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Since 1997, the church of Christ in Chemnitz has been supporting the church of Christ in Sofia, Bulgaria through an annual clothing drive. The church asks for donations of clothing–particularly warm clothing and shoes–from around the German-speaking world and in November drives the clothing through Europe to Sofia. He has made this trip thirteen times, usually accompanied by Guido Moehler, one of the leaders of the Chemnitz congregation.
Last year, Larry and Guido visited the homes of several members in the Sofia church, homes that were in great disrepair due to their cheap, low-quality construction and the members’ lack of financial means and know-how to accomplish the necessary renovations. They decided that this year they would bring, along with the load of clothing, people, tools and materials, and that they would spend a week in Sofia helping those most in need.
Larry and Guido invited Mark Abercrombie, a missionary in Leipzig; Andre Mueller, and member of the Chemnitz church and electrician; Frank Thiele, who had to back out at the last minute because of a job opportunity and was replaced by Joel Paris, the HIM Worker in Dresden; and me. We left at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, the 13th of November and arrived in Sofia on the evening of the 14th, staying the night in a hotel in Timisoara, Romania. When we arrived in Sofia, we met the missionaries Tom and Sheryl Black, who have been serving in Sofia for 20 years.
Tom and Sheryl had worked to organize our week, so that on Monday we could get straight to work. Their story, as we learned throughout the week, is very interesting; for nearly forty years they’ve been serving the Lord’s church together as missionaries. Sheryl’s father was a missionary in various cities in Germany, and she and Tom served in western Germany and Austria for 18 years until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Tom was asked to go to Sofia.
Sofia’s is an incredibly well-preserved city nearly 2700 years old. Its historical district is beautiful, and you can visit sites whose ages extend back through the Roman and Byzantine Empires up through the Soviet Union. But not far from the city’s center lie miles of slums, an architectural reflection of the disparity between the rich and poor that characterizes the city. While ancient chapels and towers are in constant preservation, apartment complexes 60 years old are collapsing due to neglect. One of the members, Peter, lives in a complex owned by the government that has no heating system; the inhabitants of the building, like Peter, lack the means to make needed repairs themselves.
So on Monday, the 15th, we got to work in Peter’s house. The apartment’s concrete walls had several holes and deep pits that needed plastered, and his bathroom drain leaked into the basement. Also, Peter had only old linoleum for flooring and that only in small patches. Otherwise, everything sat simply on the cold concrete. Joel and I went to work plastering while the other men began tearing out the bathroom floor to find the leak. Tuesday we worked in Ivan’s apartment, who needed a new lock on his door, some replacement flooring, a new toilet and some serious plumbing work. In fact, his plumbing was so bad that Larry and Andre returned to Ivan’s on Wednesday, while we went back to Peter’s to paint the walls. Thursday we helped another woman with her plumbing problems–Setti. She was incredibly sweet: even while we were tearing up her kitchen and bathroom and making a big mess, she cooked an incredibly lunch for us. And on Friday—while the rest of us went sightseeing—Larry and Guido helped another woman, Zorka, replace her toilet.
During the evenings we spent time with Tom and Sheryl at their house or at a restaurant in Sofia. Once we were invited to the home of one of the members, Rumi. Everyone we met was incredibly sweet, and we managed to communicate with quite a few people using either English or German. We were able to rely on the Blacks, Peter, and a young preacher in the church, Stefan, to communicate with those who only spoke Bulgarian.
The highlight of our week was, of course, passing out clothing on Saturday. Due to the great need and the limited amount of clothing that we could bring, those members of the church with the greatest need were allowed to come in and pick out a jacket and a blanket and a couple other items. Sheryl and Stefan had everything already organized when we arrived on Saturday, so after unloading the clothing we were able to sit back and watch people find what they needed. We spoke to those with whom we could communicate.
Larry preached a very moving sermon about the grace of God, and Stefan translated. It was great to worship with the Sofia congregation. The church sang familiar songs that were translated into Bulgarian, and we sang along with the English words. I have to admit that singing different words that the woman behind was odd, but singing to God the prayers and hymns in two different languages reminded me of how the blood of Christ binds together all those who are being saved, be they American, German, or Bulgarian.
