Happy Resurrection Day!

Dear Friends,

We in Bulgaria celebrated the resurrection with you on this Easter Sunday.  We will also remember Easter in our church service next Sunday, which is the traditional Orthodox Easter celebration.

Around the world, this day is remembered in ways that are unprecedented in our life times.  We didn't dress up and go to church for a big celebration - maybe with a choir, maybe a special breakfast before the service and certainly a lot of hugs and smiles.  This year, as you probably are, we celebrate remotely from our homes tuning into the service of our local church or somewhere else we find on the internet.

Here in Bulgaria, we celebrated our services and small groups over Zoom - and a lot of us did dress up!  Since we are a relatively small group, this allows us to talk together and have different people in their homes take part by singing, reading scripture, etc.  A bonus has been that it's given people in other countries (most who lived here previously) opportunity to also participate - kind of a nice reunion!

Daily life has changed drastically here as well.  Schools are teaching kids online, many people who still have jobs are working from home, only "essential" stores are allowed to be open and - even on the nicest days we've had - fewer people are outside.  (There may be such a thing as a "hair emergency" here because I've seen a couple of hair salons open 😁!)

Saturday we heard loudspeakers outside of our apartment building twice.  We weren't sure what that was all about, but had a guess which was confirmed by a Bulgarian friend later on.  As of midnight, some kind of face mask needs to be worn anytime people are out in public for the foreseeable future.  Many people have been doing this already (including us) but I think there was a need for a renewal of commitment.  So far Bulgaria only has 676 reported cases and 31 deaths, numbers which are updated online twice a day.  Like everyplace, this most likely doesn't account for all cases, but I find it somewhat encouraging that numbers seem to be increasing by less than 10% each day.

In our building, we are also participating in trying to keep cases low.  We normally have a shoveling schedule in the winter and, on average, each apartment is listed once a month.  With only one real snowfall all winter (until April 1 & 2 when we got a good amount of heavy snow that stuck to tree limbs for days) our assignment was now to disinfect the common areas of the building - door handles, elevator buttons, etc. - a task I think most people are happy to do.

Despite the challenges of this time, we are encouraged that God is faithful and we can trust Him.  In one of my ladies small groups, we have been discussing a book entitled When Changing Nothing Changes Everything, which encourages us to look at our situation not just for how it impacts us, but  how we can be a blessing and encouragement to others in the midst of difficulty.  And we don't alway see, until much later, the full impact of any given situation or difficulty.  While we continue to pray that this pandemic will end soon, we also look for how we can stay faithful in sharing God's love where he has us currently - in still beautiful Sofia, Bulgaria!

With love and prayers for health and safety,  Kathy


If you are interested in giving to our work in Bulgaria, and Paul's consulting in Africa and beyond, gifts can be given online at Global Horizons/Emmaus Assoc or mailed to Global Horizons, P.O. Box 856678, Minneapolis, MN 55485-6678.   Please attach a note indicating Emmaus.  Thank you!