Kerby's Thoughts from Bulgaria...

Today was the day Cristina was on tap to teach marketing principles using the IMED materials. She went through the various "P's" of marketing... Product, Price, Place, Packaging, Promotion. These concepts are so profound in American culture that a 5th grader can explain them, perhaps too profound. In a post-Communist culture, the students find these VERY difficult to grasp. Cristina did a fabulous job teaching American marketing concepts to a culture that hardly understands competition, let alone a "Prospecting Based, Marketing Enhanced, Value Driven Sales Plan."

As I sat in the back of the room, I thought about the little 3 year old girl named Tsvedi (sorta pronounced Sweaty) running into the class room, chatting with her dad who is a missionary and an aspiring honey grower. Tsvedi is cute with blonde hair and blue eyes, she is direct and very forward with people; much like another blonde haired blue eyed little girl was some 25 years ago.

Tsvedi’s dad, Vasil, is growing honey in the hills of Bulgaria in an effort to support his family while he tries to reach a culture plagued with complacency and hopelessness that 50 years of Communism would undoubtedly produce and increase this country’s desire for God. He is at this conference to learn how to build his business and as he sat with us after class discussing his branding I saw a deep desire in him to succeed and excel. This is a desire I see in many aspiring entrepreneurs is a GOOD desire from God, however, it is a desire that can easily become entangled by a love for the money success in business can bring.

As I see this country crawl out of years of Communism. I wonder how this country will grow and be shaped by capitalism, consumerism, business and the Internet? I wonder what the next 25 years of capitalism will do to shape the way this little girl thinks? How it will shape the way her dad thinks? What I wonder most is - will this country become complacent in its desire for God clouded by capitalism, consumerism, business and the Internet?

Philippi and the first night at Gotse Deltchev

We arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria and were met by an incredibly competent, smart and dynamic guy named Grozdan. He is our in-country contact for gathering together the participants for the IMED business training. We stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast and enjoyed a delicious Bulgarian meal – freshest tomatoes in the world! And if any of you know Kerby, you know how much he loves them!

We went on a short trip to Greece and stayed a night in Kavala, on the Mediterranean Sea and saw many of the places that the apostle Paul traveled to. We toured Philippi (see video!), which is a stunning historic city and saw the river where Paul and company met Lydia from Acts 16.

This afternoon we made it to Gotse Deltchev in the Rhodope Mountains and are staying in an absolutely beautiful hotel, although it bears the weight – and sometimes gaudiness – of communist influences in its old architecture. It’s been fun to start to get to know some of the students, who are staying at the hotel with us. They seem to be in their twenties through forties, mostly, with the exception of a few older ladies. Through our translators, and whatever English the entrepreneurs know, we are able to chat with them and learn about what they are passionate about and what kind of dreams they have for business. After dinner tonight was a special moment, a couple of the guys took out a guitar and entertained us with phenomenal music, some popular songs and some that they had composed. Grozdan, mentioned above, is on the guitar and Viktor (a translator), who is extremely talented musically, put together a cheese grater and a piece of thin paper and created a wind instrument that was both impressive and funny.

Next stop: Bulgaria

Not yet packed, still wrapping up a million things before we leave, but we are PUMPED. We head off to a little town in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains. Populated in the majority by people of the Muslim faith and who are in the midst of starting to overcome the consequences of communist oppression for many decades, this region suffers economically, spiritually and in other ways.

Kerby has been in Bulgaria once in February for a short visit to see if it would be feasible to bring an IMED training to this region. His team concluded there were solid in-country contacts and enough people wanting to take active steps to improve their working and economic situation. That's where we come in.

We are heading to do the IMED business training - essentially, Phase 1 of 3, in which we will teach Business 101. Kerby will teach Finance and Cristina will try to lend some perspective regarding Marketing and conducting Market Research. The 20 Bulgarian students will then take what they've learned in Phase 1 and do all their business research so that they can write a real business plan, including financials and a marketing plan, during Phase 2. There, the team will assist them in organizing and packaging their business plan as a loan proposal. These are to be reviewed by IMED, and those that succeed will qualify for loans and Phase 3, which is like Business 201.

We'll see what it actually IS like, this whole experience. Kerby's been to Europe for a total of 2 days, and this is Cristina's first time in Europe, and most definitely, in a post-communist culture. Also, we have no idea how to approach the Bulgarian language... check out how you say "hello": "Здравейте Здравейте." Yep, we are probably going to stick to good ole English, relying heavily on our translators and smiling a lot while Kerby manages to get everyone to laugh through his nonverbals.

Anyway - thanks to everyone for your support, prayer and encouragement as we head off!