School is in Session: Leadership Training Retreat for the Yambol Region
The weekend of the 16-19th of September Cup and Cross Ministries, along with Yambol based Mission Maranatha, held a Leadership Training Retreat for the Yambol region. Ten delegates from the area were chosen to represent various areas of ministry including ministry to the villages, children, home groups, women, elderly and the military. Representatives from Spain and the United States were also present.
Throughout our time together we were able to share personal experiences of ministry successes and growth areas in order to brainstorm through appropriate techniques and strategies to effectively resolve dilemmas in ministry. We discussed topics such as burnout and addressed how to nurture on-going motivation within each specific area of ministry.
At the conclusion of the training each delegate was encourage to take the resources which they had acquired and implement them into their specific areas of interest and take on the responsibility of training those whom are under their leadership.
Unfortunately we were unable to broadcast this training event live due to the remote location, but we are hoping to be able to make it available again in the near future, as we are planning our next event in which we will be reviewing leadership and communication styles. This series of training events is a part of our humble contribution toward the redevelopment of evangelical education in Bulgaria and the move from static training methodology to a dynamic strategy of empowering ministers throughout church-wide discipleship.
Fresh Revival Fire in Yambol
After the storm in Plovdiv quieted down some, our team returned to one of our bases in the city Yambol for a special service with Bulgarian Church of God Roma Bishop Iliya Panov. As his praise band from Sofia’s Life Church of God worshiped the Lord and ministered the Word, the Holy Spirit fell with power over the Yambol congregation. Some hundred people came to the altars raising their hands toward the heavens, crying and praying. They pleaded with God for a spiritual revival in a way that we have not seen in Bulgaria since the early 1990s.
While this mighty move of the Spirit was literally being absorbed by the people, the director of our regional ministries gave a call for prayer for the baptism with the Holy Ghost. Immediately, prayer groups were formed around the people who raised their hands for prayer and only minutes later several received the baptism and were speaking in heavenly languages. People were crying and praying all over the church house now transformed in a heavenly sanctuary by the presence of the Holy God. A lady with a spiritual gift reported seeing a vision of the Holy Spirit descending as a cloud over the church during the service.
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We realize while writing these words how close they sound to the reports of the Azusa street revival from the beginning of the 20thcentury. And having seen the power of God moving through churches and people all across the country of Bulgaria, we cannot remain silent any more. We must testify what our eyes have beheld, that we have seen the glory of God and He is doing a new thing in Bulgaria again.
Renewing of the Evening Services in Yambol
We report that with the assistance of our team and the help of many partners in ministry, the renewal of Sunday evening services at the Yambol Pentecostal Church has been successful.
In the course of this work, we were able to witness a dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit during a ministry event with the participation of the team of our longtime ministry partner and personal friend Pastor Vasil Petrov from the Gabrovo Church of God. This particular service began at 6 PM on Sunday and continued until 10 PM that night as some 100 hundred people were prayed for at a two hour long alter service, which followed the message. We are still receiving reports of various healings and miracles that occurred that night, among which are:
(1) A lady of the worship team, who has played the violin in church all her life, scheduled for surgery that same week due to a bone-ligament condition was instantly healed during the prayer.
(2) Deliverance of multiple cases of headache, migraines and sinus were reported at the end of the alter service.
(3) As the church continued in several hours of prayer, around 9 PM a lady threw herself on the floor with screams and convulsions and was delivered from a demon.
(4) An elderly gentleman with a chronic condition in his vestibular apparatus due to a foot injury reported instant improvement and ran joyfully through the church.
(5) Several people reported improvement in their eyesight and hearing.
(6) Instant disappearing of pain and discomfort in bones, muscles, ligaments and chronicle conditions in back, hip and neck areas were reported during the prayer.
(7) A lady with a broken arm, who was watching the service live on the internet, later reported that her pain disappeared during the course of the service.
(8) Several people, who were brought to service from the local Dialysis Treatment Center, also reported instant relief. We are now waiting for doctoral reports as confirmation for the healings.
Preaching on II Timothy 4
A Truly Pentecostal Water Baptism
The Tundja River is a popular tourist attraction being one of the longest rivers in Bulgaria. It is an ancient waterway, which runs from the heart of Bulgaria down through Stara Zagora and Yambol all the way to Turkey. The river is a haven to much wildlife, a retreat to fishermen, and simply a tranquil sight to those passing by. But on August 22, 2009 the Tundja River served a different purpose. It was the location where 14 more new believers were baptized in water.
Cup and Cross Ministries along with the home mission team from the local Pentecostal church and a step-mission team from Spain met and had a baptismal service at the base of the Tundja River in the outskirts of the Hanovo village near Yambol. The service began with praise and worship in the Roma language, in Bulgarian, Spanish and English as representatives of these ethnos groups worshiped the Lord by the river. We shared a brief teaching on the subject of Water Baptism from the Church of God Declaration of Faith to encourage the new believers from the local village churches and to establish the Scriptural base of our gathering by the river.
Then we stepped into the cool waters and in the hot summer day, 14 new souls dedicated their lives to God and came out of the Thundja River resurrected for a new life with Him. Spontaneous singing, prayers of praise and cries of worship continued throughout the entire time in all languages that the people in the congregation spoke to form one truly Pentecostal water baptism service by the running stream waters, as we were all reminded of the old Gospel spiritual:
As I went down to the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord show me the way …
New Sermon Series in Yambol
What tremendous services we have had at the Yambol Pentecostal Church this year again, as we began a new sermon series on II Timothy as one of our summer projects. For four weeks now we have gathered with the people on Wednesday night for payer and worship and God has honored our meetings. The church has been packed full and hundreds more have watched the service live via the internet. Miracles and healings have taken place during and after the service times, as one elderly lady reported instant disappearance of pain in her broken arm during the altar prayer as she was watching the service at home on her grandson’s computer.
This is the second year in a row that we have included the Yambol church in our summer ministry, as last year we completed a 10 week teaching on the Gospel of Mark. Our work in the region, which includes parts of Sliven, Nova Zagora, Stara Zagora and Bourgas will also focus on leadership training for the village ministry teams on location with the anticipation to renew the evening services in the church before the end of the month.
Preaching on II Timothy 1
Services in the Yambol Region
The Yambol ministry team on location, which we have worked with for many years now, continues a fruitful ministry among the village churches in the region despite the several economic crises in Bulgaria. Although many of the young people leave the Bulgarian villages in exchange for larger towns or even foreign countries where they can find better jobs, the village churches are growing.
At the recent regional ministry conference, where the Yambol, Sliven, Bourgas and Nova Zagora regions were represented, many reported exciting ministry results in various locations. Revivals broke in the villages of Kamenetz and Malomir, spontaneous prayer meetings arise often, while healings and various miracles are reported almost weekly. A water baptismal service for new believers is scheduled for the beginning in August at the Thundja River. In the midst of severe poverty and political unrest, the move of God has become a life answer for many.
This is why Sunday morning was a special morning for us, as we were able to rejoin the local Pentecostal Church team for an exciting day of ministry in five village churches nearby. Our day began at 8:30 am with prayer and then at 9:00 am we traveled together to the first church and had service at 10:00 am.
The village churches have anywhere from five to 25 people. Some are in actually church buildings while others are in homes or in small cleared out garages. Those, whom gathered, although small in numbers, are great in heart and dedication.
It is personally challenging when you see the weather and earth beaten hands of the man worshiping beside you and you witness the widow giving her last mite. Then when service is over you notice how the frail elderly ladies cover their heads with a white cloth so that the sun does not beat on their heads during their walk home. So to say that we spent our day ministering to those of the village churches is an understatement because it is those of the village churches whom ministered to us. Our last service ended in the afternoon and it was truly a special day.
There is also a new encouraging ministry opportunity on the horizon for English speaking services, as each village has become home to at least half of dozen Englishmen, who leave their native Great Britain and now live in Bulgaria enjoying the fine climate, friendly neighbors and peaceful environment. Please be praying with us for this opportunity to become a reality.
Bulgaria Mourns
Bulgaria mourns after a fatal crash near the town Yambol killed 17 people and injured dozens more on Thursday.
May 28th is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. On this day, it is tradition to take a pilgrimage to your local monastery. A bus, after taking people to the Yambol monastery at the Bakadjik Mountain, lost control due to break failure and ran over some 30 people on its way downhill. Eleven women, four men and one boy were propounded dead at the scene of the crash. One more died in the hospital and a dozen others are in critical condition. Yambol is also the city which we make our base location while we minister in Bulgaria. Read more
Services in Yambol, Bulgaria
I preached one of my first sermons in the Pentecostal church in my home city of Yambol over fifteen years ago. It was followed by many other speaking engagements there, especially at the youth services held every Saturday night at the church.
Many years passed since then and due to extensive travel for ministry and educational purposes, it has been awhile since we have been able to minister at the church. It was this past Sunday that we were fortunate enough to be in service with my home church. Upon the pastor’s invitation we were able to preach at the Communion service as some 400 were in attendance. Many more were also able to respond to the service via the media.
The Pentecostal church in Yambol is one of the first evangelical churches in the country. For many years, before and during the Communist Regime it served as a national center for Bulgarian Pentecostals. Many National Assemblies were held there and important decisions about the development of the Bulgarian Pentecostal Movement have been made in this church.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Yambol Church again led the Bulgarian Pentecostals in a number of important ministry and public endeavors. The church initiated the first Bulgarian mission work during post communism, the Mission for Christian Upbringing. The first, and so far the only, Bulgarian evangelical political party was founded in Yambol in 1997. This event was followed by the first attempts for a Christian TV production and broadcast in Bulgaria. The city has produced many prominent evangelical ministers. But for me personally, the return to Yambol was much more sentimental. The Yambol Pentecostal Church was the placed where the Lord saved my soul and where for the first time in my life I felt free at last.
