Marriage Seminar in Grabovo

Today we conducted our first teaching seminar of this trip. It was a day long marriage seminar for a small church in Grabovo.

The people were very nice and highly attentive. I don't think they get very many foreign visitors here and so we were an event! That made it more fun for us too.

Many of them came up to us afterward and told us that our teaching was very timely and relevant to what is going on in Bulgaria today. Unfortunately, that is the same thing that has weakened and eventually destroyed so many families in the U.S.

Our hope is that by raising these issues and giving them tools to cope with them before they become chronic they can avoid some of the heartache and heartbreak experienced by so many families.
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Sofia and Grabovo

After about 12 hours in the air we arrived in snowy Sofia yesterday. We had left Richmond in 50 degree weather and so the snow and freezing temperatures in Sofia, while not unexpected, were a regression to winter weather. As usual, the first day was uneventful. Our host, Ludmil Mandichev, picked us up at the airport and took us to Casa Farrari, our home away from home here in Sofia. Once we were deposited, he left us to rest, shower, venture out to the little restaurant a block away for dinner and then early to bed. We are never sure how the first night will go. Often we wake up after five or six hours of sleep and can't get back due to the confusion of our body clocks. This was the exception and we both slept hard and long!

Today, we boarded a bus and traveled about three hours to Grabovo, a town in the northern part of Bulgaria. Tomorrow we will be doing an all day seminar on marriage for the church here. It is a "daughter" church of Blagavest, the large church in Sofia where we have taught many times so we are glad for the opportunity to come here. This is our first time in this town and, of course, we are already meeting new people. Tomorrow will be fun. Sorry, for the lack of pictures but we will take some tomorrow and share them on our next post.

Preparing For Launch

Greetings,

We are preparing for our March 2011 trip to Bulgaria. We depart on March 2,2011 and will arrive in Sofia, Bulgaria the next day. From there we will be visiting four or five other cities on this trip.

I will begin posting commentary and pictures on March 4 or 5 depending on internet availability. You are welcome to follow along on our journey with us. I suggest you check the blog every two or three days for updates. I can't always post every day but normally I do post something every two days. I hope you enjoy the blog.