What started as a partnership between the Illinois Baptist State Association and the Baptist churches in the Republic of Bulgaria has evolved into a bona fide calling for Shawn and Natalie Key. The MBU couple has, in fact, dedicated their marriage to serving those living in the Southeastern European country. And as the Keys can attest, their persistence is paying off-one life at a time.

Shawn and Natalie were chatting with friends at an open-air café in the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora on a sunny day in 2007 when a precarious young street kid who was pestering passersby caught their attention. "I actually thought he reminded me of myself when I was younger," said Shawn, '93, who is employed as the University's web manager. Not long after, they heard a mob of children violently screaming in a nearby alley. The couple and their friend, who was also their translator, followed the sound until they found its source: a group of children who were berating the boy they had been observing just minutes before.

It turned out that the angry group was chastising the boy because he was a Gypsy, an ethnic minority group that has for centuries lived as relative outcasts in Eastern Europe. "Why are you bothering our friend?" Shawn asked the group. They immediately got quiet and were obviously scared. So was the boy. That boy, who they later learned was named Krasimir, quickly developed a special bond with Shawn and Natalie. Everywhere they went during their two-week stint in Stara Zagora, Krasimir followed. While he enjoyed the excitement of hanging out with Americans, he was also looking out for their well being, Shawn later realized.  

Their relationship grew quickly and fiercely, to the point that when they got on the bus to leave for their next destination, an inconsolable Krasimir pleaded to go home with the Keys. Equally heartbroken, Natalie and Shawn promised Krasimir that they'd come back and find him again. Natalie, who is currently pursuing a bachelor of science in human services at MBU, first took a mission trip to Bulgaria with the Illinois State Baptist Association in 2002-nearly three years before she would meet her future husband. She immediately fell deeply in love with the country's people, a feeling that subsequently prompted her to commit her life to sharing the hope of Christ in the country. So when she met Shawn in 2005, she made it clear that her life's calling was to serve the people of Bulgaria. It wasn't a passion Shawn immediately shared.

"She knew from the beginning that Bulgaria was where she felt like she was going to end up, which is something we struggled with because I didn't feel like God was calling me to go anywhere at all," Shawn said. "I remember being the only one awake on the plane somewhere over France on my first trip to Bulgaria, still wrestling with God about how we were suppose to make this work. Once the plane landed and I walked through the doors at the Bulgarian airport, I knew I was home."

The couple married two weeks after returning home from that trip.

Since then, Shawn and Natalie have founded iSalt, a program that partners with the Student Ministries of the Illinois Baptist State Association, aimed at annually preparing and ultimately leading Christian high school students on intense mission trips throughout Bulgaria. The groups work in state-run orphanages, dole out food and clothing for the country's street kids and work in local churches, all in an effort to share Christ's love.

It was on a trip to plan for the iSalt program that Shawn and Natalie met Krasimir. The next winter, Natalie returned to Stara Zagora, a city roughly the size of St. Louis City, determined to make good on her promise. She and three other friends searched the streets for him day and night in below-freezing temperatures. They showed locals his photo with the hopes that someone would know his whereabouts and lead her to him. They all knew him. No one, however, knew where he was. She left the country without finding Krasimir. While she was disappointed, she didn't give up hope.

"We knew that God had led us to this kid," Shawn says, "and that he would help us find him again. I also knew that when people saw him again, they'd tell him that a tall American woman wearing a bandana had been looking for him, and he'd know exactly who they were talking about."

The next summer, Natalie and Shawn led their iSalt team to the city. Leading up to the trip, they prayed that they would find Krasimir and made plans to make a special trip back to Stara Zagora. Little did they know that their Bulgarian friends thought they were crazy. After all, the odds of finding a particular street kid, not knowing where he lives or even his last name, in a city roughly the size of St. Louis aren't particularly favorable. The Bulgarians were willing to humor their American friends, however, and they finally found themselves back in Stara Zagora.

The couple made their way from their hotel to the city's center, the place where they first met Krasimir. They were full of hope, knowing that people all over the world knew what they were doing and were praying for them. They had walked no more than two blocks into the city centre when in the distance they spotted two boys running straight at them. The boys were Krasimir and his younger brother.

"We didn't find Krasimir," Shawn said. "He found us."

Find out more about the iSalt program here!