Well we are finally here living in Velingrad. We are going on three weeks in our new home and already we have met so many new people and learned so much. Our apartment is the first floor of a three story home and the owners live above us with a guest house on the third floor. They have truly made us feel like part of the family -- loving on Isabelle, inviting us to meals and letting us be part of their birthday celebrations. They also have already taught us so many new words and helped us find our way around Velingrad. We've also met with one of the Pastors and his family in the area as well as with a girl named April who has been serving here for three years with the Peace corp. During the coming months we plan to find all the local churches and pastors as well as any active NGOs. The more we interact with people the more we see the spiritual realities around us. This city is surrounded by Roma villages and Turkic Muslim villages. And the people are very much divided. Being from a generation in the states that considers discrimination of another race as something unacceptable and of the past, it has been eye opening and at times shocking to hear how these different people groups living in the same region interact with one another. Some believers are worshiping among the Bulgarians and the Roma, but unity is something far from being accomplished. Also the number of Muslim people in this area becomes more and more of a burden on our hearts everyday. Right now we are realizing more and more how far we have to go with language, but I think moving at a much faster pace as we feel more of a longing to truly communicate love and truth to those around us. Enjoy the pictures. Isabelle is growing like crazy and starting to giggle and smile all the time.
