On the very first day in the Smolen area, Christina was attacked by Muslim lady with a big stick. In another area, we were in a large village with 5 Orthodox churches, and we were showing the “Jesus” video in the school auditorium when 2 policemen came in and literally pulled the projector plug out of the wall. She was grilled in the principal's office for 2 hours by the mayor, 5 policemen, and an Orthodox priest. The Lord was really with us, and we remained bold and fearless; it was quite a testimony for all of the people watching who had been trained to fear authority during the communist time.
Toni and I received 2 separate confirmations from men that the Elhovo area was very open and needy, which convinced us that this was to be our primary area this year. God arranged for us to stay with a family in their apartment in Elhovo for 5 weeks while we went to 108 villages!
Before entering a village, we prayed for God’s guidance, wisdom, and protection ... and for God to show us favor with everyone ... and for Him to put people in our path who were open and hungry for the truth. I began to realize that God was giving me discernment on exactly who should receive a New Testament! These were quite scarce compared to our many gospel tracts (we had 16 times as many tracts). The most ready and open people seemed to shine with the most wonderful smiles after receiving their gospel tracts, and I just “knew” who should also get a New Testament (and other special materials).
In one village, we saw several salvations and healings. In another village, the Lord instantly healed the first lady we prayed for, and she ran around the village telling people about it; soon we were praying for about 10 others also. A young lady (Petia) prayed to receive Jesus and was delivered of intense nervousness and stuttering; indeed, we saw a tremendous transformation in her speech and countenance! One lady’s paralyzed right arm was healed immediately, and a gypsy lady with a crutch had her painful hip instantly healed. Some people were in tears saying they had been praying for years to get a Bible. Their great appreciation for our coming was very touching; one lady was so grateful that she kissed my hand as I drove away.
In Muslim villages south of Gotsay Delchev, Lubcho and I devised a method of evangelising several villages on a road which was in a potentially dangerous area. We kept our intentions hidden while we travelled to the end of the very last village, and then we started working our way back through the villages; in this way, if we did encounter a problem, it would always be behind us! A man living next to Lubcho and I had terminal cancer (with only 3 months to live). We prayed for him and he accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. We also prayed for his healing, and 2 days later the family called from the hospital to say that the cancer was now in regression!
Weeks: 9 Villages: 176 Bibles: 36 NT&Psalms: 3,100 Tracts: 9,600 Videos: 53
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gospel tracts we used were the #1 source of truth that God wanted
the villages to have! CLICK HERE for information on these excellent tracts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
