Nina and Emil are a young Roma couple with a plan for their future. They, and their 10-year-old son, are residents of the town of Montana, located in Northern Bulgaria, one of the most depressed areas of the country. Nina and Emil are real entrepreneurs. They did their homework well, and came to Tom with a proposal for a small business development loan.

For some years they have run a small business out of their apartment, making clothing and selling it through a wholesale market in Sofia. They wanted to expand their business, and in order to do this, they needed more sewing machines and related equipment, plus a larger, more accessible place in which to run their business. They located a vacant street-level store near the center of town, and proceeded to spend weeks making the many repairs which were necessary to make it inhabitable, opening in late 2007. They experienced more than their share of red tape as they filled out paperwork and paid the necessary fees and taxes in order to start a business in Bulgaria. The government and the local officials do not make it easy to start a business here!

It’s now a small, but pleasant sewing shop, where dozens of people come daily to have clothing altered or repaired, or to have that special dress made, or order custom-made curtains for their home. Indeed, they have so much business that they need to hire some additional help. They plan to do this through their connections in the local Baptist church.

Emil and Nina have dreams to expand their business even further. They would like to start making a line of ready-made clothing for middle-aged women as these ladies often find it hard to buy appropriate clothing in the stores. They have ideas for pants and tops which they believe would be good sellers to ladies in this age group. They’ll need a much larger shop, perhaps right on the main street of town, and more workspace as well. This is for the future. For now, their little sewing and alterations shop keeps them busy all the time.

Kapka and Sando, and their two young daughters, live just north of Montana in the village of Rasovo. Their dream was to open a small grocery store in the village. The only grocery store was located in the center of the village, nearly a half- mile walk for those living on the outer edges of town. Sando found a house which he thought, after extensive remodeling, would be the perfect building and location for a store to serve residents of this particular neighborhood.

Sando is a construction worker. In the last few years, he has had to go to Western Europe to find employment, leaving his family for extended periods of time. He was so excited to have the opportunity to start a business that would allow him to provide for his family locally. He worked many long days, sometimes up to 20 hours a day, on the building -- knocking out walls, re-plastering walls, tiling the floor, fixing the roof, installing new windows, doors and fixtures -- basically gutting the building and starting over again. Some men from the village helped him and were given employment for several months. December 15 was the grand opening day, marked by a ribbon-cutting, a speech by the mayor, and blessing of the business by the local Orthodox priest.

There is still some work to complete. Kapka hopes to have the small café in the store up and running in the near future. This will provide the ideal meeting place for folks to come and have a chat over a hot cup of coffee. Perhaps in the future the café can also be used as a Sunday School room for the children of the local Baptist church so the children do not have to walk all the way into the church.

Both these families had a dream to start a small business, but due to limited resources, no bank was willing to give them a loan. These small loans are designed to help individuals start small businesses, improve local communities, and allow the business owners to support their local church. As the loans are repaid, others can be helped to start small businesses. All of this takes place because of your generous gifts to our ministry in Bulgaria, and to our ongoing support which allows us to remain here. We thank you!

Prayer Requests:

--Pray with us that Emil and Nina find just the right person, with the necessary sewing skills, to help them in their sewing shop.

--Pray that the store will be successful and a blessing to those in the community, and that the café can be finished with the remaining loan money and soon be open for business.

--Pray for the church in Rasovo. There are serious issues of distrust between a few of the members and the church leadership.

--Pray for Tom as he continues to work in these impoverished areas, that God will guide him into appropriate ways of helping individuals, the churches and the communities.

--Pray for Terry and the children who attend the literacy program at Sofia Baptist Church that the children will continue to make progress in learning to read and write.

--Pray for Tom and Terry as they plan for summer events, including a mission team from the Rocky Mountain Region and a security training event in Prague, Czech Republic.

Did You Know???

Orthodox Easter, which we celebrate in Bulgaria, usually occurs at a different time than Easter in Western Europe and the United States. Last year both Easters did happen on the same day, but this year they are five weeks apart. We will celebrate Easter in our church in Sofia on April 27 with a worship service and children’s program.