Peterhead Methodist Church
The Journey to Hope Part 1
For quite some time before I actually went to Hope God had been steering my life in that direction. I had attended various fundraising events Arthur Taylor had done for Blythswood and had always admired the work he did for them.
During the year of 2002 there were 2 Sundays when we had visiting speakers in the church who had been doing overseas mission work with children. I remember sitting there listening to their stories and testimonies and being moved to tears by what I heard.
God was stirring up my heart for mission work and I could either choose to ignore him and hope it would go away or I could say “ OK God, I know what you’re trying to tell me, just show me where and how and I’ll go”.
Needless to say I chose the latter!
At first I tried to make things happen in my own strength, I contacted various charities and organisations to see if they could help me in any way but got no joy.
Then during a conversation with Arthur I shared with him how I’d been feeling and he said that he was actually going over to Bulgaria that December with an English organisation called “Trussell Trust”. A few phone calls later and I was going with them!
I didn’t know exactly where this would lead me but I did believe that it was the beginning of what God had planned for me.
Leading up to our trip I was sent lots of information from Trussell Trust telling me what to expect from the trip etc. In one of their newsletters there was a tiny article about a place called “Hope”. I remember reading the article and getting that stirring in my heart again but after finding out that Trussell Trust had never been to Hope and had no intention of going on this trip I sort of laid it to one side. God had other ideas!
Once in Bulgaria we visited lots of different places, orphanages, gypsy communities etc and one day we found ourselves near the village where Hope was.
That was the moment God showed me the “Where” and “How” I had asked him a few months earlier!
We all hear about children in orphanages and what the conditions are like but it doesn’t actually become a reality until you come face to face with it. I was devastated and heartbroken by what I saw and experienced that day but I also knew without a doubt that Hope was the place that God wanted me to find and that they were the children he wanted me to help.
The building itself was large, old and very run down. The staff were far and few between but very dedicated in looking after and caring for the children.
It was the children themselves that got to me the most, they looked so small and vulnerable, little lives just crying out for love and attention.
I knew at that minute that this was going to be a long term commitment.
Hope had been let down by the broken promises of many charities and organisations in the past and I was determined I wasn’t going to be another number for them to add to their list.
I went over with Trussell Trust again in December of 2003 and decided at the beginning of 2004 that it was time to start going alone. I really appreciated all that Trussell Trust had done for me but I felt that I should be concentrating all my time in Bulgaria at Hope and this was not possible when I was with them.
That’s when the church really “adopted” Hope and we have never looked back since.
2004 was also the year that Kevin Willox felt God calling him to become part of the project and he has grown to be as much a part of the childrens lives as I have. We have been going over twice a year since 2004 and a typical week with the children sees us doing things like face painting, crafts, games, bible stories and songs and getting them outdoors as much as possible.
We have seen many changes over the years but we will tell you more about them on our next page Hope Orphanage part 2