Back in the US

A blessed Easter to you!  We celebrated with a 3am service for IBC Sofia and a potential pastoral candidate preaching.  Yea!  Time has flown by since we left for Bulgaria in late January.  We jumped right back into life there with wonderful opportunities to interact with friends from church and in the neighborhood.  We experienced a wide variety of weather - from snow, air pollution, rain and sunny, warm days.  While restaurants were closed until our last full day in Sofia, we had a number of opportunities for the long walks that we enjoyed so much in our years living there.

Although the church is still meeting virtually, we did have a times to meet with some families and individuals in person, which was a real joy.  Paul continued with his men's meetings and I started a new women's Bible study, which is continuing virtually now that I'm back.  Along with other regular church services, we were able to lead and participate in a baby dedication for a sweet little girl named Sofia, who was born on Christmas Day (and whose parents are Bulgarian and Italian).

While the search for a new pastor continues, we were able to complete the process for renewing our resident permits, bookending our travels with trips to immigration and completing it just before leaving.  In the middle of our time there, I came down with what I thought was a cold - until I lost my sense of taste and smell.  That Covid test came back negative, as did the ones within 72 hours of our departure and the 3am Rapid Antigen Test at the airport before our 7am departure flight.  Flying is definitely different since Covid!  And, although our flight to Amsterdam was fairly full, our flight to Minneapolis had 24 passengers total with 6 flight attendants.  I doubt we'll ever have a repeat of that!

Covid numbers had been down while we were in Bulgaria, which is why schools and restaurants had opened back up.  However, schools only met in person for 4 days before closing again and restaurants went only a few days more.  Friends tell us that hospitals are full and vaccines are not readily available.  Please continue to hold Bulgaria in your prayers!

We are truly blessed to be able to continue to contribute to the life of the community of international believers in Sofia.  We don't know when we'll be back, but want to be available for however God wants to use us in our relationships there.

Blessings, Kathy

Back to Bulgaria

Just a quick note to let you know that we are on our way back to Bulgaria tomorrow for at least 3 weeks, but a bit of an uncertain timetable.  When we left, we had round trip tickets knowing we would likely need to go back at some point.  The search for a new pastor of the church has not gone as quickly as we had hoped - largely due to Covid - so Paul has been continuing in many aspects of that role.  This trip will be an opportunity to reconnect more personally with people in the church and perhaps bring closure to more aspects of our official relationship.  (I anticipate lots of walks outside with somewhat warmer weather than here.)

Our trip has gone through numerous changes - the last one occurring this afternoon when the Netherlands put new restrictions in place requiring us to have a second and different Covid test in order to transit through Amsterdam (and, as it turns out, Paris.)  So, instead of leaving at 12:40pm tomorrow, we leave at 5:30am and spend 9 hours in Atlanta in order to be sure we can complete the necessary test.   Then we'll have a quick 2 hours in Paris before arriving in Sofia around 2pm.

We'll be able to stay in our old apartment, making a lot of things easier and familiar.  We'd appreciate prayers for all aspects of our flights, layovers, safety from Covid, time in Sofia (including some official documents we need to complete), ongoing search for a new pastor and as yet unscheduled return home.  Please also pray for our family here - we will miss them all a great deal after the last months of significant change and lots of time together.

Blessings, dear friends, who have followed us on this journey!  Kathy

Change and more change

In some ways it's hard to believe 4 months have passed since we returned to the US.  In other ways it seems way, way longer.  We're still not completely settled in our apartment (the first floor of the duplex Sarah owns) and the storage isn't empty.  Despite all we got rid of before we moved to Bulgaria, what's left is more than works in an approximately 1000 sq ft apartment.  There's furniture that doesn't quite fit in the new configuration, things that we thought we might need that we just don't and some things we're sure we kept that we haven't found yet.  We've given pretty much everything back to Sarah that she loaned us initially and I made a point of decorating for Christmas as that helps me to feel settled.

The flexibility of our physical move kind of fits with other aspects of ongoing life here.  Paul is still officially the pastor of IBC Sofia and has continued to counsel people, meet with the board, deal with finances, preach some - and we both are at the Sunday service at 3am Minnesota time.  The search for a new pastor has hit some bumps, aside from the issues that Covid presents.  We were close to calling a new pastor when he withdrew at the last and we were basically starting over, but with very few new candidates.  Prayers for the church would certainly be appreciated!  There is a great core group who have continued to meet, lead music, host the service and preach.  Our fantastic youth group leaders continue to bring the kids together - social distanced in person when possible and over zoom now that Covid has worsened in Bulgaria.  We are grateful for all the options technology provides to continue drawing people together in fellowship and worship!

While the loss of friends and family for many due to Covid has brought a lot of sadness and grief, we have experienced an unexpected and devastating loss.  Our daughter Sarah's longterm boyfriend Tyler Witt suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in early November.  Tyler was only 35 - a fantastic guy who had a winning smile, kind heart and gentle manner.  He was a talented biomedical engineer, flyer, runner and adventurer.  He won Sarah's heart and all of ours too.  It is a sadness we have felt totally unprepared for.  And even as we trust our Good God, we cannot help but consider all that we will miss.

In close, I'll leave you with the lyrics of a song by Pam Thum and Joel Lindsey that has meant a lot to me:

You turn the key
Then close the door behind you
Drop your bags on the floor
You reach for the light
But there's darkness deep inside
And you can't take it anymore

'Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you
And sometimes living is all you can do

Life is hard, the world is cold
We're barely young and then we're old

But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is good

You start to cry
'Cause you've been strong for so long
And that's not how you feel
You try to pray
But there's nothing left to say
So you just quietly kneel

In the silence of all that you face
God will give you His mercy and grace

Jesus never said
It was an easy road to travel
He only said that you would never be alone
So when your last thread of hope
Begins to come unraveled
Don't give up, He walks beside you
On this journey home and He knows

Life is hard, the world is cold
We're barely young and then we're old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is good

Yes, GOD is GOOD!  Blessings, 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 64059, Eagan, MN 55164-0059.,   Please attach a note indicating Emmaus.  Thank you!

Returning Home

 We're home!  It's been a journey, in more ways than one, and I kept waiting to update until I "knew more."  "Knowing more" seems to be somewhat elusive....  Here are some bullet points of the last 3 months:

• It was sad to leave Sofia!   We will miss so many great people from the church, who have been a great community and a little taste of what heaven will be like, with people from all over the world! And we will miss our neighbors, who have shown us great kindness even with our almost non-existent language stills and rough start in the building (for those of you who remember us flooding the apartments below us to the basement because we didn't know we should turn our water off when we leave town - that was in the first 2 months we were there!)
• I will especially miss walking and and getting around the city via various public transportation.  I had actually hoped to spend some time out walking before we left and visiting some museums we hadn't been to.  Unfortunately, a badly sprained ankle while visiting an old mountaintop fortress changed those plans and I spent 2 weeks laying around and on crutches before I started very limited hobbling about.  Paul also experienced some ankle issues with a return of the tendonitis he experienced early in our time in Bulgaria.  We're both better, but still not fully recovered.
• Covid-19 cases continue to increase in Bulgaria, although the situation is not nearly as bad as in the US.  Most stores and restaurants (that survived economically) are back open with requirements for masks indoors and especially on public transportation.
• IBC Sofia continues to meet on Zoom but, for the last 8 weeks or so, we have also been able to have a limited number of people meet in person wearing masks and social distancing.  People sign up ahead of time to reserve a spot and 15 is the max we can do in our space.  It's been great for some, especially for singles and extroverts, who don't have much social contact otherwise or just really miss being around people.
• With our plans to leave Bulgaria, the search for a new pastor has been ongoing.  Paul has played a role in facilitating meetings with a very diverse group (ethnically, culturally and theologically) from the church who are the search committee.  We had hoped to find someone from within the EU, since people from most other countries (and especially the US) are currently restricted from entering Bulgaria (unless you are a citizen or current long term resident.)
• Without a new pastor in place, Paul officially remains the pastor due to legalities of how churches function in Bulgaria.  This means that he (likely we) will return to deal with some ongoing issues.  Since we have residency into Feb. next year, a trip back will likely take place prior to that.
• We originally set a return date of July 30th which changed to Aug 6th and then to Aug 14th, due to various issues with flights and shipping.  It almost changed again a couple of days before departure, but we were able to work out the glitches and start the long trip back via Amsterdam and JFK.  Overall, things went smoothly except for Kathy's briefly lost passport and boarding pass in Amsterdam and arrival amidst tornado warnings and torrential rain in Minneapolis.  Sarah did a great job welcoming us home and setting us up with the basics in the first floor of her duplex!  Of course, we now begin the task of resettling with our stored household goods (and shipping, when it arrives 😞)....after we finish our mandatory 2 week quarantine.
• We look forward to seeing many of you in person at some point as we transition to life in MN!

Blessings!  Kathy

Flying without a Net (and other big news)

We have experienced lots of technical challenges of late!  Since we're home virtually all the time and doing our work online, being "without a Net...as in internet" is a big deal.  In the last 3 weeks, we have had our internet provider out 4 times due to lack of service.  There have been adjustments, more adjustments, a new modem and some adjustments outside our apartment.  While frustrating, we are very grateful for both our Bulgarian friend who calls and explains our problem and that our provider usually sends someone out the same day.   So YEA for customer service!

At the same time we were experiencing these issues, I realized my computer cord was quite frayed.  Some electrical tape helped for a couple of days and then....nothing...no fiddling, moving, adjusting could give me a charge.  A quick online order to the local Apple provider and free home delivery in about 24 hours (although they told me it might be 3 days) has me all charged up again!

Paul's technology issue has been his phone with missing pixels on his screen creating some havoc in his communication.  After determining that trying to fix it would be expensive and challenging in the current environment, a new phone was ordered from the local Best Buy equivalent.  Ordered on Friday, we are still waiting to hear when that phone might arrive.....

As we deal with life amidst the Coronavirus, we experienced the loss of a friend and church member.  Danny was an 80+ year old vibrant gentleman with a great smile and compelling story of  miraculously escaping Bulgaria 50 years ago.  He built a great life in the US, but has spent most of his time the last few years in Bulgaria.  We were privileged to share life with him, hear his story and eat his incredible home made banitsa (Bulgarian pastry.)

We have big personal news!  After much prayer and consideration, we decided in January that we would be heading back to the US in early fall.  We told our kids and got a call back from Peter and Megan.  Before we purchased tickets, they wanted us to know that they are expecting twins, due in early Sept (and probably arriving in August...)  Big excitement!!!  While we will leave part of our hearts here with the awesome people we have come to know, we are also anticipating this new time in our lives!

Now the Coronavirus....and we don't really know when we will get back.  By choosing to stay here now, which we both think is the place we should be, we realize that timing of travel over the next few months is uncertain.  And so, we seek to be faithful to our call here, trusting that God has the PLAN - like He always does!  Please pray for us, that we would trust His plan and timing for us.  Thank you!

Blessings, 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 64059, Eagan, MN 55164-0059.,   Please attach a note indicating Emmaus.  Thank you!

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!

Holocaust Remembrance and Bulgaria

Last Tuesday we were invited to a Holocaust Remembrance Event here in Sofia, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.   It was an opportunity to be reminded of the horrors of genocide against not only the Jews, but also Roma (gypsies), handicapped and others - including Christians who stood up for or protected Jews.

In March, 1941 Bulgaria gave in to Axis demands to form an alliance with them. While initially agreeing to deport all Bulgarian Jews to German control, Bulgaria did not carry through.  There were a number of restrictions placed on Jews in Bulgaria and most of the non-Bulgarian Jews in areas under Bulgarian control (but not Bulgaria proper) were deported.  There were public demonstrations and Parliamenty disagreement against following along with the Nazis.

But Bulgaria was in a tough place considering its geographic location.  The laws on deporting Jews were protested, not only by the Bulgarian Jewish community and intellectuals, but by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its leader, Metropolitan Stefan I.  Deportations were entirely cancelled in May 1943. The Bulgarian government  tried to arrange transport for Bulgarian Jews to Palestine on British vessels in the Black Sea.  However, these efforts were rebuffed by Britain.  Around 20,000 Jews were expelled from Sofia to the provinces where they were used in forced labor, while the Bulgarian government used labor shortage as the reason to refuse deportation.

Hitler was angry with Bulgaria and their king, Tsar Boris III, due to their unwillingness to declare war on the Soviet Union and not deporting the Jews to death camps in Poland and Germany. Several days after his return from meeting with Hitler in August, 1943, Tsar Boris III died of apparent heart failure at age 49.  His German doctors believed he had been poisoned with a slow acting poison.

Bulgaria was officially thanked by the government of Israel but this was kept quiet until Bulgarian independence in 1989 because the credit belonged to the royal Bulgarian government, the King of Bulgaria and the Church (all considered enemies of Communism) in response to calls from the Bulgarian people to defend their Jewish neighbors.

Of the 48,000 Jews in Bulgaria, none was deported or murdered by the Nazis.

Peace, Kathy