To Any and All Nazarenes Who Don't Believe in Dancing:

I would like to take this time to say, that if you could have been where I was today--if you could have seen the eyes that I saw light up at the union of music with movement, and if you could have twirled a little girl in such a way that she felt special, and happy, and loved, perhaps your views on dancing would be different.

Today was my very first visit to the orphanage in Vidrare. I had an idea of what to expect, because there are so many other volunteers who have gone before me, and who had taken the time to prepare me for what I would see and experience. However, I did not want to rely solely on these accounts, because I wanted to take it all in and allow my heart to feel everything--both the beauty, and the brokenness.

We were all so excited, I don't think any of us [Vera, Susanna, Yoni (my new Bulgarian friend), and I] had a good night's sleep! We prepared lunches for the next day, and set alarms for the cheerful time of 5:30am. We got ready and met up at 6:30am with coffee, tea, and breakfast in our stomachs, and headed for the bus stop. While on the bus, Yoni helped me learn some Bulgarian phrases like, "здрасти" [Zdrasti] which means "Hello!" and "как се казвате?" [Kak se kazvate?] which means "What's your name?" Meanwhile, a lovely vision surrounded us in each window as the new morning sunlight embraced the green valleys and kissed the proud forested mountains. I sipped my coffee in between phrases and stole glances of the scenery in perfect happiness, when suddenly, we arrived.

We waited about 40 minutes before entering the orphanage to allow time for the night shift to switch with the day shift. Yoni tested out her card tricks with a couple of young boys from the school across the street, and at 8:30am, we made our way into the orphanage. The first thing I set eyes on, was a black metal gate with little hands stretched in between the bars. We were all beaming. We opened the gates and found ourselves surrounded by children. We greeted them "Hello!" and "как си?" [kak si?] which means "How are you?" We received sweet smiles in return, children grabbing our hands, just wanting to be touched, held, and hugged tightly. One little girl stole and almost broke my glasses. I felt a bit bad about having to take them away from her, but I knew that that sort of behavior can't be encouraged. After our beautiful meeting with around 20 children, we went inside to meet with the social worker of the orphanage. She walked us through the daily routine and answered our questions, and then gave us our tasks for the day: Go for a walk with some of the children (about 20 of them), and come back and play with them until lunch time. This meant that it would only be a half-day for us, but we wanted to spend as much time with the children as we were permitted. The walk was just lovely. It was chilly at first, but that beautiful morning sun decided to embrace us in addition to the valleys. And so, our entourage of children in wheel chairs, orphanage workers in bubble-gum pink scrubs, and children holding hands with one another or of us volunteers, made our way around the little village, talking, laughing, and singing as we went. I have never been so happy.

When we got back to the orphanage, we stayed outside amongst the colorful playground and mingled a bit, attempting to learn names and hold as many hands as possible, whispering to each non-verbal girl, "Вие сте хубава." [Vie ste hoobava] "You are beautiful." I wanted to have 16 extra arms just so that I could sit with each boy or girl and hold their hands and say what little Bulgarian I knew. In situations like this, where there aren't enough people to attend to each child, every. single. touch. matters. Every single word matters! Even when you don't speak the language! Smiles matter! And if you don't think it's true, just look into the eyes. You will always see the difference in the eyes. 

I have no criticisms of the orphanage. How could I? I saw tired women doing their best to meet the needs of each child with the resources available. They were kind and patient with us, and informed us of how to best work with specific children. I know that in the U.S., we do things differently because we have different and perhaps more resources available to us, but it wasn't until the music began that I saw something I've never seen in the states.

One of the older boys brought out a stereo, and began to play some Bulgarian folk music. Well, what is folk music, without folk dancing? The little girl whose hand I was holding immediately began to clap and giggle with joy upon hearing the music, and I took that as my cue to lead her to the shaded patio where the Bulgarian folk dancing began.

It was incredible! If the bedridden children couldn't dance, they certainly enjoyed the sight of others dancing! Us volunteers, the rambunctious older children, and the smiling non-verbal children held hands in a great big circle and ran around and around while one or two of the older non-dancing children clapped out the beat and sang  the words to each song. Even an elderly worker joined in and smiled her wise smile, keeping each step in an impressively graceful way. My sweet little friend did not know the steps, but then, neither did I, so we just laughed and ran around with everyone else over and over again, occasionally regrouping when our circle became 2 or 3 semi circles. I didn't have to know Bulgarian to understand what was happening. We weren't just dancing. We were sharing lives with one another-- a whole different kind of hospitality from the traditional hospitality of the South. Each twirl was not just a physical movement, but a message: You are special. You matter. You are loved. I thought about the elders of the Nazarene Church who have denounced dancing based on specific experiences they've had... and I just couldn't help but think, If they could just experience this, maybe their views of dancing would be a little different. I believe we worshiped God in our dances. Because every movement was born of our love for the children, and in sharing our love with these kids, we were sharing God with these kids. 

I couldn't believe our time was up when it was. It felt like we had only just arrived! We said our goodbyes and headed back towards the bus stop, eating the lunches we had prepared, and feeling exhausted, but happier than we've felt in a really long time.

Please remember us in your prayers. Us volunteers, the orphanage workers, and of course, the children.

We're Here!

Okay, so you have to forgive me for the length of this video. It just.. happened. But I wanted to be thorough because so many people were asking about everything so... yeah. But here you go! Forgive my ridiculous appearance and my pronunciation of "Lebanon" (I blame living in Nashville for that one..).