Teacher Who Wept: Adult Mission Story for September 12, 2026

In Sofia, Bulgaria, a teacher named Tanya walked into a job interview at the Colorful Hope Adventist kindergarten—and walked out transformed. Through the Holy Spirit’s leading, Bible studies, and the influence of a Christ‑centered school, she chose faith over a lucrative job offer, was baptized, and later became a church planter with her husband.

ASeventh-day Adventist woman called the founder of the Colorful Hope (Tzventna Nadezhda) kindergarten in Sofia, Bulgaria, to recommend a teacher.

“If the kindergarten had an opening, she would be worth considering,” the caller said.

Colorful Hope had more than enough teachers, but Maria—the founder—had learned over the years since opening the kindergarten that God never gives anything unnecessary. She had learned to listen to His voice and to seek His will.

So, she said, “We don’t need an additional teacher right now, but I’d be happy to meet with Tanya.”

During the job interview, Maria asked Tanya whether she was a follower of Jesus. Tanya replied that her husband had joined the Adventist Church a few months earlier and that she was furious about it. She didn’t understand why he would spend Saturdays at church instead of with her—especially because his job kept him away from home much of the week. She had refused his invitations to read the Bible or attend church with him.

Maria told Tanya about the kindergarten, explaining that she founded it in 2016 and that it now had some 30 children across two locations in Sofia. She also described what the Adventist teachers believed and how they worked. She sensed Tanya was open to spiritual things.

The conversation then turned to the challenges the kindergarten had faced and how God had miraculously led. Feeling impressed to invite Tanya to teach, Maria offered her a part-time position.

Two days later, Tanya called to accept
the job.

A month later, Maria learned the rest of the story.

Tanya told her that she started crying uncontrollably after the interview. Her husband, Denislav, was waiting for her in the car, and she sat beside him, weeping for 30 minutes. He had only smiled, sensing that the Holy Spirit was working on her heart.

Tanya said that during the interview, a desire formed in her heart to live a life of faith like Maria. Then, as she left the kindergarten, she felt as if the sun was shining on her in a new way. For the first time in her life, she felt that God loved her.

When she finally wiped away her tears in the car, she promised Denislav she would go to church with him on Sabbath. She kept her promise.

Maria began giving Tanya Bible studies, and nine months later, Tanya gave her heart to Jesus and was baptized. Denislav was thrilled.

Much later, Tanya confided that she had kept part of her story to herself. Two days after the job interview, a former employer called to offer her part-ownership of a kindergarten. She would enjoy a high salary and complete freedom to hire her own team and shape its program. The offer had been tempting. But Tanya had weighed her options and realized she would lose something priceless if she accepted it. So, she called Maria to accept the part-time job instead.

Today, Tanya leads the kindergarten’s second location, while Maria still leads the first. Additionally, Tanya and Denislav have become church planters. Seeing the need for an Adventist presence in an unentered district of Sofia, they launched an outreach program and planted a church there.

“It’s so wonderful to know that you can’t do anything by yourself,” Maria said. “Jesus says, ‘Without Me you can do nothing.’ But when you rest in His hands and allow Him, He does miracles.”⎭

Part of this quarter’s offering will allow the Colorful Hope (Tzventna Nadezhda) kindergarten to move out of one of its rented facilities into a building of its own in Sofia. More than half of the children who attend the kindergarten come from families who are not members of the Adventist Church. Some don’t believe in God. Thank you for your generous support of this life-changing project in Bulgaria and the other projects that will benefit from today’s offering. The other projects in the Inter-European Division include two schools in Romania; a youth camp, church camp, and training center in Belgium; and a dormitory at the Italian Adventist University Villa Aurora in Florence, Italy.