Bulgaria: Historical Highlights

The first Bulgarian state was recognized in 681 A.D. and was a mixture of Slavs and Bulgars. Several years later, the First Bulgarian Kingdom or the “Golden Age” emerged under Tsar Simeon I in 893-927. During this time, Bulgarian art and literature flourished. Also during the ninth century, Orthodox Christianity became the primary religion in Bulgaria and the Cyrillic alphabet was established.

In 1018, Bulgaria fell under the authority of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rule was short-lived, however. By 1185 Bulgarians had broken free of Byzantine rule and, in 1202, they established the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Ottoman domination of the Balkan Peninsula eventually affected Bulgaria in the late 14th century, and by 1396, Bulgaria had become part of the Ottoman Empire. Following the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) and the Treaty of Berlin (1885), Bulgaria gained some autonomy under the Ottoman Empire, but complete independence was not recognized until 1908.

The early-to-mid-1900s in Bulgaria was characterized by social and political unrest. Bulgaria participated in the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912 and 1913) and sided with the Central Powers and later the Axis Powers during the two World Wars. (Although allied with Germany during World War II, Bulgaria never declared war on Russia.)

Following the defeat of the Axis Powers, communism emerged as the dominant political force within Bulgaria. Former King Simeon II, who is currently Prime Minister, was forced into exile in 1946 and remained primarily in Madrid, Spain, until April 2001, when he returned to Bulgaria. (Note: Simeon assumed control of the throne in 1943 at the age of 6 following the death of his father Boris III.) By 1946, Bulgaria had become a satellite of the Soviet Union, remaining so throughout the Cold War period. Todor Zhivkov ruled Bulgaria for much of its time under communism, and during his 27 years as leader of Bulgaria, democratic opposition was crushed, agriculture and industry were nationalized, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church fell under the control of the state.

In 1989, Zhivkov relinquished control, and democratic change began. The first multi-party elections since World War II were held in 1990. The ruling communist party changed its name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party and won the June 1990 elections. Following a period of social unrest and passage of a new constitution, the first fully democratic parliamentary elections were held in 1991 in which the United Democratic Front won. The first direct presidential elections were held the next year.

As Bulgaria emerged from the throes of communism, it experienced a period of social and economic unrest. With the help of the international community, former Prime Minister Ivan Kostov initiated a series of economic reforms in 1997 that helped stabilize the country. Recent elections in 2001 ushered in a new government and president, but the new leadership in Sofia remains committed to Euro-Atlantic integration, democratic reform, and development of a market-based economy.

Mission Maranatha – Bulgaria

Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the world has witnessed a miracle. In the corner of Europe, coming out from the severe Communist persecution and surrounded by the Balkan religious wars, one growing group of Christians is making a difference for the Kingdom of God. Placed on the crossroad of three world religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) and three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), the country of Bulgarian has experienced an on-going spiritual revival in which hundreds of thousands of people have been touched by the power of God. But this miracle is not over just yet. Revival must go on …

In 1996 Mission Maranatha began a powerful and effective ministry in the area of Yambol City. The mission has been laboring in eleven churches, two of which were started by the Home Mission Team of Life of Christ Church of God in 1996-97. The humble work with the two small congregations has continuously grown to be a regional network of true apostolic churches, several of which were founded in villages where there has never been a Protestant church before. The total membership in the churches is over 300 which has been made possible through the powerful outreach ministries to orphans and widows that has touched both individuals and communities in a time of deep economical, political and social crises in Bulgaria.

The itinerary of the small mission team contains the minimum of four weekly trips to villages in the area. They often hold up to twenty services per week as the team is always open for new opportunities for ministry. Their church meetings are often accompanied with miracles and healings, which has drawn many new converts.

Naturally, besides converts and friends the magnitude of the work has drawn much opposition. It comes predominantly from Eastern Orthodox priests and believers, who are part of the traditional religious orientation of Bulgaria. Acting contrary to the established laws and constitutional rights, a nationalistic political organization that deliberately opposes Protestantism has brought a number of threats and manipulation against the outreach work of the church network. Despite the numerous external obstacles and financial difficulties, the work is continuously growing. The members of the team are regularly writing to both Christian and secular newspapers informing of their work. They are often asked to speak about their work at seminars and church meetings, and hold a weekly program on the local radio called Pentecost Today.

Mission Maranatha: Churches of Ministry

• Alexandrovo Church 45 miles away from Yambol has 10 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since May, 2001.
• Bogorovo Church 38 miles away from Yambol has 30 members including the mayor. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since October, 2000.
• Dobrinovo Church 42 miles away from Yambol has 30 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 3 services per week there since March, 2003.
• Iretchekovo Church 20 miles away from Yambol has 26 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since January, 2003.
• Kamenetz Church 32 miles away from Yambol has 50 members including the mayor. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 5 services per week there since February, 2000.
• Leyarovo Church 38 miles away from Yambol has 12 members including the mayor. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 2 services per week there since May, 2000.
• Lulin Church 28 miles away from Yambol has 17 members including the mayor. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 2 services per week there since October, 2000.
• Parvenetz Church 35 miles away from Yambol has 6 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since March, 2003.
• Polyana Church 52 miles away from Yambol has 60 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 2 services per week there since October, 1999.
• Robovo Church 38 miles away from Yambol has 10 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since May, 2000.
• Tamarino Church 30 miles away from Yambol has 10 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 1 service per week there since December, 2002.
• Tchukarovo Church 52 miles away from Yambol has 12 members including the mayor. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 2 services per week there since May, 2000.
• Vodenitchane Church 26 miles away from Yambol has 16 members. Cup & Cross Ministry Team has held 2 services per week there since January, 2003.

He Has Risen Indeed

For many years, we have preached about the Easter morning resurrection. The words of the angels are still true, “He is not here, for He has risen” for Jesus Christ is still alive.

But there is more to the Easter Story that has been happening in the past 2,000 years. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ continues to work in the world beyond the Easter resurrection into our very lives. In the Easter story which the Bible tells, not only Jesus, but we are also risen with Him for Eternity.

Our spiritual resurrection is not without a reason. We are raised for a new spiritual life which becomes the very testimony of Christ’s resurrection. And it is through this testimony, which we call the Gospel, that people continue to be saved today.

The ministry of the Kingdom is the reason for our spiritual resurrection. It is with this purpose in mind, that God gives new life to human kind – that men, women and children may be involved in His global mission to save the creation from sin and death.

Resurrected from spiritual death, we are involved in God’s mission is through the ministry which He has given us. Revived by the Spirit of God, we bring revival to others who are delivered from the state of spiritual death. And thus, we are witnesses of His saving grace until His returns. Because He has risen, we must remain faithful to our spiritual calling for ministry that “Revival must go on …” This is our reason to celebrate Easter.

Molitvata.com Released

A new website dedicated to prayer and fasting was released on April 1, 2007. Molitvata.com (the prayer) is an web co-production of Bibliata.com and Wide-and-High Ministries which presents prayer needs of Bulgarian evangelicals.

Digital Constantinople Bible Released

Cup & Cross Ministries and partners released online the first modern Bulgarian translation of the Bible of 1871. The entire text has undergone a digital revision to fit the modern Bulgarian language and is included in the online Bible parallel.

Radio Ministry Continues

Radio seminars and Bible studies are held weekly on the local network that reaches the church members at their homes and work places. The testimony of this story is that this same radio network was designed, built and used for political propaganda by the Communist Party. For 45 years trained political leaders defended and proclaimed the atheistic message of the Communist Regime teaching people that there is no God. But God has proved that indeed He exists and controls kings and kingdoms. Today, this same radio network is used to proclaim the message of the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through our radio programs, people are taught to revere God and to obey His words. Every week our team receives hundreds of calls, letters and e-mails with questions about our faith and the Bible. Our broadcast reaches thousands of people in their homes and at their work places, but even more important the message of Christ reaches directly their hearts.

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.

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