I promised earlier this week on Facebook that I would be posting something this week. Seeing as how it's Friday, and I have a busy day lined up for tomorrow, this is my last chance to write!
2012 was a pretty good year in a lot of ways. Elise continues to grow and develop, and she grows more capable every day (she's become quite proficient at the word "y'all"). Avery continues to impress us with his academic prowess, and is about to earn his Arrow of Light, Cub Scouting's highest award. Lisa took part in a prestigious training program for her company that required her to fly to Connecticut and Chicago for several days. I flew to Ukraine to see how a missionary family is working with young people there, and Dallas to participate in a seminar on Disciple Making Movements and Discovery Bible Studies. Lisa and I loved getting to fly to Sofia this summer to reconnect with church there, and meet new people in the park alongside our brothers and sisters from the West Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, AR. We then got to spend a couple of days in England, visiting with our friends Brent and Miranda Poff.
But 2012 was also an incredibly challenging and disheartening year in a lot of ways, too. Lisa has experienced a lot of work stress and exhaustion. I was not able to find any work, despite many job applications filled out (indeed, I can even count the number of interviews I was granted on one hand). Another symptom of the same economic situation is that we have not been able to find any churches who are able to support our mission to Sofia.
Recognizing the apparent realities of a down economy, I tailored our message, somewhat intentionally redirecting our focus toward the existing church in Sofia. It has never been my intention to detract from the work brother Christo is doing, but rather to supplement him, to encourage the brethren, to teach, and to reach out to young people. These are still things I think are very worthy and useful, but pragmatically my thinking was that we would be able to sell the idea of our mission to sponsoring congregations better if we focused on some work in which we could become immediately engaged. Lisa became very discouraged through this - and now I understand that it's largely my fault.
In trying so hard to "rebrand" the mission to appeal to churches, I ended up doing the same to her. I talked so much about working with the church that I totally lost sight of what excited her about the mission in the first place - the opportunity to work with some terribly neglected children and young people in the Bulgarian orphanage system. Lisa has a huge heart for children, and her excitement for the mission had been for the opportunity to show love to these innocent young people with so much need.
We traveled a couple of weeks ago to Savannah, GA to celebrate our 15th anniversary. It's an 8-hour drive, and we had a lot of time to talk about our lives and plans, and pray. I admit it - I lost sight of what brought us to Bulgaria in the first place. I lost the call. But I want to rekindle that - and in so doing, still accomplish the other goals I was talking about through 2012.
The Bulgarian government runs the orphanage system, and our ability to get into them depends on the whims of the individual orphanage directors. We intend to cultivate relationships with at least one director, so as to be able to work with and help with children or teens in the orphanage. But the core of our mission will be a home for young people, particularly girls, who age out of the orphanage at 18. These young people are simply put out on the street, with no support framework. All of them are immediately in danger of being trafficked, and in danger of falling prey to drugs or crime. I can't imagine how terrifying that must be! They have no one to help them, no one to turn to, no one who cares - no one but us.
We want to open a home for up to 10 young people in order to give them a place to belong, a place where they are loved and accepted. It will be a home where we can teach some basic life skills - how to cook, wash clothes, keep track of bills, etc. - skills that they are not taught in the orphanages. It will be a home where these young people can be taught about God and His love, Christ and His sacrifice, and the Spirit and its guidance and comfort.
When I visited Ukraine, I visited a home of this type, and even had dinner with the houseparents and some of the young people. I was very encouraged by seeing in practice what could be made of a home like this. Rather than being potential victims, these young people have hope - not only for a productive life, but for an eternity with God. Every night, the "family" in the Kiev home gathers for bible study and discussion. Several of them have been baptized. Certainly not all of the stories shared with me by the houseparents were successes - but many were, including more than one young man and lady who married and started a family of their own. What a blessing to be in a position to help young people learn to be parents themselves!
We won't be able to open a home right away, nor is it advisable to do so. Sadly, some young people coming out of orphanages are not good fits. We will need to spend some time getting to know the young people while they are still in the orphanage, cultivating relationships, teaching, caring.
So, where do we go from here? We have to get on the ground in Sofia. It appears that we simply aren't going to be able to rely on American churches for full support, which makes us sad - if Lisa and I are working at jobs, it detracts from the amount of time we can work in the orphanage, or help older members of the congregation, or talking with people to spread the gospel. There are, of course, other possibilities that would be open to us in jobs, such as contacts with young people if I am able to get a job as a teacher, but this doesn't overcome the downside - or else why do we pay ministers in the US to be full-time in the church? We all recognize that being a minister in the Lord's church is an immense responsibility and calling, and that these ministers are worthy of being supported by the church. Still, if the capability or will to support us in our work isn't present right now, we will not use that as an excuse to prevent us from taking to the field - but it will delay us.
Lisa's job is a huge financial blessing, but the past few years of my unemployment have made it difficult for us to make progress on our debt, particularly the student loans from my Masters Degrees which came off deferral in 2012. We simply don't think we'll have the capacity to make a transition to Sofia while so much debt is still outstanding. Thus, we've revised our target moving date to Summer 2014. That gives us more time to get our house ready to put on the market and sold, which we hope to do by June at the latest; gives me another opportunity to get hired either in ministry, at a school for the 2013-14 school year, or both; gives us more time to work on the Bulgarian language, which we have been doing for several months already; and gives us time to raise support. We will still need some support, but we've reassessed what level of support we'll need in light of the new approach. I'll outline that in a future email.
If you've stayed with me through this long message, I appreciate your care and involvement. We crave your prayers, which we wholeheartedly believe are effective. We ask that you keep us in mind in your congregations, so that when you discuss the work of the Kingdom, you might consider how you can support our work. We want your words of encouragement, and your questions about how things are going. We ask that you also pray for Christo and Vania Arnaudov in Sofia, who are working alone in difficult circumstances, but are bearing fruit for God.
We simply want to make ourselves available to God in Bulgaria, because there is much work to do there, and the fields are ripe. May He bless us and equip us to His service!
