Ministering at the Regional Church of God Exactly Nine Months before the Massive Youth Revival in the Schools of Delbarton, West Virginia
Click on the text-link to watch our message while ministering at the Regional Church of God exactly 9 months before the Massive Youth Revival in the Schools of Delbarton, West Virginia | http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/69822047
Ministering at Regional Church of God in Delbarton, WV
Regional Church of God
Regional Youth Rally in Bankya
Regional Prayer Conference for the Yambol Village Churches
Church of God Regional Seminar
One of the fastest growing regions within the Bulgarian Church of God has been the Central Gabrovo region led by Bishop Vasil Petrov. The mother church in Gabrovo has become a dynamic congregation, operating in the gifts of the Spirit and active evangelism with a strategy that has resulted in a regional revival. Two more congregations were established in years past in the close-by cities of Sevlievo and the Old Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnovo. We have been privileged to be a part of this process through regular training seminars and revival services at these churches located in the very center of the country of Bulgaria.
This year our team was invited to conduct a seminar for new believers who have joined the church. Some 25 people joined us on a Saturday to participate in the seminar. Many of them have received Christ, water baptism and joined the church less than a month ago and every topic of doctrine and praxis sparks their interest. We spent the whole day in teaching and answering question after question. Such process might be overwhelming for some, but the years of training and preaching are always helpful in persevering and fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples among the nations.
Sunday after the seminar we held two services with the churches in Gabrovo and in Veliko Tarnovo. The morning service turned rather prophetic as a word for the condition of the church and the people was rightly delivered and promptly received. The afternoon service at the Charisma Church of God in Tarnovo had more of an evangelistic approach, as it also reached a world wide audience via the internet.
Overall, Bishop Vasil Petrov and his team have made great use of the limited resources in the budget, buildings and media they have in their possession to execute with great effectiveness a regional ministry that can serve as a model within our Church of God denomination. Both services were broadcasted LIVE via our websites, which brought a great deal of response from viewers in Bulgaria and abroad, and set the stage for the Tuesday night evangelism program which the Gabrovo church holds LIVE on the internet. This was their 52nd broadcast marking one year from its conception, and it was our privilege to host the program, giving an opportunity to the regular host, Bishop Vasil Petrov, to be the guest of honor.
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.
