Regional Prayer Conference for the Yambol Village Churches
Some 200 people from over a dozen regional churches gathered in the village of Malomir on Saturday at a regional prayer conference. Several ministers and representatives from the Bourgas, Stara Zagora, Haskovo and Sliven regions attended as well. This is the third of four prayer meetings held each year in the area to encourage the village churches, gather the people together for time of rejuvenation and set quarterly goals for each season of the year.
The churches that gathered were congregations with which our teams have worked and ministered with for some 15 years now. Many of the congregations were started and registered during this term of ministry, while others continued their operation having gone through the trials and tribulation of Communism. Unfortunately, the last 20 years of economical, political and social crises in Bulgaria have left their scar on the both the people and the churches. The villages, once flourishing and prospering, are now left to the elderly as the young generation has moved in search for a better life in the big city or in many cases in a foreign land. Thus, the evangelical churches in the Bulgarian villages remain one of the few strongholds of moral encouragement, family values and life as we know it.
The answer to such a great spiritual need is rooted in deep prayer and personal piety, which is exactly what our teams have been trying to accomplish through these quarterly prayer conferences. As the attendance in years past has gradually grown, the Lord has called these people to the ministry and they have faithfully helped our teams in the progress of the work. Therefore, they were all encouraged to gather once again while we shared the Word in several sessions throughout the day. Our message focused on the subject of personal prayer and its leading role within the life of the local church. The efforts of all were well rewarded by a powerful move of the Spirit during the time of prayer, after which people were encouraged by the announcement of one more regional prayer conference for this year, which will probably take place during the holiday season.
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.
Annual Bulgarian Conference
During Memorial Day Weekend Cup & Cross Ministries participated in the Third Annual Conference of Bulgarian Churches in North America. The conference took place on May 29-31, 2004 in Minneapolis and was hosted by the local Bulgarian Evangelical Church. Over 130 delegates from Bulgarian communities of Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal and Atlanta attended the event. Among the Bulgarian ministers present, there were pastors who have been persecuted along with their families as a part of the underground church in Bulgarian during the Communist Regime.
The conference began on Saturday with an introduction of the ministries present and a concert in honor of May 24, the Bulgarian holiday which celebrates the Bulgarian alphabet and culture.
The Sunday morning service was accompanied with a picnic, followed by two sessions on the topic of the conference, “The Joy of the Lord is our Strength”. The first one was presented by the pastor of the Bulgarian Church in Los Angeles, and the second one by our ministry.
During the presentation we were able to inform of some of our findings of our research.
Cup & Cross has worked with Bulgarian immigrants for the past ten years, and our team has actively and purposefully observed the Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in North America for almost three years as a part of our research. We were able to present each minister, pastor and leader of a congregation with a special copy of the results of our research. The churches were also presented with a special Bible study software prepared by our internet ministry team of which administrates www.bibliata.com.
A new ambitious goal was set to review the results and analyses provided by the research and implement them in the ministry of the local congregations through a church-planting program for Bulgarian communities in North America.
Our research called for awareness of cross-cultural challenges, immigration dynamics and interchurch relationship as well as their affect on the churches identity and ministry. The conclusion included an altar call and dedication prayer for the future of the Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in North America and especially for the second generation of Bulgarian immigrants.
It was decided that the 2005 annual conference of Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in North America will take place in Los Angeles. The conference gave us an opportunity to network with Bulgarian congregations and communities nationwide. It is our prayer that their ministry is successful and blessed in the future.
