Thank Goodness for Cards.

Yesterday was my first time teaching English. It wasn't anything too official right now; we are just filling in for our Bulgarian teacher while he is away at a conference. He needed three days covered, so Alex, Susanna, and I each took a day.

I had a Pre-Certificate class, meaning they are all grades nine through eleven and quite good in English, from 2:45-6pm. Being the much more spontaneous, go with the flow teammate, I thought about the class while laying in bed the night before and came up with a plan during the hour I had to kill before it started. Alex, on the other hand, had two hour and a half classes and came up with this big lesson plan and structured homework assignment. The differences in our learning styles became so much more clear this week. :)

My class had six students: three girls and three boys. The boys sat in the front row and were quite talkative. Movies, Bulgaria, sports, school, America, music... the list of topics goes on and on. The girls, however, were quite a different story. As with most teenage girls, these three sat on the back row and whispered (in Bulgarian) the whole time. Even specifically asking them questions usually led to blank stares and giggling. I did get some answers out of them, so it wasn't a complete failure. We talked about our Bucket Lists and life goals, places we have traveled and places we want to visit, and things we like/dislike about our own cultures.

It wouldn't have been a normal conversation without the all too common, "Why are you here? You are from America..." and got to explain why I love it here. They all want to go to Germany or the States for college and would love a reason to stay out of Bulgaria. I really liked the group, they seem like a bright bunch of teens and I'm excited to see where life takes them.

After an hour and a half, we took a break so the girls could go to the store down the street and the boys could find a deck of cards. That's right, I have now gotten six more teens hooked on the greatness that is Mafia. Honestly, it was a bit confusing to explain to people who'd never heard of it, but we got the gist of it. Because we had such a small group, we must have played at least 20 rounds over the next hour. I had to pat myself on the back for getting them into one of my games, not to mention, one that REQUIRES talking.

I am also looking forward to reading their homework essays: Describe your dream job. Why is it your dream job? Does it require a college degree? What would you have to study? Is it something you would do in Bulgaria or somewhere else? How much does it pay? Do any of your family members do the same job?

Overall, I'd say it was successful. I certainly enjoyed it.

New Shoes!

Today was a pretty busy day at the orphanage. A team came delivering new shoes for most of our eighty-eight kids. The kids who can't walk/wear shoes were not involved, but it was quite an ordeal. The team was comprised of a missionary couple, members of a church in Sofia, and a few visitors from America, all associated with the baptist church. This missionary couple has been in Bulgaria for eighteen years now, working with several orphanages, and was quite familiar with our children. As is customary when hosting visitors, a group of kids performed some songs. A few of the older ones were dressed in traditional Bulgarian outfits while everyone sang and danced traditional Bulgarian folk songs. Everyone had his or her hair done and all the girls were elated for an opportunity to don some makeup.

This project is, I am assuming, similar to some of the nazarene church's compassionate ministries. This couple has been working in a total of twenty orphanages for almost twenty years now, occasionally hosting teams who feel the need to reach out to the children, as well. The team from America is here for a week and I may have misunderstood, but I thought I was told that they will be visiting all twenty homes. They had a large box truck full of shoes, so I am assuming and hoping that I heard correctly. That would be a huge feat (no pun intended), but leave it to the Lord to make big things happen.

After the production, an assembly line was set up in the small room used as a cafeteria. As children were brought down, their shoe size was written on their hand and they were sat down in front of a visitor who found a fitting pair. I was pleasantly surprised that every pair I saw was brand new and appropriate for the coming winter weather. When I think of projects like this, I tend to assume that the items will be cheap or used, but this was not the case at all. Everyone was tromping around showing off their new boots. Some kids are drawn to zippers so they were found accidentally tripping those whose boots had zippers. One boy likes to look at the soles so he was laying on the floor looking at those of the kids sitting on the couch. He didn't touch, just laid there mesmerized.

The organization this team had was awesome. It took less than an hour to fit almost 80 kids with shoes, which included bringing them all from their rooms into the cafeteria.

All that said, I am about as happy as all the kids are about their new shoes! I am thankful that people invest in their lives and that others are also called to do ministry here. One of the workers told me today that she is happy Alex and I are here because the kids aren't as lonely. Especially in the room of bed-ridden kids, even if just to sit with them and to hold their hands makes a difference because they know someone cares.

I am so appreciative of comments like these because honestly, I feel like I am just in the way sometimes. I appreciate the workers who have no problem looking like a fool using charades and silly noises trying to communicate with us. I love the kids who laugh at us and say "ти не разбираш?" (You don't understand?) then turn to each other with this funny "Oh my word!" look on their faces. They made me feel like it's ok that I am not fluent. They get so excited when I tell them "Аз уча български" ("I am learning Bulgarian") and often take on the role of учители (teachers) while simultaneously wanting to soak up as much английски (English) as possible.

It is a lot easier to give grace when you rely on it daily.

Hot tea and a sweatshirt

First of all, I need to do my best to express the gratitude I have for everyone who has helped me get to this point. The emotional, spiritual, and financial support that has been poured into me for the past year and a half has been astronomically more that I could have asked for or expected. It means so much to me to have such a support system at home, school, and church. This is not a journey God intended for me to travel alone and I thank you so much for walking alongside me.

Saying goodbye to Nashville was so incredibly hard. I’d say I held it together pretty well considering I felt like I was leaving behind the first home I have made for myself. Nashville is MY city. I made the decision to move there and it is now my home. The friends I have there are so good to me and are my family away from home. Thank you so much to everyone there who has played a part in my life. Leaving Nashville has proven to be the hardest part of this process, hands down.

Today is our fifth day in Pravets. The next week and a half will allow for us to become (re)acclimated to the area and settle in before our work starts. This rest has been much needed after our unexpectedly long trip here. Let me explain:

Our first two flights, from Nashville to Newark, NJ, then Frankfurt, Germany, went smoothly. Our third, however, from Frankfurt to Sofia, Bulgaria, was cancelled due to airline crew strikes and the process to book a new flight consisted of 7 hours in line and 20 minutes at the ticket counter. During this time, we met lots of friends: A nice family also on their way to Sofia, Yuliana and her father, separated from her younger brother and non-English speaking mother on their way from Ukraine to Seattle, and Muhammad, a guy about my age from Syria, lives in Dubai, and studies in Canada. Along with these nice people, we also had encounters with some people who were, let’s just say, less than pleased with the situation. One woman yelled for probably two hours about how she had to be in Lebanon that night, she had to work, she already paid for a hotel, she needed to be compensated for both, she was a woman, she was elderly, she was exhausted. The list goes on and on, and I think everyone in line was relieved when the employees began to refuse to deal with her because she would not “behave like the rest of these people.”

After all of that, we finally got a flight out of Frankfurt that night. We had enough time to get dinner (we used our food vouchers at McDonald’s of all places), sleep, and get our boarding passes before hopping on the last plane to Sofia for the night. While Alex got stuck between two readers, I got to sit next to another American. He was pretty nice and we chitchatted almost the whole two hours. I almost feel bad for those around us. By the time we got to Sofia, we were about 10 hours later than expected. It took us another 30 minutes to get outside and meet Doug and the schoolteacher who were there to meet us. We had to submit baggage claim. Due to the mess caused by the strikes, our bags were still in Frankfurt and we didn’t end up getting them until yesterday, three days later. Luckily, we both had enough packed in our carry-on bags to last a while.

We have had a nice, relaxing couple of day so far and the weather is just gorgeous! It’s about 55° outside right now (cold enough for hot tea and a sweatshirt), but gets up to 80°/85° during the day. Today, we walked to the nearby hotel to get a drink and enjoy the weather. I got a white hot chocolate with blueberries! We are hoping it will be nice enough tomorrow that we can enjoy the pool once before it gets too cold. It is perfect, though, for our nightly walks. Tonight we spent almost two hours walking around with two of the teen girls. We talked about everything from zombies to the Florida Gators(!) and Pretty Little Liars to the disco. This town comes alive at night and this night owl loves it.

On our To-Do list for this week:

-Meet with the principal of the language school to determine when our classes will start. We are hoping that helping out with some English classes will get us a discount on our Bulgarian classes.

-Hopefully get to visit the orphanage. The director and Zhana are both out of town and we do not have our permits yet, but we are hoping to get special permission to visit at least two or three times this week.

-Go to IKEA. Our apartment is nice, but there are some things we need (this grandma (stuck in a 22-year-old’s body) needs a bed) to make it more comfortable: hangers, something to hang my clothes on, bedding, a lamp, etc. You know, the basics.

For the most part, we are trying to soak up our last bit of free time and warm weather before things get too crazy. :)

Please continue praying for us as a team and for our transition into our ‘normal’ routines. As I continue to learn about this culture and people, I am constantly amazed that God has brought me here. It is scary. It is beautiful.

With that being said, please feel free to contact me. My info, address included (for those who have been asking), is listed on the page titled “Contact Info” somewhere over there à

UPDATE: I have now met the halfway mark on my fundraising, which is such a huge step! Thank you so much for everyone who has helped me get to that point. I do, however, still need that other half if I am going to stay the entire year. This money raised covers 100% of my expenses while I am here (any non-ministry-related travel of purchases are, of course, not included). If you haven’t already, please consider making a tax-deductable donation.

web.nazarene.org/goto/vspendergraft

If you would rather donate by check, make it out to:

    GENERAL TREASURER, CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE

The memo line should read:

    BULGARIA, MISSION CORPS, VERA PENDERGRAFT

Checks should be sent to:

    CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, P.O. BOX 843116, KANSAS CITY, MO 64184