Repost: Ministry NOT for Sale
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not (Proverbs 1:10)
Several years ago, while employed with a certain organization, we faced the dilemma to choose between what was morally right and what was financially secure. Regardless of the jeopardy of this predicament, we were able to make the right decision, preserving our integrity and disallowing financial pressure to dictate our moral choices. Soon thereafter, we initiated a healing process which dealt with the internal wounds, restored the lost trust and attempted to recover the invested time and resources. Years past, we forgot the pain, but never forgot the lesson we learned …
Recently, while involved in a global ministry campaign, we were faced with a similar situation. This time, however, it did not involve business partners, but a multitude of Pentecostal ministers. The larger size of the context did not change the problem at hand, but rather intensified and multiplied its harmful effects. We regretfully witnessed how hundreds of men and women involved in ministry were manipulatively forced to face the same dilemma. They had to make a mandatory choice between the financial security of their families and their own moral integrity. The results were accordingly. Read more
Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Ministry Projections for 2013
1. Continuing to increase awareness of the ministry efforts of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association on local, regional and national levels.
2. Publish the current edition of the underground chaplaincy ministry manual in Bulgarian including the most recent Code of
3. Ethics for Chaplains approved by the Association.
4. Launch second satellite extension of the Master’s in Chaplaincy Ministry Program in Northeast Region of Bulgaria near Black Sea.
5. Lawful admittance of Protestant Chaplains in the military bringing chaplaincy above ground.
6. Establish a network of support groups to provide the much needed re-integration care of military personnel after deployment.
7. Provide spiritual guidance and support to its members who continue to fulfill their calling of chaplaincy work regardless of the persecution endured on a daily basis.
8. Seek and create opportunities as an organization to enhance the quality of chaplaincy care via research and continuous education.
5 Essential Free Tools for Ministry on the Internet
1. Blogging: You make about 100 educated comments during the week. You have afterthoughts and comments after the Sunday sermon. You encounter life stories and personal testimonies. Blog them. It is the easiest way to:
- Give a global voice to your ministry
- Network with other ministers
- Popularize your church website and affirm presence on the internet
- Connect with people on their own level
Use WordPress, BlogSpot or even Posterous. There are many more out there to fit your taste and best of all they are free!
2. Live broadcast your church service: You’d be surprised how many people would like to see it. And different than a few years back when you needed expensive equipment set up, all you need is a laptop with a camera or even a mid-level smart phone and you can broadcast in a matter of minutes.
a. Make your church service accessible for the ones who cannot attend
b. Your message will reach people in your community and around the world
c. Receive feedback from friends, colleagues and even people you never knew
uStream and LiveStream are just two of the many options out there. And for the basic user, they are all free.
3. Social networking: The world is moving away from common trends of communication. Get involved! Social networking is the way to do it.
a. Provides a constant stream of communication toward your followers
b. Establishes your church equally in the local and internet community
c. Makes you accessible to the people who need you
Sign up for Facebook and Twitter. They are popular and free. A Facebook page is a must for any branding or marketing strategy today.
4. Mail lists are outdated, time consuming and quite costly. Except if you use the internet to do them.
a. Create a mail list of subscribers with your followers and the visitors of your website
b. Use RSS feed to combine all your publications from church announcements, blog posts, tweets and Facebook statuses
c. Send it automatically to RSS pools which can multiply your reach
Use FeedBurner. It is very fast and effective and also free to use.
5. Monetize your web presence creating a steady stream of profit for your ministry beside traditional tithes and offerings.
a. Bring your fundraisers online and promote online giving
b. Sell books, music, sermon videos and other products online
c. Use direct advertising sales and advertising networks
Use Google AdSense, eBay partners, Amazon Associates or any other affiliate program that fits your marketing approach. Not only they are free, but using them can support your ministry!
Need assistance? Learn how we can help you with your church branding on the internet.
Our Ministry in the Gipsy Ghetto of Yambol
1990 We began serving in the Yambol area along with the local Pentecostal churches in the early 1990s after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
1992-93 Our team participated in a number of revival campaigns in the Gipsy Ghettos of Yambol, Sliven and Stara Zagora
1996 Along with Dr. Miroslav Atanasov of Sofia, we invested into the purchase of a building that is used for the meetings of the local Church of God led by its first pastor, who had mixed Gipsy-Turkish roots, brother Mitko Mohamed
2000 This was a turning point for the local congregation and many other minority groups in the region, as we led a Church of God campaign in several of the neighboring villages and regions stretching our outreach all the way to the Black Sea and the border between Bulgaria and Turkey
2001-04 In the years that followed, we completed a number of evangelistic campaigns in the Strandja Sakar region in South Eastern Bulgaria populated with predominantly Bulgarian speaking Turkish and Pomak people groups
2005 We renewed holding services in the Gipsy Ghetto of Yambol where by that time there were a dozen active Pentecostal congregations
2007 We helped restore the local United Church of God congregation after it had burnt down in a fire.
2008-09 After collaborating with local social services workers, our team devised an ethical guideline proposal for working with abused and abandoned children while consulting on project “Care for Orphans,” which worked with gypsy children of the area Ghettos
2010-11 We held services with many local youth groups, preaching the Gospel and praying for the people after showing the film Jesus for Children, after which dozens of people, both children and adults, accepted Christ as their personal savior confessing their sins and joining the local churches
2012 We have written extensively on the subject of Forming a Roma Gipsy Evangelical Identity in Bulgaria and our book on the subject is coming out for publication in the near future
Our Ministry Map in Europe
View Mission BULGARIA in a larger map
Our Ministry Map in Bulgaria
View Mission BULGARIA in a larger map
Our Ministry Map in the USA
View GLOBAL MINISTRY in a larger map
Creating Web Identity for Ministry
For the past 20 years, our team has envisioned and created web communities around the globe, as a part of our ministry and in helping churches and Christian organizations build their internet brand and web identity. Here are just several examples:
- Missionary video sharing website (WorldMissions.TV)
- Social network community for the Church of God (ourCOG.org)
- Networking platform for Biker Churches (BikerChurch.US)
- Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago (BGnewLIFE.com)
- LaFrance Church of God (LaFranceCOG.com)
- Bulgarian Christian Church in Las Vegas (LasVegasChurch.TV)
Furthermore, we have contributed to various churches and organizations through:
- Hosting our annual X Event for youth exploring the role of internet for youth and youth ministries in the 21st century
- Lecturing on WebMinistry 2.0 for Churches at the Leadership Development Institute
- Guest speaking at the BibleTech conference organized by Logos Bible Software
- Publications on web branding for churches and non-profit organizations
In the country of Bulgaria alone, our team envisioned and created the largest Bible internet community with:
- Dedicated Bible Study website (Bibliata.com)
- Christian video sharing community (Bibliata.TV)
- Bulgarian Christian social network (Bibliata.net)
- Bulgarian Video Bible (Bibliata.mobi)
See also how we help churches grow through:
LIFE AND MINISTRY OF IVAN VORONAEV
This book tells the story of the life and ministry of the family who brought the message of Azusa Street to Eastern Europe and Russia. The research has taken close to a decade to complete. It started with a brief article on the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in Bulgaria, where unfortunately most church archives were destroyed during Communism. Consecutively, the research led my wife and I on a long journey from the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, to the Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield and the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley.
We are grateful to the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center for making available the ministerial file of Rev. Ivan Effimovich Voronaev kept in their denominational archives. We are deeply indebted to Dr. Albert Wardin for opening the doors for research in Nashville and Berkeley, where most documentation referring to Voronaev’s ministry as a Baptist is preserved. We are also thankful to Oleg Bronovolokov of the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Kiev,
who helped with the input of various Russian documents pertaining to the Voronaevs.
Both papers included in this book were presented at two consecutive meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies in Minneapolis (2010) and Memphis (2011). The first paper, although heavily edited to fit the format, was published in vol. 30 (2010) of Assemblies of God Heritage magazine under a new title, “Ivan Voronaev: Slavic Pentecostal Pioneer and Martyr.” Some of the historical data we presented in the article was published openly for the first time. Our research was further mentioned in the December, 2010 AG Heritage editorial. The Bulgarian “Evangel” also published our translations of Voronaev’s correspondence.
In 2011, Vladimir Franchuk, translated parts of the Voronaev’s papers in Russian and included it in his book “Revival: from the center of Odessa to the ends of Russia,” thus making our research available to the Slavic people just in time for the 90th Anniversary from the beginning of Ivan Voronaev’s Pentecostal ministry in Russia. Partial information from these papers was also used by several recent studies concerning Pentecostalism in Europe and the life and ministry of Rev. Dionissy Zaplishny. Unfortunately, with all this interest, little attention was given to the second paper concerning the Voronaev children until now.
Ministry Projects Completed in 2011
Early in 2011 we called this year the year of the Bamboo – one in which projects which have been worked on for sometime now would finally come to a realization.
1. Master Program in Chaplaincy Ministry via Bulgarian Theological Evangelical Institute at New Bulgarian University
2. Gospel of Mark published for Christmas
3. Bible Camp 2011 as part of our Mobile School of Ministry completed for the second year in a row with over 75 students in attendance
4. Youth Event 11.11.11 completed in Chicago with a three-day youth conference and retreat for the Bulgarian Church in North America
5. First European Conference for Bulgarian churches and ministries held in London.
6. Book of Revelation verse-by-verse video series completed with the Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God in Chicago
7. Leadership Seminar held with the New Generation Church in the Silistra region of Northern Bulgaria
8. Internet and Personality Series held and published as a ministry webinar
9. Missions conferences with the Good Shepherd Church of God (FL) and the York Church of God (SC)
10. The (un)Forgotten: Research Series presented at the 2011 SPS meeting in Memphis, TN
11. 90 Years Pentecostal Revival in Bulgaria (Historical Series)
12. Lectures in Politics and Religion at University of Nebraska
13. In celebration of 15 years in web ministry we:
a. Launched a brand new server for our websites in June, 2011
b.Released a new version of Bibliata.TV in August, 2011
c. Updated WorldMissions.TV in September, 2011
b. Started a Christian Social Network called Bibliata.NET in November, 2011
