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A.J. and Nathan on their first day back to school in Bulgaria
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Lake Victoria and Kampala, Uganda
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First Year International Development students along with Dr. Beth Birmingham
BACK HOME AGAIN
After A.J. and Nathan wrapped up their school year in Fort Collins, Colorado at the end of May, we spent a few weeks visiting family and celebrating the milestone of Terry’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We are now settling back into our home in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is hard to believe that we are already beginning our third term partnering with you as International Ministries missionaries here in Bulgaria! We ask for your prayers that God will direct our path toward fruitful ministries in partnership with the Bulgarian Baptist Union during these next four years. While we are glad to be back in Bulgaria, we thoroughly enjoyed our year back in the U.S. The highlights were time spent with family and time spent in the many churches we visited. It was a blessing to us to be able in be in so many churches throughout the year, seeing long-time friends, making new ones and sharing how God is working in Bulgaria. Your warm hospitality and your enthusiasm for missions was indeed an inspiration and encouragement to us!
We had a few days to unpack and begin to get settled back in before the boys started school. They attend the Anglo-American School, an English-speaking school here in Sofia. Both boys are ecstatic to be back in their familiar school and to see all their school and church friends once again. A.J, as a junior in high school, has begun the first of what will be two very challenging years in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at this school. Nathan’s freshman year classes will do a good job of preparing him for the demands which will be coming his way when he gets into the IB Diploma Program as well.
Tom attended three weeks of classes in Kampala, Uganda during the summer in order to begin work on his MA in International Development through Eastern University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most of the classes will be done online during his “spare” time, with the exception of two summers in Africa. His experience in Uganda was demanding, but was a good start to the program which he hopes will help him significantly with his development work and ministries in Bulgaria. We are thankful that the bombings in Kampala during the World Cup soccer finals did not directly affect him or any of his classmates, although it certainly did have an emotional impact on everyone.
WORLD MISSION OFFERING
The theme of this year’s WMO is In Haiti and in the World. This theme celebrates the generous outpouring of love and support for the people of Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. AB churches sent over $2.3 million in aid!
Even as the help to Haiti continues, although out of the media forefront, we should not forget that there are millions of others around the world still in need. Gifts to the WMO are spread out over 70 countries around the globe, with 100% of the funds helping International Ministries partners, projects and missionaries.
In Luke 19: 1-10, Zacchaeus’s meeting with Jesus changed his life from one of cheating and dishonesty to one of caring and service to those in need. He CAME to Jesus, GREW in his understanding of what God expected of him, and CHANGED his priorities. This is what Jesus’ mission is all about—Come, Grow, Change—and what IM is all about as well.
World Mission Offering—
Empowering your gifts to transform the world.
(Visit IM’s website at www.international ministries.org to find out more about WMO)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
—For A.J. and Nathan as they start their new school year.
—For the people of Bulgaria, especially the Roma people of northwest Bulgaria, who are being hit hard by the current economic times.
—For Tom and Terry as we discern the direction God is leading us in the next four years.
After A.J. and Nathan wrapped up their school year in Fort Collins, Colorado at the end of May, we spent a few weeks visiting family and celebrating the milestone of Terry’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We are now settling back into our home in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is hard to believe that we are already beginning our third term partnering with you as International Ministries missionaries here in Bulgaria! We ask for your prayers that God will direct our path toward fruitful ministries in partnership with the Bulgarian Baptist Union during these next four years. While we are glad to be back in Bulgaria, we thoroughly enjoyed our year back in the U.S. The highlights were time spent with family and time spent in the many churches we visited. It was a blessing to us to be able in be in so many churches throughout the year, seeing long-time friends, making new ones and sharing how God is working in Bulgaria. Your warm hospitality and your enthusiasm for missions was indeed an inspiration and encouragement to us!
We had a few days to unpack and begin to get settled back in before the boys started school. They attend the Anglo-American School, an English-speaking school here in Sofia. Both boys are ecstatic to be back in their familiar school and to see all their school and church friends once again. A.J, as a junior in high school, has begun the first of what will be two very challenging years in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at this school. Nathan’s freshman year classes will do a good job of preparing him for the demands which will be coming his way when he gets into the IB Diploma Program as well.
Tom attended three weeks of classes in Kampala, Uganda during the summer in order to begin work on his MA in International Development through Eastern University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most of the classes will be done online during his “spare” time, with the exception of two summers in Africa. His experience in Uganda was demanding, but was a good start to the program which he hopes will help him significantly with his development work and ministries in Bulgaria. We are thankful that the bombings in Kampala during the World Cup soccer finals did not directly affect him or any of his classmates, although it certainly did have an emotional impact on everyone.
WORLD MISSION OFFERING
The theme of this year’s WMO is In Haiti and in the World. This theme celebrates the generous outpouring of love and support for the people of Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. AB churches sent over $2.3 million in aid!
Even as the help to Haiti continues, although out of the media forefront, we should not forget that there are millions of others around the world still in need. Gifts to the WMO are spread out over 70 countries around the globe, with 100% of the funds helping International Ministries partners, projects and missionaries.
In Luke 19: 1-10, Zacchaeus’s meeting with Jesus changed his life from one of cheating and dishonesty to one of caring and service to those in need. He CAME to Jesus, GREW in his understanding of what God expected of him, and CHANGED his priorities. This is what Jesus’ mission is all about—Come, Grow, Change—and what IM is all about as well.
World Mission Offering—
Empowering your gifts to transform the world.
(Visit IM’s website at www.international ministries.org to find out more about WMO)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
—For A.J. and Nathan as they start their new school year.
—For the people of Bulgaria, especially the Roma people of northwest Bulgaria, who are being hit hard by the current economic times.
—For Tom and Terry as we discern the direction God is leading us in the next four years.