90 Years Ago Pastor Nicholas Nikolov Established the Pentecostal Union of Bulgaria
By the fall of 1927 the Pentecostal revival from Bourgas extended to several outreaches. Appropriate recognition was given by the General Council of the Assemblies of God in their September, 1927 meeting. The Latter Rain Evangel also reported revival in Bulgaria, workers trained at the Bible School and a good number saved and baptized with the Holy Spirit.
With this avid success and the arrival of Nikolov’s first-born son on November 9, 1927 came the second attempt to unite Bulgarian Pentecostals. A preliminary meeting was held in February of 1928 in Rouse where the Union’s establishing meeting was scheduled for March 28 in Bourgas.
To no surprise, only 14 delegates representing five congregations attended. The delegates voted and received the Union’s by-laws and statement of faith, based on the same documents by the Assemblies of God in America. The first annual conference of the new Union followed in October in Varna. A national General Council was set and the Executive Committee was chaired by Pastor Nikolov – at the time of his appointment he was only 28 years of age.
Trained in the United States and familiar with the Assemblies of God structure, Nikolov purposed to replicate the same organization in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, most Bulgarian Pentecostals in 1928 did not have a clear perception of the Assemblies of God and hardly felt part of the denomination. With only 20 members, the new organization was a small minority and did not represent the vast diversity within Bulgarian Pentecostalism at the time. Neither did it cause the split among Bulgarian Pentecostals as often held. The official registration of the Pentecostal Union simply confirmed the deepening division among Pentecostals in Bulgaria that had taken place since Zaplishny was deported in 1924.
Scroll Signing Service in Bourgas
25 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, people in Eastern Europe are still haunted by the spirit of communism. The Regime robbed them not only from happiness and freedom, but from their deep human ability to even imagine a better and free world. For this very reason, we wrote the book “Looking over the Wall” as our prayer for a new prophetic re-imagination of the present reality. After laboring in Bulgaria for over 25 years, in 2014, we were thrilled to minister to churches and people that are dreaming and re-imagining God’s purpose for Bulgaria along with us. Join us in re-imagining imagination anew:
1. Purchase the book from Amazon
2. Read it with your church family
3. Help us pray for a renewal of a new prophetic re-imagination in the minds and hearts of the people in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe
Revival Harvest Campaign 2014 in Bourgas
Prayer for Bulgaria: 7 Dead after Suicide Bombing at Bourgas Airport
July 18, 2012 – Bourgas, BULGARIA
At least seven people are dead and dozens are injured after a suicide bombing targeting Israeli tourists vacationing in Bulgaria. The bus was carrying mostly Israeli youth when it exploded on Wednesday July 18, 2012, police and hospital officials say. Two pregnant women and an 11 year old child are among the injured.
The blast occurred shortly after someone boarded the vehicle transporting Israeli tourist from Tel Aviv around 5:00 PM local Bulgarian time. A total of 146 adults and 8 children were traveling with “Air Via” charter flight 392.
According to BBC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed “All the signs lead to Iran” and “Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror. Iran has made no public comments to the Israeli accusations.” Russian InterFax published an immediate denial of the accusation on behalf of right wing Shi’a Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah.
This terrorist attack is unprecedented for any country member of the European Union. The targeted location at the Black Sea, and not the capital Sofia, is the closest possible border point between Europe and the Middle East. For the Bulgarian people, this attack is as traumatic as the 9/11 attack was for the American people.
Meanwhile, the United States condemned the deadly attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, as White House press secretary Jay Carney said Carney declared that the US stands with the Israeli people and the people of Bulgaria.
In January, 2012 there were reports that Israel had asked Bulgaria to tighten security for Israeli tourists traveling by bus. This followed a reported discovery of a suspicious package found on a bus with Israeli tourists traveling from Turkey to Bulgaria. CIA Director Petraeus also visited Bulgaria on unannounced trip in June of this year.
Currently, the Bourgas airport has been closed and flights are being diverted to Varna. All airports, bus and train stations remain under a close watch after Bulgaria’s capital mayor called for tightened security measures.
Bourgas is a Black Sea port city just over an hour drive from our base location of Yambol, Bulgaria. The First Pentecostal church on the Balkans was founded in Bourgas in 1920 by Assemblies of God missionaries, Donisey Zaplishny and Ivan Voronaev and consecutively lead to the establishment of the Bulgarian Church of God in 1928.
Read more:
Netanyahu Vows ‘Forceful Response to Iranian Terror’: All signs are that Iran and Hizbullah are behind blast, on the 18th anniversary of the AMIA attack in Argentina that killed 85.
FOX News: Explosion targets Israeli tourists in Bulgaria
The TIMES: Israeli tourists killed in bus bombing
Novinite.com: Israeli Tourists’ Bus Blast in Bulgaria Terrorist Attack
CNN: Official: Three dead in Bulgaria bus blast
Haaretz: 7 reported killed in terror attack against Israelis in Bulgaria
BBC: Explosion hits a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria
The Jerusalem Post: 3 dead in suicide bombing on Israeli bus in Bulgaria
AFP: Three dead in Bulgaria bus blast
Financial Times: Bulgaria bus blast kills Israeli tourists
White House: Statement by U.S. President on the Terrorst Attack in Bulgaria
U.S. Department of State: Statement by Secretary of State on the Attacks in Bulgaria
