Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago

This is the story of the first Bulgarian Church of God established in the Untied States. The church was started in the building of the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago which at the time was pastored by Rev. Sean O’Neal. Led by a dynamic cross-cultural vision, the congregation expanded in several ethnic branches. Using a strategy home mission’s approach the church soon became an important religious center for the Chicago metro.

In December 1994, the Lord led me to participate in a step-mission trip to Chicago organized by the students of East Coast Bible College. As preparations were made we learned of several Bulgarians who attend the Narragansett Church of God in Chicago. Unfortunately, they had been hurt by some Bulgarian ministers who had visited them before and were very suspicious of any organized church work. Yet, I was introduced to them and was able to minister to them in several services.

By the end of our mission trip Pastor O’Neal invited me to join him in his attempt to begin a Bulgarian church in the city. Although at this time Chicago was a center for more than 12,000 Bulgarian immigrants no one had attempted to start a Bulgarian Protestant church.

After much prayer I arrived in Chicago on May 27, 1995. In the remaining part of May we created a strategy to reach as many Bulgarians as possible. This included visitation of families, attending Bulgarians social functions, and establishing contact with several Bulgarian organizations active in the Chicago area such as the Bulgarian Club and the Orthodox Church. In June we executed this plan with much success. During this time I lived with a Bulgarian family and slept on the balcony of their apartment on Jackson Boulevard. Often, I had to spend the night in the church building as well. But the most important thing was to carry the vision to the end.

On July 9, 1995 the first organized Bulgarian Church of God was established in Chicago city. I was privileged to preach on the subject of forgiveness as 10 Bulgarians attended. Little I knew that in the years to come much forgiveness will be needed as the church will be torn apart by deep bitterness, personal ambitions, frequent confusion and lack of mission. Yet, while the works of men fails, the work of God remains.

By the end of the summer of 1995 the Bulgarian Church in Chicago had grown to 42 people. Thanks to the faithful and united work of Bulgarians and Americans in the fall of the same year the number was 64. On October 7, 1995, I was able to visit the church in Chicago again and present it to the National Overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God, Pastor Pavel Ignatov who visited the church for the first time. The church became not only the first officially registered Bulgarian Pentecostal congregation in the United States, but also an important social and educational center able to minister to the 100,000 Bulgarians that live in the Great Lake region today.

Called to another mission, I left Chicago on July 30, 1995. The church bulletin upon my departure under Farewell and Appreciation read: “Today we are saying thank you to Dony for a job well done this past summer. He has served our church faithfully, and has been a tremendous blessing to Narragansett Ministries. Immediately following worship this morning, there is a dinner in Dony’s honor in the fellowship hall. And everyone is invited to attend.”

The church congregation presented me with a plaque that represented my efforts and work in Chicago. But for me, this plaque represents much more. It represents the prayers and the vision of many who are continuing the work today, establishing and leading Bulgarian churches around the world to providing pastoral care for many who have left the homeland in search for a better life. To these ministers goes my personal token of appreciation and thanks, “Well done thou good and faithful … “

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.

Mission Maranatha in Revival

Mission Maranatha, a Bulgarian local mission’s branch of Cup & Cross Ministries continues services at the Black Sea. Close to 100 revival services have been held during the past four months by various team members in the Black Sea towns of Ahtopol, Pomorie, Sinemoretz, Varna, Bourgas, Chernomoretz, Sinemoretz and Varvara. The mission’s attempt to establish a ground for future work in towns with no evangelical church presence has been rendered successful and we trust that the initiated strategy will be brought to completion in 2007.

Mission Maranatha

In 2005, our team was successful in establishing several new congregations in Southern Bulgaria. The work was not without challenges from the particularity of the geographical location and the cultural setting which included: (1) ongoing migration of people between towns and villages, as well as internationally, (2) opposition from Eastern Orthodox priests and restrictions by local authorities (both described as illegal by the constitution) and (3) economical challenges and extreme poverty in the Bulgarian villages (especially through the winter periods). These factors often disable the local people and limit the ministry, as some of them are still ongoing and form the context in which the team ministers. Yet, Mission Maranatha has been successful in establishing a growing number of new congregations and providing pastoral care for each of them every week. We were able to travel with the team every week and minister to the churches in the Yambol region and were encouraged by their testimonies of salvation, provision, healing and even bodily resurrection. As an overall, the work of Mission Maranatha, serving as the Yambol region representative of Cup & Cross Ministry, has increased tremendously in the past several years. The team has invested a great deal of time, efforts and resources to keep the work ongoing. Between 12 and 30 services are held every week depending on the weather conditions and available finances for traveling. The regional structure has grown from two home groups in 1996 to 20 local congregations. At times, the mission has served over 550 people each week.

Florida Missions Conference

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to attend the eleventh annual missions’ conference of the Good Sheppard Church of God in Pahokee Florida. It was there that we were able to present our 2005 ministry report and testify of the doors the Lord has opened for His work to be accomplished in the country of Bulgaria. We were among numerous other representatives of various countries including Spain, Ireland, Mexico, and Uruguay. We left the conference with the reassurance of that the Lord is the same regardless of location as we continue to profess that 2006 is the Year of Promise. Pastor Brewer joined with us in this confession by receiving this proclamation. We are greatly appreciative of the opportunity to have participated in such a special event and we extend our gratitude to all who continue to partner with us in ministry.

Working Strategies

During our time of ministry in Bulgaria, we use several strategies for ministry, but that of Market Place Ministry proved to be best suited for the setting. Theoretically, this approach to ministry is not new for the Christian church. It simply implements taking the Gospel to the people, instead of expecting the people to come to the Gospel.Fundamentally, Market Place Ministry is a Biblical method, which has also found its place in a number of modern day management paradigms. John Maxwell finds it implemented in the business paradigm called “Management by Walking Around” (MBWA).

Being rather an Oriental approach, it is often seen in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, it is normal that in a Western context it remains difficult to implement. However, for Bulgaria where the economy, social life, and the community are built around the market places, it fits perfectly.

We are combining the Market Place Ministry with media ministry into a dynamic paradigm which takes the Gospel to the people and transformed their lives in their own social context. The downside of such paradigm is that a ministry team cannot be confined to a certain location like a church building or an office, but must be constantly on the go. This however, turns to be the very effectiveness of the paradigm as it brings the church out of its comfort zone to a place of real life-changing ministry in the market place.

Mission Maranatha 2005

In 2005, our team was successful in establishing several new congregations in Southern Bulgaria. The work was not without challenges from the particularity of the geographical location and the cultural setting which included: (1) ongoing migration of people between towns and villages, as well as internationally, (2) opposition from Eastern Orthodox priests and restrictions by local authorities (both described as illegal by the constitution) and (3) economical challenges and extreme poverty in the Bulgarian villages (especially through the winter periods).These factors often disable the local people and limit the ministry, as some of them are still ongoing and form the context in which the team ministers. Yet, Mission Maranatha has been successful in establishing a growing number of new congregations and providing pastoral care for each of them every week. We were able to travel with the team every week and minister to the churches in the Yambol region and were encouraged by their testimonies of salvation, provision, healing and even bodily resurrection.As an overall, the work of Mission Maranatha, serving as the Yambol region representative of Cup & Cross Ministry, has increased tremendously in the past several years. The team has invested a great deal of time, efforts and resources to keep the work ongoing. Between 12 and 30 services are held every week depending on the weather conditions and available finances for traveling. The regional structure has grown from two home groups in 1996 to 20 local congregations. At times, the mission has served over 550 people each week.

Pravetz 15 Years Later

We returned to the town of Pravetz for a weekend of ministry, restoration and celebration. Pravetz was the place where the Bulgarian communist prime minister of thirty years was born and raised. Ironically, it was also the place where the Lord raised one of the largest youth groups in the history of the Bulgarian Church of God in the early 1990s. Pravetz was the place where I began ministering and the visit there marked fifteen years since these humble beginnings. Regardless of the fact that both the town and the church have changed, the anointing for ministry which God placed there is still strong. We were able to visit both Pravetz and Yablanitza where we met with old friends and coworkers. Thus, the visit to Pravetz was more than just another weekend of ministry, but rather a place of reclaiming lost heritage and re-envisioning of a new future. Because even if a man reaches the highest peaks of life, crosses the larges oceans of success or completes the most unimaginable acts of heroism, he must never forget where he has come from …

Mission Endeavor in Florida

Cup & Cross is participating in a mission endeavor in the state of Florida. This annual mission event purposes to report of the current ministry results and to inform of our future projects. For more information and participation opportunities, please visit the project section of this website or request a project brochure.

Missions Conference 2005

Our ministry team just returned from a successful mission’s conference with Restoration Ministries. Cup & Cross’ team was able to show our documentary film, Revival Bulgaria and present our 2005 ministry projects. Additionally, we held two services on Sunday at Greenwood and Gaffney.

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