A Day At The Park

I'm sure y'all are wondering what I do at the park all day. For starters we bring soccer balls, frisbees, badminton racquets and birdies, beach balls (for the little ones we interact with), volleyballs, and footballs. Then, when we get to the park, we get in groups of 3 or 4 and start playing. And soon enough you will catch a kid, or teenager, or young adult watching your group play, and you go over and talk to them and invite them to play. Through playing, you get to know them and have conversation! Every person we've talked to has come back the next day. It's crazy how once they know where the Americans are, they want to come back and play and talk! Any person under about 35 years old, here in Sofia, has learned English and school and is fairly well at speaking it, so that also opens a door because they like to learn English and want to know about our culture.

Of course we do talk to older people in the park, the conversations are more while they are passing through where we are sitting, or if we are playing cards. But it's mainly the younger adults and kids that we are building relationships with at the park. It's interesting how just inviting them to hit a volleyball around with you will lead to an hour or longer conversation. Before we part ways we give them a flyer a out the seminar the church is putting on this Saturday, but we also give them a flyer about us hanging out at the church every night from 6-9. During the evening time at church, we play card games and sing and have a devotional! And by the end, it's time for bedtime! And boy are we tired!

God has blessed us with many opportunities in speaking to people and inviting them to hang out with us. Tonight was the first night we had people show up, and we had 3 of them! It's not many, but it's a good start! The park we are at is one of the four big parks in Sofia, and is so beautiful! I have posted a few pictures in my "Sofia 2013" album on Facebook, but I will have many more to post when I get home!