Day 10 (cont.)
Me and 3 Americans sang a song in Bulgarian about a ‘Perfect Day’. There were also traditional Bulgarian dances and dramas, while Sam and Rosie were joined in a Bulgarian style wedding….

“Slanchevait zhiovot, az izbrah za men
Ne heresvam, dolnata zemia
Az izbrah se sartse, za svet le te neshta
Az izbrah, Strahoten den”

Day 11
Led the morning devotion, Jude 17-25 is awesome. Last English lesson, we looked at Mark 15-16 and talked about films. In small groups we looked at the parable of the ‘Lost Son’, the last small group session, sad. Went to the beach in the afternoon, then had an American style party in the evening and did some Salsa dancing, I was able to show off my wealth of talent…..

Day 12
Had ‘The Point’ in the morning, Craig gave a gospel presentation based on the parable of the ‘Great Banquet’. The students had a graduation ceremony, receiving certificates, a copy of John’s gospel and a Christian book, the hotel staff were given them too. We then had to say goodbye to everyone, I hate long drawn out goodbyes, but it was sad to have to leave everyone, most of whom I wont see till heaven. We set off to Borgas in Trif’s Lada, got on a 6-hour coach to Sofia, and were met by Martin, an IFES publisher in Bulgaria. Went to a youth hostel, stayed with two Kiwi girls, one who used to live in Hailsham!!!

Day 13
Walked around Sofia, saw some statues, big churches and some Bulgarian culture. Had a MaccyDees, won a game of contract whist, had a debrief about what we thought of the trip, then went out for dinner, then bed.

Day 14
Got up, went to the airport and flew back to Heathrow. Had the customary hour delay circling around London and then landed, wonderful to be back on British soil. Said farewells to the team then got on the train back to Polegate.

Concluding thoughts:
- The Gospel is still true, relevant for me and for you
- God speaks Bulgarian, Christianity is not just an English thing
- Mission is hard work, but God is in control

Day 7 (cont.)
American cultural evening was good, very amusing despite the anti-british tea party jokes.

Day 8
In the words of Kath…
“Yesterday we went on a two hour boat trip to another seaside town, we played cards, drank beer in the sunshine and ate some good Bulgarian food. Later on we introduced Bulgarians and Americans to the ancient art of enjoying a children’s party. We played musical Statues, musical bumps and fruit salad, we ate dolly mixtures. Hmmm. Mission eh, it’s not so bad after all.”

Day 9
Language lessons were on Mark 8 and adjectives, learnt a new word ‘antonym’. We discussed the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ in our small groups. Spent the afternoon learning a Bulgarian song to perform at the Bulgarian cultural evening!Watched the film ‘Crash’ in the evening, all about race-relations in the US, very powerful film, very thought-provoking which made it really hard to discuss.

Day 10
English lessons, we looked at Mark 10, and talked about Money. We discussed the Parable of the Rich Man in our small group (Luke 12). Did another practise for our song… now I’m sitting back in the Internet cafe, it’s really hot outside, we have a beach volleyball competition this afternoon, then have to perform our song this evening…

Please pray that:
- God would continue to work in the lives of the students on the camp
- God would sustain us as we get really tired (2 days left)
- We would have safe travel as we return

Day 1/2
My dad dropped me at Heathrow on the way back from the Lakes at 12am on Wednesday morning (19th), I sat in the Costa Coffee drinking Moccas and reading ‘Evangelism and the Soverignty of God’ until 6am when everyone else arrived. Our 8.30am flight was delayed by 3 hours, pilots stuck in Dusseldorf! So we arrived in Sofia at 5.30pm (having missed our connecting coach) then hung around in the IFES office till the next one at Midnight. We arrived at our first destination Bourgas at 5.30am. When we got up we were met by the American team and Bulgarian staff team with breakfast. We spent the day praying, planning at the beach and went out for dinner so everyone could get to know everyone else.

Day 3
We leave for Sozopol where the camp is in a hotel. Spent the afternoon getting to know the students on the project. In the evening a Bulgarian/American evangelist called Victor gave his testimony of how he came to know Jesus after the first summer camp in 1991.

Day 4
First English lesson, scary! There’s a guy in my group called Buyan who is better at English than me and speaks with a posh English accent. Also looked at Mark 1, who Jesus is. Went to the beach in the afternoon, sea is warm, waves were massive, but the beach is a hard place for a Christian guy to be!! Watched Pirates of the Caribbean in the evening and talked in groups about ’searching for treasure in life’.

Day 5
Had a small groups discussion about the ‘fish catch’ and then went on a day trip to Bourgas. I had some fried shrmips for lunch, and some very tasty Raffy Italian ice cream…. In the evening we performed our English cultural evening; a day in the life of a student, Englishmen vs Welshmen, a song about tea, an explanation of Cricket, some clips from Monty Python, and a marmite and scones (not together) tasting. It was particularly random….

Day 6
Buyan whose English is better than mine quoted from John Stott in the morning English study from Mark which was good, but made us laugh, then we talked about football. Me and Kath gave our testimonies then we talked in groups about Luke 7 (sinful woman). Went to sleep in the afternoon but woke up in time for the football competition, apartently I am a good goalkeeper! We watched Finding Nemo in the evening and discussed in our groups about ‘baing lost’ and the ‘love of a father’.

Day 7
We looked at all the different words to describe the weather in English for our lesson, something unnecessary in Bulgaria, it is just hot and sunny here. Jo gave her testimony then we talked about the healing of the blind man and Zaccheus. Sitting in an Internet cafe at the moment, off to the beach now!

Please pray for;
- our team, that we would not get too tired and would keep working together
- the American team and Bulgarian staff team
- for the Bulgarian students, that the Christians would be encouraged and grow in their faith, and the non-christians would see the witness of the Christians on the project and be saved through the teaching of the gospel