Gotse Delchev is a beautiful region of Bulgaria, rich in history and popular with tourists. High levels of unemployment and low wages, however, also mean that many families live in poverty.
Nine-year-old Maria lives in Gotse Delchev and has already experienced a lot of upheaval so far in her short life. Her mother Nikolina is unemployed and her dad, Slavcho, works at a car wash – but isn’t paid well enough to meet all his family’s needs. The family don’t have their own home and have had to share with various relatives, moving from one set of grandparents to another.
“All of these changes and the many problems the family went through affected the children in different ways.”
Ventsislav is a family coordinator working for Mission Without Borders (MWB) who now regularly visits the family and offers them all kinds of support since they were enrolled on the family sponsorship programme.
He added, “We often don’t realise what’s going on in our children's minds and hearts, but as they grow, many things become apparent.”
Maria had developed many insecurities and was very shy. She seemed to prefer to play alone and be by herself and was very dependent on her parents.
When Ventsislav invited Maria to go to the summer camp organised by MWB, she wasn’t sure whether she’d manage on her own for a whole week away from her mother.
Summer Camp aims to give each child a wonderful week-long treat, with the chance to simply be carefree children and take a break from any responsibilities, chores or worries they face. The children receive emotional and spiritual support, go swimming, play games, make new friends, and hear all about the gospel and the love that Jesus has for them.
“During the first days of the camp, Maria wouldn’t leave my side,” said Elena. She is a MWB volunteer who helped out at the camp and is also an after school teacher at the MWB centre in Gotse Delchev.
“She was crying, looking for attention, had a constant headache, and came to me every time before meals to ask me what she should eat and what she shouldn’t eat,” Elena continued.