X 2007: A Miracle in the Making

by Kathryn N. Donev

As you walk in the garden area going to the Black Sea coastline to catch a glimpse of the sailboat exhibition, you begin to notice posters for an event. Before you are able to read any further you hear off in the distance what appears to be preparations for a concert. Your curiosity draws you closer and you inquire what will be taking place. The sound person tells you that at 7:00 o’clock sharp the Christian music group “Extremum” will be performing here at the open air sea garden auditorium.

It is only 30 minutes till 7:00 so you find a free seat on the bleacher in the back and watch as a large crowd gathers with standing room only. Then the concert begins strong. Before you realize, an hour has past and the call for intermission is given. Shortly you see something being thrown to the crowd. You run to the front and catch a small plastic bag the size of a business card. You open it and find inside a bracelet with the colors of the Bulgarian flag and the text “www.bibliata.com” embossed on the white silicone surface. Instead of returning to your seat you put on your bracelet, remain upfront and the band returns to perform another set of songs.

Twenty minutes until 9:00 pm, just as the sun is setting, a message is delivered which encourages freedom from sin and deliverance from drugs and alcohol. This message is one that you have never heard before and honestly do not think much of it at the moment. You are just interested in hearing more music. To conclude the band takes the stage for their final songs. After, the crowd cheers for more, the band comes back to perform two more songs. The lyrics proclaim “Just show me a moment in your presences” and the band has the crowd repeat after them. At 9:00 pm it’s over and you are ready to go home.

As daylight fades, you find your way back through the garden to a nearby street where you catch a taxi. During the drive you revisit the delivered message of “being free”. You are still a bit confused and want to know more. You look down to the bracelet you put on and before taking the elevator up to your apartment block you stop at the internet café and log on to the website address “Bibliata.com.” As you surf the site you find that you can read the text of the Bible, listen to sermons about the Bible, and even download music from the concert you just attended. At this site’s consortium is where you begin to have your questions answered.

Church ministry must reach beyond the church walls to the places where the oppressed, hopeless, alcoholics and addicted are found, whether that be on a street corner, a sandy beach or even the Internet highways. God\’s love has no limit and as His arms and legs neither should we, as we strive to share His love with those who so disparately need deliverance. The above account illustrates how the event, X at the Black Sea we held on July 28, 2007, may have influenced a single life, but in faith we believe that this event is only the beginning of a much larger ripple, the effects of which will be felt long after the band packed up, the sermon concluded and the sun set. A price cannot be put on this event for it was truly a priceless experience and one that occurred only by the grace of God.

Many obstacles had to be overcome and it is only a miracle that X at the Black Sea became a reality. When the mayor’s offices denied a permit, when funds and means of transportation were limited, when it seemed impossible to acquire the needed equipment and when friends said it would not work, is when God receives the full glory. For it was not with the efforts of money or men that this event happened but by the intervention of the Holy Spirit. As long as you have the Holy Spirit all things are possible. Praise be to God for what He has done and for the miracles He has yet to perform!