Nine Month Report from Bulgaria (January-September, 2003)
In October 1996 we partnered I ministry with the Mission for Christian Upbringing in Bulgaria, which today is operated by the Cup & Cross Ministers International team in Bulgaria.
During 1996-98 our ministry 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 which operates in Bulgaria.
Through this endeavor since 1999, Cup & Cross Ministries has began 11 Pentecostal churches in the Yambol region, providing Sunday School literatures, weekly radio program, organizing social care centers and numerous conferences, crusades and meetings. The team ministers to several hundred people, as the main ministry methodology includes 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.
Strategically located at the Bulgarian border with Turkey and Greece, this ministry has been able to reach Greek Orthodox and Muslim believers as well. Through the ministry of Shalom TV and the help of a local radio station, we have been able to provide weekly media outreaches which have served our vision as evangelistic tools.
As a result of this work today Cup & Cross Ministries provides pastoral care and ministry to 13 churches with 300 members. The following is an excerpt report of our ministry activities.
Churches: 13 (plus 2 project churches)
Traveling: Average of 2,500 miles per month
Services: Average of 100 a month
Team: 8 (plus 4 in raining)
Media: Shalom TV, Local Radio Broadcast
Training Seminars:
Kamenetz Church
Easter Regional Conference May 24, 2002
Christmas Regional Seminar December 27, 2002
Women of Godliness February 2, 2003
Forgiveness Conference March 15, 2003 (100 present)
Bogorovo Church
Women of Godliness May 3, 2003 (120 present)
Iretchekovo Church
Prayer for Jerusalem Seminar June 26, 2003 (250 present)
Please pray for our next regional training seminar in September, 2003. We are expecting over 300 to attend.
Water Baptism Services
May, 2001 Baptized 3 in the Yambol church
June, 2001 Baptized 3 in the Yambol church
June, 2003 Baptized 24 in the Black Sea
November 2002 Ministry Report
ETHNIC MINORITIES IN BULGARIA (PDF)
October 2002 Ministry Report
Bulgaria: Religious Freedom Report (PDF)
August 2002 Ministry Report
July 2002 Ministry Report
May 2002 Ministry Report
Exclusive Report: Pentecostal Primitivism Preserved
I spoke at the Bulgarian Theological Evangelical Instituted today on the subject of Pentecostal Primitivism. My lecture discussed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and suggested a new triangular model for the formation of Pentecostal faith consisting of prayer, power and praxis. I spoke for about 20 minutes but regardless of the time the presence of the Holy Spirit was so real that most of the students and teachers were crying. I have never seen anything like this before. After the lecture some of the students ask me to pray for them that God will recover in their lives the power of Pentecost. Before doing this, I warned them that if they do not want God to wake them up in the middle of the night and send them to strange places to preach the Gospel, they should not pray in this prayer. Then we all prayed and cried before the Lord. I am invited to lecture on the same subject next Friday in front of another group of students at the school.
MISSION BULGARIA: QUARTERLY REPORT AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2001
MISSION BULGARIA: QUARTERLY REPORT AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2001 Sofia, BULGARIA
Three months have passed since I have returned to my home country Bulgaria on August 17, 2001. This year has been a special one for me and I have a lot to thank the Lord for. First of all, I thank the Lord for my fiancée Kathryn Nell Barton. Kathryn and I got engaged on July 4, 2001 and will be getting married on July 6, 2002. Then, I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to finish my master’s degree from the Church of God Theological Seminary, a water wheal of experience and knowledge from which I can now take in abundance and apply to the present ministerial context and tasks. I thank the Lord for bringing me back to my home country Bulgaria and giving me the opportunity to minister here of which I give the following report:
Focus:
1. Sunday School Pilot Program
2. Central Church of God in Sofia
3. Chaplains Commission
4. Local congregations and outreaches
5. Results: Sunday School Pilot Program
6. More than 15,000 lessons printed and distributed (cost: 5 cents per copy)
7. Lessons made available vie e-mail and internet
8. Sunday School lessons taught in 37 local congregations nationally (reported)
Results: Central Church of God in Sofia
FTH – Central Church of God – Sofia – 6 out of 12 lessons on Revelation finished
Results: Chaplains Commission
1. Bulgarian Chaplaincy work reformed according to modern standards
2. Chaplaincy Training Course scheduled for 18-22 February 2002
Results: Local congregations and outreaches (including Yambol team)
1. 66 Bibles and 91 New Testaments purchased and distributed free of charge
2. More than 40 pairs of eyeglasses given or fixed free of charge
3. Social work – lunch served twice weekly to more than 450 people
4. Financially supporting 1 minister of the Gospel
5. Weekly Bible Radio program reaching Yambol and 19 villages in the area
7. Sunday School for children reaching 137 children of 4 villages with Children Bibles, Sunday School literature for children (in Bulgarian and English) and food
8. 39 visited churches
9. 457.5 miles traveled per week with rented car (price of gas $2.94 per gallon)
Vision – Goals for the next quarter (November 17, 2001-February 17, 2002)
1. 15-20% Increase of total ministerial activities
2. Finish the Sunday School Pilot Program and publish a Sunday School textbook including lessons on the 14 articles of the Declaration of Faith and Revelation
3. Continue participating in the ministerial outreaches
4. Decreasing the transportation expenses by getting own automobile
5. Continuing the local radio ministry and starting TV documentary with Shalom TV
6. Establishing a Chaplaincy Commission with the Bulgarian Church of God
7. Click here to view a full map of events
The Experience with the Community of God
Because I am limited in my time and resources, I have to ask people to help me. For example, in order to have the Sunday School lesson printed in the needed copies, I write it on my computer, send it vie e-mail to a friend who prints it on the printer in her office, then gives it to her husband who takes it to the print shop where they multiply the copies and returns it to me on Saturday night ready for the Sunday morning service. This process takes a little bit less than a week. While it seems quite inconvenient, it involves people and relationships, which make it a priceless experience within the family of God. If I had all the resources I needed, I would have never had the opportunity to ask people to help me, and being helped and helping others I have found to be the best part of ministry.
Rev. Dony K. Donev, M. Div.
17 November 2001 – Sofia, BULGARIA
