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In November of 1998, Toni wrote to us: “My heart is full of desire to go to the villages. I sleep in the bed under which has many gospel tracts.” Yvonne and I sensed that God was moving again. In May, when Yvonne was praying for confirmation if I should go or not, the Lord said to her: “Doesn't My word say to go into all the world?” In June, God told a local prophet (who told me) that I would touch a hundred, but to not be discouraged (at only a hundred) because He would touch thousands!
The first 10 days were spent getting used to the 10-hour time difference, and the heat and humidity, and preparing our 21-year-old car. A man staying with me in Toni's missionary apartment explained to me that the Arda River is called the Bulgarian Jordan River. The next day, when 4 of us were praying for direction on where Toni and I should start evangelising, God gave Toni Matthew 4:15 ... “along the road to the sea and east of the Jordan”. So now I could explain that this meant “east of the Arda River on the way to the Black Sea”, and so this was the area where we were supposed to begin.
About half-way there, we stopped to visit Elayna (who has the gift of prophecy); I had helped her (in 1997) because she was being persec-uted by the church. Here a mechanic spent 2 days fixing large cracks in the frame of our car! Dinner was at 10:00 pm every evening, except the night we had rabbit at 11:30.
We arranged to stay with Hristo and his wife in the city of Bourgas on the Black Sea. Hristo had a healing ministry during the communist time, and God had told him that he would be used again in the last days! Not so much into evangelising, he had a heart for preaching in churches, and God did provide him with a small church to preach to every day (or night) while we evangelised 28 villages. Toni and Christina took turns going with Hristo and I. In one church, all 8 ladies who came forward for healing were “slain in the Spirit” (knocked over by the power of the Holy Spirit) and healed of what was afflicting them.
Next, Christina and I went to the Sredets area and stayed with Szlatka and her husband while we evangelised 15 villages. In one village, we interrupted a town council meeting to evangelize them (like Toni and I did in 1996). 2 days later, an over-joyed Szlatka phoned to tell us of several ways that God had blessed her family for taking such good care of us again (like she did in 1997).
When we were again praying for direction, God gave Toni Luke 3:3-5, which talks about going “into all the region around the Jordan (Arda)” where there are mountains and valleys. So, we went to the Smolen and Chapalari region, and experienced much success going to 34 villages. These remote mountain villages were most receptive and thankful. One of them was Kosovo, which is the oldest village in the Rhodopi mountains. Its mayor, who was also the mayor of a city and 3 other villages, was very open to us and what we were doing.
One night, Toni and I experienced “a miracle drive” home in the dark on an awful 7 kilometer (4 mile) rocky “road”. This short-cut would save us hours of back-tracking, but we were advised not to try it. However, it was getting dark and we were tired, so off we went (with no spare tire), praying and praising all the way! Half-way along this unforgettable journey, the car lost its muffler and most of its power, but God got us home safely.
Weeks: 8 Villages: 110 Bibles: 36 NT&Psalms: 1,250 Tracts: 6,500 Videos: 41
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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.
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