1996-1997 Ministry Report

After a successful time of ministry in the Carolinas, Georgia and Chicago I returned to my home country Bulgaria and during the summer of 1996 I was able to hold several crusades in the mountain towns of Trayvna, Zeravna, Tvurditza, Yablanitza and Pravetz.

In October 1996 I began working with the Mission for Christian Upbringing which at that time operated in consortium with the Life with God Church of God (United) in Yambol. During this time the mission team of the church began two new churches in the region and provided pastoral care for 14 more. We held as many as four services every day. This work grew to what today is known as Mission Maranatha – a home mission department of Cup and Cross Ministries International. Since 1999, Mission Maranatha has started 9 Pentecostal churches in the Yambol area, provided Sunday School literatures, held a weekly radio program, organized social care centers and numerous conferences, crusades and meetings. The team Mission Maranatha serves to several hundred people as their main ministry methodology are ongoing prayer meetings and fasting organized among all the churches. The results have been magnificent as hundreds of people have been saved and many have received healing and miracles as the power of God is evident in every service.

In 1996 the idea of Shalom TV and the Bulgarian Christian Coalition was born. Both events happened in the middle of the 1997 economical crises in Bulgaria. As a result on January 10, 1997 the Socialist government seized power and a new government of democrats assumed political leadership of the country. Regardless of the political and economical tensions, our ministry continued strong. Shalom TV continued its operation from Yambol Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Christian Coalition was eighth in the April 1997 Parliamentarian Elections.

The Great City of Yambol

The town of Yambol is situated in southeastern Bulgaria and is located along the banks of the river Toundja (ancient name Tonzos). The rich and fertile lands in the river valley have been inhabited ever since the most ancient times.

Proof of human dwellings of prehistoric times are the dozens of ancient tomb hills that have been found in the area. Moreover, remnants of the so called Rasheva and Marcheva tomb hills dating as far back as the Neolithic, Etnolithic and Bronze Ages lie within the area of the modern town. Some of the findings discovered in them are exposed in the Louvre in Paris and the Archaeological Museum in Sofia. The larger part of them, however, belongs to the Museum of History in Yambol.

Today the population of Yambol is about 100 000 inhabitants. The town is a district centre in southeastern Bulgaria with a population of over 200 000 people, and at present it is the administrative centre of Yambol district.

Best developed were the chemical industry, food processing, wine production, the textile and cloth industries and furniture manufactories.

The district of Yambol is a huge producer of agricultural products such as wheat and barley, fruits and vegetables.

In consequence of the social-economic changes that have taken place in our country the main industrial enterprises in the recent past have been closed down nowadays. This results in mass unemployment and considerable impoverishment of the active population in town.

Protestantism in Bulgarian

Protestantism was introduced in Bulgaria by missionaries from the United States in 1857-58, amid the National Revival period. The two main denominations, the Methodists and Congregationalists, divided their areas of influence. The former predominated in northern Bulgaria and the latter in the south. In 1875 the Protestant denominations united in the Bulgarian Evangelical Philanthropic Society, which later became the Union of Evangelical Churches in Bulgaria. Besides setting up churches, the Protestants established schools, clinics, and youth clubs, and they distributed copies of the Bible and their own religious publications in Bulgarian.

The Union of Evangelical Churches produced the first translation of the entire Bible into Bulgarian in 1871 and founded the nondenominational Robert College in Constantinople, where many Bulgarian leaders of the post-independence era were educated. After independence in 1878, the Protestants gained influence because they used the vernacular in services and in religious literature.

The communist regimes subjected Protestants to even greater persecution than the Catholics. In 1946 church funding was cut off by a law curbing foreign currency transactions. Because many ministers had been educated in the West before World War II, they were suspected automatically of supporting the opposition parties. In 1949 thirty-one Protestant clergymen were charged with working for American intelligence and running a spy ring in Bulgaria. All church property was confiscated, and the churches’ legal status was revoked. Most of the mainstream Protestant denominations maintained the right to worship nominally guaranteed by the constitution of 1947.

According to estimates in 1991, the 5,000 to 6,000 Pentecostals made the largest Protestant group in Bulgaria. The Pentecostal movement was brought to Bulgaria in 1921 by Russian immigrants. The movement later spread to Varna, Sliven, Sofia, and Pleven. It gained popularity in Bulgaria after freedom of religion was declared in 1944, and the fall of Zhivkov brought another surge of interest. In 1991 the Pentecostal Church had thirty-six clergy in forty-three parishes, with sufficient concentration in Ruse to petition the government to establish a Bible institute there.

Postmodern Rebels

Almost one hundred years ago, Pentecostalism emerged as a rejection of the current social structure. Sin, corruption and lack of holiness were pervasive, spreading not only throughout society, but also establishing strongholds within the mainstream denominations. With its Wesleyan holiness roots, Pentecostalism took an open stand against the sin that ruled both the church and the community. Also, Pentecostalism prophetically condemned the approaching modernity of the 20th century as being morally declined. As a rebel against modernity in the culture of the 20th century, Pentecostalism became postmodern by rejecting modernism through its Wesleyan-holiness identity and the Biblical truth for church and community. Indeed, the principal model of rebelling against sin and unrighteousness in the context of social injustice was provided for the church by Jesus Christ Himself.

In the beginning of the 21st century, much is said about the church becoming a postmodern system serving the needs of postmodern people in an almost super-market manner. Yet, again, it seems reasonable to suggest that the Pentecostal paradigm from the beginning of modernity will work once again in postmodernity. While again moral values are rejected by the present social system, Pentecostalism must take a stand for its ground of holiness and reclaim its identity as a rebel – this time an antagonist to postmodern marginality and nominal Christianity. A stand against sin must be taken at all cost, regardless if it evokes alienation or even persecution from society. Postmodern individuals are on a quest, searching for an answer how to deal with sin. Pentecostal identity holds the answer to this question. If an open stand against sin means rebellion against postmodernism, then Pentecostals proudly deserve the name Postmodern Rebels.

Cup & Cross to Present at Society of Pentecostal Studies

Cup & Cross Ministries is presenting two research papers at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society of Pentecostal Studies in Cleveland. The research deals with Bulgarian evangelical congregations ministering in North America and with the situation of Evangelical Churches in Bulgaria. Both papers will be presented Saturday March 10, 2007 at 1:30 pm in Humanities Center room 202 of Lee University. All are invited.

Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Gains Legal Status

The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association has finally received official legal status with the Bulgarian government, after battling courts throughout the country for the last four months. Global religious freedom watchdog FORUM 18 closely followed the case of chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria recognizing its “underground” status and releasing an informative article about the current situation of chaplaincy in Bulgaria which can be found at: http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=919

After a decade of ministry, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association held a national founding meeting in August, 2006 and submitted a petition for registration with the Bulgarian court. The purpose of the establishment was the legal representation of Bulgarian evangelicals who minister in various fields of chaplaincy despite legal limitations and open government restrictions. Their campaign for legalizing chaplaincy in the Bulgarian armed forces has formed “The Case of Underground Chaplaincy in Bulgaria.”

After months of legal battle, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was officially registered through the Sofia Municipal Court on February 23, 2007. The result was made possible by a joint initiative of the Association’s establishing members, the representing legal team led by former Bulgarian presidential nominee, Ivan Gruikin with the assistance of legal council Latchezar Popov of the Rule of Law Institute and religious-liberty lawyer Viktor Kostov of the Balkan Center for Law and Freedom.

Problems of Evangelism

The second book of former overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God Pavel Ignatov, was released in February, 2006 under the title Problems of Evangelism. The text overviews the period from the birth of the Bulgarian Protestant Movement to the beginning of the Communist Regime in Bulgaria. This is part of a three volume work dealing with the history of Bulgarian Protestantism with a special focus on the history of the Bulgarian Church of God. The introductory volume published in 2005 under the title The Bloodless Persecution of the Church was a brief overview of early Bulgarian Pentecostalism including the early history of the Bulgarian Church of God Movement. Currently, the series is the most up-to-date historical overview of Bulgarian Pentecostalism. For his research, Pavel Ignatov has been nominated for an honorary doctoral degree by the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute.

Bulgarian Church of God

The prehistory the Bulgarian Church of God is rooted in the rise of the Protestantism on the Balkans in the 1800s when American missionaries were allowed to enter the Ottoman Empire. As early as 1827 The British Bible Society began working on a Protestant translation of the Bulgarian Bible. In 1871 the first Bulgarian Protestant Church was founded in the town of Bansko. In the next year the American Missionary School was established in the town of Samokov. In 1878 Bulgaria was liberated from 500 years of Turkish yoke, and during 1890-1910 a great number of Protestant denominations, among which Methodist, Baptists, Lutherans and Congregationalists started local churches throughout Bulgaria.

In 1920 Ukrainian immigrants Voronev and Zaplishny traveled to Russia to preach the Pentecostal message. On the way his ship stopped at the Bulgarian port of Bourgas where he preached in the Congregational church and several are baptized with the Holy Spirit. This event marked the beginning of Bulgarian Pentecostalism, which in the next few years spread throughout the country.

In the 1930s the movement called itself the Bulgarian Pentecostal Union (now affiliated with the Assemblies of God). A more conservative Pentecostal group with congregations located mainly in Northern Bulgaria emerged and formed the union called The Northern Brothers (or Tinchevists after the name of the leader Stoyan Tintchev). The group called themselves the Church of God. After the 1944 Communist Revolution in Bulgaria it continued its existence as an underground organization and was severally persecuted. In the 1980s the Bulgarian Church of God established connection and became a part of the Church of God (Cleveland, TN).

Healing Revival in Seneca

In the beginning of February we began a Friday Night Healing Revival at the High Falls Church of God in Seneca. We committed ourselves to spend a month of prayer and fasting before God, studying and preaching the Word while expecting healings and miracles to happen. Services began February 2nd, as we invited other churches to join us in prayer and fasting expecting God’s miraculous intervention through a fresh experience of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Various Healings Reported
Several healings were reported as early as the first Friday night service. Other testimonies followed in the days to come, as people moved in faith and prayed during the altar services. This is no different than our ministry experience in Bulgaria in the past two years, where in the midst of numerous salvations and Holy Spirit baptisms, healings were reported on a regular basis. Just a reminder that God still has the power to save, heal and deliver.

Wave of Healing Revival
We have received responses from churches as far as Mississippi and Maryland who have also prayed and fasted for a move of the Spirit expecting miracles and healings. We are persuaded beyond a shadow of a doubt that in the beginning of the 21st century God is doing a new thing purposing a complete physical and emotional healing of his people. If your church has also prayed for a healing revival, please let us know how we can partner with you in this ministry endeavor.

Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago

This is the story of the first Bulgarian Church of God established in the Untied States. The church was started in the building of the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago which at the time was pastored by Rev. Sean O’Neal. Led by a dynamic cross-cultural vision, the congregation expanded in several ethnic branches. Using a strategy home mission’s approach the church soon became an important religious center for the Chicago metro.

In December 1994, the Lord led me to participate in a step-mission trip to Chicago organized by the students of East Coast Bible College. As preparations were made we learned of several Bulgarians who attend the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago. Unfortunately, they had been hurt by some Bulgarian ministers who had visited them before and were very suspicious of any organized church work. Yet, I was introduced to them and was able to minister to them in several services.

By the end of our mission trip Pastor O’Neal invited me to join him in his attempt to begin a Bulgarian church in the city. Although at this time Chicago was a center for more than 12,000 Bulgarian immigrants no one had attempted to start a Bulgarian Protestant church.

After much prayer I arrived in Chicago on May 27, 1995. In the remaining part of May we created a strategy to reach as many Bulgarians as possible. This included visitation of families, attending Bulgarians social functions, and establishing contact with several Bulgarian organizations active in the Chicago area such as the Bulgarian Club and the Orthodox Church. In June we executed this plan with much success. During this time I lived with a Bulgarian family and slept on the balcony of their apartment on Jackson Boulevard. Often, I had to spend the night in the church building as well. But the most important thing was to carry the vision to the end.

On July 9, 1995 the first organized Bulgarian Church of God was established in Chicago city. I was privileged to preach on the subject of forgiveness as 10 Bulgarians attended. Little I knew that in the years to come much forgiveness will be needed as the church will be torn apart by deep bitterness, personal ambitions, frequent confusion and lack of mission. Yet, while the works of men fails, the work of God remains.

By the end of the summer of 1995 the Bulgarian Church in Chicago had grown to 42 people. Thanks to the faithful and united work of Bulgarians and Americans in the fall of the same year the number was 64. On October 7, 1995, I was able to visit the church in Chicago again and present it to the National Overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God, Pastor Pavel Ignatov who visited the church for the first time. The church became not only the first officially registered Bulgarian Pentecostal congregation in the United States, but also an important social and educational center able to minister to the 100,000 Bulgarians that live in the Great Lake region today.

Called to another mission, I left Chicago on July 30, 1995. The church bulletin upon my departure under Farewell and Appreciation read: “Today we are saying thank you to Dony for a job well done this past summer. He has served our church faithfully, and has been a tremendous blessing to Narragansett Ministries. Immediately following worship this morning, there is a dinner in Dony’s honor in the fellowship hall. And everyone is invited to attend.”

The church congregation presented me with a plaque that represented my efforts and work in Chicago. But for me, this plaque represents much more. It represents the prayers and the vision of many who are continuing the work today, establishing and leading Bulgarian churches around the world to providing pastoral care for many who have left the homeland in search for a better life. To these ministers goes my personal token of appreciation and thanks, “Well done thou good and faithful … “

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