Pravetz 16 Years Later
Thirteen years after graduating from high school I was able to return to Pravetz again for a reunion of the Church of God youth group there. As many of us traveled from various parts of the world to attend the meeting, it was only natural to recall what the Lord had done for us in this small mountain town.
The Church of God in Pravetz was founded as an outreach ministry of the close-by Etropole church. For many years, the Etropole Church of God was known as an underground evangelical congregation that served many in prayer and preaching regardless of limitations set by local and national authorities.
When the church in Pravetz began regular services in the early 1980s none of the secular observers suspected that it would have any influence on the town. Pravetz was the birthplace of the Bulgarian communist prime minister who ruled the nation for over 30 years. In the 1980s, Pravetz was known as a “privileged” city where the Communist Regime had build its own ideological stronghold. Yet, the Church of God in Pravetz survived the Regime and after much prayer and anticipation the church officially opened its’ doors after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
This was also the time of my affiliation with the church. Just having been saved in my hometown Yambol, I returned to Pravetz at the beginning of the school year in 1990 and begun attending the Church of God there. The church had a small group of young people who sought the Lord. In less than a year, their prayers were answered as a great multitude of young people begun attending the church. I remember one of the meetings where over 170 young people were present in the small military cafeteria adapted for church services. Having gathered at the recent meeting, we concluded again that for the period of 1990-1995, over 300 young people where saved in the city of Pravetz. Their stories remain forever recorded as part of the history of the Pravetz Church of God.
These were the events that we remembered at the gathering on June 24, 2006 in Pravetz. Many shared their stories since graduating from the school and beginning a carrier in various professional fields. Pastor Ivan Sabotinov, who has served in the church almost from its beginning, greeted the audience and reminded everyone of God’s love and grace that has remained the same through all these years. We were also given the opportunity to share from the Word and speak about the First Love. The message urged the remembrance of God’s miraculous power and assured those present that although we might have lost our first love, we are never lost from the first love of God. In addition, we were able to hold three more services on Sunday, June 25th at 8:00 a.m. in Pravetz, 10:00 a.m. in Etropole and 12:00 p.m. in Yablanitza.
Pravetz 15 Years Later
We returned to the town of Pravetz for a weekend of ministry, restoration and celebration. Pravetz was the place where the Bulgarian communist prime minister of thirty years was born and raised. Ironically, it was also the place where the Lord raised one of the largest youth groups in the history of the Bulgarian Church of God in the early 1990s. Pravetz was the place where I began ministering and the visit there marked fifteen years since these humble beginnings. Regardless of the fact that both the town and the church have changed, the anointing for ministry which God placed there is still strong. We were able to visit both Pravetz and Yablanitza where we met with old friends and coworkers. Thus, the visit to Pravetz was more than just another weekend of ministry, but rather a place of reclaiming lost heritage and re-envisioning of a new future. Because even if a man reaches the highest peaks of life, crosses the larges oceans of success or completes the most unimaginable acts of heroism, he must never forget where he has come from …
Celebrating 10 Years in the Ministry
We are excited this month, as we are honored to celebrate ten years in the ministry for His Kingdom. Although the beginning of our ministry is a humble one, today we praise the Lord, because He was both willing and able to save, deliver and call for ministry the sixteen-year-old Bulgarian boy ten years ago. We praise Him because in the hard journey of the ministry, we have never felt lonely, as He has been true to His word, “I will never leave you nor forsake you …” (Heb. 13:5).
