|
|
"Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand
in awe of your deeds, O Lord, Renew them in our day, in our time
make them known; in wrath remember mercy." |
To Him who is the same yesterday, today, and
forever we give praise for He is making Himself known.
He is renewing His awesome deeds in our day.
May we all have eyes to see, ears to hear, and mouths to give
testimony to the living God at work in the world today.
Above all else, His name be praised. |
|
|
Habakkuk 3:2 |
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Ministry opportunities: The Lord continues to establish work for our
hands and to affirm us in our calling to work in Bulgaria. It is truly a
joy to be allowed to be here in these days.
We will try to recap the opportunities and blessings of the past 3
months.
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Visas: This was the month of our visa renewal. Visa laws
are ever-changing here and it was unsettling to learn that the
requirements changed just one week prior to our application. After
spending many hours with our lawyer, notaries, and "standing in
mob" at the passport police station - we were denied our request
for 6-month missionary visas. The Lord, however, decided to show us all
just Who is in control and 2 weeks later we were given 1-year visas!!!!
- without applying for them!!!! Another reminder that we must
"watch in hope for the Lord"(see Micah 7:7.)
Children's home in Breznitsa
This home is for school-age children - mostly teenagers.
Through monies given to Bulgarian Child, Inc. from the YouthCue Youth
Choir Festivals, we were able to purchase
several hundred dollars of food stuffs and deliver them to the home. The
cooks and director were thrilled to see the bags of flour, rice and
sugar. We also bought pasta and spaghetti sauce, meat, and cheese, etc. 
Judy had the opportunity to "explore" the kitchen while Paul
helped unload the supplies. "Lunch" was already prepared and
in dishes ready to be served. It consisted of about a 1/2 cup serving of
a white cream and bread. There was no "pot" for seconds. There
was no sign of any other food in the kitchen/storage area - only a few
bottles of cooking oil. Being the mother of 3 teenage sons I cannot
imagine how these kids survive on such small quantities of food. What a
joy it was to know that they would be provided with a few good meals
because of your donations.
We now have monies available to purchase an
industrial-size washing machine for the home. At present all washing is
done by hand. There is/was a factory in Bulgaria for such machines and
we are trying to learn if it still functions. We are also investigating
the possibility of purchasing a machine from Germany.
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Another bright
spot on the horizon is the possibility of a volunteer team jointly
sponsored by
Carson-Newman College, Yokefellow Ministries of Knoxville and Bulgarian
Child, Inc. coming next May to work in the home in Breznitsa. Pray for us
as we plan this project which may include medical/dental personnel;
students to lead in Bible studies and other activities; a construction
team for remodeling the facility; and who knows what else!
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
As you know there has been much work in Gulyantsi by the
Heights/Baylor partnership to help build and equip a community hospital
there.
On May 26,2001 the hospital was officially dedicated!! Jesse and
Teri Wilson came from the U.S. to represent both the Heights Baptist
Church and Baylor/Richardson Hospital. We were pleased that American
Ambassador Richard Miles and his wife attended the dedication
ceremonies. Because of their involvement, many top government officials
participated, too. Jesse Wilson was the key speaker and he repeatedly
spoke of the love of God as the motivation for the involvement of the
Heights and Baylor.
In the entry of the hospital is a large plaque with the inscription
both in English and Bulgarian. The inscription ========== All this does
much to lift up the name of the Lord and to give credibility to the
Baptists in Bulgaria.
Good news again for this community!
Property located in the city center was purchased for the building
of a Baptist church. This sale had been much opposed by Orthodox and
communist leaders in the area. Stephan, our good friend and the man who
has headed our projects here,is in the final stages of cancer. We ask
for your prayers for him, his family, and the work in Gulyantsi.
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
The pastor gave Judy permission to begin a club for the teenage girls at
church. It will meet twice monthly in our home (Anthony and Zachary plan
to disappear) and will include a Bible Study, a craft or other activity,
and fellowship (food). While discipleship is the main goal, I hope that
this will become an outreach ministry.
Hopefully, the girls will bring their non-Christian friends to our
meetings. We will have one meeting in August and then begin in earnest
when school starts in September. Prayer support and craft kits are
needed!
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Many, many thanks to the volunteer team from the William's Trace Baptist
Church, Houston, who arrived on June 4. They were 51 in number and a
thousand times that in spirit! We must admit that we were a little
anxious about a team that included 25 teenagers - but we can say now
that they were the most energetic, cooperative, willing servants we have
seen yet. 
The teens, their leaders, and a dental team ministered in 2 orphanages
and a gypsy village. The church had provided funds for the remodeling of
the showers, toilets, and sleeping rooms at the home in Genovo, so most
of the teens and their sponsors stayed in the home!
 Out
of this group of 51 people, six went to
Dobrich near the Black Sea to lead conferences there, two stayed for
various conferences in Sofia, and the rest were divided between the
orphanages in Genovo and Vurshets. The church had sent money ahead of
time to help with major repairs on bathrooms, toilets and sleeping rooms
in the Genovo home (other funds have come through Ridgway Ministries and
Bulgarian Child), so that the youth and their sponsors could sleep and
live there with the children in the home. About half the group stayed
there and the other half stayed in the home in Vurshets.
Each day the
Vurshets team came to Genovo and all were involved in scraping,
painting, cleaning, yard work, etc. They did it with joy and enthusiasm
and did a super job! Andrew, Zachary and Anthony were also part of the
crew, helping out with many projects, but especially with the
translating. In the afternoons the teams were allowed to work with the
children in the two homes. Besides sports and games, English lessons and
crafts, they told Bible stories and shared their faith in a living Lord
who cares for each of us.
Each day some of the teams went to Rakovitsa,
too, where they had music (led by Judy), Bible stories, games and gifts
for the hundreds of gypsy kids who flocked to the schoolyard for a
little attention and love from the Americans. Another great part of the
mission trip was Dr. Rodney Rayburn, a dentist who brought his whole
staff to do dental exams, not only on the Genovo orphanage kids, but
also on staff and community personnel and their families. The director
of the home had told us that the children had had no dental checkups in
at least two years and there were some serious problems. But the
children will remember the gentle touch of this Christian medical team
and the love they displayed as they cared for them.
The children in both
homes had prepared "concerts" of national songs and dances,
performed in native Bulgarian costumes. The climax of the week with the
children was on Saturday, when we organized a bus outing for the Texas
team, 79 children from the orphanages, 14 translators, plus teachers and
sponsors! They saw the amazing rock formations and old fortress in
Belogradchik and the Danube River and "Baba Vida" fortress in
Vidin.
On Sunday we arranged for the whole Texas team to attend an
outdoor baptism in a mountain lake near Rakovitsa, where 15 gypsy people
shared their testimonies of salvation and faith and were baptized by
Pastor Ivan Zachariev. Needless to say, it was an exhausting week for us
all, but the team had said they wanted to go back to the States tired,
and I'm sure they did!
We said goodbye to this fine team with just a few days
left to make the final arrangements for a group of students/young
professionals from the Heights Baptist Church. This team worked in
conjunction with AGAPE Bulgaria (Campus Crusade for Christ) in
distributing hundreds of Josh McDowell's More Than a Carpenter on
university campuses in Sofia and Plovdiv. Besides distributing books and
street evangelism, the team participated in a poetry-reading group,
hosted a "Texas Party" for a study break during exam week, met
privately with individuals they had met earlier on campus and played
with handicapped children in one of the orphanages we have
"adopted."
The Heights has provided monies for the publication of
thousands of books to be distributed by Baptist churches throughout
Bulgaria.
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Whew!
Time for a little rest, relaxation, and work in beautiful Interlaken,
Switzerland! There we attended the annual assembly sponsored by the
European Baptist Convention, an association of English-speaking churches
with members from all over the world.
Paul was invited to serve as pianist for the week-long conference, which
offers worship and Bible study times in the mornings and evenings, plus
seminars covering many facets of personal, family and church life. Judy
taught a seminar for children's choir workers, and our family presented
a concert one evening.
Anthony and Zachary had a great week at the youth camp which runs
parallel to the conference, but Andrew, now beyond youth camp age,
participated in the regular conference and some of the singles'
events.
Not all of the trip was work, however. We traveled through eight
countries on the way to and from Interlaken, crossing the incredible
Austrian and Bavarian Alps, visiting the Esterhazy palaces in Fertoed,
Hungary, and Eisenstadt, Austria. (The Esterhazy family was Haydn's
patron.) We also took a couple of days after the conference to enjoy the
beauty of the Swiss mountains and to take a trip up the Jungfrau
mountain just outside Interlaken.
The hard drive home took us across Croatia and Serbia. Border crossings
were surprisingly easy in these countries.
On-the-road-again! The remainder of July has been spent on-the-road
doing family concerts in conjunction with the work of Bulgarian church
planters in northern Bulgaria and on the Black Sea Coast - where half
the Bulgarian population spends its
summer!!
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Andrew
returned to Bulgaria for summer! It was a joy
to have our eldest son come home from his first year in college. Of
course, he was "returning" to a house that had not yet been
his home. It didn't take him long to make his room his own (though I
must admit I'm not much impressed with "dorm room" decor) and
to fit right back into family life. He was home only 5 days before his
first translating job with a U.S. volunteer team!
"I'm really enjoying being back in the family. I love touring
around and doing concerts, translating for mission teams, etc. It's good
to be back in the ministry again!" says Andrew of his summer.
Zachary
"Hey everyone! My biggest news is probably "The Great College
Search".
I have definitely settled on a piano performance major so I'm looking at
a lot of universities with good music programs. Oxford is still on my
list, but probably for graduate work. We'll cross that bridge
when....... My free time is divided now between piano, my dogs, and the
computer. Andrew and Anthony and I have been playing multi-player game
tournaments. Also, I am really excited about my graduation present that
I got in Switzerland - a new Swiss watch!!"
Anthony
"I have just been to Euroventure - a camp for teens. I had a lot
of fun! I also had a good time with the teams that came here before we
went to Switzerland."
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
We appreciate your continued support.
- Please pray for our family as it readjusts to life without
Andrew.
- Pray for Zachary as he looks for that perfect college.
- Pray for Anthony as he grows into those teen years.
- Pray for us all as we feel the loss of our good friends, the
Rollins family, who have just returned to America to live. They have
been a big part of our fellowship and support system here.
- Pray for our hearts to be sensitive to the Lord's leadership and
our spirits to be willing to obey.
- Pray that hearts will be touched to provide the funding needed for
our ministry here through Ridgway Ministries, Inc. and Bulgarian
Child, Inc.
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
Thank you for your love, support and prayer for our family and our
ministry in Bulgaria. It is a joy to serve our Lord here. Praise God
from Whom all blessings flow!
Paul & Judy Ridgway
Missionaries in
Bulgaria
[old/contents-2001-8.htm]
|
Praise God!