Cup & Cross Ministries (2001-2007)
We began our ministry in Bulgaria in 1990 immediately after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, when the borders of Easter Europe were opened for the preaching of the Gospel and spiritual revival swept through the former communist countries. as a Church of God ministry we have worked closely with the major Pentecostal churches along with various other denominational and independent organizations.After almost a decade of ministry in Bulgaria, we established Cup & Cross Ministries International in 1999 with the vision for revival and restoration of New Testament principles of Christian praxis. Since then Cup & Cross Ministries has grown to be a global ministry endeavor with a special focus on Eastern Europe and the country of Bulgaria. This success has resulted from the FOCUS-12 strategy used by Cup & Cross Ministries as follows:
1. Revival has been the core of our ministry since its very beginning as our team holds a minimum of 100 services per month.
2. Youth ministries have been the beat of our heart as we have contributed to a number of youth events in Bulgaria, including our own, The “X” Happening for Youth.
3. Church planting has remained a constant focus of ministry, as Cup & Cross Ministries have established over 30 new congregations since 1996.
4. Pastoral care is currently provided by our team to over 50 evangelical churches.
5. The Shalom Media Group, established by Cup & Cross Ministries in 1996, operates through over 20 websites with focus on various areas of ministry and religious life.
6. Shalom TV Production Company was founded in 1997 by Cup & Cross Ministries and partners, and merged with the Faith Channel of Seven Days TV in 2006.
7. The Maranatha radio began broadcasting in 2000 and evolved in the Bibliata Radio.
8. Bulgarian Protestant history and heritage are the focus of our historical and statistical research and analyses made available to both local church and denominational leadership.
9. Christian articles, research and other printed materials are published weekly by Cup & Cross Ministries in religious and secular periodicals.
10. Education endeavors with special focus on Biblical studies, leadership strategies, church government, chaplaincy ministry and Christian counseling are made available by teaching at the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute in the capital Sofia.
11. Cup & Cross Ministries’ efforts in the area of chaplaincy have brought to existence the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association, now officially recognized by the Bulgarian government.
12. Our active involvement in the ongoing struggle for religious freedom in democratic Bulgaria has impacted the involvement of Bulgarian evangelicals in the political life on the Balkans through the establishment of the Bulgarian Christian Coalition in the spring of 1997.
Through the years of ministry we have remained faithful to the spiritual calling, which we have received that “Revival must go on …”
1998 Missionary Report
In January of 1998 the Bulgarian Government released statistics about the current economic situation for the nation. The following results were published: 93% of the population of Bulgaria earns income well below the poverty level. Approximately 5% of the population is very wealthy, and the remaining 2% of the population are of relatively (lower) middle class. It takes approximately $200 USD per month to survive in Bulgaria. The average income for a middle class worker is $139 USD. The cheapest rental for a one-bedroom apartment in Bulgaria is between $150-200 USD.
Such income is barely enough to take care of rent alone. That also leaves most people without enough money to have electricity, water, or even food. For this reason the soup kitchen, which was opened in 1991, operates five days a week. It is located in the headquarters of the Bulgarian Church of God and is the oldest social center in Bulgaria.
Since the economical inflation is now over 400%, the number of people which the soup kitchen feeds have been steadily increasing monthly. Most of them are intelligent people, and mostly retired people whose Social Security is not enough to even pay their monthly rent. While in September of 1997, the amount of people the soup kitchen fed was approximately 250-275 people per day. As of January 1998 it feeds more than 400 people per day.
Religious Freedom: Despite the fact that the Great Wall of Communism has fallen, and the Cold War is over, Evangelical Christians in Bulgaria continue in their own Cold War and must still worry for their lives and the lives of their families. Last year a number of Church of God congregations suffered extended persecution ranging from demonstrations (including vandalism) to pastors being beaten; from churches being confiscated by the government to attempts to burn down churches with the congregation still in them.
Along with this is the abuse from the media is constant. The most recent attack was an article that was printed about a Church of God in the town of Kiustendeel. It was falsely reported that they receive a donation in the amount of $30,000,000.
This article along with many others caused much tension between the Government and the churches. Because of this tension, the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance (BEA), of which the Bulgarian Church of God is a very active member, decided to have a nation-wide conference, which dealt with these issues.
The conference took place in Hall #3 of the National Palace of Culture (NDK), on January 31, 1998. On January 30, there was a press conference, in which it was announced that this conference would take place. Literally hundreds of preachers, pastors, and leaders from all Evangelical denominations attended the conference. The main topics dealt with human rights and freedom of religions. There were many testimonies from the preachers about the persecutions they had suffered, in results of which an official Declaration was drawn up, and an official letter was written that would be delivered to both the Parliament and the Bulgarian Government.
He Has Risen Indeed
For many years, we have preached about the Easter morning resurrection. The words of the angels are still true, “He is not here, for He has risen” for Jesus Christ is still alive.
But there is more to the Easter Story that has been happening in the past 2,000 years. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ continues to work in the world beyond the Easter resurrection into our very lives. In the Easter story which the Bible tells, not only Jesus, but we are also risen with Him for Eternity.
Our spiritual resurrection is not without a reason. We are raised for a new spiritual life which becomes the very testimony of Christ’s resurrection. And it is through this testimony, which we call the Gospel, that people continue to be saved today.
The ministry of the Kingdom is the reason for our spiritual resurrection. It is with this purpose in mind, that God gives new life to human kind – that men, women and children may be involved in His global mission to save the creation from sin and death.
Resurrected from spiritual death, we are involved in God’s mission is through the ministry which He has given us. Revived by the Spirit of God, we bring revival to others who are delivered from the state of spiritual death. And thus, we are witnesses of His saving grace until His returns. Because He has risen, we must remain faithful to our spiritual calling for ministry that “Revival must go on …” This is our reason to celebrate Easter.
1996-1997 Ministry Report
After a successful time of ministry in the Carolinas, Georgia and Chicago I returned to my home country Bulgaria and during the summer of 1996 I was able to hold several crusades in the mountain towns of Trayvna, Zeravna, Tvurditza, Yablanitza and Pravetz.
In October 1996 I began working with the Mission for Christian Upbringing which at that time operated in consortium with the Life with God Church of God (United) in Yambol. During this time the mission team of the church began two new churches in the region and provided pastoral care for 14 more. We held as many as four services every day. This work grew to what today is known as Mission Maranatha – a home mission department of Cup and Cross Ministries International. Since 1999, Mission Maranatha has started 9 Pentecostal churches in the Yambol area, provided Sunday School literatures, held a weekly radio program, organized social care centers and numerous conferences, crusades and meetings. The team Mission Maranatha serves to several hundred people as their main ministry methodology are ongoing prayer meetings and fasting organized among all the churches. The results have been magnificent as hundreds of people have been saved and many have received healing and miracles as the power of God is evident in every service.
In 1996 the idea of Shalom TV and the Bulgarian Christian Coalition was born. Both events happened in the middle of the 1997 economical crises in Bulgaria. As a result on January 10, 1997 the Socialist government seized power and a new government of democrats assumed political leadership of the country. Regardless of the political and economical tensions, our ministry continued strong. Shalom TV continued its operation from Yambol Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Christian Coalition was eighth in the April 1997 Parliamentarian Elections.
The Great City of Yambol
The town of Yambol is situated in southeastern Bulgaria and is located along the banks of the river Toundja (ancient name Tonzos). The rich and fertile lands in the river valley have been inhabited ever since the most ancient times.
Proof of human dwellings of prehistoric times are the dozens of ancient tomb hills that have been found in the area. Moreover, remnants of the so called Rasheva and Marcheva tomb hills dating as far back as the Neolithic, Etnolithic and Bronze Ages lie within the area of the modern town. Some of the findings discovered in them are exposed in the Louvre in Paris and the Archaeological Museum in Sofia. The larger part of them, however, belongs to the Museum of History in Yambol.
Today the population of Yambol is about 100 000 inhabitants. The town is a district centre in southeastern Bulgaria with a population of over 200 000 people, and at present it is the administrative centre of Yambol district.
Best developed were the chemical industry, food processing, wine production, the textile and cloth industries and furniture manufactories.
The district of Yambol is a huge producer of agricultural products such as wheat and barley, fruits and vegetables.
In consequence of the social-economic changes that have taken place in our country the main industrial enterprises in the recent past have been closed down nowadays. This results in mass unemployment and considerable impoverishment of the active population in town.
Protestantism in Bulgarian
Protestantism was introduced in Bulgaria by missionaries from the United States in 1857-58, amid the National Revival period. The two main denominations, the Methodists and Congregationalists, divided their areas of influence. The former predominated in northern Bulgaria and the latter in the south. In 1875 the Protestant denominations united in the Bulgarian Evangelical Philanthropic Society, which later became the Union of Evangelical Churches in Bulgaria. Besides setting up churches, the Protestants established schools, clinics, and youth clubs, and they distributed copies of the Bible and their own religious publications in Bulgarian.
The Union of Evangelical Churches produced the first translation of the entire Bible into Bulgarian in 1871 and founded the nondenominational Robert College in Constantinople, where many Bulgarian leaders of the post-independence era were educated. After independence in 1878, the Protestants gained influence because they used the vernacular in services and in religious literature.
The communist regimes subjected Protestants to even greater persecution than the Catholics. In 1946 church funding was cut off by a law curbing foreign currency transactions. Because many ministers had been educated in the West before World War II, they were suspected automatically of supporting the opposition parties. In 1949 thirty-one Protestant clergymen were charged with working for American intelligence and running a spy ring in Bulgaria. All church property was confiscated, and the churches’ legal status was revoked. Most of the mainstream Protestant denominations maintained the right to worship nominally guaranteed by the constitution of 1947.
According to estimates in 1991, the 5,000 to 6,000 Pentecostals made the largest Protestant group in Bulgaria. The Pentecostal movement was brought to Bulgaria in 1921 by Russian immigrants. The movement later spread to Varna, Sliven, Sofia, and Pleven. It gained popularity in Bulgaria after freedom of religion was declared in 1944, and the fall of Zhivkov brought another surge of interest. In 1991 the Pentecostal Church had thirty-six clergy in forty-three parishes, with sufficient concentration in Ruse to petition the government to establish a Bible institute there.
Postmodern Rebels
Almost one hundred years ago, Pentecostalism emerged as a rejection of the current social structure. Sin, corruption and lack of holiness were pervasive, spreading not only throughout society, but also establishing strongholds within the mainstream denominations. With its Wesleyan holiness roots, Pentecostalism took an open stand against the sin that ruled both the church and the community. Also, Pentecostalism prophetically condemned the approaching modernity of the 20th century as being morally declined. As a rebel against modernity in the culture of the 20th century, Pentecostalism became postmodern by rejecting modernism through its Wesleyan-holiness identity and the Biblical truth for church and community. Indeed, the principal model of rebelling against sin and unrighteousness in the context of social injustice was provided for the church by Jesus Christ Himself.
In the beginning of the 21st century, much is said about the church becoming a postmodern system serving the needs of postmodern people in an almost super-market manner. Yet, again, it seems reasonable to suggest that the Pentecostal paradigm from the beginning of modernity will work once again in postmodernity. While again moral values are rejected by the present social system, Pentecostalism must take a stand for its ground of holiness and reclaim its identity as a rebel – this time an antagonist to postmodern marginality and nominal Christianity. A stand against sin must be taken at all cost, regardless if it evokes alienation or even persecution from society. Postmodern individuals are on a quest, searching for an answer how to deal with sin. Pentecostal identity holds the answer to this question. If an open stand against sin means rebellion against postmodernism, then Pentecostals proudly deserve the name Postmodern Rebels.
Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Gains Legal Status
The Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association has finally received official legal status with the Bulgarian government, after battling courts throughout the country for the last four months. Global religious freedom watchdog FORUM 18 closely followed the case of chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria recognizing its “underground” status and releasing an informative article about the current situation of chaplaincy in Bulgaria which can be found at: http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=919
After a decade of ministry, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association held a national founding meeting in August, 2006 and submitted a petition for registration with the Bulgarian court. The purpose of the establishment was the legal representation of Bulgarian evangelicals who minister in various fields of chaplaincy despite legal limitations and open government restrictions. Their campaign for legalizing chaplaincy in the Bulgarian armed forces has formed “The Case of Underground Chaplaincy in Bulgaria.”
After months of legal battle, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was officially registered through the Sofia Municipal Court on February 23, 2007. The result was made possible by a joint initiative of the Association’s establishing members, the representing legal team led by former Bulgarian presidential nominee, Ivan Gruikin with the assistance of legal council Latchezar Popov of the Rule of Law Institute and religious-liberty lawyer Viktor Kostov of the Balkan Center for Law and Freedom.
Bulgaria: General Infromation
Location – Bulgaria is situated on the Balkan Peninsula, in south-eastern Europe. It is bounded by Romania on the north, by the Black Sea on the east, by Turkey and Greece on the south, and by the Republics of Macedonia and Yugoslavia on the west
State System – Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic. It is a united and inseparable formation of one nation. The supreme organ of state power is the National Assembly (Parliament), which exercises legislative power and parliamentary control
Geographical Reference – The relief of the country is diverse, including vast lowlands, planes, low hills, high and low mountains, valleys, river basins and deep gorges…The climate of Bulgaria is generally defined as temperate continental with well expressed transition to the south of Stara Planina…The complex relief structure and the small territory of Bulgaria do not create conditions for big rivers
Flora and Fauna – Bulgaria is a land of roses, orchards laden with fruit and vines grown since the settlement of the ancient Thracians. Favorable climatic conditions and variety of relief are factors that account for the diversity of vegetation. The overall number of plant species is approximately 12 400. Forests prevail, representing nearly 27 % of the territory of the country
Religion and Holidays – The traditional religion in Bulgaria is the Eastern Orthodox creed. The conversion to Christianity took place in 864 and the foundations of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church were laid down at the Constantinople Council in 870. In the time of the Ottoman rule the Bulgarian Patriarchate passed under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate
Style of Life – More than half of the Bulgarian population lives in towns as a result of the intensive migration processes in the recent decades. The basic part of the inhabitants (88 %) are Bulgarians – a nationality formed through the amalgamation of Slavs, Proto-Bulgarians and Thracians…The typical Bulgarian dishes…Bulgarian white and red wines…Mineral waters
Monetary Unit – The Bulgarian monetary unit is the Bulgarian lev. Banknotes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 levs and coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 stotinki are in circulation.
History – The geographical situation at crossroads, the favorable climate and the variety of relief are prerequisites for the interweaving of fates and routes of many tribes and peoples on the Bulgarian lands. The territory of Bulgaria was inhabited since the earliest historical ages – the Stone Age and the Stone-Copper Age
Bulgarian National Culture – In Bulgaria the foreign tourists can get acquainted with original versatile culture that represents an organic entity of various ethnocultural communities – Proto-Bulgarians, Slavs and the ancient settlers on the Balkans, mainly Thracians
Education – By way of tradition the Bulgarians have always valued highly erudition, making efforts to give their children good education. It is not surprising that towards the end of the 9th C. Knyaz Boris invited the students of the founders of the Slavonic alphabet Sts. Cyril and Methodius and they became archefounders of education in Bulgaria
Language and Alphabet – The Bulgarian language – the oldest Slavonic language in terms of written documents – belongs to the Southern group of Slavonic languages of the Indo-European language family
Literature – The Bulgarian literature is considered to be the oldest Slavonic one. Its foundations were laid in the 9th C., after the brothers Constantin-Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius created the Slavonic alphabet (Glagolitsa) and made the first translations of religious texts
Architecture – “Since the creation of the world and up to the 15th C. architecture stands out as the great book of mankind, its major means of expression… “, said Victor Hugo. The architectural heritage of Bulgarian country has written our exceptionally rich history in stone, wood and brick
Fine Arts – The Bulgarian lands are an inexhaustible treasure-trove of artistic works. Part of these are still hidden in the earth, but others, which are already in the museums, drive us thousands of years back to the culture of one of the oldest ancient European civilizations
Music – The legend of the Thracian singer Orpheus, who charmed gods with his music, tells that he was born in the Rhodopes. Bulgarian singers and musicians of today are no less famous than Orpheus. The remarkable opera-singers Boris Hristov, Nikolai Gyaurov, Nikola Gyuzelev, Raina Kabaivanska, Gena Dimitrova and many others make famous the Bulgarian school of singing on the world opera stages
Theatre – The beginning of theatre performances in Bulgaria was laid during the National Revival (the second half of the 19th C.). The first professional theatre company was formed in Plovdiv in 1883
Sports – Though a small country, Bulgaria ranges among the foremost sports nations in the world. It is one of thirteen countries constituters of the contemporary Olympic games in 1896
Tourism – The beautiful scenery, the ancient historical sites and the crossroad situation of the country between the Orient and Europe have been attracting travellers since ancient times. Travel notes left by German, Austrian and Arab authors offer a rich source of evidence for the life in the Bulgarian lands. At present Bulgaria develops as a country of tourism. Despite its comparatively small territory, the variety of treasures of nature is exceptional
Souvenirs from Bulgaria – Buying a souvenir, one can take away a memento of Bulgaria. Works of masters of traditional crafts can be found in the special shops (painted Troyan ceramics, wrought-iron and copper objects, boxes, candle-sticks, etc., wooden objects, decorated with poker-work, hand-made embroideries with folklore motifs, replicas of ancient guns and daggers, etc.)
You Are Not Alone
Bulgarians join “jailed nurses”
Millions of Bulgarians have joined a nationwide campaign calling for the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in a high-profile Aids trial in Libya, pollsters said today. A court in Tripoli convicted in December the nurses and a Palestinian doctor of intentionally infecting Libyan children with HIV and sentenced them to death, despite scientific evidence the youngsters had the virus before the medical workers arrived in Libya.
The verdicts triggered outrage in Bulgaria, and “the salvation of the Bulgarian nurses became a cause that united the whole nation,” wrote Capital weekly. Some 39% of Bulgarians – or more than 3 million people – have actively joined the solidarity campaign, according to a survey by the AFIS polling agency published today. “In Sofia and the larger cities, the share of actively involved people reaches 58%,” said Chavdar Naydenov of the AFIS agency.
