15 Points!

I am so excited about the accomplishments of the kids in the village! I wanted to try something new during our upcoming kid's party at the church and was not sure how it would go. Usually for our kid's parties the girls gather to paint their nails and the boys head upstairs to watch a "Guys movie" basically any film that is not Barbie. This weekend for our party I previously handed them a study guide of things we had studied like "How many men did God use to write the Bible" "How many parts does the Bible have and what are they called?" "How many books are in the Old Testament, how many in the new and how many books total are in the Bible?" There was also two Bible verses to remember and 6 other questions. Each question was scored with different points and if every question was answered correctly the score would be 15 points. I told the kids that we would have a store set up in one of the rooms and they could use their points to buy a present. The gifts were candy, to a bottle of nail polish, to a bouncy balls or a pack of army men. 15 points could buy one thing but from anything displayed. I told Cameron that I wasn't sure how many kids would actually get the full 15 points since it was the first time we did this and we weren't giving any grace towards mistakes. It was a "You know the information or don't know it" type of test. I was completely wrong! We had 25 kids show up to the party and 11 kids got all 15 points and the rest of them got 8 to 12 points. Most had 11 points as they missed the harder 3 point memory verse and got one question wrong but all 25 showed me that they retained much of the Bible lesson and this was awesome to hear. We have two new boys attending church now and they're excited to participate in the lessons. Thank you for praying for this village and for the kids who are amazing and wonderful to work with.

Also I want to again say thank you to a church who gave a special gift to us that allowed us to purchase this heater for the room we sleep in and meet with the children in. Your gift has allowed us to continue working in the winter and it's been a remarkable gift! So again, thank you!

FOUND!

This has been a week of finding things that were lost! God has been amazingly kind this week with two awesome things that were lost being found. About three years ago we purchased a large generator for ministry use. Prior to leaving Bulgaria, we had stored this generator in a certain location, only to discover it missing when we came back from our time in the States. Cameron searched, asked around, searched more and still could not find the generator. Three years ago when we purchased this generator, we were able to get a great and CHEAP deal on it from a missionary who was returning to the States. After realizing the generator was not where we placed it, we began to search options to make another purchase. To our dismay, the same type of generator costs up to 900 leva to replace! Luckily God provided a different means to help us show the Jesus film in the village we needed the generator for. As we make plans for the summer we are constantly reminded of a generator we can not use for ideas we planned on using it for. Fast forward to this week. After grocery shopping at a local store, Cameron placed my wallet into his jacket pocket. In the short distance from the front of the store to our car, my wallet somehow found legs and jumped out of his pocket and onto the ground. Due to traveling by car, I didn't need to search for my bus pass and therefore didn't realize my wallet was even missing until we received an email from the US Embassy that evening that they were in possession of it. We were amazed that someone had taken the time to not only pick up my lost wallet but IMMEDIATELY travel to the embassy (which would be across town for this person) and give my wallet to someone safe. In true embassy fashion I needed to schedule an appointment to come and pick up my wallet :) The unfortunate turn of events is that the phone number left behind by the good samaritan was no longer with my wallet and could not be found when request. I really am praying for a miracle, that somehow, someway I can cross paths with the precious Bulgarian lady who did this sweet act of kindness for me! During the weekend, we were in the village and needed to place our belongings in a room at the church and lo and behold our generator was right there! Cameron had checked this room during his previous search and it was not there, but between April and now it reappeared! We're not asking any questions and do not care how or why the generator grew legs, we are just rejoicing that it is back for the events we have planned for June and all summer! Now if it's not asking too much, maybe my broom can grow legs and start magically cleaning rooms that lost their ability to stay clean. I would love those rooms to be found in tidy order! Praising God that in this life of materials and inconveniences, He gave us two sweet gifts! This week could have ended with the frustrating process of canceling credit cards, getting and waiting for replacements, new IDs and more but the Lord was gracious and we are so so thankful to Him.

Newsletters

We are formatting a newsletter to begin going out this month and would like to include those of you on our blog who would like to read some of the stories we can't post on public internet. If you would like to be included in these more personal stories and pray for the situations presented in the newsletter, please feel free to send us your email address at JenCammicah@hotmail.com Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.

Having a heart of hope in situations of hopelessness...a girl named "Nee Nee"

What beauty it is to see first hand the lost who are found, the hurting who are restored, the hopeless ones who are now smiling with the light of Jesus. With the stories of beauty there are still those in the ashes of hopelessness. Those whom we plead will one day know the sweet love of Jesus and be transformed. It's hard when those in the ashes have names and every time they go to rise towards hope, someone else is pushing them face first back into the reality of hopelessness. Thus is the story of a girl named "Nee Nee" (*name changed). Nee Nee comes to Bible study rarely. I couldn't predict how she choses to show up when she does if I tried. When I first met Nee Nee I thought she was strange and didn't know how to engage her. I was cautious of her reasons for coming to Bible study and kept a protective eye over where she was at all times. Nee Nee is never alone when she comes, always there are 4 to 6 very small kids with her. Nee Nee is very quiet and when I saw her the second time I sat by her and tried to have a conversation with her. Her answers are in the form of shy whispers and her presence, so meek and tender, can not compete with the other 20+ children yelling over her for my attention. Nee Nee left early with the young children every time she came and usually only stuck around until snack time. If crafts or colors came before snack time, she and the other children would always be hesitant to take a color sheet and if they did, they would never color. During times of songs or stories, I would notice a sweet smile but nothing more. I would later learn that Nee Nee is in the ashes of hopelessness. Her mother and sister are prostitutes in another city. When they become pregnant they give the children to Nee Nee to watch. At one point Nee Nee has taken care of 11 children and I am unaware of her condition now or her work load at this time. I haven't seen Nee Nee since I've come back from our time in the States. Nee Nee was married to a man at the age of 9, only to be left by her husband over a year later. I look at my oldest son who will be 9 in a matter of months and think upon his innocence. He is nowhere close to being ready to face marriage. In his innocence, he knows where babies come from but not how they exactly get there. I can't imagine him having the experiences of all that goes into marriage at 9 years old much less being divorced over a year later. (This, like all child marriage is not recognized by the laws in the country and are unofficial unions within culture) A girl at Bible study told me that last winter or one prior (I didn't understand which winter) Nee Nee did something to upset her mother and she was put outside in the snow with no slippers or coat for two hours. Unfortunately Nee Nee is one name that could fit into many other stories just like hers. There are huge amounts of brokeness around me and around your neighborhoods but we have to make the time to sit beside the socially awkward, the quiet ones who remain unseen in large groups, the ones who catch our eyes because something is off. Just because I know Nee Nee's story doesn't mean I automatically know the answer for her, but the one I call Father does and I am lifting Nee Nee to Him and I ask that you will also lift Nee Nee to God with me.

A village, a film and the hope of Christ.....

Every weekend that we can, we pack our things and head to the village on Saturday. This Saturday was no different as we packed clothes and teaching materials for the weekend away, however this weekend had excitement in the air for it was the weekend we were showing the Jesus film in a new village. Several things were necessary to pack for this project and Cameron had already been hard at work making a large base to hold up the projector's screen.

Unfortunately we had searched all morning for our generator with no success. We needed to travel with it so that we could use it for the electricity but unfortunately it was missing. We assumed that perhaps it was stored at the church while we were in the States over the winter and decided to look for it there. Before we left the guys needed haircuts and I quickly trimmed them up. I opened the balcony door to sweep out the hair and accidentally forgot to shut it. Boots, the gray kitten went to explore and fell off of the balcony!

Yes, if you've read our blog you are familiar with our last cat, Snappy dying after falling off of the same balcony. We have since had a "no cats on the balcony" rule and I was crushed that I had so foolishly forgotten to close the door! We were scheduled to leave the city by 2 so that Cameron could hold a Bible study that evening with a group of guys in the village, but now I was rushing to the animal hospital at 1:30. The cat was alive but had bleeding in his chest and would need to stay at the clinic until x-rays showed he had stopped bleeding. This was not the way we wanted to start the weekend but we left Sofia with no generator, a hurt kitten and sad hearts.

The next day we had a great time worshipping with our friends in the village of Gulyantsi. One of the boys after church caught this amazing lizard and we all had fun taking pictures.

Even though we searched every corner of the church, we still could not locate our generator and only hoped that we could borrow someone's electricity in the new village. We drove to Pleven to purchase another long extension cable (also missing) and then made a pitstop at a gas station about 5 minutes away from the village. As we ate our snack, the large gray rain clouds approaching the village's skies began to push away our hope that the Jesus film could be shown that day. Cameron called our contact in the village and more disappointing news arrived that he wasn't even home. The man who had asked us to come and show the film was in Sofia and now with no generator, the approaching rain and no person of peace in the community we were left to consider rescheduling for another time. The rain began to fall as we passed the village but to our surprise there were large groups of kids in the fields despite the rain. We turned around and decided that if they were standing in the rain waiting for us then how could we not give it a try.

I have never experienced in Bulgaria large groups of children running behind the car and beside the car with cheers and excitement like we did that day. It was unexpected to see people coming out of their homes waving and smiling as we entered the community. Cameron rolled down the window and asked if our person of peace had arrived back from Sofia and they said yes! Supposedly someone was borrowing his phone when we called and did not realize he was home when they told us he was in Sofia. We are so grateful we turned around because we were unaware that so many had been waiting and expecting our arrival. All the excitement in the world could not stop the rain though and running an extension cord in the rain isn't the way we wanted to introduce people to Jesus :) But if you know Roma, you know they are quick to problem solve with materials they have laying around and before we knew it, tents were set up, blankets brought out, clothes pins were going up everywhere, benches were being set down and the Jesus film was ready to be shown!

Cameron and Stefcho (Stefcho is a Roma believer that desires to be a pastor one day. He travels with us most weekends and helps me with children's church and works beside Cameron with starting new groups) gave introductions and testimonies and then the film began. I sat down in the front on the ground and two little girls climbed into my lap. I silently prayed that the rain would stop and that hearts would be open to see God's love for them. As I was praying a finger poked me in the cheek and a woman who had sat down next to me whispered in my ear "You're a liar. You are a liar. You don't believe in God!" Shocked, I immediately assumed I had misunderstood her and whispered for her to repeat what she said. Again she poked my face and said in an evil sneer "You are a liar! You don't believe in God." She continued to poke my face with each question and accusation "Do you pray to Mary?" "Who do you believe Mary is?" "You don't believe in God." "You are a liar" "Do you believe in Mary?" Like I said, I had two little girls in my lap and the film had stared so I was trying to remain very calm but also trying to keep her hands off of my face. She became more and more aggressive with me and I could tell she was drunk. She grabbed my face like a parent grabs a child's face and squeezed my jaw and again began sneering, "you are a liar. You don't believe in God" Immediately I told her in the name of Jesus to not touch me again and yelled for Stefcho to come and talk to her. As you can imagine, it was a pretty big distraction from the film but praise God for Stefcho because he handled her so well and told her that she was welcome to come back next weekend to discus her beliefs but she had to be sober. She left and a little later a car came by revving their engine over and over until some in the group told them to leave. Afterwards the restaurant next to where we were watching the film turned up their music full blast and drowned out the movie. Some of the guys from the community went over and had the restaurant stop. It was clear from beginning to end that satan was at work but the rain couldn't stop it, a flying kitten who thought he was a bird couldn't stop it lol, the woman didn't stop it, the car didn't stop it, miscommunication didn't stop it, lost materials didn't stop it, restaurant music did't stop it, and at the end of the night Stefcho was surrounded by men wanting to know more and a guy who wanted to know how he could be a follower of Christ. As we packed up, the children sang a new song "Jesus rose from the grave! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!" Even though the sky was dark in that little village as we drove away, a light was sparking in the hearts of men, one that the gates of hell will not prevail over!

The new village

"2My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. 4How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.…" Psalm 84.

Last weekend we shared about a new village where no current church meets and the man, "Nick" whom Cameron had met the weekend before. This is the village that "Nick" said had no believers nor church in his community. This weekend we visited the village of "Nick" as a family. As we turned onto the rocky dirt road a man approached our car. He happened to be the brother of "Nick" and was very friendly after he understood our motives for entering the village were pure. The family took the children's Bible from my hands and looked over it and then said a group of children would be interested in hearing the stories next Sunday. Today the family was busy skinning a large sheep before the rain clouds approached and ruined the outside work. Our boys were eager to watch this process and got out of the car for a closer look. The kids from the house came and giggled in amusement as they watched Ben and Micah who showed such fascination with the dead sheep.

The impending rain made our visit quick and we continued on our drive up the road to our new friend "Nick"'s house. As we drove down the road people smiled and gave welcoming head nods. "Nick" has four children and they took the convincing of several hand games to open up to me while Cameron talked to their dad. By the end of Cameron's conversation with "Nick" seven kids were giving me high fives and loads of laughter. When presented with some options, "Nick" asked for us to show the Jesus film in his village and we will prepare to do that this Sunday. We also feel this will be a good way to give an overall idea of why we are studying the Bible, Who we are studying, and what Jesus did for us. This open door is one that we walk through with excitement but also with great prayer. We know that if no believers are in this community, we are not blind to know that satan will want to keep it that way. This will be a battle and we would be wise to covet your prayers and be lead by the Holy Spirit as we enter this community. So as always, we seek to remind you that your partnership of prayer is huge in anything we do and it's never overlooked. Thank you for your support! Like the scripture above, may this community find her place in the Lord's house and offer praise to their Mighty King.

Doors

This picture about sums up life most days. Each day is a series of open and closed doors that we walk through, wait to open or walk away from. This weekend was no different except there was expectation of doors being opened that no longer were unlocked. Cameron travelled with a friend who is a fellow missionary to the village. Unfortunately I had a virus keeping me in bed. (Viruses do not respect doors!) This village had three families asking to study the Bible prior to us going back to the States, but unfortunately those doors were closed this weekend. One lady expressed that her desires have simply changed and she's not interested. Another point of contact continues to be out of the country and the nephew of another man said "My uncle is drunk right now but you can talk with him if you want to." That's an open door that Cameron walked away from. You can pray for this village and for the doors that were opened and for those that remain open to be places that can be entered for God's Word to be studied. On the way back to Sofia, there is a roma community we always see and desire to enter but have not had the right timing, the peace, or the courage to go into it as a family. Today Cameron had the perfect opportunity so he and his friend stopped. The whole community was heading to a wedding and the community was alive with activity. Cameron and his friend began talking to a man who explained that there were no known believers in the area and no church. It's rare to find someone to not immediately claim to be a Christian and say "all the right things" but this honesty gave Cameron the opportunity to ask if they would be interested in studying the Bible together. Praise God he said yes and gave Cameron his phone number. We will begin to meet with them on Saturday or Sunday. Please be praying for this weekend. I admit that though this open door is exciting, it is where my insecurities battle within me most. I know my weakness is the bulgarian language and it is the required factor in communicating God's Word. These two things collide within my heart and mind but God always transforms the moment to be deservingly about His glory and not about my abilities or my inabilities. It is always with great astonishment that I get to see His hand move in the lives of others despite how well I feel I spoke or how miserable I butchered the language. Please pray that again His hand moves and draws this community to one day proclaim "There are many believers here!"