Mission Update - 2006

I will continue my update with something that happened very recently and it was one of this divine appointments God keeps doing. I was attending with Bishop Peter a rather unique conference for all the 3 streams of Christianity ( Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants). It was in one of the Catholic cathedrals and the  main theme was “Christianity in United Europe”. It was attended by the top leaders of all the 3 branches of Christianity in Bulgaria. The guy who runs the affairs of the Pope in Bulgaria was also there ( he is an Italian). The director of the ministry of Religion Mr. Zhelev was there. One of the top Orthodox theologians and rector at present of the biggest Bulgarian University Mr. Bakalov was also there. I have been able to speak  in person to them and also with one of the top Orthodox leaders who is thought by many to be the next Bulgarian Patriarch.  The heads of the major protestant denominations were also there. There was mutual respect and acceptance which was hard to believe. This was very rare as 90% of the Bulgarians are Orthodox and evangelicals are viewed with suspicion and suppress by the Orthodox church until recently. We as Evangelicals are usually not welcome at such events and not treated friendly. Not only that, but we were allowed to address the whole conference. As you can guess I didn’t left the issue of evolution and creation (the ultimate authority of the Word of God) out of it. Then God struck me with the thought that I should bless everyone with creation materials and the films I dub. I went home and came back with 100 sets ( each with 4 booklets and the book Stones and bones) and good number of the 4 dubbed films in a suitcase. They have officially permitted me to distribute them and have helped actively themselves. It was something unbelievable – all those top religious figures walking around the hall and during the coffee brakes with their hands and pockets being full of the creation materials. As you can see from the few pictures I took there were cardinals, Bishops, Patriarchs and etc. I could have made some unique pictures, but I tried to be wise and not act immature and in an offensive manner. Friday evening a selection of people were invited at a reception in the residence of the Catholic Bishop. I was invited too with Bishop Peter and we could speak to even more of all those guys while around the table. Everyone was very deeply interested in the creation evangelism and how this relates with the place of the Church in the society which is connected with the authority of the Bible. These guys begun seeing the connection. I expect God mightily to use the seed we’ve planted. Some great connections at high levels of government in the Church and in the government were established also. Some top church leaders have raised the issue for putting the message of the Bible (creation) into the public schools. The director of the ministry of Religion Mr. Zhelev was very supportive and the whole conference too. This is a great breakthrough and a great foundation for God to use us more for changing the destiny of the whole country. One first great step is fact. I have promised to so many of the top guys to supply them with more creation materials as the hunger is tremendous. I’ve been given their business cards and they are eagerly expecting me to send them more. There is a possibility even to expose the young priests in the Orthodox seminaries to the subject via this materials. Some even begged for more on the issue. I have been sharing with you that Bulgaria is in a unique situation that is so much in favor of the Bible and the creation message and this event is a good confirmation. There was a major concern at this events about the wild spread of Islam in Europe and the fact that in the coming European constitution the politicians refuse to mention God and the Christian heritage of the Old continent. This have melted the ice and now the 3 branches of Christianity are rediscovering that they need each other. This is a great point and open door for ministry in Bulgaria. This gives us more freedom to just go ahead and simply uplifts the Word of God. The creation evangelism  method is so effective and all Christian churches in Bulgaria begin to see this. We talked in person with many of this officials and specially with the Orthodox. This is great point as journalists have been asking us already how the Orthodox church sees the creation evangelism message that we are spreading. After this event I can say they are very receptive and approving and this is so helpful in a country with about 90% Orthodox people and where any “religious” activity much be approved by the Orthodox church.

God have opened another great opportunity for us to reach more than 1000 young people with the book Stones and  bones and a Power Point creation presentations. There is a growing youth movement for the Christian youth from all denominations called New Wave. They have events every 2-3 months and usually between 1000 and 3000 young people attend. Every time non-Christian young people attend this events and there is a great opportunity for them to get converted and join the Body of Christ. You can inform yourself about them at their site - http://novavalna.org/. This site was visited more than 2 million times. This 3-rd of November the event will be in the Ruse church after they’ve been invited by Bishop Peter .  I have still copies from the book Stones and Bones and I am planning to give this last numbers to each one of the participating youth as a gift while in the Ruse church. A short 25 minutes creation film exposing the lie of evolution will be projected on a big screen for all the youth to see. I will be given the word to make a Power Point presentation and I will use the opportunity to advertise the new Bulgarian creation evangelism site that I try to develop, so that the message could reach as many as possible. I can predict that after this we will be flooded with requests and questions for more materials in Bulgarian. God be the glory for the ways He moves!!

God have made a contact with the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry in Bulgaria. They have contacted me and told me that they are launching a massive outreach campaign inside the Bulgaria’s Public Education System. They are already invited in more than 150 elite public schools to project the Jesus for children movie and lecture about the Bible. They are an extremely well reputed organization here and usually work after obtaining all the necessary permissions and their work can hardly be attacked. They would like to distribute sets of the 4 creation films I’ve dubbed to each of the schools they are invited to. They have really seen their value and their student, military and etc. ministries already use this materials greatly. This means we can get right into the system and I believe this will lead over time to grass-root support for the introduction of the creation message of the Bible in the Bulgarian schools. This can be the opening door also for a major speaking ministry over time. This outreach seems to be an answer of our prayers. Apart from what I have shared (about them distributing our films in the schools) they have contacted me and told me that they would like to include my Power Point presentation about the creation message from the Bible and against evolution in their program for outreach in the schools. I had to make the presentation and also write a manual that all their teams will use while teaching in the schools. It was a very challenging and responsible work and I needed the help from God. It took me a lot, but the final result is good. I have been encouraging myself with the thought that hundreds of schools would be reached via this materials as the teams will be trained to use them. I have traveled to Varna (some 500 km back and forth) to participate in the training sessions for the teams from around the country that would be carrying this outreach in the public schools. We had also many Christians who are professional educators in public schools and they will be included in this outreach too. They will be looking for venues to lecture on the subject inside their schools. It was very good also that we had a high ranking Orthodox priest who was the special guest and who greatly approves the whole campaign.  He received as a gift a full set from all the creation materials I had with me. I have taught them how to use the presentation and the manual and also some additional materials that I had ready for them and some that I urgently have translated for this occasion. I was given a whole session to explain how they can expose the lie of evolution and present the Word of God as the highest authority in the specific environment of the Bulgarian public schools. I blessed all that were present with free creation materials that I still had available. Please pray for this outreach to God, so that He would grant His favor and many souls would find Christ.

I have traveled this week together with one of the teams to a public college that trains veterinarians and lectured there. We are invited to come back on a regular basis. Students were greatly interested and very, very receptive for the Word of God after the lie of evolution was exposed. I find that people respond greatly to the few, but with very good quality materials we have in Bulgarian. The 4 dubbed films we freely distributed have been already broadcasted in several TV stations nationwide and more are seeking them, they have been given also to many public libraries during the last month. The need and the hunger for more is so great that I went back and donated to this school my personal TV and new, good DVD device, so that they could benefit from the dubbed creation films we’ve left with them. I’ve been assured that every single student in this school will watch them and they will be used in class. It is joy to my heart to see whole institutions like this opening for the Gospel and wanting more and more. This is just the beginning of something that will certainly leave an impact on many people in Bulgaria. Please keep us in your prayers, so that we can please God in all we do. God be the glory!

As soon after I came back from the visit to the States I had to give water baptism to a young lady that wanted urgently to be baptized. Few days after that I had to marry a new young couple as our Bishop, brother Peter was not home in Bulgaria yet. It is always a pleasure to see new Christian couples. It was even more special to me and Vesy as I not only performed the marriage ceremony, but we were also their witnesses at the marriage. This is already the 5-th couple that we are witnesses of and we feel the big responsibility. Family life needs to be sustained all the time ( as you well know) and we try to be helpful with all that we can to those that have chosen us as their witnesses.
We also had the annual meeting for the church in Borovo where I serve during which we gather at a table, share food, thank the Lord for what He have blessed us with and for the opportunities to serve Him and look forward for the new things that are ahead of us as His body in this town.

We had also a projection of the movie “Jesus for kids” that we have arranged together with the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry. The cinema in the center of Borovo was overflowing with people and mainly parents with their children. It was such a delight to see this. We have distributed large amount of Christian literature and none refused to take it. Many seeds were sown and we pray God would give abundant fruit. It is also worth mentioning that beginning with this November we will renew our lectures at the local public school ( the only one) and we will be teaching in every class about the Bible. The lectures are adjusted for the different age groups, so that the message could come out in a clear and understandable way. From this year the issue of the creation message as given in the Bible will be given special place in the curriculum. This means that every child in Borovo will get deeper and deeper into the knowledge of the Word of God as this is the 3-rd year that we will do that. God have opened that door and we are so happy to be used to shape the worldview of the next generation in this town.

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