Here are some quick take aways about our time there.
We definitely just began to scratch the surface but I think we did well considering the amount of time we were in the city. When you split into twos then you can accomplish more for sure.

We prayed as we went about the city.

We all found good cafes to do some observing. As usual that is important to me.

Several in  the group had great conversations with people in the city to learn about the people and the city. Trying to strike up conversations is a must. There are usually one or two in a group that seem to do very well at this type of information gathering.

We found good maps at the train station. These were helpful to get us to the hotel on foot. We were lucky this time and stayed a hotel within 1 kilometer.

We talked to the hotel clerk to find out some things about the city and where to start looking at certain sections of the city. In a large city it is hard to see it all so we asked about the university that was there and decided to look and be around that section. We have noticed on this trip from ministries such as The Hamburg Project and The Berlin Project that they do well focusing on a part of the city and then developing their ministries and  church plants from there.

We also observed several “nodes” or gathering points for people and traffic. This city was unique that in the center there is no car traffic only foot traffic, bikes and trams. So you have this entire city center that is full of life. Large open areas for people to gather.

Several in the group did some quick Internet research on the city. They found out that nearly a third of the people were 25 and younger. The city has that kind of energy and feel to it.

We went into shops. Strategic consumerism is another place to gain information. Local shop owners can tell you a lot about their city.

We explored the boundaries of the city center and looked for major landmarks. We did not notice any evangelical churches and a fewer amount of Catholic churches compared to other cities. Granted we did not see it all but explored only in the city center. I would want to do more research in this area for sure. What is the current status of the gospel there?

The next  morning we went out again. We sipped on coffee and talked about the things that we learned together. Debriefing our time together and taking some notes about what we learned is helpful for the future.

I must say this type of activity is one of my favorite parts of these trips. I love going into a place and start trying to figure out the language, culture, people. I love dreaming with others about what work could look like here and how to engage the people with the Gospel. I am enjoying my time with this team from the Village Church. All of this  team  have traveled abroad. Several have lived abroad. You will see a video soon on www.theupstreamcollective.org from a guy by the name of Jason who lives out his life in an area of Dallas that is quite impressive.

I have been thinking some about why I think younger churches should be involved globally. These churches have lots to offer. I will write a post on that soon. I know they are teaching me a lot.

Don’t think that you are special.
Don’t think that you are of the same standing as us.
Don’t think that you are smarter than us.
Don’t fancy yourself as being better than us.
Don’t think that you know more than us.
Don’t think that you are more important than us.
Don’t think that you are good at anything.
Don’t laugh at us.
Don’t think that anyone of us cares about you.
Don’t think that you can teach us anything.

If you were living in Denmark how would the Jante law affect the way you live and interact as a new person in the community?

1. If you would like to connect with a missionary in Sofia please let me know by sending me an email. We have several teams that we are working with both with the imb and Greater Europe Mission They need prayer support. They need some strong partnerships to help them plant churches and they need churches that will send business people to come there and work.

2. We talked with several people who think that finding business internships in Sofia would be a possible way to connect here. We talked with one business guy who thinks they can bring a new person on. If you want to live and work in Europe, on purpose then check out www.skybridgecommunity.net and drop me a note.

3. I have been working with John and the Business as Mission group at Greater Europe Mission. They have an event coming up called GO MARKET GATHERING on May 29 and 30th to help people discover more about this idea of business as mission. I will be doing a Skype interview from Germany as a part of the conference. If you can get to the Colorado Springs area I think it would be worth checking out. Click here for the link.

The Upstream Collective Vision Trip
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Ed Stetzer. Okay maybe that was an overstatement (smile) but we are excited about him being a part of this trip next week. I really appreciate his passion to see the nations come to Christ. We read much about his conversations of missions and church planting in North America but he also has quite a heart for the world. Thanks Ed!

Our trip will begin in Rome and end up in Marseille. Our guides who will be leading us through these cities are quite awesome and have some great venues in store for us. We will be doing Jet Set blog updates so be sure to follow.

If you are interested in coming on one in the future check out our site at www.theupstreamcollective.org .

We were able to talk about many things. I was reading the book “Re-Jesus” by Alan Hirsch so we had a really good spiritual conversation. He comes from a Bulgarian Orthodox background but is not connected to a church now. He wrote down a few words for me in Bulgarian and I still cannot pronounce them. I am not really a linguistic expert. smile. He also gave me an interesting tid-bit. He said that to shake you head like we Americans shake when we say “no” means “yes” and if you shake your head like you are shaking “yes” it can be “no.” I needed to try this out. You have many opportunities to shake your head when travelling. So I did not have to be real intentional about it. When you are asked something you usually go with a natural response.

Yes, I want a coffee.
No, I do not want to buy that. etc..
I also found that you rather naturally shake your head or use non-verbal gestures.

We had some Gypsies who were asking for money near our hotel. We see them each time we go out the door. They were following us all the way down the street. Then it occurred to me as I was shaking my head “no” that they may be thinking I was saying “yes”. So I found out that I needed to watch that and reverse my thinking and my gestures. It works much better this way. Understanding your culture is important. I have much to learn here.

Changing topics

Skybridge – You know one of the initiative that I am involved in with The Upstream Collective is something called The Skybridge Community. It is where we want to see people come to Europe and work in the marketplace and live out their lives missionally here in these cities. We have people who are part of this community who are already working here. We also have some who are trying to get jobs or opportunities to be here in business, internships or Study Abroad programs. What has been really cool this week is that two of the people who have been looking for work here in Europe found jobs this week. Yea God!!

In my next post I will talk about some opportunities here in Sofia. They could really use some churches to sense a calling to work here. I also sense that this could be a good city to work in as a business professional and also make a huge impact as a follower of Jesus. Let me know at larry@theupstreamcollective.org if you want more information.