21st Annual Conference of Bulgarian Church Held in Las Vegas
Palm Sunday at the Bulgarian Church in Las Vegas
When you think of Las Vegas, the first things that flood your mind are negative. One automatically associates this city with aspects, which you would feel uncomfortable referencing in a Christian newsletter. Therefore, you question if it is appropriate to even mention that you ministered in “Las Vegas” because of the negative connotation with simply saying these words. Yet, when you really come to think about it, is not the Gospel for the sinners and what better place to bring the Gospel than to a city that takes pride in its alias “Sin City?”
When ministering in Mississippi this year, we attended a biker church, which carries the slogan “Sinners Welcomed, Others Tolerated.” This should be the mindset of righteous Christians; however, for the most part this is not true. Sinners make us uncomfortable. Sinners are “dirty.” The motto of most churches today should read: “Sinners Tolerated, Others Welcomed.”
Regardless of being “too righteous”, we did go to Las Vegas and we did minister there. When the Lord tells you to “GO” you do not question His command. Even when you know it will make you uncomfortable, you still go. Or you end up like Jonah.
Las Vegas is the home to a growing Bulgarian community, which has already established not one, but two Bulgarian churches with solid ministry presence in the area. They serve as a lighthouse to the European Immigrants in a place where it is hard to keep your faith.
On Palm Sunday we delivered a message on a traditional topic in a nontraditional way and spoke about The Price of the Kingdom. We were also able to spend time with the pastoral family who is currently seeking denominational affiliation and assist them in obtaining a website for their church. Their hope is to be able to inform other Bulgarians in the Las Vegas area of the new church, to provide a presence among the network of Bulgarian Churches in North America and hopefully begin broadcasting their services LIVE in the near future in order to reach more souls for the Kingdom.
When a Christian thinks of Las Vegas, the first things that flood the mind are negative. But after having ministered the Gospel in the midst of “Sin City,” you cannot stop thinking about the potential for saved human souls. For the Gospel was not given for our weekly Sunday morning entertainment, but rather for the salvation of the sinner. If we wish for Revival to go on, we must continue to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world, which includes even Las Vegas, Nevada.
What Happens in Vegas is Written in Heaven
We spent Palm Sunday together with the Bulgarian evangelical community of Las Vegas. The Bulgarian Diaspora in the most famous Nevada city has grown rapidly in the past few years now reaching several thousand immigrants who have established a prominent presence in the local community. The latest additions to the area are a Bulgarian store, a Bulgarian restaurant and of course a newspaper for the Bulgarians in Vegas.
Naturally, an evangelical church is being formed in the existing Bulgarian community. These are not only people who have ties with the evangelical churches in Bulgaria, but their families and representatives of second generation immigrants as well.
We were blessed to receive a cordial invitation to minister to them on our way back from the West Coast. Arriving in town, we held a Bible study on Friday and then preached at the beautiful Palm Sunday service organized by the Bulgarian evangelical believers of Las Vegas. As we prayed with the people for the remaining of the warm Sunday evening, preaching Salvation in Sin City became more than a slogan. This world claims that “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, but what happened in the Bulgarian evangelical church in Vegas on Palm Sunday is written in Heaven.
