Social Center Opens in Sofia, Bulgaria
Recently, the official opening of the Church of God and Social Centre in Sofia, Bulgaria was celebrated by leaders in that country. The project was the fruit of several years’ work of establishing such a centre in the Bulgarian capital.
The centre has functioned since 2008, but only during recent months have all the necessary agreements been made with the authorities, paving the way for the centre to fully function according to the original intention, i.e., that from the centre would come a range of social initiatives benefiting the many thousand poor Bulgarians – in particular the Roma – in need of concrete support, but also in need of an education and a hope for a better future. This year things have finally fallen into place, with the last renovations and the necessary permits in place. Now we see the fruit of the many efforts.
And what a release it was to see a dream from 1999 come true! Vulnerable elderly are now fed in the kitchen of the centre, aid is distributed to the Roma population in the ghettos of the city, the children from the ghettos gather in the centre, the young can now get training in plumbing, electrical works and construction, and special courses are given in computers and English.
Eight different churches now use the building for their meetings. And the social authorities of the capital city are enthused to have a modern centre where the socially vulnerable can get help!
For the actual official inauguration of the centre, the large meeting room was filled with several hundred excited Bulgarians, a Roma orchestra from the town of Sliven led the singing, and speeches were held by Bulgarian and foreign participants. From Denmark, Arne Christensen of the Y’s Men’s Clubs participated, as did the volunteer construction engineer advisor, Leif Martin Jensen, and René and Kim Hartzner from Mission East.
Together, we can celebrate that our dream from 1999 has come true!
Tom and Claudia Rosson
Church of God Regional Superintendent – Europe:CIS
Project Number 061-0004
© 2011 Church of God World Missions
