The new semester has begun!
The next online semester has already started, and with it BCSU groups have also started their activities among students.
In Veliko Tarnovo,the group gathers in person every Tuesday, continuing to study the message to the Romans, and sometimes there are new students coming. Every Fridaythey gather to watch a movie or play board games.
The group in Varna celebrated the end of the exam period with a breakfast meal! Many new students are actively attending the group's regular Bible study meetings, which began in late February. The group organizes its meetings every Wednesday,and this semester they are studying the "Fruit of the Spirit" found in Galatians 5:22-23. They look at passages from the Old and New Testament that help them think practically about each of the characteristics of the fruit and its manifestation in our lives. Some students join online, while others meet in person, but this doesn't stop them from growing and learning together from God's word. We are glad that this semester one of the new students in the group wanted to lead a Bible study and has taken on the role of a student leader. The group regularly prays for the salvation of their friends, and meetings are planned every Tuesday to invite them into deeper friendship with us and hear the good news. Movies with dinners, game nights, dinner and discussion, volleyball games and a walk (when the weather warms up) are also planned. We are grateful that many people are interested, and we pray that we may always show them the fruit of the Spirit and that God will produce in them the fruit of saving faith in Christ!
In Sofia, the group also started the new semester, even though with slightly smaller number of group members. They meet every Mondayand during these months will study 3 main topics, following the 3 topics of the upcoming Leadership Days - Evangelism, Discipleship and Prayer. After every Leadership weekend and until the next, they will have 4 studies on the respective topic. On the theme of Evangelism: March 1 - Come and see(John 1: 29-51); March 8 - Fear and Opposition (Acts 4: 1-31); March 15 - Message of Hope/Samaritan/ (John 4: 1-42) March 22 Message of Hope /Nicodemus/ (John 3: 1-21). Then there will be a Theme of Discipleship and a Theme of Prayer, on which they will have 4 studies each. They plan to have picnics when the weather improves, along with graduates and international students. They also want to organize events around Easter to use videos from BCSU's new video-project “YOU” as well as the "Uncover" material.
In Ruse, for now, everyone gathers online Wednesdays or Thursdays and continues their studies on the Epistle to the Romans. They plan to get together in person in the next two months and meet together somewhere outdoors in nature.
The group in Plovdiv meets every Thursday and also continues to study the Epistle to theRomans. They plan more walks and spending more informal time together when the weather improves.
This semester BCSU started a new "Online"group organized for students from cities where there aren't BCSU gatherings. They study the Parables of Jesus and meet every Thursday, and they already have had two meetings together with people from Bulgaria, England and Greece. We hope and pray that this new group will grow and reach more students, as well as those who join, to be able to grow comfortable with one another and unite as a group.
At iConnect Sofia, international students gather every Thursday to study the message to the Hebrews, they lead an Alpha course every Monday(along with Between the Scripture).Every Tuesdaythey have meetings in which they discuss thelife of Jesus together and also have evangelism training with students. They plan to have interactive dinners, board games, an Escape room and other events.
This semester is a bit more challenging for iConnect Varna, as almost all the international students in the city have returned to their countries and for now cannot come here. For this reason at this time there are no group meetings, but we are organizing individual online meetings with each of them.
We are grateful to God for another new start and we trust Him to guide us through all this in the coming months. We will be grateful if you support us and the students in your prayers.