That is the response that I always got when I told people that I was going to Bulgaria. Yes, I traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria for 2 weeks last month for work. My amazing wife held down the fort back at home while I was busy troubleshooting some problems that our software contractors were facing with our chip. Since we didn't have a passport for Ava, Amy had to stay home with her instead of accompanying me on my exotic travels. This is only the second time in 2 years that I have travelled internationally with TI, so I can't complain. In fact, I enjoy traveling to places I never have been before and meeting different kinds of people. I got to spend a lot of time with Dobry, 
who graciously entertained me most evenings with different restaurants and sites to see. Here is a picture of Dobry and his girlfriend. I am also here dancing to a traditional dance around the room. 
Since I was there over the weekend, I got a chance to walk around the city center and go to a couple of museums. I had expected to see a lot of poverty and beggars on the street. I did see a few gypsies politely begging (as oppose to aggressively) outside the churches, but not as much as I had expected. It seems like any other European city ... crowded with a mix of old and new on every corner. I was told that all the really fun stuff to see was outside of the city, in the countryside. Maybe I can see it next time. Anyway, thanks to everyone who prayed for me while I was gone. Here is the picture from my hotel window. That is the Parliament building in front of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Pretty cool. It snowed earlier that evening.
who graciously entertained me most evenings with different restaurants and sites to see. Here is a picture of Dobry and his girlfriend. I am also here dancing to a traditional dance around the room. 
Since I was there over the weekend, I got a chance to walk around the city center and go to a couple of museums. I had expected to see a lot of poverty and beggars on the street. I did see a few gypsies politely begging (as oppose to aggressively) outside the churches, but not as much as I had expected. It seems like any other European city ... crowded with a mix of old and new on every corner. I was told that all the really fun stuff to see was outside of the city, in the countryside. Maybe I can see it next time. Anyway, thanks to everyone who prayed for me while I was gone. Here is the picture from my hotel window. That is the Parliament building in front of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Pretty cool. It snowed earlier that evening.
One thing that hit me about the culture here is that most of these folks that I met don't know Jesus. The official religion is eastern orthodox, but the effect of communism here in the 20th century seemed to have created a generation of atheists. My small exposure here and a few religious conversations I had led me to believe that this was an atheism (or maybe agnosticism) of ignorance. Now with the entrance into the EU, it seems that materialism and pursuit of wealth and status is quickly growing out of the seeds of atheism that communism brought. What an amazing opportunity to share the hope of Jesus to so many who haven't even considered him. Please pray that for me that I would be enabled to share the Love of Jesus effectively with these people and others in future interactions.
That's it for this month's business trip feature country. Stay tuned for next month's country...Finland (I'm not kidding).
1 comment:
Too bad you were not in Finlad 2 weeks ago when we were in Helsinki. We are back in a little over a week and will share with you where we went while there. My brother went to Sophia 2 years ago to visit a friend and liked it so much that they named her daughter Sophia.
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