A lot about Bulgaria

Finally you’ll get an update that is different. But that’s because it will be less about me and more about Mission Possible’s (MP.org) work in Bulgaria.  So if you have no interest in that, shame on you.  Just kidding, feel free to just look at pictures and an awesome video, or skip this altogether.

Basically I went in thinking it was going to be at least a little hard and gray and and cold because I had all these memories of my brothers’ trip to Russia and Siberia with MP 15 years ago and how they got stranded in a train station in Belarus overnight.  Nothing even remotely dramatic happened on this trip.  Actually, that’s not true, a car we were caravanning with got a flat tire and they don’t have AAA so people had to actually change it.   Maybe you already know this but Bulgaria is part of the EU and it’s also a Baltic nation so they eat Greek food (or, if you ask a Bulgarian, Greeks eat Bulgarian food).  Anyways, there were castles, I had fresh cheese pretty much every meal and slept better at night than I ever do at home so it was a dream missions trip vacation.  

Since I wasn’t there to rough it out or meet any great need I might have just been there so I can remind others about how great Mission Possible is, and how capable others are, even without our “help.”  A good reminder for me. 

Now backing up with some details.  I went with 9 other people, here is our picture from the Colosseum in Rome (where we went at the end). 

Everyone was really nice, like sincerely.  I’ve thought about that a lot since then, because I was the latecomer who messed things up…like landed late, and made their rooms be 3-person instead of 2.  But they were still so kind and genuine and inviting.  Am I like that to others?  Is my aroma of genuine love?  And this was for a whole week, I can feign friendliness and interest and non-annoyance for very short amounts of time, if I have alone time mingled in, and get to sleep in peace.  As I’m writing, I’m thinking about this again and how much I need the Holy Spirit to grow me pretty much all His fruit (preferably before I go back to work tomorrow). 

Wait, this is about MP Bulgaria, not personal revelations.  Mission Possible’s vision is from Ephesians 4:12, to equip the local Christians and Churches to help them reach their people with the gospel.  Hopefully as you’re reading you’ll see how that is woven through everything they do. 

Back on track…10 of us went to Bulgaria.  First we got to see the MP offices in Sofia, they do a ton of work and only have 9 people on staff.  I loved getting to know them over the week and hearing so many personal testimonies.  On a side note, most people could speak English which is good because I didn’t pick up any Bulgarian.   Here’s a picture of their office.

And in that office they do a lot of baby-box prep, if you go to Mission Possible USA’s FB page (@missionpossibleusa) you can see a video of one of the high-school volunteers explaining a little about that project (on location).   They have a room full of donated baby clothes, mostly from other European countries, and also have lots of purchased baby-necessities (like bottles and diapers).  For $60/box they assemble boxes containing anything a new mom would need for the first 2 months, including literature and Christian materials.  When they know of moms in need, especially in the gypsy villages, they invite them to a new mom training at a local church for six sessions and then at the end they provide them with this gift.  Their hope is that these boxes will not just offer practical help to struggling moms but also help them establish relationships with Christians in the community and lead them to the Lord.  Since they started the baby-box project, just over 1 year ago, they’ve already distributed more than 600 boxes.  I actually got to go into two homes to deliver the boxes, but more on that later.  Here’s a picture of some of the supplies.

Another way they’re equipping believers is through a Christian women’s magazine and a lot of literature translation.  From what I gather, Bulgarian isn’t too popular of a language, so not a lot of original material is published in it.   But the MP team has translated many books (even helped with the modern translation of the Bible) and they have a blog for Bulgarian authors and some of that writing gets published in their magazine.

After we left Sofia we headed to Dobromirka where MP owns a retreat center.  The group I went with was helping host a retreat on “caring for others” where Christians from all of the country came together to worship, fellowship and learn.  I didn’t have any responsibility and at the end, after everyone left, we had this little team meeting and were encouraged that even if we weren’t up front we were still valuable assets and we shouldn’t feel less important, or some such pep talk.  I was like, “Are you serious, I’ve been drinking these little magic cappuccino things and talking with people all weekend, it was a total dream – that is my gifting.”  Here are some people I got to know.

From Dobromirka we drove back towards to Sofia and stopped at two different Romani/Roma/Gypsy villages.  Bulgaria has the largest population of Romani people in Europe, between 300-500K, some of them have assimilated and live in towns and others, those we visited, have government granted squatters rights on the outside of towns.  One of the villages, outside of Pevtsite, MP has been working with for 20 years.  It was really encouraging to see the fruit from their diligence to come along side the work God is already doing.    

When we showed up in this village I got to dig deep for low language children’s games, it was that or awkwardly stand around.  We played some Ring Around the Rosie and London Bridges, then worked our way up to Da/Ne (Red Light Green Light, but in Bulgarian).  As my dad told me last summer, I might not like kids that much but they like me and I don’t fail with them.  These girls then hung on to me for the rest of the visit, and I loved it.

 Then we went into the church building 

and a few of us shared with women (many who aren’t believers yet) about Jesus being the Good Shepherd.  We were told to speak for about 40 minutes (with translation), but should have spoken for about 10 minutes.  Ivo (MP’s director) did talk to me about that later, the challenge to recognize that even what we consider simple principles might be too “Christian-y” so the teaching needs to be very foundational.  But also we were too boring.  After we sat down the kids from the church had prepared something for us.  Evidently some of the kids had gone up to MP’s summer kids camp (in Dobromirka) and came back and started a whole kids program in the village.  They ran a VBS, and started Sunday school and even a dance group.   When we were there the did 3 dances for us to praise music, two in English and one in Bulgarian and it was the best thing ever.  

MP is thinking they can sponsor these kids to go visit other Romani villages to share the gospel and in return give them some money towards school.  Again, just coming along side encouraging and equipping where people are already working.

This whole talk and performance was an outreach and the mom’s from the Baby Box project so after we wrapped up we went to some homes to distribute boxes.  Here is a picture of a mother I went to visit; she’s pregnant with her third.

It was a little awkward going into the homes and not my favorite, especially with my complete lack of Bulgarian but Iva (the blond in the picture) translated and the mother seemed appreciative and again it was great to see MP first hand.  There’s a video on MP’s Facebook page of us walking through the village towards some of the homes, you can see a real classy cameo of me and an apple.

Although we did deliver Baby Boxes MP has very strict rules about handouts, we couldn’t even leave soccer balls with the kids.  They’re very conscientious of not becoming a crutch or creating a relationship where the Romani are dependent on them for monetary support. Frequently Romani living in villages are illiterate, have seasonable employment, and survive off of government support, given when they have children.  However, it is a constant prayer of MPs to know how they can help equip, empower and give practical training so these individuals can support themselves in a healthy, God-honoring way.

OK…this is getting long, or maybe it’s been long for a while…just a little more. 

The best thing about visiting this village was seeing the church in action.  All this stuff is normally going on without MPs daily presence or outsiders.  But when we pulled up, there was an older foreign looking couple there, who I assumed were some other missionaries working in the village.  But no, they were from England, I think, and retired to Bulgaria to the town adjacent to the Romani village.  They heard Christian music one day and asked around until they found the church, and have been going ever since.  The husband evidently wasn’t even a believer but was going to the church anyways then got saved and the Romani pastor even baptized him.  Talk about 1 Corinthians 1:27, the foolish things putting the wise to shame. 

A different day we went to a different Romani village that MP just started working with.  It was much less organized than Pevtsite but maybe next time I go back the kids from there will be putting on praise dance performances. 

That sums up Bulgaria, then we roamed around Rome 2 days, there’s lots of old things there.  My brain does not retain historical facts very well so a lot was lost on me.  But it did reinforce some of the lessons I’ve been learning studying Romans this year in BSF, so much worldly influence.

Switch gears.  I’ve been back over a month and still don’t know what’s going on with my job.  We hired my replacement so my current strategy is just to go less and less and maybe no one will notice that I’m still on salary.  Other option would be talking to my boss; we might talk tomorrow (since it didn’t happen today, or yesterday or the day before).  For sure something will need to change before I go to Canada on the 21^st or Hong Kong on July 5^th, but I’ve given a lot of hard deadlines that have meant nothing so who knows  (wait, God does).

Happy Summer!

Sorry this is so long, if you read it all I’ll give you a prize,

joy

new update, same joy

Hi!

As I was thinking about what to write, I realized that these are pretty much all some variation of the same thing.  Now, on the other hand, the months I don’t write you could hear about the regular monotony of my life, which still is too busy to accommodate things like cooking or grocery shopping at regular intervals.  

So get ready some more stories about my job, day trips, further travels and the Lord’s faithfulness (not particularly in that order). Sorry, no pictures – just 1000 words.

Next week I’m going to Bulgaria.  Do you know anything about Bulgaria? I didn’t but now I know that it’s between Greece and Romania and there are at least 5 ways (according to YouTube) to say “hi,” two of them starting with the “zd” sound.  So I’ll be saying “bye” more than “hi” because for that I can say “ciao.”

So why Bulgaria, this country I can’t find on a map and am already prepared to say bye to? For years our church has supported this organization Mission Possible (mp.org) that serves in Eastern Europe.  They’re really cool.  Back in the day (when it was needed) they used to do a lot of Bible smuggling, then when communism fell they helped translate the Bible into modern Bulgarian and now their mission comes from Ephesians 4:12, equipping the local believers for God’s service.

The organization is pretty much ran by Eastern Europeans but a few times a year they’ll have small groups from other places come visit too.  In February the directors, Ivo & Mirjami, were visiting and invited me to go with a group from a church near Chicago.  I contacted the coordinator, prayed about it a few days, and now, here I am, staring at a suitcase that isn’t packing itself.   

Ten of us are going, I don’t know any of them but I’ll get to know them on the 18^th at the Bulgarian airport (I don’t think it’s too big).  We’ll be spending a few days hosting a retreat at the MP retreat center in Dobromirka (I just put that in there because it sounds so Bulgarian).  I hear my role will be just chatting with people about what they’re learning and how it can play out in their daily lives, plus we may play Bunco.  I don’t speak Bulgarian but I’m pretty sure my charm breaks down language barriers (and there will be translators).  The rest of the time we’ll be visiting the Roma (gypsy) villages and doing kids activities and helping with the feeding program, and getting to see the MP Baby Box program for new moms.  We’ll be there until the 25^th.  On the 25^th we’re going to Rome for 2 days, I don’t know why but…when in Rome… eat gelato, visit old places, whatever.  Side note I have been studying Romans in BSF this year so that’s a cool tie in.  I fly home from there on the 27^th.   And sometime after the 27^th I’ll let you know how closely my expectations matched my experiences.

Now you may be thinking, “But Joy, can you take 2 weeks off of your job?”  And you’d be right to question that because currently I can’t even take 1 day off.  So…I QUIT!  Or at least I tried to L.   My job has never been a good fit for my skills, personality or, more recently, priorities, but God told me I needed to put my hope in Him and be happy about it.  But also, “Are you a slave?  Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it.” (1 Corinthians 7:21NLT).  This Bulgaria trip was a push, with a firm deadline, to get free my job so I let my boss know.  I was quite proud of my grown up decision, but all that started being challenged about an hour and a half later when my boss responded.  He wanted to let me know that he understands that this is the Bay Area and I’m looking for an exciting career path(not really), and I don’t have one (that’s true) but he thinks he can find something in the company that would be a better fit for me (I’m skeptical) and asked to have until the end of May to come up with a proposal.  I told him I’d wait it out, but no matter what I’m not staying with my current job.  He has some ideas and I’m continuing to pray that I won’t be tempted, on either side, to step out of God’s perfect will.  Unfortunately, since I didn’t quit, I’ve been spending all my time training a temp and delegating.  I did tell the bosses that by the time I get back they should have my replacement ready for me to start training.  This will be like the time I came back from a different trip and my desk was relocated. 

When I switched into my current position I really liked my boss (a different one, the one who always sang Joy to the World to me) and assumed he had my best interest in mind and would make decisions that were good for me, recently I realized he didn’t.  So I was angry and felt cheated and overwhelmed that my new boss also wasn’t going to be looking out for me, that I have to figure it out all on my own.  Then it hit me…God does have my best interest in mind and He’s ultimately in control.  He knew exactly what I needed these past three years and He knows exactly what I need going forward and will make sure I am provided for.  This may seem like some obvious trite Christianeese, but NO it hit me practically and applied to this situation in my life directly, like a lightning bolt.   I need to stay under His protection and not be concerned about whether or not my replacement is going to get paid substantially more than me, or all these other thoughts of discontentment.  He knows what I need and I’ll get it, no regrets.

Enough about work, Friday I’m going to New York.  I, I justified the trip because it will make the flight to Bulgaria shorter.  Also my sister, Julie, is coming with me, with none of her kids.  So we’ll do New York things, or sleep and drink coffee. If you’re in town we should hang out. 

Other trips this season include going down HWY 1 when my friend Heather came to visit and Yosemite when my friends from Albuquerque came. I’ve been really appreciating getting to spend time in Northern California; it’s really pretty and diverse.  And visitors are great.  But obviously I’m OK with leaving too, actually I just got my hotel confirmation for Hong Kong, I’m going there and Taiwan in July for 10 days.  See why the job is cramping my style. 

Maybe on one of these journeys I’ll see you, or you can visit me.

Love,

joy

Happy end of summer - and what a summer it's been

Usually these newsletters are just bursting out of me, but this time it seems a little more forced.  Then I thought it was too late to write Sunday night…because it was dark…but it gets dark at 7:45 so I can’t really schedule my life around daylight.  So I got to starting on Sunday but couldn’t finish because I got distracted by macramé (more on that later), then Monday I was almost finished but wanted to hold out for some exciting job news to share with you.

As far as my job goes, summer is really slow, which suits me just fine.  I see my boss about once a month and he’s got into the habit of starting the conversation (after singing joy to the world) by asking me when my next vacation is.  Usually I have something to say.

Trip 1a: At the end of May/beginning of June I went to Spain with my friend Carrie.  She had to go for work and I went as moral support, or something.  While she made appearances at her conference I walked the streets of Barcelona eating croissants and drinking café con leche.   Then she would come back and we’d eat other small portions foods and walk more.  It was really ideal.  We did not master the art of the selfie, but here is a picture this guy took of us in front of the Sagrada Familia with his dog. 

Trip 1b: After Barcelona I met Grant and Kandy in Ibiza.  Now if you have preconceptions of Ibiza, stop there…this is me...and Grant and Kandy. Grant’s aunt lives there and it’s very pretty.  Here I am with Kandy somewhere up high.

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Trips 2&3: LA times 2.  The first time was to visit Esther and Dan and their unborn baby.   I went to help encourage Esther during her final trimester; I did this by eating and napping along with her.  The 2^nd trip was for the summer conference and that’s always great.  I taught the 1^st-3^rd graders about the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit.  If only I had a picture of the dorky hats I made them make.  They complimented the fanny packs of truth they made a previous lesson very well. 

Trip 4: Mascota, Mexico.  After Barcelona I was thinking I would never be able to low budget travel again…but then this Mascota opportunity came up and, if you’ve been reading these for the past ten years, you know I can’t say no to Mascota.   I was invited to go down to help with a Vacation Bible School.  When I was praying and talking to people about going my dad said something like, “well, you don’t seem to like kids very much, but they like you and you do a good job with them.”  Then I was thinking it would be very impractical to go because I had already taken a lot of time off work, but my boss said he was OK with me going because it would help him earn points toward heaven.  With such resounding support how could I not go!    It was great, as always.  And not just because of the churros and tacos and the walking.    It was also great seeing God provide in spite of our lack of planning and seeing how much the kids appreciated us being there and reconnecting with people.  Here’s a group picture with a family (of sisters with lots of kids)that invited us to their house one afternoon to thank us for the camp.

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And another picture of a boy with some awesome sideburns wearing cowboy boots…just because.

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Trip 5: After Mexico I was sure I wasn’t going anywhere else.  I told my coworkers I was committed to being around.  Then about one week later my uncle passed away and I went to Eugene, Oregon with stops in Grants Pass on the way up and down.  Not great circumstances but good to reflect on his life and fun being with the cousins that usually I only see like once a week.

Those were the main ones then sprinkled in were beach trips and hiking and brunches and being with lovely people. Every time I have an awkward or difficult interaction with coworkers I just am so grateful for the extreme flexibility I have, and hope God continues to show me how to use my time wisely.

But now I’m not traveling so I’ve taken up crafting…it’s practically the same.  I think I’m going to need to start wearing glasses because of cross-stitch, and my fingers are numb from macramé (plus the lack of sleep from finishing just a little more).  Then I saw this blog to make your own shirt without a pattern or really sizing, I was too cheap to buy fabric to try it out on so I bought this fabric for $1.50 at the thrift store, it’s not going to be pretty.  Last week I started Bible Study Fellowship again (Romans this year) and we were supposed to say something interesting about ourselves and I had nothing to say.  I was thinking about my old lady crafting habits, but since my group is mostly old ladies I didn’t think they would really think it was all that unique.

And for the job news I got a new trailer today! It still doesn't have a bathroom and has less privacy but I've been assured it will make me happier.  Aren't you glad I held off on sending this email until I had that news.

I hope you're doing well and learning lots and detesting what is evil and clinging to what is good (Romans 12:9)

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Love,

Joy

Fall, Winter and Finally Spring

It seems like I start the majority of these saying, “wow, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve written.”  Maybe I should just resign to the fact that I’m only writing twice a year and a many are probably thinking that is quite sufficient.  But folks, if I write less than that it will be awkward, like Christmas cards where people try to think of the most epic thing that happened ALL year and come up with…well you know…like what they ate at one restaurant they went to.  Pretending that these are semi-regular updates takes off a lot of pressure.

Through the fall I was able to keep up my “work-from-home Fridays” schedule, and that allowed me to continue settling into my home, go to brunch a lot and even fit in a few trips.  In October I hit up NY, NJ and PA for what I classified as a “long weekend,” in November I spent a week in LA for my cousin’s wedding and other visits and December I went down to San Diego/Mexico.   I really like visiting people so if you’re someone I stayed with for free and without even bringing a hostess gift (my sister is so much better at that than I am), thanks, it was great, and cheap!

Other than visiting people, I also had the opportunity to go over the border and visit Door of Faith orphanage in Baja (dofo.org).  I had been once in college overnight with a roommate, but this time I got to go with a group to pass out Christmas stockings (that we helped purchase) to the 125 kids there. I’m sure it’s changed since I was in college, but really I think this time I just was impressed by different things.  It’s an awesome place with such a strong emphasis on creating a stable/family-like environment.  I mean so many times they said stuff like, “in a family, you learn how to cook, so here they learn how to cook,” or “in a family you don’t get cut off when you’re 18 so here we’re involved for life.” My 5-year old niece Stella summed it up nicely when she said, “I thought it was going to be sad, but it wasn’t…and they have their own dogs.”

Unrelated, during one of those trips my boss decided we should hire a temp to help me out.  This is funny right? because I was getting all my work done in less than 30 hours.  But really it was going to be someone who would sit in the trailer at the refinery so I wouldn’t have to walk through the mud and avoid the port-a-potty.  After exactly one recommendation and a very strange interview we hired someone with 0 computer skills to do a job that is 100% computer based. It was a very stressful two months, but then I got to fire her and got a lot of flack (and 3 months later it keeps trickling in).  But I have this boss who thinks I can do no wrong and he said if anyone has a problem working with me that’s their problem.  This is the same boss who wrote on my annual review that there is not one thing he could think of to tell me to improve on.  He’s like the overly supportive parent I never had. 

Anyways, now I don’t have anyone helping me and in January/February we had this huge project and my 30 hours doubled to 60 hours.  How do people do it? This whole working thing?  I mean look at this picture of my fridge (don’t be fooled that peanut butter is empty):

Fortunately it’s dying down and my boss said I can go back to my afternoons of meditation and iced tea soon.

So working more also means I’m around my coworkers more.  When they used to ask me, “Joy, how can you handle working here?” and I would say, “four days a week, that’s how I can handle it.”  Moving to 6 days has really pressed me.  I thought it would help if I carved out a little more personal space in the trailer.  Maybe I could work better if I didn’t shuffle papers so much and heard a little less lunch-time chatter (a few weeks ago a real sentence began with “Well, the last time I got out of San Quentin…” )  The project manger was going to get right on moving another desk into the portion of the trailer that isn’t really used.  He seemed real gung-ho but then the enthusiasm died down so I followed up with him and he said there was mold.  That’s what bleach is for, right?  But then I saw it. 

We’re supposed to be getting a new trailer now (2 months after we discovered the mold).  I am way more excited about that prospect than I ever thought I would be.  I mean it’s still going to be in a refinery and have no plumbing.

But work is good, right?  It teaches me a lot about human nature.  I want to believe if I do kind things to my coworkers they will in turn do their jobs better; turn things in on-time, respond to emails, follow through, have manners, etc.  Similarly, I think if I’m the fun aunt and let my nieces and nephews sleep over and buy them ice cream we’ll have a nice pleasant time and they’ll sleep in past 5:45.  This is not how life works. And of course it doesn’t, I shouldn’t be surprised…I mean look at my life.  God gives me so many good things, all good things, yet my behavior doesn’t change.  What do I learn from this?  He continues being good to me, but He isn’t doing these good things to manipulate or coerce me into doing what He wants.  He just really, really loves me and wants me to be who He created me to be.  So also, as I serve, or give, or act Christ-like I can’t be motivated by the response of others.  I have to be motivated by love for Him and His love for me and continue with that motivation even when things aren’t going my way.   

So this was my big work-lesson the last few months.  But now I’m onto a new one:

Just last week God gave me 2 Timothy 2:4 “No one serving as a solider gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter.”  So when my coworkers are talking about trips to San Quentin, or how drunk they got the night before or $1,000 tennis shoes and all these stories you would not even believe, I don’t need to concern myself.  That’s none of my business; my job is verse 8, to “keep my attention on Jesus.”  And somehow with my attention on Him he’ll show me how to respond when real life issues are coming up and I’m surrounded with people with zero capability of dealing with them.

So that was a lot about work but here’s a little reflection I wrote but don’t know how to transition into it, think if this was in newsletter format this would be a side-bar:

Sometimes I fail at adulting: like forgetting to pay rent, and, well you saw that picture of my fridge, and then I realize my hair isn't even clean enough to go to work in a refinery. I mean sure, I have bright moments too, like Joypardy 2.0. 

But where is the balance?  And a friend reminded me recently that were not adulting, it's not a game. We're actually adults. Who have to keep doing grown-up things, because we grew-up. But it's also nice when you're sick and your dad stops by to pick up your laundry for your mom to do.  Or when you’re sick again and just give up completely and stay at your parents so you don’t have face the empty fridge and they offer you bottomless cups of tea.

I have all these other stories to tell about what I eat when I have more than capers in the fridge and there was a whole fiasco with rain entering my house and my landlords building me a porch cover.  Or maybe you really wanted to know that I bought a cozy little heater that looks like a fireplace and my sister got me a Woodwick candle that crackles so I can pretend the fire is real.  And I’ve been doing BSF this year, studying the gospel of John, and it’s really great but a few weeks ago I ditched and went to dinner with my sister and that was really great too.   And suddenly in the midst of all my crazy February work I had three perfect weekends; I went to Santa Cruz with church and Texas for “work” and hosted my college roommates.  And those trips were only possible because one night when I was driving home God told me how to make a spreadsheet that I could use to delegate responsibility.  And then this weekend it’s SPRING weather and it’s not raining and I am a new person.  But this is already very long so I’ll fill you in in person next time, or you can share your stories with me.  I’ve decided in spite of the fact that people don’t always conform to my ideals I still really like being w