Saved People Serve People

I read that a few weeks ago on a friend's Facebook status. Saved people serve people. At least, they're supposed to, right?

Our family has a friend. Her name is Toni. She loves Jesus and she serves people. She serves in a place where most don't see her. They don't know her name or her mission. She is quietly doing Kingdom work for the very least of these. Toni lives in Bulgaria, with her Mom and her two brothers, Alex and Marty. They run an organization that helps facilitate the adoption of orphans from Bulgaria with special needs. They have been doing this work for years. Faithfully serving the children the world has forgotten.

We met Toni and Marty at an airport in Sophia, Bulgaria in November of 2011. We were there on a mission to meet our sons, Vaylo and Sam. We never realized that God was about to change the very course of our lives, yet, again.

On that day in November, God began to tie our hearts to theirs. As we traveled the roads of Bulgaria over the next 15 days, we were heartbroken for the people there, for their history, for their forgotten children. We saw first hand and began to understand the effects that communism has on a country, her land and her people. It was devastating.

God didn't tell us then, to move to Bulgaria. I'm not sure we would have listened, if He had. He just planted a seed, nudged our hearts and wove another thread into this beautiful tapestry of life.

5 months later, I was back in Bulgaria, to pick up our sons. Our precious friend had done her part and now, the boys were ours. I spent 10 days in Bulgaria on this trip with my best friend, Daniell and the boys. We explored Sophia and learned all that we could about the city and the people (okay, and the food). I was sad to think that our time in Bulgaria had come to an end. We were leaving behind a precious friend and children, oh, so many children, that God had broken our hearts for.

Honestly, our plan was to get the boys settled and go back in a few years for a couple more children. They needed us and we had room for them, in our home and in our hearts. Again, God's plan was different. We had been home with our boys for less than 2 months, when God said, "Go!" again. Klemi, was available for adoption and she is Sam's best friend. We didn't hesitate. We filed the paperwork and began the process.

Around the first part of this year, with adoption paperwork and fundraising happening, I (Mandy) began to hear God saying the strangest thing. His sweet Holy Spirit was nudging my heart toward moving to Bulgaria to serve alongside Toni and help the orphans. I'm not one to keep secrets, so I immediately blurted it out to Marty (my husband, not Toni's brother). He looked at me like I had maybe grown two heads. We have a life, here. God is using us in orphan care and other ministries, here. We're building a house, here. Marty has a stable job that he loves, here.

Yet, I was sure God was saying for us to go, there. Marty, being the awesome man of God that he is, said he would pray about it.

A few months later, we found ourselves in the remotest part of the world, either of us have ever been in. I'm telling you, I have been to remote villages in Africa that had more contact with the outside world, than this little Bulgarian village that we found ourselves in. We were back to visit Klemi and fulfill the Bulgarian requirements of her adoption. For the first part of the week, we both thought, no way can we come here and live with 5 children, one who has mobility issues. There are no allowances in Bulgaria for people with disabilities.

Then, we journeyed back to the city and stayed with Toni and her family in their home. We spent 3 days sharing life. We heard all that her job ministry requires of their family. She never complained, but we could see the weight of what they were carrying and God began to pull back the veil and reveal a little more of His plan for our family.

Don't you love it when He gives a little glimpse of His glory to us?

This is getting long and there's so much to share and time to share it. For now, God has called and we are going. Our departure date is set for May of 2014. We have one year to get everything ready to move our family of 7 across the ocean for two years.

Many of you will wonder why? Why on earth would we leave what we have here and go there? We'll go because saved people serve people. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. As His disciples, it is our greatest calling to do the same. I'll share more over the next few weeks about specific ways that our family will be helping while in Bulgaria.

Pray, Adopt, Advocate, Support...

Hidden in Christ,
Mandy