After Christmas Blues

One of my favorite podcast preachers is Matt Chandler.  I was listening to one of his pre-Christmas sermons.  He was warning people about the potential for the post-Christmas blues to hit.  He described the problem as a focus on shadows rather than substance, leading to an after Christmas, after gifts, after meals, after guests experience of "Is that all there is?" He is so right.  It's like preparing for a wedding, but not the marriage.  The beauty of Christmas for believers is that after Christmas, we still have the Christ.  We know the baby who was lying in a manger in Bethlehem on that first Christmas.  We remember the life He lived, without sin.  We know the warmth of His love as He spilled his own blood on the cross.  And because of His perfect sacrifice, we who were far away have been brought near to the God who created everything.  We have cried out for mercy because of the sins we have committed.  He has forgiven us and He has adopted us.  So the after Christmas blues do not have to be ours - we, who are the sons and daughters of God!

My language helper, Kremi celebrating Christmas for the first time

Which Stefka are you?

Here's a "made for blogging" story:  A few weeks ago I met with my language teacher, Stefka, for what was the last scheduled session before the Christmas holidays.  As we wrap up the last session of the week I always take a few minutes to pay her for the week's work.  On this particular occasion I simply forgot and being the polite person that she is, Stefka did not remind me.  I was not sure if I would be able to meet again before Christmas and so she told me to call her if I could meet.  Things were starting to click for me so I decided that I wanted to squeeze in at least one more session.  It was the night of the MTW Bulgaria Christmas Party when I realized that I hadn't contacted Stefka yet.  I thought to myself that I would call her when the party was over and ask if she could meet the next day.  The problem was that we stayed at the party longer than planned and by the time I remembered to call, it was much too late.  Instead of calling, I sent a text message to Stefka that said, "Can we meet tomorrow? Tell me when and where.  I still need to pay you."  I didn't get an immediate response, but the next morning I was awakened by a call from Stefka.  I was having a hard time understanding her, but I didn't think too much of it at the time.  She told me that she would like to meet at her office and suggested 2:30.  Until now, we have been meeting at McDonald's, but she had said that during the holidays it might work for us to meet at her home in the Geo Milev neighborhood.  We also typically met at 10:30, so I was a little confused.  I told her that I didn't know where her office was and asked if we could meet at McDonald's instead - at 10:30.  She was very insistent on meeting at her office and really wanted 2:30.  I asked if her office was in Geo Milev and she said that, of course it was - on Kosta Lulchev Street.  Finally, I reluctantly agreed, knowing that I didn't know how to get to her office.  I figured that I would call when I got close and she could help me from that point.  I said "good-bye" and hung up- very confused.  THEN IT HIT ME. I sent a text message to Stefka, the landlord at my old apartment, not Stekfa, my language teacher.  No wonder I had a hard time understanding her, she struggles with English whereas my language teacher speaks nearly perfect English. Then I reviewed the conversation in my head. She must have thought I was completely nuts.  My old apartment was right nextdoor to her office, and now I am telling her that I have no idea where her office is.  "Can we meet at McDonald's?" I asked.  We had always met in her office or in our apartment beside it.  THEN I THOUGHT A LITTLE MORE.  Why would she even call me? I haven't lived there in 6 months. Oh.....right.... the text message!  Okay, what did my message say?  Remember, remember, remember! "Can we meet tomorrow? Tell me when and where.  I still need to pay you."  Oh great, I called my old landlord, asked for a meeting, and told her that I still needed to pay her.  That's why she called!  Oh, how do I explain this to her.  She will never understand my explanation.  My next step was to call Vlado.  He works in our office and helps us out when we need him.  I was so glad that he was willing to call Stefka, landlord, and explain to her that my message was for Stefka, language teacher.  BTW - I programmed my landlord's number into my phone over a year ago.  When I started working with my new language teacher, I switched my input language to Bulgarian and entered her name in Bulgarian.  After everything was cleared up, I realized that I still needed to get in touch with my language teacher...But which Stefka do I choose?

Ain't got no place else to go: medical missions week

God Has Not Forgotten You!

This was my second year participating in the Pazardzik medical clinic.  Last year I was the only therapist and so I tackled many wide ranging issues.  Most of the people I saw complained of pain with backs, knees, and shoulders.  Because I have spent most of my professional life working with children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism, last year was very challenging.  This year I was joined by three other therapists, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist who is a certified hand therapist, and a pediatric occupational therapist like myself.  We divided the team between the church and a local children’s home.  I spent time at each location.  At the church my particular skills were not in high demand, but I was able to help a few people and pray with them.  Much of the time I felt like a student learning from more experienced medical missionaries how to go from meeting physical needs right into meeting spiritual needs.

At the children’s home I was more in my element and felt like I added to the value of the services being provided there.The needs of the kids (really they were young adults) were so significant, but two very positive things stood out. The staff was so loving, so compassionate toward their kids and they were extremely open to us being there and documenting the experience. I expected restrictions on pictures and video, but there were none. I expected reservation toward spiritual matters, but instead I saw openness. Boyan, who translated at this facility all week told me that the director extended an open invitation for us, for me to return and that if we needed it, they would help us with accommodations. I worked at the children’s home on Tuesday and Wednesday, but helped to cover the church clinic on Thursday so that Cornelia could go over using her expertise as a hand therapist to make some splints. Cornelia relayed to me that on that day, she and others made clear to the staff that I would be able to return to address many of the issues that were identified, but left undone. It is my desire to return soon. I want to follow-up on a few projects, but more importantly, I want to build on the relationships that were established by our medical team. As we finished our work on Friday, the staff came over to the church to express their gratitude. We had a short time of prayer and then said our goodbyes. The story that most encapsulates the week for me was what happened to a young man named Ivan and what happened to his mother. On Monday evening, meetings were planned with some of the parents of the kids at the children’s home. Dave and Vlado were going over, expecting that there might be some conflict with a particular parent. This would not be the case. I asked about tagging along and was encouraged to do so. We walked into one of the rooms where Brad (the child neurologist on our team), Mallory (occupational therapist) and Boyan were sitting and talking with a parent. At that time there was really nothing for me to do and so I drifted toward the meeting and began listening in. I listened to a mother open up about a lifetime of guilt, about self-doubt wandering what she could have done to make her son’s life and his health better. Brad was so gentle with her. He explained that there were only a few things that a mother could do in this situation and that there was conclusive evidence that she was doing those things. Brad prayed for her and he told her that she had to find a way to let go of the guilt and pointed to Pastor Rangel and said that he was someone who could help her work through it. Rangel knew nothing of the conversation and had just walked in the room in time for Brad to connect him with the mother. God’s timing is perfect! They spoke quietly together for a few minutes.

The next day, Mallory and I worked with Ivan and got him into some new and healthier positions. Normally he lies twisted on his bed. We also began making modifications to his wheelchair that would be completed later in the week. Ivan was up and smiling. He looked really good. The next day, Ivan’s mother visited and the team continued to work with both Ivan and his mother. I was told that she said that she would never have imagined that this could happen for her son. She said, “It’s like a miracle.” She also said that she wanted to visit with Rangel at the church. The last time I stood in front of my home church before we came to Bulgaria, I referenced John 9:1-3 where Jesus is asked by his disciples, “Who sinned this man or his parents that he should be born blind?” His response was “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” I told them about a man and his son whom I had met on our first visit to Bulgaria and I posed this question, “What if this father began to grasp the truth of this passage and stood against the tide of his culture that says his son has no value and he began to tell people, ‘I don’t know all the reasons my son was born this way, but one of them is that the work of God might be displayed in him!’?” It just pierced my heart to hear that Ivan’s mother said, “It’s like a miracle,” and immediately I remembered posing this question to my church. If nothing else happened during that week, this was enough because it sent a message to a hurting, lonely, and tired mother. That message was, “There is a God in Heaven. He has not forgotten your son, and He has not forgotten you.”

The Darkness Does Not Comprehend It

On the last day, Susan had an opportunity to come to Pazardjik and put her therapy skills to good use.
Mallory is to her left and Lyndsey is on the right.

The Medical Team (L to R), Back row: Sam, Vlado, Dave, Vladi, Boyan, Greg; Middle row: Heidi, Teddi, Lyndsey,  Betsy, Cheryl; Front row: Cornelia, Mallory, Brad; Unfortunately I didn't get any good action shots of the three people who did the most behind the scenes work, but you can see them now: Dave, Cheryl and Betsy, who were very active, just not in front of my camera. 

Dr. Sam chatting with Lyndsey and one our great translators, Teddi

What can an engineer do on a medical team? Ask Heidi.
She is helping us to customize this wheelchair.  Great contribution!

Vlado chatting with a patient at the church-based clinic

He sure looks good sitting up like that!  It was a group effort.

On Friday, the staff from the children's center came to visit our team at the church.

Pastor Rangel chatting with Mallory and Teddi

Who is the therapist here?  Vlado is demonstrating a hands-on approach to translating.
At the bottom of this picture you will find the therapist, Cornelia.

All week, Mallory and Dr. Brad were singing the praises
 of their translator, Boyan (center of the picture).  I got to watch him work
and I can confirm that he did a wonderful job.

Greg (pre-haircut) with Vladi, who helped translate.
He would also like for you to know that he is from Plevin.

Not only did Teddi do a great job translating,
she also did a fantastic job cutting my hair after a long
 day of work.

Pray for Medical Team in Pazardjek

I should be sleeping now, but I have a few more things to pack before heading off to Pazardjek to participate in a church sponsored medical clinic.  I participated last year and was tested by the variety of issues that I was asked to address.  This year there will be other therapists who will bring expertise in areas where I am weak, so I am thankful for that! This year will be a little different.  Last year we saw people who came into the church seeking help for a variety of aches and pains or to get a blood pressure check or a pair of reading glasses or just to get a second opinion.  We have a new opportunity to go out into the community and serve in an orphanage.  I am really excited about the opportunity.  The director of the facility has been in touch with the pastor of the church in Pazardjek and has pursued this relationship.  Pray that we would love the people well whom we will serve this week and that we would honor Christ in our work and in our words.  Pray that doors would open for the gospel and that lasting relationships would form through this outreach.  Taking pictures and video can be controversial here, particularly after Bulgarian orphanages were embarrassed a few years back by a BBC documentary.  We will try to ensure them that we are friends and that we are here to help.  If they grant permission for pics and video, I will share them.  If not, I will do my best to paint a picture with my words!  God bless you and thank you for praying.  If by chance, you read this after the team is finished with its work, please take a few minutes to pray because ours is a long term view.  We expect God to work and for fruit to grow far into the future.

.....No Better Place to Go!

It has been a good long stretch since my last blog entry.  It has not been that I have been too busy or that I haven't had much to write about.  The opposite is true, in fact.  There has been much to say, but frankly a lot of it has been negative and rather than air a bunch of raw, confused emotions, I opted not to submit entries during that time.  Now that a little time has passed, I will try to recap what happened when I went dark in the blogging world.  Over the summer, Susan and I took our kids to Bansko to live in close proximity to some of our Bulgarian friends for one month.  The intended purpose of this trip was to give us a boost with our command of the Bulgarian language.  While we came away from that experience hearing a little better, it was not the breakthrough experience that we had hoped.  We had passed the one year mark for language study and had heard of and seen others who were far more fluent in a much shorter span of time.  When expressing discouragement about this observation, some would say, "Yeah, but he is single and that makes difference," or similar such statements.  Then there was the unintended punch in the gut.  A well meaning Bulgarian friend said, "You're not studying Bulgarian are you? Because you don't seem like you are getting any better."  Around the same time, during a contentious moment in an argument over a small sum of money, a Bulgarian lady insulted me by saying, "I'm sorry you can't speak Bulgarian!"  A day or two after that, I stood next to Susan in the grocery store when a similar criticism was thrown out at her.  She was more gracious than I.  I just turned and walked away steaming and hating Bulgaria.  We have been going to classes on good days and bad.  We have been studying in between caring for our kids and getting them educated.  We have been getting involved with our community and going to our Bulgarian speaking church and participating in a family group there.  And we, I in particular have been falling apart.  I spent a great deal of time pleading with God for help and a great deal of time being angry with Him for not helping.  You can see, these are not the happy things that missionaries usually write home about.  I have not hidden these things from my team and many of them have been very supportive and understanding.  Many people have been praying us through this time and though I felt very alone and questioned God's help, His help and His comfort have come. 
Susan and I have had opportunities to serve disabled children in a few different settings.  We have invitations and opportunities to do more and we are excited for how we see God shaping our ministry here. No, it hasn't been pretty for the past several months, but it has been necessary.  I have been shown my great need for God and spending time in solitude with no one but Him.  This has been good for me.  It has been good for Susan and it has been good for our kids.  Paul and Liz Meiners (MTW Europe Care Coordinators) were here for our team retreat in August.  During that time, Paul interviewed me and asked what I felt like I needed to be most successful in ministry.  My response was, "I need to feel like my life is not unraveling." Well, I can say that I no longer feel like my life is unraveling, but I have been humbled by how easily and how quickly I could be there again.  Without going into too many boring details, I will say that my family and I needed a readjustment.  There were practical things about daily life that had to change - that we continue to work on, and there are spiritual disciplines that needed to be picked up and given priority.  SO HERE WE STAND - We are not gifted language learners, but we press on because learning the language well will improve our ability to talk with Bulgarians and the deeper we can go in conversations the more opportunities we will have to discuss matters of the heart - and when you get to the heart, there is no better place to go, but to the gospel.