|
|
|  | | A quick visit to Bulgaria
In October 2009 myself and a couple of guys from the Eagle’s Nest church in Arnold visited two institutions in the village of Dolno Draglishte which is located in South-west Bulgaria, about 160 km from the capital city of Sofia.
The village is 8km from the Ski resort of Bansko which was our base for our 3 day trip. Bansko is situated at the foot of one of the most beautiful Bulgarian mountains ranges, the Pirin Mountain range.
One of our visits was to the children’s boarding school at Dolno Draglishte. It was good to see some of the children again, and was thrilled that they remembered me from the summer camps in previous years.
We visited a home for adults with physical disabilities also in Dolno Draglishte, a very humbling expedience. The staff at the home welcomed us with a meal and a gift. We were told they always treat guests this way, again very humbling when you know they have very little themselves.
Our visit was arranged by the Star of Hope Foundation, who do some wonderful work in these institutions.
The main purpose of the trip was to visit these institutions and consider the possibility of our Churches doing something together with the Star of Hope in these places, or as was said at the time “let’s go and see if God wants us to do business there”.
Brian |
A quick trip to Bulgaria
|
| | Mini Summer camp at the special needs orphanage in Roman It is ten years that this church has been supporting The Star of Hope Foundation, Bulgaria, prayerfully, financially and travelling out to Bulgaria to offer practical support.
In those ten years many people from this church have been over to the special needs orphanage in the small village of Roman, Bulgaria. In recent years some of us have been to help run a summer camp for underprivileged children in the mountain town of Velingrad, Bulgaria.
This year in July 2009 Brian and the twins Carolanne and Hazel went back to the special needs orphanage in Roman where it all started ten years ago. (See photos below) They spent a week along with other volunteers from the Star of Hope Foundation running all sorts of activities for the children including, dance, football, drawing, bead workshops and putting on a drama.
The children loved the attention, most wanted to be hugged and to be centre of attention. They get very little stimulation normally which made them very excitable and a joy to be with.
One of the highlights was a trip to the ice cream man. |
Roman, Bulgaria July 2009
|
| Message from Star of Hope 15th June 2009 Greetings from Sofia!
We have had a very busy time with the preparation and the hosting of the two celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Star of Hope. They both went very well. One was more formal and official, with government people, directors of social institutions, etc. The other one was a church celebration. Both went very, very well. We had guests from all over the country, as well as 9 guests from England and 2 guests from the U.S. As you can imagine, the amount of work, coordination and organizational matters put in these two celebrations was very big. However, it was all worth it. Besides the officials, we had invited young people without parental care whom we have known for years, the girls from our halfway house, residents from the Disabled People’s Home in D.Draglishte and other underprivileged people – they moved the audience with their “speeches” so much! Praise the Lord for giving us the strength to do these two celebrations! By the way, on our first celebration, the President of Bulgaria sent his representative – His Secretary on Social Policy, who read an official greeting to Star of Hope on behalf of the President. We thank the Lord for this recognition. Most of all, I thank the Lord for giving us the strength to serve to underprivileged people for these 10 years. You all have a part in our success!!!
God bless,
Emilia Manolova Director of Star of Hope, Sofia, Bulgaria Star of Hope newsletter July 2009  For more information on The Star of Hope Click the following link |
|
Back to home page This page was last modified on Monday, November 16, 2009 05:20 PM | |
|