Baptist church in Blagoevgrad?

The main religion in Bulgaria is Eastern Orthodox and there is also a significant population of Muslims. Only approximately 1% of Bulgarians are Protestant Christian and I found out today there are only around 4 Protestant Christian churches in Blagoevgrad.

My Navigator friends, Bill and Lisa Clark, who live and work in Blagoevgrad, took me to their Baptist church this morning. I was astonished that there was a Baptist church here. Really, it's very rare. There were about 30 people there and the service was similar to a church service in the states. I was even introduced to the congregation and at the end they prayed for my time here at the University. Bill had to translate the message to me since it was all in Bulgarian but he did a great job and I was able to follow along pretty well. They sang songs out of a Baptist hymnal but there wasn't a piano or any kind of accompaniment. I tried to follow along the best I could but I'm pretty sure I failed miserably trying to read the words.

The church in what used to be a store, but it was still very small. About the size of a dorm room but a little longer. The people were very friendly and those who spoke English welcomed me and invited me back. Another AUBG student named Didi was there and we arranged to get together later in the week. She's from here in Blagoevgrad. I really enjoy meeting students from so many different places.

This afternoon I went out for coffee with a girl named Sara from Kosovo. We talked about her country and Kosovo's desire for independence from Serbia. She talked a lot about how thankful the people of Kosovo are to Americans. She said they celebrate our Independence day and each year have a memorial for September 11th. It made me feel ashamed that I know so little about what's going on in Kosovo and how hard it is to live there and how difficult a time the Albanians have had but yet they are so involved in what is going on in the United States. She sounded more patriotic and proud of America than most people I know.

Not much else for now. Classes start tomorrow. I hope you have a blessed week! Ciao!