In September of 2004 Sofia Baptist Church broke ground on a building that would serve as a new worship space and ministry center. Their vision was, and still is, to be actively involved in their community seven days a week.

Fast forward eleven years.

September 18-20, 2015, celebrations were held for the official opening of the building with over 200 guests and church members in attendance. The celebrations included a night of Bulgarian music, a day of prayer in each of the rooms and for each of the ministries which will eventually be housed in the building, and a wonderful worship service. The Sunday worship service started with a gathering in the old building and a commemoration of all that had happened in that space. Worship services, weddings, marriages, funerals, baptisms and more. Every Sunday and Wednesday since 1923 a worship service was held in this building, even during the days of communism. After a time of thanksgiving and prayer for all God has accomplished since the church started in 1888, the participants walked down the block to the new building.

The worship service in the new building was a grand occasion of giving thanks to all those who helped with making this vision become a reality. But more than giving thanks to individuals, it was a time of giving thanks to God for His blessings and miracles that were evident throughout the building process. While it was a time to celebrate this new building it was by no means a celebration of the end of something, rather it was a celebration of what is yet to come. The completion of the building is just the first phase of the vision of Sofia Baptist Church; the next phases are the implementation of the ministries which will reach out to the community seven days a week. The opportunity to minister to and in the community are the real vision. The building is only one of the instruments which will be used.

We were blessed to celebrate with the church in 2004 as they broke ground, and again in 2015 when they celebrated the opening. To those of you who have prayed for and supported this endeavor, THANK YOU! We look forward to seeing, and being a part of, what God has planned for His church in Sofia and throughout Bulgaria.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank each church and individual who gave gifts to help with the purchase of a vehicle. We believe we have found something that will work well for us in the coming years. A young Christian man helped us through the process and went to Germany to find the vehicle and bring it back to Bulgaria. For those who are interested—it is a SEAT Alhambra.

Prayer Requests:

• For the current ministries of Sofia Baptist Church, and those still in the planning stages.

• For the team visiting the girls on the street. There are a lot of issues presenting themselves and the spiritual attacks are becoming more pronounced.

• For the Christmas outreach to the girls, which will take place on December 20th.

• There are a few girls talking about leaving the streets. Please pray that they will have the courage to do so and that we will be able to provide the care they need.

• For AJ and Nathan as they travel in December to come visit.