Pazardzik

Yesterday, our host, Stefko Zlatarov picked us up in the the big blue van and drove us to Pazardzik, a small town not far from Plovdiv, which is the second largest city in Bulgaria. We spent the night at a small hotel on the square, the Jor-Daniel, where we had stayed last spring.

It wasn’t as quite as last time because it was Friday night and the casino across the street was pretty busy with people going in and out. At least there was no disco nearby. They are pretty popular in Bulgaria and can be really loud!

When we went upstairs for dinner, we were told that the restaurant was not open. The cooking equipment was broken. So, we found a traditional Bulgarian restaurant just down the street and had a great meal there.

This morning when we went to check out, we were told that the charge card machine was broken and we would have to pay cash. Funny thing is, it was broken last spring too. Makes one think that maybe they don’t want to pay the small charge to use the charge card service, even though they advertise that they take Visa cards (and others.)

This is a common ploy in Eastern Europe; a small manipulation of the customer. Manipulation was developed into a high art under the communist regime; it is how people survived and beat the system. Now the habit is ingrained and is one of the bad practices hurting their ability to enter into the European Union.

We came here for our first seminar at the Assembly of God church here. The Pastor, Timothy, had invited Assembly of God, Church of God and United Church of God pastors from the region to attend. Most are gypsies although there are a few ethnic Bulgarians too.

Bulgarians are Caucasian people like Russians and Ukrainians. Many have Turkish ancestry as well because Bulgaria was under the rule of the Turks for over 400 years. Gypsies are a very different ethnic group. They came to Europe as slaves from Bangladesh many generations ago and have retained many characteristics of their original culture. In other words, they have not integrated into European societies much. As a result, they are highly discriminated against by virtually all European countries. Many live in abject poverty as I explained in an earlier blog post.

Our translator, Raina and her husband, Gopy drove over from Stara Zagora early this morning. Raina is on the staff at the bible college in Stara Zagora and Gopy works with a children’s ministry. Pictured here is Timothy, the Pastor, Pat and I, Raina and Stefko (we couldn't find Gopy.) This was Raina’s first time to translate for us, although she, herself, has been through our entire course, as has Gopy.

Our host was disappointed that only about 40 people showed up, about half of whom were pastors. We never know what to expect but we have learned that it will usually be fewer than advertised. It bothered us a little in the beginning. Now, we expect it.


Our seminar lasted from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm with 30 minutes for lunch, so we worked them (and ourselves) pretty hard. We try to engage them in the discussions, a teaching method that is very new to them. They are used to being lectured at and saying nothing. Usually they are a bit slow to warm up but once they get into it they get fully engaged. This group was no exception. By the time we ended, they were talking and laughing and taking copious notes; all good signs that learning was occurring. They invited us back next year; another good sign. We called it a successful day and headed to Stara Zagora where we will stay for the next three nights. Tomorrow we attend (and speak in) church in Stara Zagora and then do a seminar in the evening in a village nearby. On Monday and Tuesday we will do seminars in other villages nearby.