Rebuilding the Walls in Stara Zagora

This month the city of Stara Zagora remains in the focus of our ministry, as our travels across Bulgaria took us there several times. First, we were present at the opening of the new auditorium of the Apostolic Christian Center in the city, which has a special objective for ministering among the Romany Gipsy population of the region. Then, we were blessed to return to the Awakening Church of God in Stara Zagora for a powerful and blessed Sunday morning service. And finally, we were invited for a city-wide youth rally with all local congregations in attendance.

Our team held our first Mega Youth Rally in Stara Zagora over three years ago. It was a service one can never forget, for the presence of God was so heavy, that people literally left puddles of tears on the floors at the altar. We have often asked ourselves since then, why the Spirit had such a grave burden for Stara Zagora, expressed through the tears of the young people in attendance. But God had even more in store for this year.

Youth groups with their leaders representing some dozen churches came to the meeting this past Saturday evening. These were church from Stara Zagora and the surrounding villages, as well as from the cities of Plovdiv, Kazanlak, Chirpan and Radnevo. People kept on coming until the building of the hosting Messiah Church was literally slam packed. We delivered a message from the Book of Nehemiah on “Rebuilding the Walls of the Church.” The Word was essentially connected to the historical development of the church context in Stara Zagora, challenging the young people to advance to a new level of their vision filled life, Biblical holiness and unity in the Spirit. What a thrill it is to see God rising a new generation of young people out of the valley of dry bones of the past!