes that had arrived from Danville and also purchase school supplies for sponsored children. Thank you to the team who sorts and packs donated clothing each week. There were baby clothes this time that were perfect for a new baby that had just arrived this summer to one of the ladies in the village.
While in Greece we were kept busy with helping Vula make meals, visiting a small village church, unpacking boxes and distributing clothes. Vula continues to serve far and wide. One highlight was to visit a Roma village to distribute candy to the children. Their faces showed that they felt loved by this gesture with huge smiles. It amazes us to see how she remembers everything and keeps going! As a bonus the fig trees in the area were all ripening so I learned to make fig jam! Vula had many requests for fig jam while we were there!
Thank you Vula for letting us join you in Greece and partner with you in Ministry.
Barb and Paul VanMaanen
Volunteer teacher Christina with one of the students
A word from Deana Dickerson:
What an incredible privilege it is to partner with Macedonian Outreach! One of my greatest joys as the Missions Director at CPC is to visit our partners and see first hand what God is up to. This July we took a team of eight to Bulgaria and Greece. Being back in Yastrebovo with Gopi and Reni is like being home. I am immensely blessed by them and consider them dear friends.
As a team we spent quality time with the children in Yastrebovo helping run a small kids camp and even took them on a day trip to the Black Sea! We also got to see the almost completed 13 homes being built in Pamukchii, truly an answer to many years of prayer! I was moved to tears as I remember my first visit to this village years ago where there was nothing. In Greece we enjoyed some downtime with Vula and visited two refugee centers and a soup kitchen. We also did a few small projects around the ministry house.
Lastly, Aaron came to help us capture the beautiful story of Macedonian Outreach. While there are many moving pieces and we could not possibly capture them all, we look forward to sharing an impact film with you all later this Fall. We are so grateful to have had this time together!
A word from Gracie Carpenter:
During the trip, God highlighted one specific verse to me, which was 1 Timothy 4:12. “Do not let anyone look down upon you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” Going on the trip, I was a bit nervous that since I was so young, my words would not hold enough weight to impact people. I came to find that leading in these ways that the Lord calls us to lead in, age does not hold the weight anymore. I saw this when I was given the opportunity to lead worship in English for the people of the church in Bulgaria. Most people did not understand any of the words I was saying, but still every person was impacted by the energy of Jesus flowing through me. My age no longer mattered and neither did the “language barrier”. With God, the weight of our authority is held in love. You are respected for the way you love others. When people see your heart, they will see Jesus, and that’s the goal..to make heaven crowded.
A word from Caleb Van Randwyk:
When you think of kids living in poverty in a country where they don’t have a lot of the things we take for granted you might assume they would be unhappy. However, I was recently blessed with the opportunity to interact with kids in a couple small villages in Bulgaria and I found completely the opposite. Even as we first walked into the room with the kids they were already smiling and wanting to talk to us. The joy they had was apparent on their faces and it’s crazy to think that I might have envisioned a scene with sad and dreary looking children. In fact the joy in these children was almost unfathomable coming from somewhere like the US. These kids didn’t cry or throw fits like I’m sure I did when I was younger. They were just happy to be around us and play with us. Somehow, despite their circumstance they had joy in their hearts and I feel we should all learn from this.
In Galatians Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit and joy is one of them that many of us struggle to exhibit or feel. Often I find that my happiness can determine how I act or speak and the problem lies in how happiness is temporary. Fortunately joy is eternal! If we can learn from these kids and base our joy in Christ then we can bear much fruit. If I let my actions and words flow from this joy then I will be better able to reflect Christ through my life, and be better able to witness to those around me. I feel like God really taught me to find my joy in him through this experience and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of this trip so I could have this experience and have a lot of fun.
Roma Pastors’ Conference
by Jim Krouscas
If there is one word to summarize the recent Roma Pastors’ Conference, it would be joy. There was joy in reuniting with old friends. Joy in coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ to sit under the preaching of God’s Word. And joy in being reminded that God is accomplishing His purposes by bringing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself.
The conference was held at a retreat center in the mountains of Yundola, Bulgaria, and began on June 22. During our five days together, approximately 25 Roma pastors, along with their wives, gathered for a time of training and refreshment. Hitting the ground running, each day began promptly at 7:30am with a time of prayer. This was a rich way to start the day as many would gather in a large circle on the dew of the grass to offer prayer and praise to the Lord. After a quick breakfast, we would then gather in a classroom that was just barely large enough to fit the entire group. Yet the fullness of the room brought much energy and life to our time of singing and teaching. Through the help of some amazing interpreters, I, along with Pastor Pantelis Sidiropoulos from Greece, gave a series of messages throughout the conference. My messages took several passages from 1 Samuel to demonstrate how Jesus is pictured in the Old Testament.
More teaching continued in the afternoon, where the pastors were provided training related to the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. While the men were meeting and discussing these topics, the ladies also met as a group and were led through a study on Mary Magdalene. At the conclusion of both sessions, the entire group (men and women) reunited for some Q & A. Although we scheduled one hour for this part of the conference, I think we could have gone on well into the evening! What does it mean that there are no contradictions in the Bible? What are the roles of men and women in the church? How should the church respond to the sexual craziness that is going on in the world? What is the relationship between the church and politics? These are just a sample of the thoughtful and serious questions that were asked. As you can tell the Q & A was anything but boring!
By the end of the week, we were all sad to go and with many tears we said our goodbyes. But even those goodbyes were undergirded in joy. The joy of the Lord! The joy of having been taught from His Word. And the joy of knowing that our labor (especially as pastors) is not in vain.
Praise God! And praise Him and praise Him again. Over 20 years ago when we first went to this village called Yastrebovo in Bulgaria, everything was desolate, poor, no school, no church, no clean water, no decent housing. Today, all of the above needs, through the grace of God and His people, have been met. Still no school but another miracle. A bus comes in every morning and picks up all the children to take them to school in the next town over. Most of the original children, now teenagers, have finished high school and found jobs that can provide them their daily needs.