Archive for September, 2008
Saturday, September 27th, 2008
Motorcycle Repair Day
Dan’s Garage
My friends, Dan and Dave, helped me rebuild the front brake caliper assemblies on my motorcycle today. The good news is that Dan really knows how to recondition brakes, and we got my 22 year old brake assemblies back into good condition. The bad news is that we never regained pressure in the brake lines, so these newly cleaned brakes don’t work. Good thing Dan lives nearby, because I drove home on just the rear brake. Something tells me the next step is rebuilding the master cylinder, but I’m hoping not.
2 Comments » - Posted in Motorcycle by Jerry
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Bansko, Bulgaria
The Evangelical Church in Bansko
Last week I was in Bansko, Bulgaria meeting with several of the CCC ministry leaders from Eastern Europe who are using the Internet to reach students. My goal was to hand off the job I have been doing in the area to them.
We met in an evangelical church founded in 1868 by American missionaries. It started under the reign of the Ottoman Empire and, ironically, had more freedom then than during the period of control by the Soviets. We spent two days in this antique building planning how to use the Internet to reach more people in this part of the world with the gospel.
Bansko, Bulgaria looked like a cross between Hungary and Colorado, and it was cold. The rest of Bulgaria (that I saw) looked like Hungary, so it felt quite comfortable.
One other unique thing about Bansko is that it has its own language, Banski. It is not a dialect of Bulgarian either, but is related more to Macedonian. Only about 15,000 people live in this village, so there are not many Banski speakers.
All in all, it was quite an interesting place.
2 Comments » - Posted in Ministry by Jerry
Friday, September 19th, 2008
Бoзa
bo3a
For breakfast my friend, Galin, introduced us to Бoзa (“bozsha”), a slightly fermented grain drink that is traditional here, along with topnitza, a cheese-blintz sort of thing. He said this was typical school breakfast fare for kids.
The drink smelled like bean soup but tasted sweet. Kind of like drinking buckwheat pancake batter that had gone bad. I couldn’t do more than a few sips. I guess it’s one of those things you have to grow up drinking to like.
1 Comment » - Posted in Ministry by Jerry
Friday, September 5th, 2008
Grandpa Bill
My Grandpa Bill
Today I got some photos of my family from around 1947 or so, and I found this one of my grandfather, Bill.
I didn’t know him very well growing up, as he contracted Parkinson’s disease when I was young. This is from an era I never knew, but it makes me think I would have enjoyed knowing him and fishing with him when he was my age.
