A New Milestone

Believe it or not, friends, but June of this year we marked fifteen years in Stara Zagora with International Teams (IT)! During this time Josiah was added to our family, our children grew from toddlers to teens, and we walked them to at least six different pre-schools and schools.

Next, we made the transition to homeschooling with Marissa, gained our permanent residency, cared for more than a few pets, and marvelled at God's leading in several types and stages of ministry.

Yet this, our fifteenth year, also marked a first for us: our first time to attend IT's International Leadership Forum (known as the ILF). This biannual gathering brings IT leaders from all over the world together for training, worship, fellowship, and refreshment.

Providentially, ILF 2010 was held near Ephesus, Turkey, an area of great historical significance to believers.
This isn't to mention Keith's interest in the history of this area, as we also did a stop at Troy on the way home.

Naturally, we were one of the few couples to arrive by car, but even so, our journey required two days of travel each way.

Next, it truly was a privilege to meet workers and board members from all over the world. Then to hear testimonies from brothers and sisters serving in difficult circumstances and in closed countries was inspiring. We also learned about some changes and new ministries within IT, and worship and prayer times were freely sprinkled throughout the program.

Highpoints

For Margie they included:

• 24/7 Prayer Room. Several sessions were designated as "soaking prayer", new terminology for me. Personally I needed time to soak in His presense and hear from Him in some profound ways (at home I am often not patient or diligent enough to do this).
  
• Attending the "Human Trafficking" Track. After recently participating in a seminar taught by several leading European experts in ministry to prostituted women, God continued at the ILF to open my eyes and heart to the tragedy of trafficking, and what He is doing through the ministry of IT in different parts of the world. God seems to be leading me to a prayer ministry against trafficking and some beginning steps in prevention, focusing on the young girls with whom we work. (Above, a cloth "fact map" about trafficking in E. Europe).


• Small group time. The purpose of the small groups was to facilitate meetings with ITers we wouldn't normally meet, which meant the groups were varied and dynamic. When I first arrived at the ILF, I was shocked to learn I was assigned as a small group leader, yet I immediately fell in love with these men and women, as they shared their stories, including: a Persian woman who met God on the "refugee highway", and was called of God to minister to her own people; a worker serving at a university in the Middle East; a fascinating young history professor, who happens to be a member of IT Australia's board; a South American man and his young family (child number three was due any day) called to minister in the tense Middle East crossfire.
  
• Meals and Meetings. Without going into great detail, let's just say the food was delicious, and the relaxed atmosphere of the hotel complex was conducive to the many meetings held over meals, in the coffee bar, at poolside or on the beach. Most inspiring was meeting the new leadership in IT's young anti-trafficking ministry and gleaning information from their experiences. I also met face-to-face two of the three members of my "skype small group" this spring (right).
  

• Short-term experiences. The most helpful seminar included teaching on working with small groups, something we find ourselves involved with fairly often. The most significant idea presented was that the actual time "on the field" was the least important part of the experience. Rather the key is the change the individuals experience upon return to their home culture and how they respond to God's calling in the future.

For Keith:

• Our small group: He enjoyed meeting Serge, an IT missionary serving in Rwanda. His stories of serving in the Liberation Army to end the genocide were fascinating. Also, his ministry to the children of Rwanda was very inspiring. It was wonderful having Serge in our small group. Also meeting a gal from the Philippines that worked with youth and Natasha from the Ukraine was terrific. All of their ministry stories were fascinating.


• Fighting the Evil One: The Spiritual Warfare seminar led by Mark Anderson was also a highlight for Keith. Mark shared his own experiences battling the occult while an IT missionary in France. He also shared several practical methods to fight the good fight and have victory through Jesus in this area. Next, it truly was nice just to sit down to lunch with Mark and discuss our own experiences in spiritual warfare here in Bulgaria. According to Mark, prayer is the key. Nuff said!
  

• Ministering to Muslims: Then the Islamic Seminar was a highpoint for Keith. After attending three of these presentations, not only was he made more aware of methods to befriend and strike up conversations with muslims, but the final seminar had 4 excellent ways to present the gospel to these lost "cousins." Since the Islamic presesence and influence here in Bulgaria is constantly growing, it was a very practical presentation.
  
• Bonus Features: Last but not least, the swimming pool and grub was not so bad either...

The Experience
Naturally, one of the expectations for IT members attending the ILF is to share the experience and session information with teammates. Toward that end we shared a photo powerpoint with our co-workers. Next, we are in the process of sharing with our Bulgarian colleagues the idea of implementing some of the ideas from the Short Term Experience seminar. Margie hopes to move forward with some research regarding trafficking practices in our area too.

Frankly, we were surprised that so many people from the home office in Elgin, IL remembered us. This is especially true as we have not been back there since 2001!

As we departed for home, we both expressed the hope that we won't have to wait another fifteen years to attend an ILF!

Happy in Hungary

Trains, buses and planes. Well, not exactly, but when Margie and Marissa travelled to the SHARE conference in Sopron, Hungary, it was certainly interesting getting there.

First, it was a car to the bus station. Next, a bus to a subway station in Austria, a missed train, then different train to a bus and finally, a bus to their hotel! It was an interesting trip for the dynamic duo.

The scariest moment was when we boarded the bus in Sofia. Why? Well, there was an announcment that all children traveling with one parent must have some notarized documents from the other parent.

Naturally, this document which we have was neatly filed away at home in Stara Zagora...

Yikes!

And, this legal paper was needed was in order simply to cross the Bulgarian border.

Oh, boy!

Immediately, I began praying, and they never heard another word about this needed document from a customs offical or anyone else. Thank you, Lord!

SHARE has become a family tradition for the Browns. The people there do educational testing, provide helpful seminars and an entire deligation of educational specialists. These experts are ready to advise, suggest, and correct us along our unique education journey for Marissa and Josiah.

Undoubtedly, the most valuable minutes were connecting with other moms and educators so I can hear how they have done it in unique settings.

One of the more interesting seminars was called "Third Culture Kids: Being Green in a Yellow and Blue World."

So, what does this mean?

Basically, third culture children are kids that grow up in a second culture rather than their own. For example, Marissa and Josiah are growing up in Bulgarian culture even though they are Americans. So, they make a "third culture," by pulling in things from both American and Bulgarian culture to create their own unique culture.

So, now you know why the seminar mentioned "being Green in a Yellow and Blue World." In simple language, kids making their own culture out of two others just as yellow and blue make green.

Admittedly, my battery was running low when Marissa and I left, but by the end of the conference, I was filled with new hope, stimulating conversations, amazing testimonies, American cookies and delicious Hungarian cuisine.

Of couse, I was able to swap curriculum we no longer needed for biographies of Blaise Pascal and Isaac Newton, as well as historical novels that our children love.

And, since Josiah loves physics, I was even able to get some good material for him on this subject.

Also, Marissa was able to be refreshed by the teenager program while in Sopron. She even played flute with the worship team there which was a first for her!

In fact, she proved her German lessons and studies are worthwhile as she translated for me while we were briefly in Vienna waiting for transportation. Thank you, Marissa!

Next, I was reminded more than once that our schooling is represented much more than SAT scores and GPAs. God pointed me again to the big picture-namely, launching my children towards God's call in their lives.

Math and Natural Sciences High School

Hi! Well, it is my turn for the delayed update on our blog, so here goes!

I go to the Math School here in Stara Zagora. And...I love it! Last spring, I was accepted to the school by taking and passing a special test. The test was hard, but, thankfully, I scored 7th out of 150 kids taking this test.

Actually, the test was taken by all of the students in our oblast (county) that wanted to apply to the math school. Since they only took the top 10 scores, boy was I happy to get 7th place! So, unlike the Olympics, 7th place really is great sometimes.

Then, we found out later, that out of the 55 students accepted, 3 of my good friends also passed the 2nd or 3rd test to join my class. It is very cool to have Josh, Martin and Radi in the same class doing something all of us love-namely, math!

Our school, which we all call the matimaticheskoto is from grades 5-12. Also, we have 750 students and share the school with another high school.

Well, I do love my school other than the fact that it is old and run down.

Now the grade system is quite different from American standards. For instance, an "A" is called a 6, a "B" is a 5, "Cs" are 4, "Ds" are 3 and "Fs" are 2-0. So, if you are getting 5s and 6s you're doing pretty fine.


Also, every single student, starting in 2nd grade, takes responsibility for a grade booklet, called a "beleznik," that they have all their grades written in by their teachers.

Daily, they have to show this grade booklet to their parents who must sign it if there is a new grade posted in it. So, everyone knows just how they are doing with their grades in school all of the time. Even all of our tests must be signed by a parent and returned to our teachers.

So, good luck trying to hide any bad grades you might get from your parents!

As you may have noticed, Bulgarian school is quite different from your average school in the US. For instance, one difference is that tests are not the ONLY way to get grades. Here in Bulgaria, we get most of our grades by getting called up for an ispiit. This ispiit means that your teacher invites you in front of the whole class. Then you are asked questions about history, science, geography, IT and math. How well you answer the questions your teacher asks is your grade on the ispiit.

Yet, another difference is that we have shifts for school that change. For instance, during 1st shift, we start school at 07:30 and finish at 12:30. While on 2nd shift we start at 13:30 and finish at 18:30. So, right now we're on 1st shift which I like. In March, we will go back to 2nd shift for the month.

Other differences are than in Bulgarian high school, there are no lunch rooms. Everyone is expected either to eat before they go to school or at lunch. We do have what we call a pavilion inside our school which sells snack food to all students.

Nearby is a bahnitsa stand where I like to buy bahnitsa for lunch with my friends. It costs 80 stotinki (about 60 cents) for one bahnitsa, which is pita bread with hot feta cheese in the middle.

Another difference it that we have to buy all of our own school books which are much smaller than American school books. They are kind of like big magazines in size. This is really nice when you are hauling them around in your backpack.

Of course, in the winter, we have great fun having snowball fights at recess IF there is snow.

Naturally, we also have to buy all of our notebooks, pencils, school kits and other things we need for school. The only free thing at our school is the air!

This year we had a 5th grade basketball team for our high school. Well, since I'm a member of the class and like basketball, I was allowed to play on the team. Our coach is a Ukranian lady named Gooba and we won first place by beating four other teams.

Sometimes, we call our school the PMG for short as this means the First Mathematic High School. Hey, it just would not work to have students yelling, "Go matimaticheskoto!" in a basketball game now would it?

Now, we just finished playing basketball for the 5th-7th grade city teams. Our team did well, but, unfortunately, we had no 7th grade players. The city tournment just finished last week and we ended up in 4th place out of all of the schools in our league.

Well, wining at least one trophy wasn't so bad!

So, if you are bored at your American school, come to Stara Zagora and join my matimaticheskoto school!

by Josiah A. Brown

Our YWAM Guests

Youth with a Mission is an organization that reaches out to all the world. Currently it has bases in just about every country in the world. Youth With a Mission's (YWAM) main goal is reaching out encouraging, ministering to and reaching many needy people.

In early January a group of 6 students came to visit us. This team had 6 dedicated members, namely, 3 girls and 3 guys. Our family hosted the three girls, Natasha, Kristi and Loran. Naturally, the people came to our church youth group and kindly spoke about what they had experienced.

Olaf, one of the guys from Sweden, explained that during his high school years he would complain to God about various things in his life. At times, Olaf whined "Can't you see how much work I haveto do? I don't have time to spend with you!" Yet he noticed every time he made time for God, he always had time to get everything he needed to do done.

Kristin, an 18 year old, related she had no idea what she will do now for college. Though I am year younger than her I know exactly what this feels like. But the Father is working this out in her life now.

Not only did the YWAMers share stories close to their heart, they also shared tales about life on the boat, The Next Wave. Our particular group has been living on this 115 foot ship for the past 3 months.

Naturally, the YWAMers had been going through discipleship training. However they also had maritime jobs to do. This even included cleaning the ship's engine. Though they all admit it was hard work, all completely agree that they wouldn't trade all their experiences for anything. Each of them has grown much spiritually and all have a closer relationship with God.