June 13 & 14, 2010

On Friday and Saturday we got down to business. The primary purpose of this trip was to teach the first of two annual training sessions for Equip Volume 2. This is the second level of the Equip program. We will return in October to do the second one for 2010.

We had about 24 people in the group. All of them were business people or pastors (mostly business people). All of them had previous leadership training either through Equip or elsewhere. They are extremely capable and bright people and a joy to work with.

Our teaching partner was Nik Nedelchev, a highly respected evangelical church leader in Europe, as well as in Bulgaria. Nik (or Nick if you prefer) is a remarkable man and a terrific leader in his own right so it was a real treat to work with him. Needless to say, we look forward to October and doing this again.


We also enjoyed having time with Tom Atema, Vice-President of Equip. He helped us understand the mission and vision of Equip even better and he shares our desire to bring more leadership training to the gypsy people. This was very exciting for us!

June 11, 2010

On Wednesday, we went to Belgrade, Serbia to hear Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood in concert. We returned to Sofia yesterday and went immediately into some meetings. I was probably more excited about this trip to the concert than Pat because I have been a Clapton fan since the 1960s. I was especially excited to hear him since he became a Christ Follower a few years ago.

Our trip was long (5 hours each way) but we were traveling with Grozan and Slavica, two young friends that we have known for years. We tease Slavica that we are good luck; last time we traveled together she was pregnant and this time too!!

The concert was fabulous. There were about 20,000 people in the arena. We heard British accents, German accents, and of course there were Serbs, Bulgarians, Americans and who know who else; truly an international audience.


They did a variety of songs ranging from blues to rock. Both did their signature songs, "Georga" for Steve Winwood and "Cocaine" for Clapton. I think he may have modified the lyrics since he found a better way to live but the tune and the beat were the same.

Today and tomorrow, we finally get into the reason we came; our Equip seminar. We are looking forward to it. Several old friends will be in the seminar with us and, of course, we will get to meet some new friends as well. More tomorrow.

June 7, 2010

Yesterday, we visited Perperikon, the largest megalithic archeological site in the Balkans. It sits on a 1,200 foot high, rocky hill 15 kilometers north of the present-day town of Kardzhali.

The first traces of civilization at Perperikon go back to 5000 B.C. and it is the only known example, of a huge Thracian city called “the Stone Pompeii." It was complete with buildings, rooms, streets, squares and a water supply system, and is unlike anything that anyone had ever associated with the "barbaric" Thracians.



Of particular interest is a huge altar 6 feet in diameter and hewn straight out of the rock. Here the Tracians would have practiced fire rituals such as dancing on hot coals, and would eventually (500 AD) erect a small church when they were Christianized by the Romans.


We also drove through the valley of the roses. Unfortunately, the roses had already been harvested and there was little to see and little to smell. Oh well, perhaps we will get another chance one day.

Saturday, June 5

Not a lot to tell today. We spent our first night in Sofia at the Casa Farrari where we always stay. This morning we left there and spent the day traveling to the valley of the roses. This is a valley where roses grow so well that the French perfume makers have been coming here since the 1870s to buy the rose oil that is produced here. It is the basis for all of the expensive perfumes and this is the only place in the world where it grows. Unfortunately, most of the roses were harvested over the past two weeks so there was not much left for us to see.

We then visited a couple of tombs that have been uncovered that date back to the third century B.C. For those that don't know, Bulgaria is a very old part of Europe with a lot of Roman and even pre-Roman ruins around. We also visited a large Russian Orthodox church that was built by the Russians after they freed Bulgaria from the Ottoman Turks. It was a mixture of Russian and Asian architecture and quite unique.

Tomorrow we will preach at the Bridge Church of God here in Stara Zagora and then off for more sights and to visit some friends in a town about 80 miles from here. We are enjoying the leisurely pace, although it does feel a bit strange not to be going at our usual frantic pace.