New Hope United Methodist Church Mission Update

Quality Partner Communications

2009-11-07T09:31:00.002-06:00

We had a great seminar this morning and yesterday afternoon sharing ideas on communication between partners. Daniel did a great job presenting and I assisted. We highlighted our website, the blogs from both congregations and Facebook.

Now Katy, Mallory and I will say our goodbyes and head for the airport.

Our Passports Get 7 Stamps from 7 Countries - In Only 2 Hours!

2009-11-06T11:47:00.010-06:00

This morning we "visited" seven countries on a whirlwind tour. They told of their needs, their dreams, their joys. All seven countries are in need of additional U.S. churches to partner with individual congregations. Dick Arnold from In Mission Together is ready to help with that task.

Slovakia

Bulgaria

Hungary

Macedonia

Serbia

Poland

Czech Republic

Eastern European & Balkan Consultation

2009-11-05T23:00:00.000-06:00

The Eastern European & Balkan Consultation is being held in Greensboro, North Carolina and has representatives here from 9 countries including Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Serbia, Bulgaria and 12 states from the USA.

We are singing, learning about each other's cultures and dreams, finding ways we can work together, ways to build strong IMT (In Mission Together) partnerships between the churches and how we can help share God's love.

This afternoon and tomorrow morning, Daniel Topalski and Patti Bacher will be co-leading a seminar on Quality Partnership Communications.

We had our picture taken with John Wesley and were feeling "strangely warmed"

This really nice lady, Barbara James, picked us all up at the airport

and was waiting with these fun signs.

At the airport - leaving for North Carolina

2009-11-05T22:55:00.002-06:00

The group from Russe flew to North Carolina on Wednesday, followed by Katy, Mallory and Patti on Thursday.

The Last Night in Wisconsin

2009-11-03T22:41:00.001-06:00

Our last evening together was filled with eating a yummy dinner at The Lorelei, exchanging parting words and gifts and then stuffing everything into suitcases in preparation of heading to the consultation in North Carolina.

An Afternoon at Vida Nueva UMC and Peace UMC's Preschool Program

2009-11-03T22:29:00.000-06:00

The afternoon was a fun one meeting Pastor Ricardo Torres from Vida Nueva and learning of their growing Spanish speaking congregation. Malinda Stensberg then gave us a tour of Peace Nursery School that Peace UMC has been running for the past 45 years. What wonderful programs both churches have!

A Busy Morning Downtown Green Bay at the Food Pantry, Homeless Shelter and Various Churches

2009-11-03T21:10:00.000-06:00

We had a whirlwind morning touring the food pantry at First United Methodist Church, visiting St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, and then meeting with Father Blair from St. John's the Evangelist Catholic Church and touring their homeless shelter.

Packers vs Vikings - Green Bay Culture Includes A Game Called Football

2009-11-02T01:24:00.004-06:00

We cooked enough chili to feed an army and got together to cheer on the Packers. The rules of American Football were explained and the third quarter rally was fun. At halftime Joni VanDrisse led us in a bit of Yoga and stretching and for those who don't enjoy the game of football... there was a lively game of Uno.

Sunday Morning Brings A Time of Shared Worship

2009-11-02T01:07:00.003-06:00

Worship Sunday morning was a time filled with joy and fun as we prayed, sang and shared communion in both languages. Pastor Daniel Topalski's sermon told the story of Martha and her inspirational faith throughout the communist era.

Halloween and Thanksgiving All In One Day

2009-10-31T00:47:00.000-05:00

Halloween with Trick or Treating and Thanksgiving are holidays that are not observed in Bulgaria, so it made for a fun day to don costumes, answer the doorbell to hundreds of treat seekers and then learn the Thanksgiving customs of turkey carving and eating pumpkin pie.

Natural Beauty = 150,000+ Poinsettias

2009-10-31T00:27:00.000-05:00

It was really fun to see over 150,000 poinsettias all in one place! Natural Beauty in Denmark has 20 acres of greenhouse inside and an additional 5 acres outside! The daily heating costs are astounding and the beauty of seeing the acres of flowers is breathtaking.

Rural America - The Face of Farming

2009-10-31T00:09:00.000-05:00

Dairy cows, beef and chickens. It was interesting, informative and the meal with the Reckelberg's was wonderful.

Heritage Hill Gives A Peak At Wisconsin's Past

2009-10-29T22:13:00.007-05:00

We spent the morning touring Heritage Hill State Park sharing the history of Green Bay and those who first settled this area. The day began and ended eating with friends.

Potluck Dinner Complete with "Authentic" Bulgarian Dancing

2009-10-29T07:02:00.008-05:00

What a fun evening that started and ended with beautiful Bulgarian songs. In the middle we ate lots of yummy food and desserts galore... we learned to dance Bulgarian style.... Pastor Daniel told us about the history of Methodism and Christianity in Bulgaria .... and we presented them with their very own "Wisconsin" sweatshirts.

Lots of American Healthcare Info Today

2009-10-28T17:20:00.006-05:00

It was a busy day learning about health care in Green Bay and our Methodist connection to Bellin Hospital. We toured Bellin Hospital, Clinica Hispana, Rebekah Haven Assisted Living and the Odd Fellows Nursing Home. We also got a peak at Aurora Hospital while we ate lunch there and visited with Pastor Barb Ristow and learned of her work with the Hospice program. It was really interesting discussing the differences between our health care systems. Ivo works as an administrator in the Bulgarian health care system so this was of particular interest to him.

Daniel translates to Ivo and Tanya.

Dr. Clark Stevens, MD and Tanya

The tour at Rebekah Haven.

The Odd Fellows Nursing Home is very different from the facilities in Bulgaria.

Day One - Getting Acclimated

2009-10-27T23:38:00.000-05:00

This morning Pastor Greg, Pastor Daniel and Ivo left early for a meeting in Stevens Point with Bishop Linda Lee for all Wisconsin Conference Pastors. Daniel was asked to share information about Methodism in Bulgaria and the need of other Bulgarian churches to have partners here in the USA. It would be wonderful if other churches would feel the calling to partner with a Bulgarian church!

We ladies checked out the local shopping mall and then we all went for a drive around the Green Bay area to see the sights. Of course, day one in America needs to include pizza! So we relaxed at Greg and Kerry's house and enjoyed pizza with friends. We were able to eat gathered around the table where less than four years ago the idea for starting New Hope Church became a reality!

After stuffing ourselves with pizza - some of us went to Patti's for a long standing New Hope-Bulgarian women tradition. Ice cream party!

Balloons, Welcome Signs and Hugs!

2009-10-27T08:57:00.006-05:00

After about 24 hours of travel, they arrived last night safe and sound to be greeted by a cheery group from New Hope bearing balloons, signs and big welcoming smiles. Even their luggage made it!

Today Pastor Greg, Pastor Daniel and Ivaylo are off to Stevens Point for a meeting of the Wisconsin clergy. We women on the other hand are sleeping in a smidge and then checking out the Green Bay shopping scene.

Our partners are on their way to De Pere!

2009-10-26T10:00:00.003-05:00

As I write this Rev. Daniel Topalski, his wife, Nina, along with Ivaylo Ivanov, and Tania Balkandzhieva from our partner church in Russe are on an airplane traveling to the United States to spend a week with us here in De Pere.

WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HAVE THEM HERE!

Check out the calendar on our website of places and activities you can join the fun and get to meet them. I will post info about our activities through out the week here on our blog, so be sure to check in and read up on what we are doing.

Return Home

2009-07-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

We arrived home Tuesday evening after 25 hours of travel and a day that tallied about 32 hours all in all. We are exhausted, but happy and excited about what the upcoming year will bring for our two churches as we work together to share the love of God.

Visit to Russe's Gypsy Outreach Program

2009-07-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

On Monday evening we had the pleasure of visiting and meeting the children who are part of Russe's outreach in the gypsy community. The children meet weekly in a local home where Krassie and Panka share bible stories, songs, prayers and snacks with them.

While we were there the children sang for us before Panka read a story to them. It was a fun time as we learned about the love of Jesus together.

Familiar faces from last year have grown taller!

Panka shares a story.

Older siblings bring their younger ones.

Mallory and Patti pose for a picture with some of the children.

The woman on the left hosts the children in her home.

The neighborhood.

Shopping and Relaxing

2009-07-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday evening and Monday morning brought with it time to relax a bit and do a little shopping in Russe.

Joanie, Mallory, Patti, Maria, Dave and Greg in Russe's city centre

Mallory and Patti

Taking a break from shopping, Dave is shown taking one of his famous "mental" pictures.

Natalia shows off her sporty New Hope coffee tumbler

Ilian and Natalia enjoying Tootsie Pops

Tanya and Ilian gave Mallory the opportunity to Skype with her friends back in Wisconsin

Tootsie Pops were the hit of the week!

Sunday afternoon in Hotantza

2009-07-13T17:57:00.000-05:00

We traveled to Hotantza Sunday afternoon for worship with Russe's second sister church in their circuit. (Russe, Hotantza and Tsenovo) Krasimir is the local pastor and he and his wife Panka are very involved with the outreach to the gypsy children not only in Hotantza, but in Russe as well.

Pastor Greg gave the sermon and the children sang for us. Following the service we had a very enjoyable time of fellowship and a delicious dinner with the Hotantza congregation.

Krassimir is the local Pastor at Hotantza

Daniel translates our introduction

Pastor Greg gave the sermon with Daniel translating

Everyone loves it when the children sing!

The Hotantza Methodist Church is rich in history preceeding the times of communism

The ladies in Hotantza prepared a delicious meal of pork and sweet peppers stuffed with cheese.

Sunday morning of course is time to worship

2009-07-12T06:57:00.010-05:00

For now pictures will need to speak louder than words as it is time to dash out the door to go to Hotanza. Worship in Russe (pictured) was filled with joy in being able to worship together as one.

sunday at 3:15 p.m.

PSB

Saturday night - a visit to the country

2009-07-12T06:21:00.013-05:00

Saturday evening found us the honored and fortunate guests in the home of Georgi and Penka who live nearby in Koshov. Georgi and Penka have been members of the Russe Methodist Church since the early 80's - even before the fall of communism. They are a delightful couple who opened their home and hearts to us for a fun evening of blending cultures.

Dave, Maria, Penka, Patti, Georgi and Pastor Greg

Bulgarian custom is to greet guests with bread that you dip in honey and/or salt. It represents the sweetness and the salt of life.

Our driver, Daniel, took us on a real adventure in the countryside.

Georgi followed behind in his jeep.

There are caves in the cliffs that the monks used to hide out in for protection. Some of the caves are used today for raising sheep as it is warmer in winter and cooler in the summer.

Daniel was an excellent driver through the rough terrain.

The sheep added some excitement.

Dinner at a nearby restaurant was of course excellent!

We are getting really good at the authentic Bulgarian dining!

Nina and Tanya arranged for me to wear my very own authentic Bulgarian apron for the evening. (This of course gave me authentic Bulgarian dancing abilities.)

This vkusno (delicious) meal is chicken, potatoes, beans and pork kabobs that were prepared on the skara (grill).

Saturday was a day of learning

2009-07-12T05:46:00.009-05:00

The devotional this morning spoke of "The Art of Gleaning" - here's an excerpt:

"As I read the book of Ruth this morning I was so impacted by Ruth's willingness to glean. Gleaning was good old-fashioned manual labor: gathering leftover crops after a field had already been harvested. In a sense, it was the ancient welfare system. But it wasn't a free hand-out. It was back-breaking work. And it took a spirit of humility. There was nothing glamorous about gleaning. But Ruth was willing to do it.

Can I borrow that metaphor? Leaders are gleaners. They glean everything they can from everyone they can! It harkens back to something that has been attributed to everyone from Ben Franklin to Thomas Carlye to Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm not sure who said it first, but it's such good advice: 'Every man is my superior in some way, in that I learn of him.'"

How smart it is to gather knowledge from others. We spent the day learning about what those who came before us figured out; and then shared ideas of how we can take that knowledge, adapt it to our needs and move into the future to grow the church.

Pastors Greg and Daniel led a full day of seminars that was attended by over 40 people from all over Bulgaria. The discussion was lively and the ideas were many.

Worship in Tsenovo

2009-07-11T08:32:00.012-05:00

We went to Tsenovo Friday afternoon to worship and have a delicious dinner. Tsenovo is a sister church of Russe and is about a 45 minute drive into the country. Most of the people who live in Tsenovo work on the nearby farms. Pastor Greg gave a very well received sermon about opening new doors and not being trapped in our old routines. Pastor Greg, and Mariana (the local Pastor of Tsenovo) served communion.

After the service was over we did as all good Methodists do and we ate! They prepared their specialty, Musaka and it was yummy.

Freidie with his fun laugh and "tour guide" attitude is our driver.

Tanya, Nina, Ivaylo and Daniel sang

Mariana Genova is the local Pastor at Tsenovo

Pastor Daniel translates Pastor Greg's sermon

Pastor Daniel and Pastor Greg bless the elements

Pastor Greg serves the communion

Musaka is Tsenovo's specialty. It was meat, potatoes and an egg mixture on top.

Served with shopska salad of course!

Luckily the rain stopped so we could eat outside

David and Ivaylo are tough to get to smile so this one had to

be posted as it's a gem!

Authentic Bulgarian Dinner and Dancing аьхъе шге хсжгш ьуьщ!

2009-07-10T07:31:00.010-05:00

Thursday night we were treated to an authentic Bulgarian dinner complete with flaming food and dancing. The "professional" dancers were amazing to watch as they all know every dance step and are right in sync with one another. We joined in the fun, first on an easy to learn traditional dance and then later on a "whatever moves you" kind of dance. As it says in Ecclesiastes 3 - there is a time for everything including a time to dance. And it was our time to dance!

Tanya is a very talented dancer and joined in with the "professional"

dancers on several songs.

"...and the time for dancing."

Daniel, Tanya, Patti and Maria

Patti and Mallory

Joanie, Natalie and Tanya enjoy the talent of the violinist

We were all in awe when they lit our food on fire!

This flaming food is called Satch. It's a delicious dish of chicken, pork, potatoes, onions and mushrooms. Careful when you try this dish at home!

Afternoon of Home Visits

2009-07-09T07:49:00.011-05:00

The afternoon was spent visiting the elderly in their homes. We split into two groups and the group I was in went to visit Victoria and Nedka where Ivaylo served communion, we prayed together and chatted.

Victoria sang for us.

Victoria is no longer able to leave her home and shared with us that every Sunday morning she prays and sings for an hour while church is in session.

Ivaylo serves communion to Nedka.

PSB

4:20 p.m.

Morning with the kids! Пдихсхж усшг шге нсая!

2009-07-09T05:34:00.011-05:00

The plan for today

2009-07-09T01:17:00.002-05:00

We are refreshed after a night's sleep and eager for the day (after a cup or two of EXCELLENT coffee).

The plan for today is to spend the morning with the Russe children and youth and to visit homebound and ill church members in their homes. Later today we'll be gathering with the women of the church and then enjoying dinner at a Bulgarian folk restaurant complete with authentic food and dancers. (fun!)

Tonight I'll post pictures so until then.... dovizhdine.

Patti and Mallory
9:22 am

We Have Arrived!

2009-07-08T12:54:00.002-05:00

Slightly over 25 hours after we began our journey we have arrived safe and sound at the Russe UMC.

We passed through customs in Romania at the airport and again via car coming into Bulgaria. Daniel explained to us that not so very long ago, they would have been in danger bringing six Americans over the border into their country. Pastors who were friends with Americans were thrown into jail because they were suspected to be spying on the communists. Times have changed and it only took about 20 minutes for us to clear the border.

The fields of smiling sunflowers are here to greet us, as is the Danube River, Stephan under the tree and the warm embrace of Daniel, Ivaylo, Freidi, Nina, Tanya and others. Our fingerprints remain in the sanctuary from our visit last year. And now I must go as a yummy shopska salad awaits me on a beautifully laid table in the other room.

We just wanted to quickly let you know we are here, we are safe and you are in our thoughts as we begin our time here.

Hugs,
Patti
9:00 pm

Russe's Blog

2009-07-02T12:31:00.003-05:00

This past week Reverend Daniel Topalski, Pastor of Russe United Methodist Church, gave me the link to their blog so we can access it as well.

I know two things about it for sure:
1) It has a picture of Pastor Greg on it!
2) The title of the post with Greg's picture includes the words New Hope and Russe

The rest is "Greek" to me. (A smidge of Patti humor)

We are getting excited - we leave on Tuesday!

Their blog is: russeumc.blogspot.com

2009 Trip Approaches Quickly!

2009-06-26T15:19:00.002-05:00

We have been planning, fund raising, practicing our Bulgarian language skills and getting excited about our visit to Russe. It won't be long now! We'll be flying out of Green Bay's Austin Straubel Airport on Tuesday, July 7th and arriving in Bucharest, Romania's Otopeni Airport at 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8th. Then it's just a short 45 minute or an hour drive and we'll be in Russe, Bulgaria and enjoying dinner with our hosts.

Check back often - especially the week we are in country - for updates on our trip.

2009 Insurance Info

2009-03-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

Thank you for purchasing TravelSafe Vacation Insurance

To view or print your insurance confirmation, go to:
https://www.tmtsf.com/confgen.php?code=b3d1141de77f0bfea90dbbb3b7a059ec

To download your certificate of coverage, go to:

http://www.tmtsf.com/reports/925-WEB-01-09.pdf

We're Home!

2008-06-25T20:10:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know we are home safe and sound. Tired, but happy. The flights all left on time and the connections went like clockwork.

Thanks for your love and prayers for a safe and successful journey.

Leka Nosht! (Good night!)
Лека нощ

Last Day in Ruse

2008-06-23T15:37:00.003-05:00

Hi all,
Home visits today with amazing stories of life during a time in history that I struggle to even imagine. Tonight we met with the church council and discussed the ways we can best be in mission together. We have some ideas that can be implemented immediately and some thoughts for longer term.

We have started saying our good-byes and that is always the difficult part. The suitcases are getting re-organized and prepared for our return as we leave here in the morning. We'll visit Pleven tomorrow and then spend the night in Sophia at the Methodist Church before we fly home on Wednesday. In case you want to greet us at the airport, we are arriving in Appleton on Wednesday at 5:15 pm on Delta flight 5361 from Cincinnati.

We are excited to return home; but it is bittersweet as we are sad to leave our new friends. We will not say good-bye... we will be saying 'see you later'.

God bless and pray for safe travels -
Patti

Sunday Pictures :: Service in Ruse, Rocky Monasteries, and Tsenovo UMC

2008-06-22T16:15:00.011-05:00

Patti read the first scripture in worship this morning. Rose read another passage later. They were read in English and again in Bulgarian.

Pastor Greg preached about The Golden Rule while Daniel translated. The banner from New Hope was presented during the service. It's visible on the pulpit here.

We climbed steps up the side of a cliff to get to this Orthodox rocky monastery. This is an example of how a few of the icons are presented in a typical Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Here are some frescoes from the "Archangel Michael" monastery. A guide narrated the illustrations for us. This was Rose's favorite.

The view from above the monastery. Left to right: Rose, Nina, Freedy, Daniel, and David.

The members of Tsenovo UMC welcomed us with warm hearts and a warm meal on a warm day! We were so happy to meet them and see their church!

Our team and members of Tsenovo UMC in front of their church.

Posted by Katy, 12:30 am (Monday morning).

Today is best expressed in pictures

2008-06-21T13:27:00.019-05:00

Young Hope made bracelets for us to give to the children and Nadia gets first pick Friday night. Just a tid-bit: "Nadia" translates as "Hope."

The bracelets were a big hit Saturday morning when we met the children at the church.

Katy, Nadia, Mallory, and Patti sport super cool shades Saturday morning. We thought Pastor Greg should wear these patriotic glasses to preach but he wasn't too keen on the idea.

Rose gets a hug from 2-year-old Monica outside the front of the church.

Katy draws faces on the balloons that survived the balloon stomp game.

John shows the kids how jumping rope should be done.

Pastor Greg and our new friend Gottfried (Freedy) discuss wardrobe requirements for church? David and Nadia enjoy the debate.

The children and youth of the church send their greetings to New Hope!

The Turkish ("Gypsies") children sing for us in the home they worship in weekly. This is a ministry of the United Methodist Church in Ruse. They were so proud!

Our group says goodbye to the gypsy children.

Typical Communist-style housing. There are many similar buildings throughout the country.

"Hot-Sauna" (Hotanza, actually) Hotanza United Methodist Church

A model church for the world in relations between protestant and orthodox denominations. Pastor Greg gave the sermon at Saturday afternoon worship followed by traditional refreshments and fellowship.

A field of smiling sunflowers!

Our hosts prepared a program including a tradtional Bulgarian love song sang here by Daniel and Tania.

Posted at 11:15pm by Katy and Patti

PICTURES FROM KATY'S CAMERA!

2008-06-20T17:31:00.013-05:00

We are able to bring you some shots of our adventures thanks to Katy and her wisdom in bringing the 'what-cha-ma-call-it' to upload pictures from the camera to the website. Katy rocks!

High spirits (or just going bonkers after 24 hours of continuous travel) on the mini-bus ride from Sofia to Ruse.

The view of the altar at the United Methodist Church in Ruse.

One side of the sanctuary in Ruse. This shot is taken from the doors that open to the garden.

John waving in the church garden. The gardens here are amazing! Many buildings have courtyards similar to this one.

The Blue Danube. Later that day, we had refreshments on a pontoon restaurant on the river. Surprisingly, it is actually not very blue.

Our new friends Pastor Daniel and his wife Nina translated the history of traditional Bulgarian food in a restaurant we went for lunch.

Nina translated the history of the beautiful gardens at Balchik for Rose and Pastor Greg. The Black Sea is in the background (we swam there earlier that day).

In Ruse's city center, the Bulgarian Fest began Friday night. Traditional music brought hundreds of people onto the street to dance. Nina and Ivo showed Mallory, Rose, and Patti how it's done.

Many more pictures to follow! Stay tuned!

You Called Us To A Beautiful Place

2008-06-20T11:41:00.004-05:00

Dear Lord,
You called us to a beautiful place, full of history and strength and fields of smiling sunflowers.

Help us to listen and hear with our hearts the desires and dreams of our friends. Help this to become a long lasting partnership of trust and truth, like the Old Mountain.

May we be joyful and loving. Use our lives and partnership for Your glory.

Thank you Lord for showing us Your love in yet another way and seeing Your work outside of our daily walk.

Provide us with the answers to the questions that we have long carried on our hearts but have been afraid to say out loud. We have prayed for days of celebration; help us to embrace this time of joyful beginnings.

Open our eyes to opportunity that You have provided. Use our talents and gifts for good.

In Your name we pray,
Amen

Note: We have loved reading your comments and words of encouragement. Knowing you are thinking and praying for us means alot and we appreciate it. Please keep commenting on your visits to our blog. Blogodaria! (thank you!)

7:50 pm Friday night - Rose

A day of building!

2008-06-19T15:45:00.002-05:00

Today was a building day. Building friendships. Building trust. Building connections. Building a strong relationship.

We took a 3 hour (each way) bus ride to Varna located on the Black Sea where we met with Bedros Altunian, the District Superintendent. They showed us the new church built in Varna that took over 10 years to complete due to resistence from the populous who were against having a prominent Protestant church in their city center. They also explained proudly that their church bell was on the original Varna Methodist church. When that church was torn down during the communist era members snuck during the night and retrieved the bell from the rubble. They hid it underground from the communist government to preserve their heritage. Once communism was gone and they were ruled by a democracy and free to worship, the bell was uncovered and presented to the church once again.

We visited the beach area of the Black Sea and spent time laughing together, sharing stories about our families and trying new foods. (Some of it that was 'looking' at us!)

The country of Bulgaria is beautiful and looks much like the U.S.A. Mountains, wheat fields, corn fields, cattle grazing and really cool sunflower fields. (Sunflower oil is a big industry here.) Lots of green this time of year.

It is now midnight and our day has been long and filled with activity. We are tired, our beds are beckoning - however due either to the time change or the tea we've been drinking with dinner we all become wide awake when we are supposed to be falling asleep!

Tomorrow is about learning history and living history.

We experienced a lot of culture today!

2008-06-18T16:25:00.002-05:00

We walked to town square where they are setting up for the city festival. Beautiful old buildings inter-mixed with the communist reminants. A few leaders of the Russe Methodist church took us to visit a government run elderly home. God is using them in a very important outreach there. I think they are making a difference. Greg gave his first sermon today and team members Patti, Mallory, and Katy participated in the service with prayer and readings! Members of the church were able to ask for prayers and concerns just like us at New Hope. Although not translated for us- the prayers where earnest and touching to hear. Our fellowship is growing and we are sharing many pictures and introducing our church family to them. Lots and lots of food, Good Methodists! Food and fellowship go great together.
Stay tuned tomorrow-for our next travel adventure.

With you in Christ love, Rose

Arrived in Bulgaria Safely!

2008-06-17T14:07:00.003-05:00

After a full 24 hours of travel it's 10 pm Tuesday night and we are here in Russe safely! We had a wonderfully warm welcome including lots of smiles, balloons, shopska salad, Bulgarian meatloaf, feta cheese, cute little cookies, Turkish tea and coffee. We are impressing our hosts with our astounding knowledge of their language and we of course are impressed that they are kinda able to understand us.

All flights were mostly on time and without incident. We are totally exhausted and can't even think in a straight line. (As if we ever do....)

Great news! The Chicken Dance is totally universal!

We got your messages from the blogspot - thanks! We love you all too!

Team out for now - lights out that is.
God Bless

IMT - In Mission Together

2008-06-07T22:39:00.003-05:00

Our IMT partner church is in Russe, Bulgaria and our team of 7 leaves next week to meet each other and start planning how we can be in partnership together.

This site will be used to let the congregation know what we are doing while we are there. Hopefully we will be able to update every day or so. If we don't have a new post... don't worry about us .... it just means we don't have internet access available that day!

If you'd like to get a message back to the team, simply click on comments at the bottom of the post and we can read them there.

In the meantime, keep us in your prayers for a safe and wonderful mission.

New Hope's 2008 Team
Pastor Greg Jewison
John James
David Gilluame
Rose Markowicz
Katy Gertz
Mallory Welk
Patti Bacher

The UMC in Bulgaria

2008-06-07T22:35:00.000-05:00

The following excerpt is from a booklet printed by the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe of The United Methodist Church and was printed in 2005.

In 1859 the first Methodist missionaries came to Bulgaria from the USA. They established churches, helped with the first translation of the Bible in modern Bulgarian and opened schools for girls as well as schools for boys. This turned out to be an enormous contribution toward educating the population. The ministry of the Methodists grew but it constantly came across persecutions and resistance. he communist regime, from 1945 till 1989, was the darkest period in the existence of the United Methodist Church in Bulgaria. Many pastors were arrested, imprisoned, oppressed and even killed. The Religious Law at that time proclaimed religious freedom, but in reality it made sure that no church activity would be possible. Most of all the Church in Bulgaria was forbidden to have any official contacts with the worldwide Methodist family.

After the political changes (1990) there were only three churches left in the country and the pastors were either old or already deceased. But the Methodist ministry was reorganized and the international contacts were renewed. From that time on the Church started to grow. However, it never forgot that it was a minority Church. A living proof of this is the fact that it is consciously preaching the gospel to Turks, Gypsies and Armenians.

The goal to share God's love in words and deeds empowers the carrying out of many diaconal projects, such as social kitchens, literacy projecs, medical services, counseling in prisons or work with children and youth in need. Alongside all this the publishing of books is of great importance - not only the publishing of Bibles but also the publishing of many other books that help for the understanding and application of the Bible.

Though sometimes it is not obvious, many people in Bulgaria are poor. Yes, their situation has deteriorated tremendously since 1990. That's why the existence of the Church in this country and its fruitful ministry is a real challenge.

Flight Info

2008-06-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

June 16th
Delta Flt 6222
Appleton to Cincinnati
Leave 3:50 pm - arrive 6:15 pm
1 Hour 25 Minutes

Delta Flt 36
Cincinnati to London Gatwick
Leave 6/16 at 8:00 pm - arrive 6/17 at 9:00 am
8 Hours 00 Minutes

Bulgaria Air Flt 496
London Gatwick to Sofia Vrazhdebna
Leave 10:30 am - arrive 3:35 pm
3 Hours 05 Minutes

RETURN FLIGHTS

June 25th
Bulgaria Air Flt 449
Sofia Vrazhdebna to Rome Fiumicino
Leave 8:30 am - arrive 9:40 am
2 Hours 10 Minutes

Delta Flt 33
Rome Fiumicino to Cincinnati
Leave 10:45 am - arrive 3:15 pm
10 Hours 30 Minutes

Delta Flt 5361
Cincinnati to Appleton
Leave 4:45 pm - arrive 5:14 pm
1 Hour 29 Minutes