A need for a cattle prong!

HA! Public transportation is a fine art and there are unspoken rules you must know before taking part in this art. Rule 1: Know the language of your country so you know the spoken rules! Rule 2: If you don't know the language you will find great comfort in not knowing when you are being cursed out =D Rule 3: When the bus is so full that the doors won't close just squeeze in tighter because at least ten more people are going to get on! Just be happy you aren't the one hanging out of the bus! Rule 4: If you would have allowed your wife to purchase those cool numb-chucks she saw the day before then she could have taken care of the man who very rudely shoved her husband around when he couldn't squeeze further. Rule 5: Walking is sometimes the greatest gift of all and should be taken with pleasure during a beautiful day~
LOL oh the joys of learning new things =)

This week has been a great week. Ben started a little day school Monday through Friday and Micah attends with him on Tuesday and Thursday. Two of their friends already attend there and so it gives them plenty of time to learn language and play with kids they love. The teacher is wonderful and takes her time to give one on one learning time with each child. During the summer the kids can sign up for fencing lessons, cooking lessons and field trips. This was our first week and everyone did great with the new schedule. Cameron and I found moments in the day that we could actually have lunch together between or after language class or explore a different part of our city without having to worry about little ones. The week ended with a beautiful day spent at the park and exploring a wooded area. We then decided after all that romping around in the woods that we should spend some time googling poisionous snakes in our country and made a plan to stay only on the trails from now on! HA!

Cameron will be going out of town on Saturday with a church from Louisiana. Please pray for the ministry opportunities that will take place this weekend and next week and for their safety as they serve the Lord in northwest Bulgaria.
My sweet friend Ginna is also coming into town next week to spend some time with us and I am SO SUPER excited to see her!
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement from our last post! We are very blessed to have such a great body of believers that will faithfully lift us up!

Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?

On a scale of 1 to 10, the last two weeks have been the hardest weeks we have faced since arriving. The enemy went after our hearts by attacking our son. Unfortunately there was an older boy at school who had been inappropriate with Micah and thankfully Micah told us about it before it got any further. We know you can respect us to allow us to spare the details and I assure you that everything will be okay, but no one wants to have to even deal with shallow issues regarding this topic with their kids. There were a lot of tears and sadness for everyone involved.
This sweet boy was adopted a year ago and more than likely has experienced some darkness in his fragile years of life living in the orphanage. Thankfully he has been given a gift of hope and placed in a loving Christian home but this family needs your prayers for strength, wisdom and healing for this boy. I am sure that as they seek God's wisdom and counsel they will rise above any of his past pains and have a mouth of praise for a Savior who restores and makes all things new!

Last Wednesday was our hardest day and after spending some time in prayer and tears we decided to get out of the house and look for a fun distraction. We ended up at the mall in a big game room and waited for our turn to play a game the boys love. While waiting, I noticed two roma boys playing with the air hockey machine with a ping pong ball. They were having a great time with their 'free' re-invention of air hockey and I would retrieve the ball when I saw it fly through the game center and give it back to them. They were surprised at my continuing to give them their ball and I noticed the puzzled look on their face as to why I was "wasting my time" doing that for them. I took a moment to say hi to them when I gave them the ball and smile every chance I got and they took the chance to ask me for some change to play a real game of air hockey. We only had a game card and so I couldn't give them any change but I invited them to play with our boys at the game we were waiting in line for. They agreed and all four boys played their hearts out. While Micah, Ben, Mitko and Rauko were having a great time, I went and bought Burger King for everyone. We all sat down for dinner and I noticed the oldest boy take a bite out of the burger, then a chicken nugget and then a french fries. It was as if he couldn't decide what to eat first and feared getting too full before he was able to enjoy the taste of everything. Mitko told me about his 6 sisters and 3 brothers at home and I told him I had a lot of children too. He looked confused at that statement and then asked if my other children were at home. I told him they were at home with God. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use our biggest heart aches to turn other hearts to Him when we allow ourselves to choose to use our grief for His glory. As Mitko listened he began to see me as a human rather than just an American. Mitko said he believed in God but he didn't go to church. Dinner was coming to an end and Mitko became insistent on telling me something and this is where my language hit a brick wall. To my shame I assumed he was asking me for money for his family. He was using hand motions and repeating the same thing over and over. When I told him that I couldn't give him money I very clearly understood his body language of frustration with me and the sentence "I am not asking you for money." I was embarrassed! I asked Cameron to call a Bulgarian brother in Christ and get him to translate for me. Our friend translated to me that Mitko was saying "Just like God doesn't like us to waste anything; I don't like to waste either." He didn't want me to throw away any leftovers but instead wanted to take them home to his family! Talk about feeling worse! At that moment I wanted to apologize and give him all my money! lol Since our friend was on the phone I wanted to invite him and his brother to church with us on Sunday. Our friend translated the request and told him to meet us at the mall at 10:30. Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not." We told him whether he came or not, we would be there waiting. On Sunday Mitko and Rauko were waiting for us! =D After church I asked them if they would want to come again and Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not" =) So once again we will pray and see if they meet us on Sunday.

As I said in the beginning of this post it had been a horrible day but each day we all have a question to answer: "Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?"
Judgment is coming. Our Lord will return and the Bible says that EVERYONE will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There are some who find comfort in denying Hell's existence but there is no way of getting around it in scripture. We know there is eternal life and there is eternal death and the sword of judgment is coming to separate those who are covered under the grace of Jesus Christ forgiveness and faith in Him and those who cover their eyes and ears to the truth of God's Word. To be blunt the last three weeks in Bulgaria have been the hardest and we have cried a lot, but it does not excuse us from being the watchman God calls us to be and overlook sharing the truth with those who have not been told.
"If the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the trumpet, so that the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, BUT I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood." Ezekiel 33:6
We had lifted the issues of the day to God in prayer before we left the house and felt His peace cover us and assure us everything would be okay. It would have been easy to continue to wallow in the situation as I have done so many times before and miss what God was doing right in front of me but it is in those times I am not allowing God's grace to be sufficient for me. Pray that there is never a day I spend so focused on me that I miss an opportunity to share Him with others. Only God is the great "I AM" and so when I find myself defending my day's choices with "But I am..." I need to ask myself which 'I AM' I am serving that day. In the game room I almost said "But I am sad" "But I am going through something right now" and the list could have continued. Praise God for a heart that says "You are and by your grace and as your child you are the only I AM I will serve today and I know Your grace is sufficient in this moment!"

A girl named "Awesome"

When Micah first met my friend this weekend, I told him her name and he thought I said her name was "Awesome" and so we keep her named "Awesome" as a running joke. Out of respect for her privacy on this blog, we will keep her real name private and use Micah's name for her instead, "Awesome"
Awesome was one of the first people I met in December when I accompanied our church during their holiday orphanage ministry. It was a breath of familiar air when this beautiful girl started speaking english to me! Awesome had lived in America for a little while when she participated in a program offered in Bulgaria to work in a forign country for a specific amount of time. During her time in America she was drawn to take a Tae Kwon Do class that she couldn't afford or easily travel to. Something was pulling Awesome to this school and while she thought about the limitations of it being a practical choice, an employee came out and asked her if she wanted to sign up during their One Month Free offer. She immediately signed up!
While taking this class she met a Christian woman that befriended her and sought her friendship. Awesome has told me several times that she knew she was a Christian (she had no idea what that meant or what they really believed) but the woman witnessed with few words and with alot of deed! Awesome had to be admitted to the hospital and the woman stayed by her bed side the whole time. When Sunday came, Awesome realized that she stayed beside her and did not leave for the hour to go to church. Awesome said that it was then that she realized that being a Christian wasn't a religious thing but it was instead relational. Awesome moved to another state and found herself feeling like she needed to find what the woman had so passionately demonstrated towards her. It was during her visit to the local Baptist church in her new state that she met her Savior, Jesus Christ and it was Him who she had been missing! Awesome did not get a further work visa permit and had to return to Bulgaria. The church in America made some phone calls and got Awesome in touch with the Baptist church in Sofia. Awesome is faithfully sharing her faith with family, friends and co-workers. Please pray for the people she has purchased Bibles for and who she continues to witness to.
You never know where you will be or who you will meet when God places someone in your life who needs to know Him. Bride of Christ in America, you are a melting pot of all people groups coming onto your soil for work. Go out of your way to befriend those who may look different, talk different or seem culturally different. When we get out of our comfort zone we may possibly have the opportunity to introduce someone to Christ who will then return to their country and be a light for those they know best. You can send out missionaries all the time, but it just might be YOU who God wants to use to introduce all peoples, tongues and tribes to Him! Open your eyes and see the multitudes, they just might be living next door!

Micah is 5, let the whip cream fly!

We began the month of February by sketching a picture of a birthday cake on the calendar on the 21st. The talk of a birthday party filled the house and the boys focused on what flavor cake "they" wanted for Micah's special day. One morning Micah came up to me and said "Mom, don't worry about my birthday. I don't have any friends to come to it, so it's no use." My heart melted inside me immediately! He has made friends since living in Bulgaria but friendship looks different right now and that lonliness is felt by all of us. I tried to reassure Micah that he had friends here and that a birthday party didn't mean gifts and kids filling a house, it was a time to thank God for his life and celebrate that gift of life with his family. The truth was my heart was aching for him. During Malta a wise woman comforted me by reminding me that he will not realize he is missing out on anything unless we live life like he is. I walked away from our conversation and realized the truth in her statment. I can stand with one foot in America and one foot in Bulgaria and always be looking back and forth but I will never be fully engaged in our new life if I do. Things are going to look different for us but it doesn't mean that the change is better or worse. Differnt doesn't mean we're going to miss out on what we used to do but rather we will gain a differnt way of doing it. There were alot of things that "weren't" at Micah's birthday but what was there were smiles and alot of them. Ben proudly decorated Micah's cake for him and presented it to him after dinner. It was a special time and we gained great memories and missed nothing =)

The next day the boys were pretending to be babies and I was feeding them a bottle of whip cream! (Micah was baby Hulk and Ben was baby Iron Man) =) Who wouldn't want to keep playing that game!? So what does a sweet cuddling moment in the Phillips's house turn into...a full on whip cream fight! We smeared whip cream on each other, in hair, on walls and eventually ended the game by landing two sticky boys inside a bathtub. Why not have a good reason to mop?! =)

Malta

Malta! Hands down the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. For history lovers like Cameron, Malta is engrossed in it. During World War II, Malta was the most bombed place in the war. At a church called Mosta a group of people had gathered inside to find shelter from the bombing. While seeking shelter and praying a bomb fell through the roof of the church and did not explode. A replica of this bomb sits in the church today as a reminder of divine protection that is unfortunately not attributed to the true Savior’s hand. Malta is also found in the New Testament. In Acts 27 and 28 Paul is sailing as a Roman prisoner headed to Rome. While sailing, a storm arises and the ship is destroyed leaving Paul, the other prisoners and the Roman guards stranded on a foreign beach they come to know as Malta! We actually stayed at a hotel on St. Paul’s Bay where it is believed their ship crashed. We went and visited the old cave area Roman guards used as their prison and where they believe Paul was held. We went to Mdina and saw the city that was very likely the same place Paul would have come to heal Publius’s ill Father. There was so much history and so much of it coming to life before your eyes as you walked, saw and relived what once was. It was by far the best trip we’ve ever taken and the most beautiful place we’ve ever seen. Oh and just to prove scripture’s truth once more: Taken from Acts 28:2 describing the people of Malta, “The local people showed us extraordinary kindness…” They still do! (Picture of cave above)
Malta provided a wonderful time of refreshment and allowed us to meet Roma team members from all over Europe. I cannot fully explain how wonderful it is to be at the beginning of this journey and hear stories from the people who have been running this race much longer. To hear of Roma who not only are transformed by the Word of God but who then comprehend what Christ commands and they in turn “GO” and become a city on a hill for those around them is so cool! To hear light jokes of those who have had a dollar stolen but not their smile or their call, gave me little boosts of encouragement. All in all I looked around the room, I listened to testimonies and I sat honored to be in the presence of those I look up to and hope to learn from. A group from New Orleans came to provide a vacation Bible school for the kids and Micah and Ben had an awesome time!! Some from the group brought a couple of treasures for our family from friends back in New Orleans and this gave us the opportunity to give Micah the perfect birthday present: Blueberry Pop tarts!! In addition they brought a chocolate cake mix and chocolate icing so that I didn’t have to make his cake from scratch on Monday. These were beautiful treasures to our family and Micah’s birthday was wonderful! We just want to make sure they all know how lucky we felt to get those things and how sweet those gifts were. (Picture and evidence of the excited boys with a pack of gushers above)
Another beauty about Malta is that almost everyone speaks English. It was spoiling to just speak! To say things in the moment, to tell jokes and laugh, to share my heart without searching for words and most of all to share Christ with others again! If you asked me what the hardest thing is about living in Bulgaria, I would say hands down it is the inability to tell people about what Christ has done in my life. To feed a Roma man today and not be able to sit and talk with him about bread that feeds the soul rather than his stomach kills me! To hand a tissue to an old lady who then wants to have a full blown conversation with me hurts my heart to only reply “I don’t understand” and all of this to walk away from these people who possibly think I am a nice person rather than it being known that it is Christ who is compelling me to love them devastates me! Don’t take this treasure for granted if you live in a place that you can speak fluently in! When your tongue disappears all you will desire to do is tell people about Him! To see people daily in captivity and walk by knowing you have the key to set them free should make you never Shut Up!! Speak, Tell, and Love through Him and don’t sit silently. When your tongue disappears, your heart will explode within you begging to speak words of life to others! Please don’t take it for granted.
Please take a moment to pray for the salvation of Mike and Jacob. We were able to share Christ with them during our stay in Malta. Other members from the Roma team were able to share Christ with Maltese and if you’ll pray for their decisions I would appreciate it.

Trafficking Meeting

"For Rent" when we see a sign like this we think of apartments, houses, or a building for business. For some women "For Rent" is a sign they carry around on their chest, placed there by a pimp.
Saturday I went to a meeting that was held by a group of evangelical women from different back grounds. Some were social workers, others were lawyers, some were Americans and many were Bulgarians. Some were from Sofia and others traveled to Sofia from outside cities but all had a common interest: How does the Christian community help prevent trafficking in our area and help restore the women who want to get out? With every suggestion that was made, there were laws to be considered, there were financial burdens to be considered, and there was the topic of safety to be considered for workers and for the women who would flee.
Here are some of the things I learned and have taken away from this meeting:
Trafficking is a well organized network and most women are not taken by chance, it is planned or they are given to the network by family or friends who sale them. Some women, most with a back ground of childhood abuse, go into this field willingly with the expectation of doing it for a short time until they financially change their lives and can get out. Unfortunately for these women who willingly volunteer for this they don't get out and they don't make the money that is promised. They like the picture says they are "for rent" and will continued to be owned by someone else.

We learned of a 37 year old woman from northern Bulgaria that went to have coffee with her friend and he slipped something into her drink. When she woke up at the border of Greece, she had been sold by her friend to a pimp. This woman had a 13 year old son at home and was past the age that you would assume a victim would be taken. After some time she was able to escape and she came to a church in northern Bulgaria for help. The church did not know how to help her or how to provide the emotional restoration she would need and so a member of the church was at the meeting looking for resources. While the woman was sharing this story, another woman raised her hand and asked "Is this the same woman who escaped and seven men came and kidnapped her a second time?" My translator stopped and I didn't get to hear the answer but I was left with a deep sadness for whoever this woman was. I can't imagine how hard it would be to escape one time, much less ever get the chance to do it again.
Another woman raised her hand and was at the meeting looking to advocate help for a grandmother who had a grand daughter taken and exported to Germany on January 1. The grandmother had been to the police and to lawyers but had received no help. The meeting provided information on how to help this grandmother who had been previously told that "Your granddaughter is 21. She is of age to travel and should be able to take care of herself".
It was explained to us that many times police do not help and often close their eyes. Sometimes the police are given payment to close their eyes. The underground network of trafficking is well organized, well financed and supplied with lawyers and other officials that help keep the organization functioning.
Here are ways you can pray:
1. Pray for the laws to be changed in Bulgaria. Currently 14 is the age of consentual sex. This gives an older man the right to engage in activity that she would then have to prove is not welcomed. This age increase would also put a block on the child marriage market amongst the Roma.
2. Pray for churches in Bulgaria to see this problem and act. Many of the churches across all denominations turn an eye to this problem and don't believe it to be a problem until a prostitute comes to them for help or until it is one of their family members.
3. Pray for the court systems to not drag their feet when a woman is willing to testify and for the law to better define trafficking so loop holes can be minimized.
4. Pray for a Christian center to open in Bulgaria that will provide a safe house and rehabilitation emotionally and spiritually. There is currently only one place like this in Sofia and they only offer one month of free shelter and counseling.

It is my goal to attend these meetings and gather information and know how God can use me amongst the Roma to help prevent girls in the community from becoming potential victims.

The LORD guards the inexperienced...

"The LORD guards the inexperienced; I was helpless, and He saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you." Psalm 116:6-7

God saved me today from being a victim. God placed His hand over the hand of one who meant to do me harm and prevented his hand from evil...PRAISE BE TO OUR GOD!!
"The LORD protects you; the LORD is a shelter right by your side" Psalm 121:5
Thanks to the Lord who was clearly right by my side, I was not pick pocketed tonight.
We've been sick for the last two weeks and we have been couped up inside longer. We needed groceries and we needed to be outside and so we got dressed and got on the bus. The buses are at times super busy and at times very light, it's a gamble on what your bus will be like when it arrives. Our first bus was light and Ben talked in Bulgarian to three new friends he made! He made sure he told Cameron and I that he made "three" friends over and over and he was very very proud! Our second bus was very crowded and our family got divided up. I was with Ben and Cameron had Micah. Luckily I found Ben a seat and I stood in front of him as a shield from falling or being fallen on. As we rode people are smushed against you and I felt someones hands on my hips. I then felt as if those hands were trying to touch an inappropriate place and as I was registering what was going on I realized that my purse was in the area I felt the hands wondering around. I couldn't pull away because there were too many people smushing around me but I jerked as hard as I could and looked at the man and yelled "NEY" which is Bulgarian for No as loud as I could and over and over. I then apologized because that's what I do for some reason and the doors to the bus opened and he jumped off. I really was confused and shock and felt badly that I jumped on him until I looked down and realized my purse was completely open and he had indeed been digging in it! Then the rage filled me and I felt stupid for feeling bad for second guessing my instint that made me yell at him! Oh it was all so confusing and frusterating but God protected me, NOT ONE THING was missing out of my purse! My passport was right there, my wallet was right there and somehow he ended up with nothing but the flu because all of my snot tissue was also there!! We got to the mall and immediately found a corner to kneel down and praise God in! We were so thankful that what was intended to be our misfortune became our song because it confirmed the verses above that God is with us!
We got our groceries, we came home in a taxi that was honest, I got all the meat I needed at the market, and there were no stray dog attacks...It was a good night!