Mega Youth Rally in Bourgas
The second weekend of September our National Bible Tour was held in the First Assemblies of God in the port-sea city of Bourgas. Saturday night, youth groups from town and the surrounding area gathered for a mega youth service during which we premiered our infomercial created for Bibliata.com’s 10-year anniversary. When asking the youth how many use the services of the websites, almost all in attendance raised their hands. This has been the case virtually every place which we have traveled and we are thankful to the Lord for the great potential bibliata.com and the media consortium has reached. We do ask that you keep our Bible Tour in your prayers because it is not without opposition that we are doing what the Lord has called us to do.
In the Sunday morning service we ministered to the first Bulgarian Pentecostal congregation through delivering a message on the Spirit of Pentecost. The alter serve after the message brought virtually all together in prayer, as people were kneeling and crying throughout the building. During our time of ministering in Bourgas we were asked to hold a series of revival services in various Black Sea towns, which will take place in the next few weeks with a concluding week of revival in Bourgas.
30 Days of Prayer
In church today, we talk, read and learn a lot about prayer. Yet, the truth is that in today we do not pray as before. The church of the 21t century is not a praying church. Therefore, on its’ 10-year anniversary and as a part of the National Bible Tour 2006, during the month of September www.bibliata.com calls for 30 Days of Prayer – a national prayer strategy including current, urgent needs of the Bulgarian Evangelical Movement.Week 1
September 1, 2006 – Restoration of the Backslidden
September 2, 2006 – Church Leadership: Bulgarian Pastors and Ministers
Week 2
September 3, 2006 – National Revival in Bulgaria
September 4, 2006 – Spiritual and Physical Harvests
September 5, 2006 – Restoration of Protestant Evangelical Heritage
September 6, 2006 – Unification of the Bulgarian Nation and the Bulgarian Church (In observance of Unification Day in Bulgaria)
September 7, 2006 – Renewal of Family Ties
September 8, 2006 – Child Protection
September 9, 2006 – Mission Work
Week 3
September 10, 2006 – The Hopeless (In observance of World Suicide Prevention Day)
September 11, 2006 – Against Fear (In observance of Patriot Day in the United States)
September 12, 2006 – Sexual Purity and Biblical Moral Principles in the Bulgarian Society
September 13, 2006 – Sanctification and Prayer for Restoration of Holiness in the Bulgarian Church
September 14, 2006 – Return Toward Evangelical Roots
September 15, 2006 – Students of Bulgaria (In observance of the first day of school in Bulgaria)
September 16, 2006 – National Day of Fasting for the Bulgarian Evangelical Movement
Week 4
September 17, 2006 – The Country of Bulgaria
September 18, 2006 – National Prosperity
September 19, 2006 – Abortion Prevention and Prayer for Mothers Who Have Had an Abortion (In observance of Abortion Prevention Day in Bulgaria)
September 20, 2006 – Deliverance from Addictions (In observance of the National Addiction Counselors’ Day)
September 21, 2006 – World Peace (In observance of the International Day of Peace)
September 22, 2006 – Spiritual Freedom (In observance of Independence Day in Bulgaria)
September 23, 2006 – Spirit of Forgiveness
Week 5
September 24, 2006 – Restoring of Friendships and Relationships (In observance of National Good Neighbor Day)
September 25, 2006 – Against Stress and Results of Stress
September 26, 2006 – Physical Healing and Deliverance
September 27, 2006 – Peace for Israel
September 28, 2006 – A Fresh Anointing
September 29, 2006 – The Persecuted Believers
September 30, 2006 – Strength and Endurance
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.
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.
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.
New Services in Yambol
We returned to our home base of Yambol for another series of services as a part of our National Bible Tour. We began with a youth rally for all evangelical churches in the region. The rally was held at the First Assemblies of God Church in Yambol where youth gathered for another experience with God. After the Bibliata.com video presentation and talk about various products and services available on the web through our media consortium, we delivered a message dedicated on Pentecostal identity emerging from a life of holiness and Biblical standard. The message was challenging but well received by the youth and we had a great time ministering at the altar service.
We continued through the regular service on Sunday morning delivering a message on the Spirit of Pentecostal. The church building was packed as many also had to stand outside to doors. Several hundred people also came from close by churches and joined the congregation for the service. The alter service had a great impact not only on the people of Yambol, but on our team as well as most came to the altars for prayer.
After the service many shared their testimonies. An elderly lady came to us to tell us that in our service in Yambol last month, the sharp pain in her heart disappeared and she has not felt it for a month. Many more testified of miraculous healings and spoke of receiving a fresh touch from the Lord.
National Chaplaincy Meeting
Our regular monthly chaplaincy meeting with regional leaders involved in chaplaincy ministry around Bulgaria resulted in a decision toward the final legalization of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association. The date of the national meeting is now set, and we have begun announcing the event to key ministers and churches around Bulgaria. The said national meeting will finalize the foundations of the Association and will lay down its department structure, government involvement and principles of operation. Our action is strongly backed by military officials both locally and oversees, and we are confident that the future cooperation with government representatives will lead to expected results in the field of chaplain ministry in Bulgaria.
Services in Stara Zagora
Our week included eight church services, the last one being in the city Stara Zagora. We traveled to Pravetz where we held two services – one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Then on Sunday we had two more services in Etropole and Yablanitza, after which we traveled to the other side of Bulgaria where we held services in the city of Varna. Our week concluded with a youth rally in Stara Zagora.
While the Pravetz meetings were emotional and the Varna meetings were powerful, the meeting in Stara Zagora included both tears and Pentecostal power. Youth from all evangelical churches in town came with their youth pastors and friends to the Messiah Church to watch our Bibliata.com presentation and hear the message which initiated our National Bible Tour 2006.
I have preached many youth rallies and revivals both in the United States and in Bulgaria, but I must confess that I have never seen so many people in tears at the altar touched by the power of God and being transformed before our very eyes. We do not know yet what is to come in the city of Stara Zagora, but one thing remains for certain – God started something great in that city on July 1, 2006. The unquestionable proof of this statement was the lives touched during the services there and the testimonies which are continuing to come in.
Pravetz 16 Years Later
Thirteen years after graduating from high school I was able to return to Pravetz again for a reunion of the Church of God youth group there. As many of us traveled from various parts of the world to attend the meeting, it was only natural to recall what the Lord had done for us in this small mountain town.
The Church of God in Pravetz was founded as an outreach ministry of the close-by Etropole church. For many years, the Etropole Church of God was known as an underground evangelical congregation that served many in prayer and preaching regardless of limitations set by local and national authorities.
When the church in Pravetz began regular services in the early 1980s none of the secular observers suspected that it would have any influence on the town. Pravetz was the birthplace of the Bulgarian communist prime minister who ruled the nation for over 30 years. In the 1980s, Pravetz was known as a “privileged” city where the Communist Regime had build its own ideological stronghold. Yet, the Church of God in Pravetz survived the Regime and after much prayer and anticipation the church officially opened its’ doors after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
This was also the time of my affiliation with the church. Just having been saved in my hometown Yambol, I returned to Pravetz at the beginning of the school year in 1990 and begun attending the Church of God there. The church had a small group of young people who sought the Lord. In less than a year, their prayers were answered as a great multitude of young people begun attending the church. I remember one of the meetings where over 170 young people were present in the small military cafeteria adapted for church services. Having gathered at the recent meeting, we concluded again that for the period of 1990-1995, over 300 young people where saved in the city of Pravetz. Their stories remain forever recorded as part of the history of the Pravetz Church of God.
These were the events that we remembered at the gathering on June 24, 2006 in Pravetz. Many shared their stories since graduating from the school and beginning a carrier in various professional fields. Pastor Ivan Sabotinov, who has served in the church almost from its beginning, greeted the audience and reminded everyone of God’s love and grace that has remained the same through all these years. We were also given the opportunity to share from the Word and speak about the First Love. The message urged the remembrance of God’s miraculous power and assured those present that although we might have lost our first love, we are never lost from the first love of God. In addition, we were able to hold three more services on Sunday, June 25th at 8:00 a.m. in Pravetz, 10:00 a.m. in Etropole and 12:00 p.m. in Yablanitza.
Services in Sofia, Bulgaria
Upon a recent invitation we preached this past weekend at the United Church of God in Sofia. For several years now, we have maintained partnership in ministry with the people of this church, as they have worked in Christian education, para-church ministries and strategic leadership among Bulgarian evangelicals. We further discussed holding a series of revival meetings in the capital during the upcoming summer months. We are hoping that these revival services will occur in the context of the National Bible Tour which Cup & Cross Ministries is preparing to launch in a few weeks.
