Kayla Whittaker
Sofia, Bulgaria | 46905
My Story
In 2010 I first came to Bulgaria on a study abroad. The experience changed my life. While I grew up Christian, I began to see how hopeless I was as many of my personal plans and dreams were falling apart. In an effort to heal during the semester in Bulgaria, I began serving as a volunteer in a local social home for children in town. I was shocked at the conditions and need for help in the home. In addition to serving there, the Lord gave me an opportunity to also visit an impoverished Roma community near the university's campus before I returned home. My heart was broken for both people groups as I grappled with the question of why no one was seemingly doing anything to help these people. It was on a hillside overlooking their devastatingly lost community that God showed me my new purpose was to serve these often forgotten groups if I would trust Him with this new plan for my life. Since then, He has taken me on a journey to create a nonprofit called Rays of Hope for Bulgaria that eventually led to my calling into full time ministry in Bulgaria with GEM.
Where I Work
I will be serving in the capital of Sofia. I hope to share Christ with those I come to meet and know. I will also be serving and sharing amongst children in social homes and the Roma community in Sofia and other areas of Bulgaria.