Честит рожден ден!!

We celebrated the 23rd anniversary of Alex's birth just 2 weeks ago. I keep making jokes about how old she is, when, in reality, I will catch up with her in just 1 week. Eek.

Our, well, her day, was started off with a plate of crepes from Zori, one of the girls who lives upstairs. They were delicious, but we covered them in Fineti (a chocolate/hazelnut spread like Nutella) and cinnamon/brown sugar/butter to make them even more delicious.

Because is was a Sunday, we both listened to podcasts of our churches back in Nashville. Being this far from home and unable to attend church regularly makes it harder to keep up with my relationship with Christ. It requires us to be more intentional. The ability to listen to my pastor's sermons offers a sense of familiarity that I so dearly love.

We had an incredibly lazy day until about 1 o'clock when the cooking started. Lemon Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Carrot Cake were all made from scratch. Yoni brought a Scottish salad of peas, potatoes, beets, parsley, radishes, carrots covered in a creamy dressing and Gabby brought a beautiful cake with a thin layers of fruit, icing, and sliced almonds that she had made. Needless to say, we had an awesome meal and were quickly stuffed.


With full intentions of watching another Harry Potter movie, we moved into the living room and started dancing. Gangnam Style, Wop, Hoedown Throwdown, you name it, it was done. We finally got around to watching the movie while painting our nails and gorging ourselves on carrot cake.

And last but certainly not least: I think Alex's birthday was made by the ASTONISHING act of convincing Dr. Nate Kerr to read the Harry Potter series. We have proof and she will hold it against him if necessary :)

Overall, it was a very good night.

We also got to celebrate the birthday of one of the teachers at our school the next day. Here in Bulgaria, it is customary to give chocolates or other food to friends and colleagues on your birthday. This teacher prepared a small feast for us and it was delicious!!! The fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, chicken nuggets (or something of the sort..) and friendship bread made for an excellent lunch.


Until next time...

Tomorrow is Alex's birthday!!

This past month has been quite a crazy one. The journey so far, has been wonderful. We have had some bumpy spots, but the work being done here is so exciting, that it is hard to stay in a rough patch for long.

We have nailed down a pretty solid schedule, which we have been loosely following for 2-3 weeks. As with any ministry, we have to be pretty flexible. This is what our typical week looks like:

Monday/Tuesday/Thursday

Bus: 6:50-7:45

Orphanage: 8:30-11:30

Lunch: 11:30-12

School: 12-4:15

Bus: 4:20-5:15

(Th) Bus: 6:00

Folk Dancing: 6:30-7:30

Bus: 7:30

Wednesday/Friday

Bus: 12-12:20

Lunch/Errands: 12:20-1:30

Language School: 1:30-3

Grocery Shopping/Errands: 3-4:00

Bus: 4:00-4:20

Sunday

Bus: 11-12

Village Stuff: 12-5

(playing with kids, exploring, lunch, etc.)

Church Service: 5-?

Bus: 7-8

We are also able to go to Sofia about once a month to attend our two churches there. At 11:00 we go to International Baptist, an English-speaking church, where the pastor is actually from Tennessee and knows of Trevecca. We were excited to meet each other. He also has a son about our age, so it was nice to talk to someone from home. After this service, we have enough time to have a nice lunch at the Chinese restaurant next door before heading over to the Nazarene church for the Bulgarian service. Trying to sing in Bulgarian is definitely a challenge, but it’s fun :)

Tomorrow is Alex's birthday, Zhana is in India, and Susanna is in Albania, so we are having a relaxing weekend.

In an effort to be completely honest and transparent, and to be held accountable, I must confess that my relationship with God has diminished greatly since being here. It is not because of hardships I am facing, or anything that has happened, but because it is so easy to think I can handle everything on my own. Aside from these church services, we have team bible studies, but we have all expressed the need to be challenged further. I am beginning to grow complacent and that is a deadly place to be; however, I am reading a book right now, Kisses from Katie, which is providing that challenge that I so desperately need. If you have never read the book you would definitely be doing yourself a favor by reading it. Katie is a girl not much older than me, from Franklin, TN (a Nashville suburb) who just up and moved to Uganda to follow a path she knew God had placed her on. She describes what it is like to leave everything she’s ever known and enter into what can only be described as Kingdom Work. She shows what it means to care for those who need it and love unconditionally. Her faith is incredible and it is obvious through her work and stories how powerful prayer can be when taken seriously. You can also read Katie’s blog at http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. I have been so inspired by what the Lord has and continues to accomplish through her that I have begun to think of my time and ministry here in this place differently.

Come Away - Jesus Culture

This song has been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks now and it is so great I thought I'd share it.

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

Fundraising Update

Wondering where Alex and I are on fundraising? Here you go!

Strangely enough, we are within $20 of each other and are both sitting right on the 40% mark!

Although we still have a little ways to go before we reach halfway, which is what Mission Corps requires before we leave, all we need is $1,100 and we have 48 days to get it.

So many times I have been asked, "So, are you ready/excited/nervous?" And my usual answer is something like, "Nope, I am totally ready to be back in Bulgaria; however, I am nervous about the money." I have no doubt that God will provide, He already is, but it is easy to get into my day-to-day routine (which, these days, is not a routine at all) and lost sight of that and start to worry. When I fall away from this faith, I step back and look at the fact that we have come this far just since the start of the summer. God is good.

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. " Philippians 4:6

Countdown: 56 Days!

Today is July 9^th, the day we were supposed to have our visas. About two months ago, Alex and I went to Washington DC to visit the Bulgarian Embassy and turn in all of our paperwork and documents. Let me say that the whole process was not as nerve-racking as I thought. Yes, we started the process back in November, getting an invitation from the Church of the Nazarene in Bulgaria, a letter from the Bulgarian government granting the church permission to invite us, housing documents, an FBI background check, getting that FBI background apostilled, not to mention all of the money these things have required; however, everything has gone smoothly and we have had no major hang-ups. Right now, my biggest prayer is that my visa gets here soon. Did I mention that my passport should have been here today, too? Yeah, the Embassy had to keep it. I was not ok leaving it there, but they needed it so what could I do?

I have recently (in the past two months) spoken at three different churches, which have all been a blessing. In May, Real Life Community Church of the Nazarene in Murfreesboro, TN invited me to speak at their annual missions service. I was given all the time I needed and to my surprise, I was able to share 30 minutes packed full of facts about Bulgaria, personal stories, prayer requests, and financial needs. This was the first time I formally spoke outside of Trevecca about Bulgaria and God’s calling for me to return and the first time I introduced myself as a graduate (which was super exciting!).

In June, Alex and I both spoke at two churches together… on the same day. That Sunday morning, I drove from Bradenton up to Brandon, where Alex lives, to pick her up and we drove to Orlando. Center Pointe Community Church of the Nazarene gave us time in their morning service to speak about our upcoming journey. During the same service, two missionary families, one serving in Africa, the other in a creative access country, were represented and prayed for and a team of teens was seen off to Jamaica where they would serve for, I believe, a week. I am pretty sure we went a little bit over our allotted 10 minutes, but the presence of God was there and moving, which became even more evident after the service had ended. The church provided a table for us to use as we needed and it became a place for people to come and speak to us, ask questions, and offer generous donations. I was so taken aback when a woman, a perfect stranger, gave a $500 gift to each of us! This was a person who did not know us from Adam, yet she so believes in the work the Lord is doing in and through us that she was willing to make such a sacrifice. I am very thankful.

When we left the church in Orlando, we had just enough time to eat lunch and head back to Bradenton. This Sunday happened to be one of the days Tropical Storm Debby (Debby Downer) decided to slam Florida. We had 30 minutes to spare by the time we made it back to Bradenton and ended up running into the church 10 minutes before the service started. Bradenton First Church of the Nazarene is my home church and I was offered full control of the Sunday night service. Alex and I alternated speaking of our own unique paths and the callings we were each pursuing. As different as our stories may be, we have very similar passions and callings, all leading us to Vidrare, Manaselska Reka, Pravets, Botevgrad, Etropole, and Razliv, Bulgaria.

Fast-forward to today: My visa is not here, but Alex and I are at the 1/3 mark on our fundraising! Thank you so much to everyone who has already helped us out financially!! It truly is a blessing. That being said, we still have a ways to go. We each need at least $2,000 before we leave on September 3. That is only 56 days away! If you have not already done so, please consider helping us out. I promise that you will not regret it.

We are currently putting together a list of email addresses for our newsletter we will be sending out, hopefully monthly. If you would like to receive it while we are gone, please let me know by emailing me at vspendergraft@gmail.com. Feel free to use that to contact me about anything else as well. My prayer/information cards should be in by the end of the week, too, so I will be handing them out like crazy! If you would like to help, visit my Convio page --> http://web.nazarene.org/goto/vspendergraft Remember that you can make a one time donation, but the option to do monthly deposits is also available! This would be super helpful because we will also need to continue raising funds even after we get to Bulgaria.

Oh, I also got shots today! Boo… I had to get my second Hepatitis A shot, that one is in my right arm. That one’s doing well. My left arm, however, feels like it got punched a hundred times with brass knuckles. The Polio vaccine combined with the Typhoid/Diphtheria/Pertussis vaccine is killing me. Plus, they did a lovely Tb skin test on that arm. The good news? They gave me Bugs Bunny band aids J I felt like a child when I looked down and saw them, but something as terrible as shots deserves fun band aids, right? I think so.

Thanks for reading all of this! I haven’t posted in a few months so I had a lot to catch you up on!

-Vera

"Dig a hole and bury it."

It's 11 PM and I cannot sleep so I have decided that blogging is the next best option; It has certainly been a while since I've done it. I am reflecting on the one on one "interview" I had tonight with one of the CCO leaders, if you even want to call it an interview. This weekend, I am participating in a Cross Cultural Orientation, a weekend of training for those considering Mission work through the Church of the Nazarene. Since I am going to be on the field for a year, I am required to participate; however, it is more than training, but an awesome time for reflection and community with others at different walks of life, all who are answering the Call.


We have covered so many things this weekend, including travel safety, self-evaluation (the peer mentor in me was going crazy!), culture shock, and the Nazarene Network. I have even added a ton more acronyms to my Nazarene vocabulary (try to imagine how that could even be possible)! We also participated in a few activities to really get us thinking about cultural awareness, leadership, and teamwork. [[For everyone who was at the Amazing Race in Lake Placid, I got my payback from other "government officials" this weekend. Fortunately for me, they weren't as tough as I was on yall :) ]] These activities were fun, but really allowed us to reflect on real conflicts we will face on the field.


My one on one time with Greg wasn't as scary as I was expecting. There were no trick questions, no tough scenarios to tumble through - just good, honest conversation. I cannot express how comforting it is to sit down with someone who genuinely wants to know what God is doing in my life and offers just as much conversation as listening. I felt comfortable enough to become vulnerable and express some questions and concerns I had, even one that I have been struggling with for a few months now. "Dig a hole and bury it. Leave it here when you get on that plane."


I am going to Bulgaria to do God's work. Leaving behind my ideas and my plans is not easy, but that is just extra baggage to weigh me down and keep my hands full when i should be using them for the Lord's work. The mission of the Church of the Nazarene is To make Christlike disciples in the nations -- What God is looking for is disciple-makers. That is me. It can be me if I put myself aside and commit myself to his work each day.


I am thankful for this time to learn more about myself and the church I serve. I am confident that I have made the right choice and that God is talking to me through others, which is so assuring.


-Vera