A lot of our day to day work is spent in research and writing teaching material. We are building important links with the local community and throughout Bulgaria as we host individuals and teams throughout the year.

In September 2017 we held our first seminar in Serbia as part of our going beyond borders initiative. This was a one-day training and included the Freedom to Experience the Father’s Love seminar and teaching on adoption and the church. Among others that attended were ladies from the Teen Challenge drug rehabilitation program.

Helping people to reach their full potential
I believe one of the greatest hindrances to people moving forward and reaching their full potential is rejection and unforgiveness, so it was with great joy that we welcomed Ruth Smith and her daughter Jess from the UK at the end of October 2017. They brought a very important message of forgiveness and reconciliation between Westerners and Roma. This was a timely message as we have also met with YWAM in Hisar who are planning reconciliation meetings throughout the coming year.

In March we had a team of three from Victoria Baptist church in England visit us in Kazanlak for a week. This was a fact-finding trip with a view to bringing a larger team later in the year. We visited the local orphanage, one of the small group homes and took services in three local churches including two Roma churches. Important links were made between the team and the organisations and churches we visited.

In April we had a visit from Carolyn Bramhall. We had introduced her to Daughters of Bulgaria, and they invited her to speak at their conference on “Holistic Approach to Trauma Care”. After the conference we took Carolyn to visit a homeless shelter in Gorna Oryahovitsa and Carolyn will come back later in the year to do training for them.

In August we were involved in a four-day strategic planning conference for Romania Without Orphans (ARFO) to work on a five year plan for their foundation. We were able to contribute to the process particularly in the area of teaching and training

Beginning of September (2018) we had a visit from Jeff and Sue Murton from New Zealand. They are connected with YWAM, so we had meetings with YWAM staff in Sliven and Hissar. They are planning to return with a team in the future.

Kevin Luck
Director