For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth
- Romans 1:16 -

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one
- Romans 3:10 -

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
- Romans 3:23 -

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
- Romans 5:8 -

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
- Romans 6:23 -

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
- Romans 10:13 -

Overall the Bulgaria missions trip was great. I got to experience the sights, the culture, the people and smells. I'm not saying Bulgaria was smelly, but its food has some unusual toppings

Some other things that I liked to do in Bulgaria was evangelism and the trip to Plovdiv. The evangelism was 180° different than Saratoga. For one thing, it was in another language and the reaction of the people was distinct to our messages, either positive or negative. Many were willing to hear out the Americans, who didn't know Bulgarian. I alone was the only person of our group who had a hint of their responses.

The bus trip to and the train ride from Plovdiv gave me the most insight to how the people of Bulgaria and other poor countries lived. If nobody knew, I was born in the Ukraine. My parents, grandparents and most of my relatives lived under the laws of communism and in a land of much oppression and poverty. The trip back to Sofia from Plovdiv opened my eyes to the true hard working life of the average Bulgarian.

The crumbling towns, broken down cars, fields of grain and other produce, collected through time consuming, back breaking effort was the life of a Bulgarian outside the city. This made me think of the life my ancestors took on and that eventually brought me to you. On the ride back to Sophia, Pastor Scott told me of a verse that explained everything to me:

Ezekiel 3:15 - Then I came to them of the captivity at Telibib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.