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.
Mega Youth Rally in Sliven
The next mega youth rallies took place in the town of Sliven, close to the Karandilla mountain. These youth rallies are a part of our National Bible Tour featuring various speakers and music bands and purposing unification of the body of Christ in any given town in Bulgaria. This service truly fulfilled its calling as a number of Sliven youth groups who came together for the mega youth rally were surprisingly joined by a larger number of youth from Yambol who traveled the distance between both cities for the occasion. The unity of the gathering brought about a strong presence of the power of God which removed the various failures in the planning of the event along with the usual technical difficulties with the audio, video and transportation equipment. Soon after the worship started we found ourselves in the presence of the Lord and there was nothing with which to compare it. After a brief presentation and a message, the altars were opened and virtually all present came out to pray. The minutes were passing and about an hour and a half later the worship team dismissed the meeting. Regardless, the youth remained in their places and continued to pray and worship the Lord in a powerful unity. We learned a lesson from these young people from Sliven and Yambol. When a young generation does not want to leave the presence of God, something is about to happen.
Revival in Bourgas, Bulgaria
This revival in the oldest Bulgarian Pentecostal church located in the Black Sea port city of Bourgas, anticipated for sometime, brought together people from various churches and denominations to experience anew the power of the Living God. We began thinking about this event back in May, when the pastor of the First Assemblies of God invited us in Bourgas to preach a national youth rally. Consecutively, we held a mega youth rally in Bourgas in September. After a series of services in the Black sea towns of Varna, Ahtopol, Chernomoretz, Sinemoretz and Pomorie we finally were able to schedule some time to minister in Bourgas on October 1-5 during our revival campaign in town. The sanctuary of the First Assemblies of God was literally packed each night as hundreds came to hear the Word preached and prayers at the alters continued till the late night hours. In the middle of one of the alter call services an elderly lady testified with a shout and with her hands raise to the Lord in thanks for a physical healing. This lady testified that before the service she could not move her arm or her leg on one side of her body and that during the time at the alter she received an instant healing in which she was able to walk without hindrance and could move her arm and open her crippled hand. The following Sunday night another lady from Bourgas testified that during the revival she was healed from cancer.
Revival Harvest Compaign 2006
Revival Harvest Campaign 2006 is now in progress. This year the Lord opened a number of doors for ministry in Bulgaria and we are excited about holding the Revival Harvest Campaign here again. Beside the youth rallies, two weeks of revival services are already planned for the capital Sofia and the Black Sea city of Bourgas. Our team is once again to fulfill the prophetic word given for our ministry in Bulgaria, “move forward without delay.”
Mega Youth Rally in Plovdiv
For over a year now, we have preparing for our visit to Plovdiv, the second largest Bulgarian city built long before the time of the Roman Empire. During the 2005 Bible Tour, our team was unable to schedule a meeting there regardless of the numerous invitations we received from pastors and churches. This year we were invited by three Plovdiv churches and were able to schedule a service for the end of September. Almost four hundred youth from various churches in the region came for the service on Saturday night. The host church offered a superb time of praise and worship as pastor Simeonov welcomed the gathered youth. Our team showed a brief media presentation about our work followed by a powerful message calling for rededication to purity and faithfulness. However, the alter service surprised us all. Over four hundred young people came forth for prayer. Everyone present knelt at the alter where for the next hour we experienced the power and the presence of God. This time was so powerful and consuming that it was half an hour after the prayer when we realized that no one of the team or the youth was able to take a picture of the alter service. We have never experienced God in such a powerful way taking hold of everyone without exception in such a powerful manner. And for all this, the glory belongs to Him.
Services in Ahtopol
Since September 15th we have been holding regular services in Ahtopol and Sinemoretz. Located on the Black Sea coast, these towns are summer resorts which are left with several hundred inhabitants at the end of the season. However, it was exactly at this time when the Holy Spirit called us for a series of services in these locations. We have been holding three services a week in Ahtopol; Wednesday and Friday nights and Sunday morning. We intend to remain holding regular services except for the dates of two previously scheduled revivals and other services, and among the upcoming Mega Youth Rallys in Plovdiv, Sliven and Yambol.
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.
