Our time in Sofia went by very quickly. The Deaflympics kept us busy during the days and the evenings were spent taking walks, watching movies or hanging out with the people in the village.
The neighbors invited Daniel and I over for dinner 2 nights ago. The hospitality of these people is something else. Vasile and his wife live in this home in the summer time and during the year they live in the city. They have a daughter and son-in-law who are living there with them for the summer. Such kind people. Our dinner experience was one we won’t soon forget. Something as simple as dinner is different all over the world. We did not go to their house until 9pm and began eating closer to 9:45pm. This is their normal dinnertime.
With dinner we were served one food at a time starting with a slavska salad that consists of chopped tomato, cucumber, green bell pepper, olive oil, with a hint of fresh squeezed lemon. Once we were finished with the salad, we were offered anchovies, feta cheese and toast. Daniel enjoyed the anchovies while I enjoyed watching him eat them. Later we were served pork meatballs and veal sausages. With that, we had two ‘salads’ we could choose from, mayonnaise and cucumber or a potato salad with ham. Both were delicious! Our plates, drinks and conversations were never empty. We were blessed that all 4 spoke English. They told us stories about their lives during Soviet Union, how they met and gave us encouragement for our marriage. It is great to have been surrounded by positive marriage role models everywhere we turn around this month. Daniel and I were able to share our story of what we do in Moldova and their reaction was the same as the other Europeans.. “You are such kind people…” We understand that this culture doesn’t understand why American’s come over to help. They don’t have the same opportunities that we do. So, we make it clear that it’s not just because we nice, but we are doing it because we feel called by God. He could have called us to do anything else and we would have done that. Slava boga! (Praise to God) He gets all the glory for what we are doing.
Everywhere we have turned around we have met Christians. We have probably shared our testimony with 10+ people and were able to hear theirs in return. On top of that, being a witness to people by our actions, speech and faith. Although, we are not in Sofia specifically for a missionary purpose, it is becoming our life. God is bringing people for us to be a light to and encourage, and in return we are filled and blessed. Being a missionary is not about being in another country and helping people, it’s about living it out in your daily life. Daniel and I fail daily, but that is why there is grace. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch (sinner) like me (and you).
-thewoodalls
Going with God 