iConnect
From February 7th to 9th we held our second annual winter retreat for international students. Students who study in both Varna and Sofia attended the retreat, which took place in Tryavna. Although we were a fairly small group, we were extremely diverse, including students that represented each continent, other than Australia (and Antartica, of course!). Together we played games, explored the center of Bulgaria, and had fun in the snow! One of the highlights of the conference was the culture night, where each participant had the opportunity to share something about their culture. We heard about languages, traditions, food, music, and more, and had a great time learning more about each other!
We also spent some time at the conference discussing passages from the Bible together. On the first day we talked about who our neighbor is through the story of the Good Samaritan, and got a chance to practice what we learned later that day as we stopped to offer help to a family stuck in a snow bank. The second day we learned about Jesus as the Good Shepard, through Psalm 23 and the feeding of the 5000.
It was a great time together, and everyone enjoyed making new friends and building deeper relationships. Many of the students left promising that they would be back next year, and that they would invite their friends to join them!
