About 8 years earlier, God told Yvonne and I to stop praying for my father’s salvation ... that He would take care of it. And during all of the years I had been going to Bulgaria, my mother was against me going ... because she thought it was dangerous, and if something should happen to one of my parents, I couldn't get home in time. But, Yvonne and I kept re-assuring her that God would take care of it.
In the Spring, I knew that the main focus was to be the remaining Turkish Muslim villages in the Kardjali area. At the end of July, Toni wrote that she had peace to work with me this time for only one month (clue #1), and this was quite a mystery to us! God kept putting it on my heart to visit Binka (our Bulgarian evangelist friend from 1996) who lived in northern Bulgaria. My passport renewal from Canada arrived too late for me to apply for a 60-day visa. We decided to trust God with the problem of a 2-month plane ticket and no 60-day visa (clue #2) ... just like we trusted God last year (2001) when I didn’t have a visa.
Toni and I started work with Mladen (an ex-Pomak Muslim who speaks Turkish) in the Kardjali area. Due to the culture, it is wise for a Turkish-speaking man to talk first when approaching people, especially when there are Turkish men present. In one village, while playing frisbee with some boys, I sprained my ankle (I heard quite a crunching sound), but when I got up off the ground I felt no pain at all and I knew that God had healed it. During the last 3 days, all 22 villages received “Jesus” videos!
Yvonne e-mailed to say that she was under a Satanic attack (clue #3). Robert and Susan, who are of great help to Yvonne when I’m in Bulgaria, had a car accident and were laid up with neck and back injuries; and also a horde of ants had invaded part of our house and were all over Yvonne’s bed and night-stand.
Toni and I drove to Mochrin and bought 800 more New Testaments (with Psalms). On the way home, our car’s transmission was getting worse, and as we were passing by the city of Sliven we ran out of gas. Due to the grace of God, easily and without delay, several different people helped us get gas and have the transmission fixed. Last year, while working on a cruise ship, Toni had met a Bulgarian man named Dancho who lived in Sliven. We found our way to his apartment; his father was dying and we prayed with him for his salvation. But actually, God was arranging a meeting between Dancho and I ... because the Lord him picked out to be my future helper in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
When we finally arrived back home in Kardjali, a man was standing on the corner. Saydat, who was the ex-Muslim Turkish pastor of the local gypsy church, was looking as surprised as we were ... and immediately agreed to help us go to the Turkish villages.
It was at this time that God gave Robert a strong warning to Yvonne for me (clue #4): If I stay in Bulgaria more than 30 days, I will fall in harm’s way; I won’t be able to get out of it! Also, he received strongly the words, “Danger, Danger, Warning!”, and the revelation that I should not leave the country and try to come back in (like I had done before). This message was from the Lord! Then, 2 days later, Yvonne’s sister (Robin) e-mailed her with another warning for me (clue #5), which was simply, “Leave!”. Robert’s prophetic word had been confirmed by Robin. At this time, I had been in Bulgaria for 2 weeks.
For the next week, Saydat went with us to 57 small Turkish Muslim villages (all quite close to Kardjali), and we had surprising success with a great many open people. Toni said that I am the only one with the vision to go to these little Turkish villages; I’d say it was Jesus’ vision. On some days, there was a lot of really tough driving on bad roads through the mountains, for example the half-hour drive on a terrible dirt road to get to the birth-village of the 3-time world-champion weightlifter (who now lives in Turkey).
Saydat was no longer available, so we started praying for direction. God gave* Toni Acts 22:10 ... “Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do”. Damascus is way north of the New Testament apostles’ home-base (Jerusalem), and northern Bulgaria is north of OUR home-base! And Toni also received*
1 Kings 20:28-30, which told us to go where there are no mountains. This is where Binka lives: on the plains of north Bulgaria!
* God can easily implant whatever He wants (information, dreams, visions, etc)
into a person’s mind.
We could not contact Binka, but I decided to move our home-base north anyway. Toni and I went to 7 villages in 2 days; some were extremely open, which really surprised her. There were now only 3 more days until my 30 days were up, and we realized that our village work this year was finished. Toni finally contacted Binka, who was evangelising in Switzerland, and she told us to meet her son-in-law who was the pastor of the local pentecostal church. We found out that on the previous night, the church had been praying about how to evangelise their area, and guess who showed up with almost a full car-load of materials (all of which they received)?
Blessings returning home ...
God really took care of me on the way home! In Sofia, I bought a one-way ticket from a travel agent. The first stop was to be in the Czech Republic, but I did not know that Canadians needed a visa to enter it. It seemed I needed special grace just to be allowed on the plane; also I had to agree that I would not leave the Prague airport for 19 hours until my connecting flight the next morning! Once in the airport, I was told there was no place to store my large, heavy suitcase. However, later I noticed a room labelled "Baby-changing Room", which had a single bed and a bathroom next to it. So, God gave me my own little private apartment in the center of the Prague airport where I could store my suitcase and have a great night's sleep (some other people were sleeping over-night in chairs). Czech Air had told me that my suitcase was checked all the way home. But, at JFK airport in NYC, a worker just happened to tell me that this was not true, so I believe the Lord rescued it from being left in NYC.
IF I had come home after the usual 2 months (as I originally planned) ...
I would have arrived just one day before my sister phoned from Canada (on October 26) when she said that my father was in the hospital again, and that maybe I should come home to visit soon, rather than later. But, I would have been very tired; I would not have decided to pay the high last-minute airfare price and travel all day on 2 planes and a bus!
IF I had gone to Canada, even 4 days later, it would have been too late
... because my father died on October 31.
Regarding the 5 clues ...
Clue #1 Toni had peace to work in the villages for only 1 month.
Clue #2 My passport renewal arrived late, so I couldn't get a 2-month visa.
Clue #3 I'm really needed at home; Yvonne, Robert & Susan all have problems.
Clue #4 Robert has a warning from the Lord: "Don't stay longer than 30 days!"
Clue #5 Robin has a warning from the Lord: "Leave!"
For the first time in 7 trips to Bulgaria, God persuaded me to return home one month early! That being the case, I had 4 weeks to rest before getting the call from my sister. I arrived late in the evening of October 30, exactly 24 hours before my father died. During the day of his death, I was the only family member to converse with him. He was in a private room, and I felt comfortable praying out loud for more than a half-hour -- as I thanked Jesus, and praised Him, and covered the whole room (and us) with His blood, and chased any demons (who might have been there) out of the room. A few days later, after the funeral, while I was talking to Yvonne on the phone, she said that God had assured her very strongly that my father was in heaven!
I praise God for making sure that I returned home so I could see my father one more time before his death, and it surely appears that my father’s salvation was the result of God’s efforts to get me home .... one month early.
Weeks: 4 Villages: 103 Bibles: 1 NT&Psalms: 367 Tracts: 7,900 Videos: 57
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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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