Mission Bulgaria Week 14
Week 14 – November 17-24, 2001 – Sofia, BULGARIA
TRAVEL: I had to take a trip to my hometown Yambol this week to check on the ministry of the mission team there and to renew my driver’s license. As I had reported in my previous email the ten churches in the Yambol region are well taken care of by the team who travels almost daily to different destinations to hold regular services. In the village of Polyana we have an opportunity to buy the building, which the church rents for their meetings. The price will be about $900.
TESTIMONY: On the way back to Sofia on Friday, we stopped at a town called Sliven nearby Yambol. As mother and I walked in the street a lady in her mid 40s stopped us and asked if we recognized her. I did not, but mother did and even remembered her name, Maria. Maria attended the church in Yambol a few years ago when I served as an associate pastor there. She had a large tumor-like mass in her back and the doctors urged her to let them operate. In one on the services, she said, I prayed for her and the Lord healed her. As she went back to the doctors a few weeks later, they could not find even a trace of a tumor or cancer formation. Unfortunately, I do not remember any of this, but I still give God the glory for all He has done.
WEATHER: As we got to Sofia we were surprised by the snow, which had covered the ground everywhere. By the end of the evening many towns and villages in South Bulgaria suffered power cuts caused by the snowfall, sources from Civil Protection reported. Among the worst hit municipalities are Asenovgrad, Pakovski, Haskovo, Smolyan, Dimitrovgrad. The normal traffic between Sunny Beach resort and Obzor was restored, but the road between Varna and Burgas is still closed. Sofia Airport reported that all planes are arriving and departing as scheduled. The streets and thoroughfares in Sofia are clean and passable.
CHURCH: The Council of Elders is meeting this coming Friday and Saturday. We expect about 500 pastors and ministers from the country to attend. I will give each of them a set of the 9 Sunday School lessons written so far. This means that about 4,500 more lessons will be given freely and will go toward the Bible and doctrinal education of the 380 local congregations of the Bulgaria Church of God. The lessons in each church will be multiplied according to the needs of the local congregation, which will increase their number in a geometric progression. I feel blessed to be abele to invest in this project.
MISSION BULGARIA: QUARTERLY REPORT AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2001
MISSION BULGARIA: QUARTERLY REPORT AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2001 Sofia, BULGARIA
Three months have passed since I have returned to my home country Bulgaria on August 17, 2001. This year has been a special one for me and I have a lot to thank the Lord for. First of all, I thank the Lord for my fiancée Kathryn Nell Barton. Kathryn and I got engaged on July 4, 2001 and will be getting married on July 6, 2002. Then, I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to finish my master’s degree from the Church of God Theological Seminary, a water wheal of experience and knowledge from which I can now take in abundance and apply to the present ministerial context and tasks. I thank the Lord for bringing me back to my home country Bulgaria and giving me the opportunity to minister here of which I give the following report:
Focus:
1. Sunday School Pilot Program
2. Central Church of God in Sofia
3. Chaplains Commission
4. Local congregations and outreaches
5. Results: Sunday School Pilot Program
6. More than 15,000 lessons printed and distributed (cost: 5 cents per copy)
7. Lessons made available vie e-mail and internet
8. Sunday School lessons taught in 37 local congregations nationally (reported)
Results: Central Church of God in Sofia
FTH – Central Church of God – Sofia – 6 out of 12 lessons on Revelation finished
Results: Chaplains Commission
1. Bulgarian Chaplaincy work reformed according to modern standards
2. Chaplaincy Training Course scheduled for 18-22 February 2002
Results: Local congregations and outreaches (including Yambol team)
1. 66 Bibles and 91 New Testaments purchased and distributed free of charge
2. More than 40 pairs of eyeglasses given or fixed free of charge
3. Social work – lunch served twice weekly to more than 450 people
4. Financially supporting 1 minister of the Gospel
5. Weekly Bible Radio program reaching Yambol and 19 villages in the area
7. Sunday School for children reaching 137 children of 4 villages with Children Bibles, Sunday School literature for children (in Bulgarian and English) and food
8. 39 visited churches
9. 457.5 miles traveled per week with rented car (price of gas $2.94 per gallon)
Vision – Goals for the next quarter (November 17, 2001-February 17, 2002)
1. 15-20% Increase of total ministerial activities
2. Finish the Sunday School Pilot Program and publish a Sunday School textbook including lessons on the 14 articles of the Declaration of Faith and Revelation
3. Continue participating in the ministerial outreaches
4. Decreasing the transportation expenses by getting own automobile
5. Continuing the local radio ministry and starting TV documentary with Shalom TV
6. Establishing a Chaplaincy Commission with the Bulgarian Church of God
7. Click here to view a full map of events
The Experience with the Community of God
Because I am limited in my time and resources, I have to ask people to help me. For example, in order to have the Sunday School lesson printed in the needed copies, I write it on my computer, send it vie e-mail to a friend who prints it on the printer in her office, then gives it to her husband who takes it to the print shop where they multiply the copies and returns it to me on Saturday night ready for the Sunday morning service. This process takes a little bit less than a week. While it seems quite inconvenient, it involves people and relationships, which make it a priceless experience within the family of God. If I had all the resources I needed, I would have never had the opportunity to ask people to help me, and being helped and helping others I have found to be the best part of ministry.
Rev. Dony K. Donev, M. Div.
17 November 2001 – Sofia, BULGARIA
Mission Bulgaria Week 12
Week 12 – November 4-10, 2001 – Sofia, BULGARIA
This coming Sunday, November 11, Bulgaria is having its Presidential Elections. Please pray, that the newly elect president is good for the existing and further development of the Evangelical Movement in Bulgaria.
In a few days the Bulgarian Church of God Headquarters will be publishing the monthly ministerial bulletin, which goes to all ministers, pastors, evangelists, and social workers – about 500 addresses. The bulletin will contain all of the Sunday School lessons published until now. This would increase the amount of lesson distributed with several thousand copies. The Sunday School Pilot Program will be further presented to all ministers at the National Elders Council on December 1, 2001. Along with the program I will be presenting an educational course for Sunday School teachers, purposing to establish the foundations of the Sunday School Program as a national event in every local Church of God congregation.
On another note, mother was invited to speak at the monthly lady’s meeting, which is organized by the Central Church of God-Sofia the first Monday of each month. She also traveled to Yambol for the recording in her radio program. Please pray for her, since she has been staying with us here in Sofia to help us, as at the same time she has been traveling to Yambol back and forth for her radio program and along with her mission team taking care of the 11 churches there.
Mission Bulgaria Week 11
Week 11 – October 28 November 3, 2001 – Sofia, BULGARIA
The beginning of November surprised us with the first snow. This is usual for the Sofia region. Although the snow melted right way, the weather got colder and we all felt that the winter is here. We are facing a very busy week, since the pastoral council left for a conference in Germany. I will be preaching three services on Sunday, and then the services for the week. This is combined with the organization of the meeting of the National Council of Elders planned for the end of November.
Along with this Dr. Rodney Howard Brown will be in Bulgaria November 5-7. His crusade is organized by one of our local churches in Sofia. Please pray for the services here.
Friday night, along with representatives from a mission in England, I traveled to an orphanage where some renovations have been made – repairs of the building, heating system, inventory, etc. The orphanage is close to the town of Pravetz in the Balkan mountains of Bulgaria. Both children and teachers were happy to receive us and we spent quite some time with them. I hope that the work can be completed before the winter fully comes.
