2006: The Year of Promise
In the beginning of 2006 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we declared 2006 the Year of Promise. It was natural then as the year began that we sought the Lord’s will in prayer and fasting to discover and possess the promises. As the months passed by the considerable amount of ministry overtook most of our time and attention. At times we held 3-4 services per day, an evening revival service, had just enough time to eat a meal, go to bed and prayerfully start the new day. But we never stopped wondering about the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Having spent over seven months of the year ministering all over the country of Bulgaria, at the end of 2006 we are in the process of evaluating our work, available resources and plans for the next year. We are reviewing the videos, going through the thousands of pictures, checking our reports, over viewing our rapidly growing ministry’s media presence, reevaluating our statistical information and ministry results and looking for the points of success and failure. Over 55,000 traveled miles, two and a half broken cars, multiple trips with airplanes, buses, trains and sometimes even on foot; close to a hundred congregations involved, tens of thousands of people touched through the internet, but most of all countless handshakes, prayers through laying of hands, encouraging words and always finding strength through the struggles to give to other. And as everything comes together at the end of the year, we slowly but surely realize that the Year of promise is not about us. It is not about a promise which God wanted to give to us, but it is about His promise which He wants delivered to the others. All ministry results are nothing, if His promises have not reached the people He loves. And sitting in the office with video, audio, photos, numbers charts, maps, analyzes, satisfaction from the much success and pain from the many failures, we come to the recognition of this one thing – we have been granted the privilege to bring the promises of God to the people whom He has loved from the foundation of the world. And this is the True Year of Promise.
Thus, our payer remains the same: “May God use us to bring His promises to the people around us.”
Happy New Years from all of us at Cup & Cross Ministries.
Christmas in Bulgaria
Although the Communist Regime outlawed the Christmas holiday for 45 years in Bulgaria, Christmas has always found a place in the hearts of the Bulgarian people. For centuries since the Bulgarian national conversion to Christianity in 864 AD Christmas has been a central Bulgarian holiday. As Orthodox Christianity is still the main religion in Bulgaria for many, Christmas has a Christian Orthodox accent including the Orthodox traditions and customs. Yet, the Bulgarian Protestant community has supported for the preservation of this Christian holiday especially during the time of the Communist persecution.
According to the Orthodox customs the Christmas holiday begins 40 days before the Christmas Eve. This time is called “Great Fasting” and is a time when no meat is eaten.
Christmas Eve is the end of the Great Fasting. On Christmas Eve the family has dinner together. The hostess prepares nine meals without meat. Some of them are: beans, vine or cabbage sarmi (vine or cabbage leaves stuffed with rice), stuffed peppers, pickles, walnuts, apples, honey, ushaf (a traditional Bulgarian meal prepared by boiling dried fruits), and round bread.
After the fast is over meat is served. Usually most of the Bulgarians eat pork chops, kebab and sausages. The kebab is prepared by cutting in small pieces the pork stewed with onions and pepper. The sausages are made of homemade minced pork.
Central for the Bulgarian Christmas dinner is the bantiza, which is a baked strudel like pastry filled with an egg and cheese mixture. A coin is put in it for luck. The oldest man in the family breaks the banitza and gives a piece everyone. The one who gets the piece with the coin in it is believed to be very wealthy in the New Year. The Christmas Eve table is not cleared until the following morning, a typical tradition to insure that there will be plenty of food in the coming year.
“Surovaknitza” is another typical Bulgarian Christmas tradition. The surovaknitza is made of a cornel stick/cudgel. It is pruned so that several branches remain on the two sides of it all along its length. Then the branches that are one against another (at the same level of the stick) are tied so that they form something like a round circle one half of which is at the left side and the other half is at the right side of the stick. Three or four such circles are formed on the length of the stick as the upper circles will be smaller and the lower circles will be wider. The circles and the stick are wrapped with woolen and cotton yarn (usually white and red). It is decorated with little balls made out of cotton, strings of popcorn, raisins, prunes, dried apple slices, dried peppers, etc.
The ready surovaknitza is used by the children to pat on the backs of their parents, grandparents, extended family, friends and any visitors in the house after the Christmas Eve. While patting, the kids say a wish for health, wealth, happiness and all the best to one patted. The patted person pays a dollar or five dollars to the child in order to receive a blessing in the New Year.
Around Christmas many Bulgarians celebrate their name days. It is almost like a birthday, except instead of a date the parson’s name is celebrated. This is usually done on the day of a particular saint after whom the person is named. For example:
December 4 – St. Barbara’s Day
December 6 – St. Nicholas’ Day (Nikoulden)
December 20 – St. Ignatius’ Day (Ignazhden)
January 1 – Vassil’s Day
January 6 – Epiphany – St. Jordan’s Day
January 7 – St. John’s Day (Ivanovden)
Another Christmas ritual is called Koleduvane. All the participants in it are men – bachelors, fiances and young men who have just married. This ritual group has its own name that differs from place to place and is connected with the region of the country – koledari, kolednitzi, koledare, etc. All the men choose their leader at St. Ignatius’ Day – he is called stanenik, usually an older man. The group has 10-15 persons. Each group includes younger boys (they are called cats), who walk around the houses and tell the hosts that the koledari are coming. The koledari wear old Bulgarian traditional clothing. They go round the houses in the village or in the town from midnight till dawn. On their way, in front of the gate and in the house they sing specific ritual songs. The songs differ from one another according to the place they are sung and the person they are dedicated to. As a whole, these songs are ritual wishes for happiness in the family and rich crop in the farm. The first song usually begins with this verse:
“Get up, get up dear host!
We are singing for you!
We have come to visit you,
We are good guests for you, koledari!”
The leader of the group carries in his hands the ring – shaped bun, which is a gift from the host. After the songs have been sung he tells a Christmas blessing:
“Let God grant you health
We have brought in your house revelry! “
Besides the ring–shaped bun the hosts present the koledari with money, meat, flour, wine, beans and bacon. This ritual ends up with a common feast. Every family has a Christmas tree in their home; some are decorated with electric lights, some with candles. The tree is usually decorated with ornaments purchased in the store, cotton balls to imitate snow and a star on the top. Gifts are placed under the tree.
Services in South Carolina
We are excited to be able to hold services in the Carolinas again. While through its history our ministry has been closely connected to churches in this region of the country, we have been naturally unable to preach there during our term of ministry in Eastern Europe. The services in Anderson, La France and Pendleton reconnected us with our past history in ministry and reinforced our vision for the future. We are thankful for the given opportunity and the multitude of friends we were able to see once again.
Chaplain Dees Visits Bulgaria
The Director of Ministry to the Military, General Bob Dees and his team visited Bulgaria in November upon the invitation of the Bulgarian Ministry to Military and the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association. His visit included several key meetings among which were:
1. Lecturing at the Bulgarian Military Academy and meeting with the director of the academy, General-Major Manev.
2. Meeting with the Bulgarian Union of Retired Officers represented by director General-Lieutenant Topalov.
3. Meetings with Defense Ministry officials.
As a member of NATO, Bulgaria is already working on a strategy for implementing military chaplains. With Bulgaria’s acceptance in the European Union next month, this dream is getting close to its realization. With strategically offered chaplaincy training courses and non-government chaplaincy organizations, Bulgarian evangelicals remain the vanguard responding to the idea for military chaplaincy.
Ministering in Chicago
In November we were able to minister at the Bulgarian Church in Chicago. The Bulgarian Evangelical congregation there celebrated its 10-year anniversary this year since its registration as a Church of God congregation. The church is also the first Bulgarian congregation established and legally registered outside of Bulgaria since the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago has accomplished a lot in the past few years, making a stand for the faith. The congregation has experienced continuous growth and the pastor shared with us their long-term plans for purchasing additional building space in the future. We spoke about the problems of the congregation as a Bulgarian subculture and were able to share with the leadership some key ideas from our research among the Bulgarian Diaspora in North America and to provide structural solution to some of the problems they are experiencing in the ministry.
Revival Campaign in the United States
What a great and exciting month of ministry. We held 33 services in 24 days in Bulgaria during the month of October as part of our 2006 Revival Harvest Campaign. Many were touched and transformed by the power of God while ministering during two revivals and a number of regional meetings and youth rallies in major Bulgarian cities. On Monday night during our last revival before our departure which was held in the oldest Bulgarian Pentecostal church in the Black Sea port city of Bourgas, a lady received her miracle and was healed from cancer. The case was later confirmed by her doctor.
We are happy to announce the continuation of Revival Harvest Campaign 2006 in the United States, as we have already scheduled ministry appointments in Washington D.C., Chicago, throughout South Carolina and Florida
Chaplaincy Course at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute
A chaplaincy course has been in the preparatory stages for the past two years. It was first taught as a pilot class in the spring of 2006 to approximately twenty regional superintendents who oversee army chaplaincy groups in large Bulgarian towns. It was then recalibrated for the Bulgarian context and presented to the board of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance for accreditation. We were able to teach the chaplaincy course for a first time in the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute during the month of October, 2006. With my wife Kathryn as a co-instructor, we taught the course to active chaplains and Christian consultants. As a result, the course has been approved by the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute and the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance and accepted in the program of the Institute to become the basis for the masters in chaplaincy ministry program which the Institute is initiating in 2007.
Some recent chaplaincy developments in chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria:
November, 2006 – A master program in chaplaincy ministry has been developed for the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia
October, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry is offered at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in Sofia
August, 2006 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was officially registered
July, 2006 – Cup & Cross Ministries submitted a research paper to NATO\’s Manfred Wörner Foundation dealing with the case of underground chaplaincy within the Bulgarian Armed Forces
March, 2006 – A contextualized course for chaplaincy ministry was offered in Veliko Turnovo
February, 2006 – www.kapelanstvo.com was released to serve as the official website of the chaplaincy movement in Bulgaria
October, 2005 – A national training seminar in Veliko Turnovo was held
October, 2005 – The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was presented before the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance
September, 2005 – Regional meeting in Nova Zagora which addressed the current issues
August, 2005 – A regional chaplaincy meeting in Sliven
July, 2005 – Publication of camouflage New Testaments and Bibles, some of which we distributed to Bulgarian army personal including the divisions currently serving in Iraq
Presidential Elections 2006
Bulgaria’s current Socialist President Georgi Parvanov took a further lead in the presidential race, the final votes count revealed. Parvanov garnered a record high 64.033 % of the votes, while the rival he will face at the run-off, leader of ultra-nationalist party Attack Volen Siderov won 21.491% of the votes. Parvanov’s other main rival, the hardliner right-wing candidate Nedelcho Beronov ranked third with 9.737 % of the counted votes.
Fourth came the other rightist runner Georgi Markov, former constitutional judge and a symbolic figure of Bulgaria’s transition to democracy. Markov, who ran together with young businesswoman Maria Ivanova, garnered 2.716% of the votes.
Parvanov ran together with Vice President Anguel Marin as an independent, but had the backing of the governing Socialist Party. An eventual victory would make him the first politician to win re-election, as no president has ever been re-elected since the collapse of the communist regime in 1989.
A total of about 11,400 polling sections across the country were opened for citizens to vote and more than six million Bulgarians were eligible to partake in the elections. The sites in the capital only were guarded by almost 2,000 police officers.
Bulgaria’s Re-Election Headed President Georgi Parvanov is most likely to win in run-offs, gaining the lead over nationalist Volen Siderov, show surveys of drvrral sociology agency. According to the poll there will be no change in turnouts on Sunday, compared to October 22. Parvanov will win a convincing victory over Siderov in run-offs and is likely to get three quarters of the votes, MBMD pollster Petar Zhivkov said.
According to MBMD’s exit polls from the first round of the elections, 40 % of the people who voted for rightists’ candidate Nedelcho Beronov have declared they will not vote in run-offs if they are between Parvanov and Siderov. Part of the people will vote in run-offs not because they actually support Parvanov, but because they want to protect the European appearance of the country from ultra nationalist influence.
Revival in Sofia: Power United
This week the capital Sofia hosted a national revival meeting organized by Cup & Cross Ministries to celebrate 100 years of the Azusa Street Revival and 10 years of the beginning of the www.Bibliata.com website. The revival opened Sunday night at the Future and Hope United Church of God with a mega youth service in which we officially celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our website bibliata.com. The Bulgarian gospel band Face to Face performed at the opening with several of their latest hits. Bulgarian Christian rock band Extremum was also present at the concert. Praise and worship was followed by a fresh Word on Christian Liberty and Unity. More than twenty members of the www.bibliata.com team located in Sofia attended and after the service there was a special time of fellowship. Some drove for over three hours just to be a part of what the Lord is doing. Others we met in person for the first time as all of our communications have been over the internet.
Monday and Tuesday nights followed with praise and worship led by the Elley praise team from the Sofia Church of God. In a tag team style, Dr. Dony K. Donev and Pastor Tony Elenkov brought two extraordinary messages on God’s holiness and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. There was a convicting spirit followed by a joyous liberating spirit which brought those present in tears. At the alters, this indescribable holy presence was so great that people could not stand and where falling in the Spirit even without the laying on of hands. About ten people received the baptism.
Wednesday night was the concluding service. The Institute for Bulgarian Protestant History brought a three-part lecture on the origins of the modern Pentecostal Movement, its beginning in Bulgaria and its future developments. This service was very unique due to that it was more of a service which lectured on the history of Pentecost in Bulgaria. The three ministers who spoke represented three different Bulgarian Pentecostal denominations. It was amazing that the revival brought in unity worship teams, ministers and people from many different denominations. The presence of the Lord during all services was very strong and full of power.
Services in Sinemoretz
Along with our regular services in the Black Sea town of Ahtopol, we have continued to hold services in the close by village of Sinemoretz. Sinemoretz is located almost at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. As a matter of fact, in the near past the village was in a closed area accessible only by people who traveled abroad carrying all necessary documents to cross the border. Times have changed and now Sinemoretz is a modern sea resort equipped with everything necessary for luxury and functionality. The five-star hotel, Prima Vista, is located at the very coast of the Black Sea and along with a number of other local facilities it forms the new skyline of the sea resort. The Pentecostal church in town is small, but growing. It is comprised predominantly by locals, although in the summer months it has many visitors. We have been holding two services a week in Sinemoretz on Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons.
