General Conventions in Razgrad, Bulgaria

Every 4 years, delegates from the Church of the Nazarene around the world gather for General Assembly & Conventions — a time of global worship, as well as where decisions are made regarding the policies of the church. For several days before the official start of the General Assembly, there are 3 General Conventions which take place—Nazarene Missions International (NMI), Nazarene Youth International (NYI) and Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI).

Since many of the smaller districts around the world cannot afford to send large delegations to the United States, and since visas are often denied to elected delegates, the number of elected delegates who actually get to participate in the General Assembly & Conventions is limited. This year, to help more delegates attend the 3 General Conventions, 10 sites were held around the world in addition to the main site in Indianapolis, Indiana. Delegates in any of the 11 Convention sites participated fully in the voting procedures of the conventions via live 2-way video streaming to make this a truly global event.

The Eurasia Region hosted 2 of the 10 regional sites: Hyderbad, India, and Razgrad, Bulgaria (just 2 hours south of Bucharest, Romania). From Wednesday, June 19, through Friday, June 21, thirty-five European delegates participated in the 3 General Conventions in Razgrad, with 9 countries represented: Bulgaria, Romania, Denmark, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, and Albania. They were joined by 5 American missionaries and a couple dozen members of the Razgrad Church of the Nazarene, which hosted the event.

The events at the Razgrad location were a mix of local sessions, live interactive videos streamed from Indianapolis, and videos recorded in Indianapolis and played back at a more convenient time in Razgrad. Delegates & guests in Razgrad also had the opportunity to participate in one of 4 service projects  in the Razgrad community as well as a visit to an ancient Roman fortification.

I attended the Razgrad site because I had been asked to host the SDMI Convention there. My responsibilities included helping with registration for the 3 conventions, leading a workshop on discipleship and discussions with the 10 SDMI representatives, and playing the videos of sessions recorded in Indianapolis. Having a small group allowed us to discuss our disciple-making practices in the 5 districts represented.

Since the 10 sites aside from Indianapolis were for the 3 General Conventions (not the actual General Assembly), I returned to Sighisoara on Saturday night. Today, as General Assembly is getting started, I'm watching it online.

Here are a few pictures from last week in Razgrad:

Group photo of delegates & visitors

SDMI Convention Delegates in Razgrad

Razgrad Church of the Nazarene

Delegation from Romania

  

Site of an ancient Roman fortification

Visiting the museum by the archaeological site.
(The tour guide's Bulgarian was translated into English  & Russian for all of us to understand)

Closing session in Razgrad