A Bulgarian woman came to church last week. I didn’t know
any Bulgarian and she didn’t speak much English. I invited her through for
coffee afterwards and we attempted to communicate. It was really hard. It got
much easier when after 10 minutes or so she produced a phrasebook from her bag,
and we went on to exchange a bit of information. This week, the guy who is doing the
powerpoints has said he is going to write “welcome” in Bulgarian onto the
opening screens, and someone else has found a Bulgarian phrasebook and map of the country so we can be shown where she is from. I have been
practising the 3 words I was taught last week. I do hope she comes back! Hearing about people's thoughtfulness reminds me why I’m part of my church. Building community isn’t always easy, or fun – we all
have our hurts and barriers - but is often worthwhile. And as always it’s a
balance – I love meeting new people but am determined to make more effort to
stay in touch with the “old” ones too – a fab phonecall with a friend yesterday helped me with that.
Enjoy all the people you encounter today too!
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