Services in Shoumen and Jeravna
Shoumen, Bulgaria is a place of rich history and tradition. The town, which is the location of the first Bulgarian capitals, Pliska and Veliki Preslav, was originally founded in the early Middle Ages as a fortress and settlement and by the end of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was given it’s current name.
It was in Shoumen that this past weekend, the Bibiliata.com tour was held. The events began with a Saturday night region-wide youth service, which was hosted by the Shoumen First Assemblies of God. The message delivered was entitled “Guarding Your Heart”. During the alter call three young people dedicated their lives to Christ. Our team also ministered during the Sunday morning service.
Afterwards, we traveled to the village of Jeravna and held an evening service in the local church. Following the service, the church members and villagers gathered on the hilltop for a time of fellowship and singing. As, the sun set and the livestock was being shepherded in for the evening, the village was filled with beautiful, heartfelt praise. Jeravna is only a small town which reached its’ prosperity in the 18th – 19th century as a center for craftsmanship, trade and revival; yet, the people have not forgotten their roots and these defining characteristics are still present in Jeravna today.
The Faith Channel
A new Bulgarian TV channel with Christian orientation was launched in the beginning of the month. The “Faith Channel” will be running on the 7 Days TV Bulgarian national network. The channel will be featured on the Bulgarian Eurotour SAT and Eurocom, as well as by a number of local cable companies. It will reflect on issues connected with history, ethnology, folklore and religion among Bulgarians in the country and abroad. The “Faith Channel” is a multi-thematic media addressing the spiritual life of the country. A great deal of its’ production will be provided by the Shalom TV Company. The team claims no political independence and religious tolerance in the shown content.
Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association
August 20, 2006 by Cup&Cross
Filed under Publication
Exclusive Report: Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association
August 19, 2006 – Yambol, BULGARIA
It is a great privilege and joy to announce that on August 19, 2006 in the city of Yambol a national assembly of Bulgarian active chaplains, pastors, ministers and military men and women formed the official founding meeting of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association. This event is a direct result of five-years of prayer, hard work and anticipation based on a God-given vision for a renewed and organized national chaplaincy ministry in the country of Bulgaria. The Association has been active for five years now, but it was this marking moment of time that the delegates received a historical resolution for renewal and integration of the chaplaincy ministry in all professional areas of life in Bulgaria. Text of the resolution follows:
Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association
Resolution No. 1
August 19, 2006
Diana Palace, Yambol
We,
The founding members of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association in its first national assembly today August 19, 2006 in hotel Diana Palace, Yambol
In regard of:
1. Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and its upcoming integration in the European Union
2. The transformations within the Bulgarian Army from mandatory toward standard paid service and the participation of Bulgarian contingent in NATO and UN missions
3. Contract agreement for NATO airbases on Bulgarian territory
4. The strategic renewal of chaplaincy ministry in the Bulgarian army
5. And the present need of chaplaincy ministry integrated in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system,
Declare our support toward:
1. The establishment of legal grounds for regular paid chaplaincy service in the Bulgarian army, Ministry of Internal Affairs, jail and prison systems, Bulgarian seaports and airports, and the healthcare system
2. Tolerant and equal representations of all confessions in the chaplaincy ministry
3. The implementation of a contextualized chaplaincy model
4. The integration of chaplaincy education in all Bulgarian theological higher educational institutions
5. And the educational and consultant work on government and church levels.
We, the founding members of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association will work toward the renewal, popularization and equal religious representation of chaplaincy ministry in all professional areas.
Karandila Youth Camp
Once again our team attended the Karandila Youth Camp and this year during the Friday night service, which is dedicated to praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 41 were baptized. For this we praise the Lord. On Friday night after a multi-media presentation of our website www.bibliata.com, we delivered a message on God’s grace and the importance of restoring fallen ones back to the faith and the first love.
People every year come from all over the country of Bulgaria and abroad to take part in this camp meeting, which is held the first full week of August. It was reported that over 800 were in attendance with more than 400 tents registered. The various countries that were represented were Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and the United States.What takes place each year on the mountain of Karandila is life-changing. It is an experience in which one returns back to the basics. In this humbleness and with such longing desire many are touched by the power of God. When witnessing hundreds of young people falling to their knees and crying before the Lord there is no doubt that there is revival in the lands of Bulgaria.
Stephen Baldwin in Bulgaria
Stephen Baldwin has been in Bulgaria filming one of his latest movies, The Harpy to be released in 2007. It is becoming an annual tradition for the Hollywood actor and producer to visit the country. He is a newly born again Christian who, among his many titles, is the director, co-producer and host of Livin’ It, a Christian based broadcast which features extreme sport athletes. This show is the newest addition to the worldwide ministry of the Luis Palau Association. While in the capital of Sofia, He and his wife Kennya Deodato visited with several churches. When in attendance with the Blaga Vest Church in Sofia, the secular television station, bTV filmed the service with Baldwin testifying and aired it later that night.
At New Wave Again
New Wave is a Bulgarian based movement which calls Christian youth for a nationwide gathering every couple of months. The movement which begun several years ago, has grown to be a national phenomenon where youth from all over the country can come and experience the power of God.
We were first invited to present www.bibliata.com and other projects of ours at New Wave in March, 2006. At the end of June, we spoke on their web radio station and were invited for a second presentation. We were able to respond as we traveled to the Sarafovo youth camp, near the Black Sea port city of Bourgas where New Wave was held. Five from our team were able to attend the presentation: Mitko, who heads the GSM Bible project, Dani who supervises the Constantinople Bible project, Vladi, who works with the CLC bookstore bus, Kathryn and myself. We presented three of our newest projects: (1) the national Christian news database, (2) the website for audio and video sermons and (3) the Bibliata.com web radio station. During our time we also spoke to the youth concerning their priorities and about walking the waves of life with the greatest of Wave Walker, Jesus Christ. We were able to meet with many of our partners in ministry and most important of all with the people who visit and use our websites every day
Radio.Bibliata.com
July 16, 2006 was the official release date of Radio.Bibliata.com – a web-based radio promoting Christian values to Bulgarian Christians in Bulgaria and around the world. The web-based radio has been a long-term goal of our team. Many years ago, when this technology was still innovative we developed a module for progressive play of MP3 files purposing to present several Bulgarian gospel series. Since they were available for a free download from the website, we left the idea for web radio aside. Then, during the development of the Bulgarian Audio Bible in 2002-2003, we renewed our work on the project with the goal to play continuously Bible verses and chapters.
Finally, when we released the website for audio and video sermons, our team decided that we have the needed content to begin a 24-hours radio broadcast. The radio station was released and accepted with great interest. Currently, a 24-hour Bulgarian gospel play list is available online. We are currently working on four new options as follows: (1) Audio Bible modules, (2) talk shows, (3) sermons and (4) news block on the hour.
Services in Sofia
The Nazarene church in Sofia invited us to participate in their service last Sunday. We were able to respond to the invitation as part of our regular trips to the capital Sofia and ministered in the service Sunday afternoon. The church began only a few years back, as U.S. missionaries prepared the groundbreaking for its foundation. A close friend of ours from my hometown Yambol is now pastoring the church that is currently located in the Mladost suburb of Sofia.
Over 20 evangelical churches are located in the Mladost suburb of Sofia alone. The Nazarene church, for example, shares a building with the local Baptist church. Another large independent evangelical church is anticipating a building permit to build close by. The Church of God is also represented with a congregation and several cell groups. As the capital city is turning into a mega metropolis doubling its size to 2.5 million people, many of them seek residence in the suburbs where prices seem to be more affordable. This gives the church a unique opportunity to address a much larger congregation than anticipated when its original location was chosen. We are hoping to continue working with the church in the future helping them with reconstructing their strategy for a more openly expressed evangelistic approach toward ministry and growing of the membership.
Meeting the NATO Chaplain
After an endless number of protocol procedures, we were finally able to meet with the NATO chaplain in the Bezmer Airbase near Yambol. Chaplain (Maj.) David G. Waweru is a Kenyan national who serves in the United States mission to Bulgaria. He has spent the past two years stationed in Germany and has served in Iraq. This is his second trip to Bulgaria as part of a united training exercise between the United States’, Bulgarian and Romanian army forces and he is hoping to come back next year for a longer period of time.
Chaplain Waweru and his assistant met us at the gate of the Bezmer Airbase and we were able to spend time discussing a wide range of current issues such as: United States military presence in the country, army morale, integration of military models in the joint forces, the role of the chaplain, the Bulgarian attitude toward war, the NATO bases and chaplains in the Bulgarian Army. Some helpful points were reached on the expected visit of United States Chief Chaplain to Bulgaria. We also spoke about the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association and the training course that it will offer through the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in the fall. We agreed to pass information through the chain of command and work toward future mutual projects.
More Services in Yambol
After so many years away from my hometown Yambol, I have been privileged to preach a number of services that are now turning into a series of evangelistic events. The last one was on July 19, 2006 as the pastor asked me to prepare a message on the concluding chapter of I Corinthians as a part of the church’s annual Bible book study. Our response was to present an in-depth study of the chapter focusing on giving, women in ministry, true apostleship and expectance of the Lord’s return. All of these issues have been and remain critical for the Bulgarian evangelical church. Therefore, the message used some elements of our common protestant heritage in Bulgaria to identify the issues with their theological and practical resolving not only in the local congregation, but in the movement as a whole.
