This trip was only MY INTRODUCTION TO BULGARIA ...
not much exciting happened, and certainly very little evangelising.
But, many incredible experiences were on the way in later trips!
In the spring of 1992, I joined up with a missions organization which was taking 85 people to 4 Eastern European countries. I chose to go
to Bulgaria because it was the country where most of the people were going, and I was not bold enough to go with a small group elsewhere. After we arrived in the capital (Sofia), we were split up into 6 teams, and at the very last moment ... I was switched from the team going to Kustendil in the far west of the country to the team going to the city of Kardzali, which is centrally located in the middle of southern Bulgaria. Later, I realized that it was God who did this ... because
this city was where God wanted me to set up my central home-base
for several years of evangelizing all over southern Bulgaria!
The last week was my favorite time of the entire 6 weeks ...
because I got to visit about 20 villages where 4 of us evangelized
and passed out gospel tracts. In one village, we visited 2 sisters
who were the leaders of a home church group of 20 women.
Without me realizing what was happening, God was giving me
a taste of village evangelism, and He was bonding my heart to
the village people of Bulgaria.
NOTE: In Bulgaria prior to July 1991, it was:
“... illegal to mention the name of Jesus or quote a Scripture verse in
newspapers or on radio or television. Bulgaria had been the most Stalinistic
of all the Communist nations in Europe; even more so than Russia itself.”
The above quotation is from the book “Fire From Heaven”
(page 6, ISBN 1-895-868-00-9) by the Canadian evangelist Peter Youngren,
who evangelized 6 Bulgarian cities in May 1992, with one outdoor meeting
in the capital city of Sofia drawing more than 200,000 people.
The team of 12 who went to Kardjali (2 married couples, 6 men, and 2 women).
~~~~~~~~
Some members of the Kardjali pentecostal church
(plus 7 of our team in the back row)
TOP HOME Return to Testimony SUMMARY
