Look at me, I'm on TV!

Today was a first for us--we were on Bulgarian TV. And not once, but twice! As we were planning this trip, we found out about an opportunity to be on a couple of shows hosted by a Christian guy named Zarko. Zarko was at both of our meetings yesterday and told us what to expect. The first show was in a small but very nice studio and was shot to tape for editing and broadcast later this week. All four of us were on set but all of the questions were directed to Bruce and Darin (by design). We were given a BBC piece last night to view about creation versus evolution and we commented on that and then further about our mission in Bulgaria and reformation/biblical worldview. There is no specifically Christian TV in Bulgaria, so this show is one of the few Christian-themed shows available to people. It was a great opportunity to explain what we believe and give a direct evangelistic call as well. After that show was done (1 hour), we went to another nearby studio for the broadcast of a live show, "Sports, Religion, Culture." For this show, we all talked about the sports we participate in and about reformation/worldview. What a bizarre but edifying and tremendous experience. Zarko was really good at asking direct and penetrating questions that set up some great answers where we were able to share reformation truths and our beliefs. This show is typically more "spiritual" than Christian in nature, so the Word was definitely put out there to those that might not otherwise hear it. Very cool!

After the TV shows, we hustled around some of the main sites of Plovdiv like the old town and the amphitheater, another 2nd century Roman site. It was mind-blowing to walk around the theater and up and down the same stairs that Romans walked on! It really is almost more than one can take in. We left Plovdiv in a rush and drove back the almost two hours to Sofia for our flight to Bucharest, Romania. As we arrived at the airport, it absolutely poured down rain. Absolute deluge. Marina pulled under the awning, we jumped out (we were late), gave her our profuse thanks and blessing, and ran inside. We made it on the flight with plenty of time to spare after all, and, after an uneventful hour in the air, we landed in Bucharest. Florin was there to greet us with a friendly smile and a hug. It was great to see him again and be back in Romania. We drove directly to Sinaia where the youth that we will be teaching are encamped and ate dinner among the glorious chaos of 20 or so teenagers and younger kids running in and out of the same room. This will be a fun couple of days! We can tell that Florin is very excited for us to be here and many of the kids are familiar to us from last year. God is good! More to come...