The Svandas - our Bulgarian journey so far!

Hi, we're the Svandas! For those who don't know us - we got married and moved to Colchester in July 2023. We have loved getting involved with the life of the church, developing friendship and growing in our faith.

 Jasmine a full time 'relay' ministry worker, a year programme with UCCF to get disciplined and trained to equip and encourage the Christian Union. Jas has a heart for seeing students at the university to hear the gospel, grow and see non-Christians come to faith. At Essex University, we’ve had two people and one person at ARU Chelmsford come to Christ . Jasmine has grown in so many different ways including a passion for mission..

Sam has supported Jas’ ministry whilst being a full time software programmer in the insurance industry, he also enjoys programming in his spare time. Sam has adapted from re locating in Essex and has grown relationships within the church community.

We both have a passion for the church and feel a strong sense of calling to evangelise (even though we both have different ways of doing this, we recognise that everyone is called to be a different part of the body of the Church).

Many years ago, God put the word "international" on Jas' heart. She's been exploring this call ever since. The CU continued to stir a passion for her as she connected with international students and various mission organisation's. When applying for Relay, she was aware of the opportunity of  going abroad to the Christian Union. God started to make this message clear when Jas started her role, and participated in a conference, which shared  opportunities of IFES Christian Union’s across Europe. When she heard about the low number of staff workers and the lack of resources in these countries it broke her heart.Bulgaria was the only country that stood out and God was continuing to stir a passion. At the end of the session, Roxy (UCCF Staff Worker Essex) said “if not you, who”? In a room with 50 Relay workers, she was unable to find anyone with the same passion and knew God was clearly talking to her. Jas spent the following weeks praying and asking God where He wanted Jas to go. All throughout that time, Bulgaria did not leave her heart. It became clear that's where she had to go.

Sam was terrified of the idea of moving abroad.It wasn't until Sam went to a conference "Called To Go", hosted by Relational Mission, that God made it clear to him how we could make it work for us, with moving abroad, his job and even family. In fact, nothing really stood in our way from doing something like this. From that point on Sam was confident and excited that we'd be able to go on mission in another country. They have received plenty of encouragement from their family, and church family, that this was what we are called to do.

Eventually Jas applied to UFM (United For Mission) to partner up with IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students). A part of this application process was to speak to Silas, a staff worker who is currently working in Sofia. They both met him online and made them both super excited to go.It was a very easy application process, again showing that God was leading us into this.

 They flew out in March to Bulgaria and stayed in the capital, Sofia, for a week. Most of the time we were with Silas, learning about Bulgarian culture and getting to know him better. We got some amazing insights to what life is like out there as a ministry worker and made some connections to local churches and people.Halfway into the visit we sat down on a bench, and we spoke about everything and spent time praying to make sure it was God’s will. Since then, we've been putting things into place to make the mission a reality. We've had training with UFM and are currently sorting out visas and learning their language . Jas will need to raise £8000.00  to cover her ministry and living costs. Funds will also cover  buying Bibles, coffees for students, cooking meals, travelling to other cities to support the students, travel costs for conferences, flights home, food and accommodation.

The Svanda’s would love for family and friends to support us in this next year ahead. If you are interested in supporting financially or would like to follow and receive a regular prayer letter we would love to hear from you. You can find the links at the bottom of the blog.

We believe prayer is the starting and most foundational part of this journey,will you join us in prayer?If you’re interested in learning more or supporting us then don’t be afraid to drop us a message!

Prayer Points:

-       The visa application process goes well and we are both accepted. This is a rather complicated process as there’s 2 of us involved.

-       Moving out of Colchester goes smoothly and we are able to get rid of our stuff easily

-       A nice place for us to live in Bulgaria. We are searching for a place in the Center of Sofia so we are easily accessible to students

-       Our marriage, that we continue to grow as a couple, honouring God in all we do

-       Both of us will continue to grow in our walk with God

-       Most importantly, the students and churches we’ll be working with!

-       May students have open hearts to hear and respond to the gospel.

-       For the students to have boldness to share their faith in their universities.