CHRISTIAN ROOTS AND CHRISTIAN FRUITS Who am I without the loving touch and the strong influence and impact of my dearest ancestors? May I say “I know myself” if I do not know my roots and I am not aware where I come from? I do not think so. What do I see looking back? Do I want to look back at all? I would not want to if there was darkness and shadows in my past which would make me shiver and force me to forget it as if it never happened. No, this is not the story, not with my past, not with my ancestors, not with my background. Shall we begin… Looking back I could hear so many heartfelt zealous prayers and I could see a lot of tears, but those are tears of joy and those are prayers of thanks. Reading these pages one will think “Here comes the next fairy-tale”. Not at all. I remember only the prayers of thanks and the tears of joy but I have not forgotten the events before them. But let me start from the beginning. And it is not so far away… Is it so incredible if you have come to this world after a prayer? Is it a story you could read only in the Bible if someone told you that he/she prayed for his/her child long before its existence or conceiving? You should believe my mother and grandmother. They say it happened once, only forty plus years ago. Isn’t it a privilege – to come to this world after prayers, to be loved and cared for before you existed. In a world where thousands of babies are killed every day before they have been born, it should sound fascinating. Is it possible and why? The answer is simple. It goes back to my Christian roots I am proud of. It has something to do with my entire life – as it has been committed to the Lord when I was only a “ dream of a loving mother”. My first traveling light shines so brightly that it is absolutely impossible for me to forget it or neglect it. Here comes the face of my loving grandmother. I do not need a picture in order to remember her face. It is so clear before me, today, as it was nineteen years ago when she went to be with her precious Lord. If you say it is a challenge to be a Christian in the “land of opportunities” and you find it difficult to profess your Christian faith in the “country where dreams come true”. Think what it is to profess Christ as Lord and Savior, and attend an Evangelical church in a country with a dark Communism with concentration camps where the Christians were given as a food to the pigs and were beaten to death just for fun. I can assure you – it was not a picnic. My grandmother and my aunt converted several months after my other aunty died. She was only twenty nine but the poverty killed her, she was not able to survive after getting TB. She was the most intelligent, bright and beautiful among the kids in the family. My grandmother was absolutely inconsolable. She has not even allowed the relatives to bury the dead daughter, granny was close to madness. Then my granny and aunt met a freshly converted young lieutenant from the Communist police (Димитър Апостолов) who told them about the faith in Christ, saying that only the hope in Jesus can comfort them, giving them peace and the chance to continue with their lives. My grandmother was an illiterate lady, her parents spent their time on the fields and the education was not the first priority, but it does not mean she was not intelligent. Just the opposite! She had memorized hundreds of Bible verses and songs, and she could cipher multiplying numbers with three digits just like that. The most amazing thing about her, however, was her ability to balance a heart of gold in a personality of steal. You would say that it is impossible. Just wait for a while. My grandmother had a name you could find in the Bible. She was called Petra and her character and personality showed her parents had a good reason to call her so. She was known by her hospitality – it was legendary, our home was called a “home of Abraham” and all the visiting preachers, pastors and believers all over Bulgaria were invited to spend the nights in our house. It was a time of fearful Communism but she did not care she was inviting and having “dangerous” evangelical pastors in her home . She would eat bread and cheese the following week, but the visiting pastor would have the most wonderful and richest dinner, and he would be accommodated in the warmest and most comfortable room. She also accepted all beggars and Gypsy people who would come to ask for food or clothes and she would never complain afterwards if they paid her Christian kindness back stealing things from the house. If you are already tired to read a fairy-tales you would now asked, what happened with the personality of iron. Just coming: Granny was generous and hospitable and she was always available, being there for her friends and neighbors, but she would never make a compromise with her faith. She would look after me all day long, as my mother had to go back to work when I was only 3 months old, but when the matter of going to church was under question, she would never deprived herself of that first priority. She would carry me on her back or leave me home with my mother (when the weather was bad), but she would never miss a sermon, not for the world. When my father threatened her he will leave her home because he was afraid they will all be persecuted and lose their job because of the Baptist faith, she just told him simply: “Son, you better kill me, I am ready just now, to go and be with my Lord, but I will never forsake Him and I will never forget what He did in my life – giving me hope when I was desperate and wanted to finish with myself. Wasn’t she brave? That is why I categorized her like that – a heart of gold in a personality of steal. There is an absolutely unforgettable story everyone should know about her, it describes the best her personality and her spirit. One of the preachers (Иван Бабулев) she loved very much came to visit for the weekend and the Sunday lunch was at its end. The plates (all three courses) were so full of food that the poor brother was not able to “fight” the desert, which was the granny specialty “rice and milk pudding with a figs jam”. The tram was not going to wait so the “brave” guest stood up and said: “Dear sister, I should leave right now, if I want to be home this evening, I need to go to work tomorrow morning and my wife and child will be waiting for me”. She showed mercy and said, “OK, then, go if you insist”. But only 5 minutes later she regretted and taking the bowl with the pudding, which weighed at least 2,5 pounds, she hired a wagon with a horse whish happened to pass by our street and in another 5 minutes she was at the railway station. The young preacher was standing there waiting at the station ready to get up the train. My granny shouted with a strong voice, “Wait just a sec, it will not take you long”. There, standing in front of the unbelieving eyes of the passengers around the poor brother had to eat the Sunday desert. No, this was not the end of the story. There is more. Looking at them the elderly policeman staying behind said warmly with tears in his eyes: “I have never seen such a love. You must be evangelical believers”. No more comments. Amazing, isn’t it? If you think this is the end. You are more than wrong. I have just started. Just wait for the sequence…
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 09:13:12 +0000
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