Mariana - Bulgaria Updates

Like a Newborn

By on July 22, 2021 Track: Medical Region: Europe

Being dependent on others for food and shelter, taking lots of naps, not understanding much, and observing a lot as the brain forms new connections. Does this describe a baby or a 23-year-old in Bulgaria for the first time??   I would say both! I've been feeling like a newborn which is both a beautiful and hard thing. I don't remember my first experience of being birthed (I think I should praise God for that), but I can imagine the intense sensations because stepping into life in a new country, culture, and language is a kind of rebirth I'll never forget. In nursing school, I got the… Read more >>

Blown and Tossed by the Wind

By on May 10, 2021 Track: Medical Region: Europe

This past year has been one of intense reflection. I am not the same person I was a year ago. For most of 2020, I yearned for steadfastness, to hold on to truth as if I were holding on to the edge of a cliff. Yet as I sought the Lord and this firm foundation, I seemed to uncover more and more ways that truth had been twisted and turned for evil rather than good. And on top of that, I was graduating college, stepping into a new and unknown role, surviving in a pandemic, lamenting racial injustice, processing through an election, and fighting to find joy amidst overwhelming change and heaviness… Read more >>

Written on My Heart

By on November 29, 2020 Track: Medical Region: Europe

If you’ve been around Christians for long enough, you’re probably familiar with the discipline of scripture memory. There is the sacred memory verse of the week, the jumble of letters on someone’s wrist to help them memorize a verse, or perhaps the life verse painted on someone’s wall. When I was a baby Christian, I was not a fan of this practice. Something about memorizing God’s word felt intimidating. I didn’t want to get it wrong; it was too important… “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you… I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” – Psalm… Read more >>