Bulgaria Trip

Bulgaria - July 2-11, 2010 - Report from Cookie Slate

The mission trip was a great success in many ways. 

  • Attendance was good at every meeting.  Church members are excited about the mentoring program.  We know there will be several mentoring teams.
  • George and Laura are encouraged by the number of people who attended and the enthusiasm of the church members.
  • The Women’s Ministry Leadership Team is working well together and they are doing an excellent job leading the women in the church.  They prepared lunch for those attending the daily meetings and prepared our dinner most nights.  They are excellent examples of servants.
  • The preschool director whom we worked with last year attended the two sessions on being a servant.  She attended church a couple of times last year following our visit.  She confessed to me that she was a “Sunday” Christian but she would not make a commitment to become involved with the church. 
  • The orphanage workers were pleased [actually shocked]  that they were recognized for their work with the handicapped children.
  • The children and teens are thrilled that they no longer have to share tennis rackets – everyone has a racket and the number attending the tennis lessons is growing.  This is an excellent outreach ministry for the church.

CONTINUED PRYAER NEEDS
- That people will follow thru on the mentoring program.  Several are praying about being mentors and who they will approach to be their mentee.
- That the preschool director will begin attending the church and will be lead to Christ.
- For the continued work of the Women’s Ministry leadership team as they begin new ministry activities.
- For the tennis outreach ministry and the two young men who teach the tennis lessons.

Lisa and I appreciate so much your prayers the last week.  There were many times we were tired but when the time came, we had the energy to do our presentations.
COOKIE SLATE

ENGAGE Bulgaria

“Seeing change - change in the lives of orphans, change in the lives of young pastors, change in the spiritual development of God’s people – seeing it, being a part of it – what a great blessing.”–Cookie Slate

Why Bulgaria? As a global Catalyst Place of Engagement, Bulgaria provides The Heights family a chance to maintain support of existing ministries undertaken with our people and resources, and provide additional support for healthcare, orphanages, and other ministries which aid the work done there by our key ministry relationships, Paul and Judy Ridgway and Pastor George Gardev of the Kazanlak Baptist Church.

What are the objectives?

  • Continue to partner with missionaries Paul and Judy Ridgway to strive to meet both physical and spiritual needs of Bulgarian people while also working to alleviate suffering in the orphanages.  
  • Partner with Pastor George Gardev and the Kazanlak Baptist Church to support the growth of the church and the spiritual and leadership development of church members.
  • Provide a container of humanitarian aid filled with computers refurbished by The Heights family to include items such as desks, school supplies and mattresses for orphanages, as well as new shoes and socks provided by the Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program.
  • Continue serving in transformational ways through the avenues of healthcare and associated relationships developed in Bulgaria thru the church-based medical clinics.
  • Continue partnering with the adoption process of Bulgarian pastors to supplement their salaries in order to keep Bulgarian churches open and functioning.

“…whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for Me.” – Jesus, Matthew 25:40

What is the strategy?

  1. Provide direct support for the Ridgways in Bulgaria.
  2. Provide direct support for the Kazanlak Baptist Church and other emerging Bulgarian church leaders.
  3. Provide additional funds for special projects such as container shipments in conjunction with Buckner Ministries.
  4. Send Heights mission teams to work with our Bulgarian contacts, structuring trips to support their ministries and needs.

Occupations, skills projected for this Place of Engagement: Relationship builders, persons who can love an unwanted child, computer techies, persons with the gift of giving, children’s workers, social workers, persons with compassion, good organizers, medical personnel.