First Church Retreat!
- Joshua C Haun
- May 31
- 7 min read
On Saturday afternoon, at 3:00PM, 22 members (12 children and 10 adults) of the Sofia church gathered at a guest house outside the small village of Cherni Osum. The guest house was located next to a peaceful tributary of the larger Cherni Osum River after which the village is named. We started our time together with a walk beside the peaceful river, fun and games, and then preparations for dinner.
Throughout the weekend the meals were prepared by members of the church family working together. In fact, different families in the church had planned and prepared for the meals in anticipation of help being provided by the rest of the church family. As the children played around the fireplace the smell of a traditional Bulgarian dinner, Леща Супа с Наденица (lentil soup with aged spiced sausages) filled the guest house common space. It called everyone to dinner, prayer, scripture, lesson, and contemplation.
That first night over dinner the children worked on an art project while the adults discussed the first aspect of our three-part mission: We are Christian family. Joshua led us as we read many scriptures which define the church as a family of Christ followers, “sharing all things in common.” The group discussed the powerful way in which our church is a family, and then we discussed ways in which we could be a more healthy, growing, and interconnected church family. We finished with prayers for one another. We asked for Christ’s help as we strive to be a more Christian family and we gave thanks for all the ways that the church already is a place of family, belonging, and sharing all things in common. The evening ended with games, a dessert of cookies and fruits, coffee, and more conversation.
Sunday morning found the group gathered bright and early! By 8:00AM the fire was being stoked once again (with rain beating on the windows), and the room was filled with the smell of bacon, eggs, and American pancakes. There was also, of course, lots and lots of coffee! As we sat the food on the table church family broke into spontaneous songs of praise before we gathered to pray for the meal. As we ate again, the children busy again with breakfast, crafts, and games, Joshua led a study on the importance of the second aspect of our three-part mission: We are being made in Christlikenesstogether! We read many scriptures about God’s desire that we be holy, like Jesus. We began, passionately to share aspects of the life of Jesus that we so treasure. We then took time to imagine a world filled with all the characteristics of Christ: a world full of love, hope, joy, justice, honesty, and family. A world absent of greed, corruption, loneliness, hatred, and suspicion. What a world! We began to pray. We prayed that we would be a people not just saved from sin, but for the life of Jesus! We prayed that our church would be a place where people’s lives begin to look like Jesus Christ! We gave thanks for the possibility of a world full of Christ!
As breakfast ended, we were gifted with a full 2 hours without rain. The little tributary had turned to a torrent! We cleaned up together, dressed our laughing, squealing, and syrup covered children, and headed out on prayer walks in teams of 3-5. As we walked among the mist covered hills of central Bulgaria, to the sound of the rolling river, we prayed together again. This time we prayed for each other specifically, by name. We asked each other about the obstacles and difficulties we were facing in our journey to Christlikeness and we prayed. We each asked each adult and we prayed. We asked our children and we prayed. How could we be made holy without family? We prayed and determined to help each other become more like Jesus one struggle at a time. Then, just as the walks concluded, the rain continued and the mist deepened.
Pics of Everyone on Prayer Walks
One couple had prayed together and then immediately began the work of preparing lunch. It was another Bulgarian staple for cold wet weather: супа с топчета (a vegetable soup with special Bulgarian meatballs). The smell escaped the common room only as the door quickly opened and closed for the soaked prayer teams to return. Jackets, socks, and shoes were spread out at the foot of the fire to warm and dry. This sweet couple had labored for hours over the soup. One man in the church is a baker by trade and had brought fresh homemade sourdough and white loaves to be shared. All homemade. A fitting hallmark of a church called Домашна Църква (The Homemade Church). The jam, honey, butter, and лутаница (a traditional Bulgarian spread made of red peppers and tomatoes) was put out for the bread that accompanied the soup. We lunched delightfully after another prayer, this time led by one of the little girls in our children’s group.
After lunch we had a trip planned. The entire group made its way just a 10-minute drive down the curvy (nearly flooded!) road between the hills of Cherni Osum to the larger town of Троян (Troyan).
Here there is the third largest Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It was founded more than a thousand years ago, when Christianity was new to these old hills and villages. It was beautiful and a powerful reminder that we are not inviting our neighbors away from their heritage, but rather back to it. We are inviting them to rediscover who they are: a Christian people, passionate enough for every peasant to build strongholds of Christian community in the furthest reaches of the Bulgarian mountains.
That evening we grilled in the rain. I grieve for you if you have never smelled Bulgarian скара, кебапче, кюфте, и пържола. (grilled Bulgarian sausages, meatballs, and pork steaks.) Miraculously, one brother stood in the pouring rain for two hours carefully tending an open grill with an umbrella in order to prepare a feast of meats. Inside, one sister prepared one of all the children’s favorites. Снежанка (“Snow White” salad made of traditional Bulgarian yogurt, cucumbers, olive oil, fresh garlic, and other seasonings)!
There was more лутаница (remember that pepper and tomato spread?) The children were dancing, laughing, playing games, making crafts prepared by several sisters, and taking turns putting their feet near the fire. Several others were preparing fruits, drinks, and baked potatoes to accompany the скара!
We feasted! Well, we prayed first, as we salivated and the children stirred. Then, we feasted! As everyone filled their plates with seconds, Joshua began to lead us in scripture readings and discussion on the final aspect of our three-part mission: We are on Mission to bless the world! We defined and described what blessing means, especially in Sofia, where we live. We discussed ways to bless our neighbors on an individual, personal level, but also as a church community. We are the living body of Jesus. How can our neighbors discover the blessing of Jesus through his living body? Joshua made notes as the ideas flew from the imaginations of the church family: we can help orphans, we can begin to feed the homeless, what about a plan to visit the elderly, maybe we could provide childcare so parents could invest in their marriage, or have classes on marriage and parenting? We dreamed together to the crackling of the fire and confidence that the same plenty that provided our dinner would provide for the Mission!
Then, (even before we could pray!) the special surprise of the evening was carried into the room. The children squealed as Katie revealed a platter of marshmallows, skewers, crackers (something like an American Graham Cracker though not quite), and chocolate were all presented by Katie! A rare American treat! Well, you can imagine how delightfully sweet and sticky the next half hour passed. Don’t believe for a second the adults were any less delighted… or sticky. We finally gathered in a family circle, holding hands together, and we prayed. We prayed for the Mission of God and our part in it. We prayed for everything it takes to bless our world. We thanked God for the ways we know we have already blessed the world by serving orphans, helping refugees, donating to disaster relief, giving to Alabaster, and the World Evangelism Fund. We prayed for a world filled with the blessings of Christ and then we played games, laughed, and drank coffee until late at night as the children danced by the fire.
The next morning found us up even earlier. The river was now dangerously high. Many had to move their cars in the night for fear they would be washed away, being too close to the banks of the river. We feasted on left overs… and lots more coffee. As we ate Katie discussed the results of a survey she had recently done for our church. It was an appreciative inquiry about the best of our church and our hopes for the future. She shared about how we are a Christian family, being made into Christlikeness, on a mission to bless the world. She thanked all the group for their responses and shared all the wonderful ways our church is living into our mission, and all the ways we hope to grow. She finished with a prayer for every generation of the church to participate in the mission and thanked God for all that has been done, and all that awaits our church family!
We cleaned quickly! The river continued to rise and we all had at least a 2-hour drive ahead of us. We arrived home to find that within hours of our departure the roads had been washed out and Cherni Osum was isolated. God provided in absolutely every way! It all seems too good to be true. How could it all have been so wonderful. Well, that’s the Gospel for you!
We want to say an enormous thank you to all of those from the East Tennessee District Church of the Nazarene who gave, in partnership with our local church, to make this event possible. How can we express our gratitude? May God repay them in kind. May they be blessed for their blessing. The East Tennessee district Valentine’s for Jesus offering provided 85% of the funds for this event, and our church 15%.
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