Bulgarian Protestant Heritage

After presenting at the ETS annual meeting in Washington, D.C. our ministry agenda took us to the great state of Illinois. We were due for a brief research visit at the library of the University of Illinois in Champaign. As one of the top public libraries in the United States, it has archived a large number of volumes related to the Bulgarian history. Once a visitor is allowed to “the stacks,” hundreds of thousand of volumes in the ten story building begin to tell the story of the centuries.

Of a greater interest among them were publications related to Bulgaria’s national renaissance of the 1800s. Many of the items in the library’s catalogue are extremely difficult to find in “the stacks.” Some of them are misfiled; others have not been checked out for decades and have not even received a barcode according to the new standard. Some, many of which in leaf format, have been purchased by the university’s Slavic Research Center and stored with virtually no catalog information.

Some Bulgarian Protestant publications like the Luboslovie journal (1844) and Zornitza (both newspaper and magazine editions) are carefully stored there. Along with them there are various protocols and papers related to the missionary school in Samokov, partial editions of prof. Shishamnov’s studies, 1940s audits of the American College in Sofia, a 1897 Bulgarian almanac, several copies of the almanac published by Bulgarian immigrants in the United States in the 1920s, the Robert’s College Herald, books about and by Riggs, Haskell, Fotinov, McGeehan and much more.

We were able to sort through the items described in the catalogue, check out and scan as many as possible during our short visit. We are hoping to be able to publish them very soon at the Protestantstvoto.com website which we have created as a center for research of Bulgarian Protestant heritage.

Give Thanks

Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to Him through God the Father (Colossians 3:17)

The Scripture advises us to give thanks to God at all times and on all occasions. It also gives thanks itself: Genesis gives thanks for the creation. Exodus gives thanks for the deliverance. Leviticus gives thanks from generation to generation. Numbers gives thanks for each generation. Deuteronomy gives thanks for the law. Joshua gives thanks for the Promised Land. The historical books give thanks because His mercy endures forever. Psalms give thanks with a song. Proverbs give thanks with a word of wisdom. The Prophets give thanks for the coming Messiah.

The Gospels give thanks for the Messiah who has come to the world. Acts give thanks for the Holy Ghost. The Epistles give thanks for we were delivered from sin, saved, sanctified, baptized, adopted to the family of God, healed, restored, blessed and wonderfully placed on the firm rock who is Christ Jesus. Revelation gives thanks for He is coming again to deliver us from the trials and tribulations of the present world and to bring us to the abundant life in the Heavenly City.

We are thankful to God who is our hope for both today and for eternity. Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at Cup & Cross Ministries.

Cup & Cross Presenting at ETS

Cup & Cross Ministries presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Washington, D.C.. The research dealt with a long-term project of ours, namely “The Story of the Bulgarian Bible.” The complete paper is available online here. You can view the complete PowerPoint presentation here.

Revival Campaign in the United States

What a great and exciting month of ministry. We held 33 services in 24 days in Bulgaria during the month of October as part of our 2006 Revival Harvest Campaign. Many were touched and transformed by the power of God while ministering during two revivals and a number of regional meetings and youth rallies in major Bulgarian cities. On Monday night during our last revival before our departure which was held in the oldest Bulgarian Pentecostal church in the Black Sea port city of Bourgas, a lady received her miracle and was healed from cancer. The case was later confirmed by her doctor.

We are happy to announce the continuation of Revival Harvest Campaign 2006 in the United States, as we have already scheduled ministry appointments in Washington D.C., Chicago, throughout South Carolina and Florida

Healing in the Midst of Revival

After the Monday night service of the revival we held in Sofia, a lady came to us and testified of a healing in her left arm where she had been experiencing tremendous pain to the point of not being able to move it. She further reported that during the service the pain completely left her body.

While in revival services in Bourgas a similar healing took place. In the middle of the alter call, an elderly lady testified with a shout and with her hands raise to the Lord in thanks for a physical healing. This lady testified that before the service she could not move her arm or leg on one side of her body and that during the time at the alter she received an instant healing in which she was able to walk without hindrance and could move her arm and open her crippled hand. We also just received confirmation that a lady was healed from cancer during the revival in Bourgas.

Revival is a time of restoration but it is only after we humble ourselves, pray, seek his face and turn from our wicked ways that our sins will be forgiven and there will be healing in the land. We praise the Lord for this dynamos healing power and know that He in not finished with the work He has begun.

Chaplaincy Course at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute

A chaplaincy course has been in the preparatory stages for the past two years. It was first taught as a pilot class in the spring of 2006 to approximately twenty regional superintendents who oversee army chaplaincy groups in large Bulgarian towns. It was then recalibrated for the Bulgarian context and presented to the board of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance for accreditation. We were able to teach the chaplaincy course for a first time in the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute during the month of October, 2006. With my wife Kathryn as a co-instructor, we taught the course to active chaplains and Christian consultants. As a result, the course has been approved by the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance and accepted in the program of the Institute to become the basis for the masters in chaplaincy ministry program which the Institute is initiating in 2007.

Some recent chaplaincy developments in chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria:

November, 2006 – A master program in chaplaincy ministry has been developed for the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia

October, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry is offered at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia

August, 2006 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was officially registered

July, 2006 – Cup & Cross Ministries submitted a research paper to NATO\’s Manfred Wörner Foundation dealing with the case of underground chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Armed Forces

March, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry was offered in Veliko Turnovo

February, 2006 – www.kapelanstvo.com was released to serve as the official website of the chaplaincy movement in Bulgaria

October, 2005 – A national training seminar in Veliko Turnovo was held

October, 2005 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was presented before the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance

September, 2005 – Regional meeting in Nova Zagora which addressed the current issues

August, 2005 – A regional chaplaincy meeting in Sliven

July, 2005 – Publication of camouflage New Testaments and Bibles, some of which we distributed to Bulgarian army personal including the divisions currently serving in Iraq

Cup & Cross in the Church of God News

The work of Cup & Cross Ministries was again recognized by the World Missions Media Department. Two reports were published, the first one dealing with our October ministry appointments (http://www.cogwm.org/news.cfm?sid=2638) and the second one covering the tour in Bourgas, Mega Youth Rally in Varna and the Ten-Year Anniversary of Bibliata.com (http://www.cogwm.org/news.cfm?sid=2640).