A day of building!

Today was a building day. Building friendships. Building trust. Building connections. Building a strong relationship.

We took a 3 hour (each way) bus ride to Varna located on the Black Sea where we met with Bedros Altunian, the District Superintendent. They showed us the new church built in Varna that took over 10 years to complete due to resistence from the populous who were against having a prominent Protestant church in their city center. They also explained proudly that their church bell was on the original Varna Methodist church. When that church was torn down during the communist era members snuck during the night and retrieved the bell from the rubble. They hid it underground from the communist government to preserve their heritage. Once communism was gone and they were ruled by a democracy and free to worship, the bell was uncovered and presented to the church once again.

We visited the beach area of the Black Sea and spent time laughing together, sharing stories about our families and trying new foods. (Some of it that was 'looking' at us!)

The country of Bulgaria is beautiful and looks much like the U.S.A. Mountains, wheat fields, corn fields, cattle grazing and really cool sunflower fields. (Sunflower oil is a big industry here.) Lots of green this time of year.

It is now midnight and our day has been long and filled with activity. We are tired, our beds are beckoning - however due either to the time change or the tea we've been drinking with dinner we all become wide awake when we are supposed to be falling asleep!

Tomorrow is about learning history and living history.