The Gospel spreads in Bulgaria
Last year Revival Movement Association provided Every Home for Christ in Bulgaria with half a million tracts to aid them in their evangelistic efforts. The following is a report about the impact of the literature:
Dear Brother Samuel, Thank you so much for the 500,000 leaflets that you printed for us last year. The literature was a blessing for so many people in Bulgaria. It brought comfort, hope and especially knowledge of the Lord and His love to so many homes. We value very much the partnership we have with Revival Movement Association and thank God for you.
The literature you have printed for us gave us freedom to provide churches with as much literature as they need and ask for. One lady wrote us a message: “It is very good that through you we have the opportunity after talking with people to leave a brochure. The resources of the church are scarce in this regard, and through you we once again bring joy to the people with great materials. God bless you!”
At Christmas last year more than 300 churches received our literature: we distributed altogether over 150,000 Gospel tracts. Most of the churches organised different events, visiting institutions or sharing the Gospel in public places. Many churches visited nursing homes and gave Christmas tracts to elderly people. Some churches distributed the materials home-to-home to the people in their neighbourhood. Other churches distributed the evangelistic materials in prisons, markets, schools, city halls, hospitals, ambulances, banks and companies.
Christians with businesses and shops gave the tracts and calendars to their customers. Some churches rented Christmas market stalls, giving people some hot drinks and Gospel literature. One of the pastors wrote to us: “You really distribute wonderful materials! Thank you for your attention and help. For our small church, they are extremely helpful. The good attitude of believers breaks the ice, and then we have open hearts - the good soil for sowing the imperishable seed of God’s Word.”
Last year we also organized two evangelistic camps. Both have been in Muslim areas. Together with 63 volunteers we have reached more than 46,000 homes in 144 villages and 5 towns. The terrain was very hard. We had times when we drove 5 km in 40 minutes because of the very bad roads. For other villages we had to leave the car and walk one hour there and back, but our big encouragement was to find people there. They were so surprised to see us! I cannot forget how a man asked us: “How did you find me?” This question was the best start in sharing the love and truth of our Lord.
Even though the majority of the population was Muslim, we did not encounter any conflict or aggression. Even the Imams talked nicely with us. God has met with many people who were seeking the truth, looking for hope and searching for answers. Beside the Gospel tracts, every volunteer had in his backpack New Testaments and literature for children. I cannot forget how an old woman kissed the hands of the girl who promised to send her a Bible. She was so happy!
We had so many conversations with people. This is one of them. “When I handed a brochure to a woman, she told me that she was a Muslim, and we should respect their faith. I told her kindly that Allah did not give his life for her, but Jesus Christ did that because He loves her. Then I noticed that everything in her garden was dry, and I asked her how long it had been since it rained last time. She told me that there hadn’t been a drop of rain there for months. I asked her if I could pray for her as well as to ask God to give rain. When I finished the prayer, she was in tears. I left her a New Testament, telling her that as a testimony that God is the One who sent us, He would give His blessing and rain on the earth. On the same day, God performed the miracle: it started to rain! Later, walking through the streets in the rain, I was so happy that our God is the Only God, the true and Almighty God who hears our prayers and cares for us.”
Last year we organized a special Halloween outreach. We are so thankful to you for these special tracts you have given to us: “What will you do on Halloween”? The Halloween holiday is getting more and more popular in Bulgaria. The dressing up and receiving candy is very attractive and captivating for children. For them it is just fun and they do not realize its occultic origin and content.
As a mission organization we decided that we must encourage churches to help our nation to understand the truth behind Halloween. We provided them with the tracts you printed for us. We are thankful to the Lord that around 40 churches have participated in the project and nearly 300 volunteers shared the Gospel with more than 15,000 young people. The biggest joy was to see children giving the tracts in schools to their classmates. In every city young people accepted the tracts with a lot of interest.
There were churches who organized special outreaches on Halloween evening, giving the tracts to all the children and young people with masks on their faces. We noticed a special interest in the Halloween tracts from the Christian school teachers. They were the first who saw the need to tell the truth about the holiday and were excited to use our tracts by giving them to the children. A leader wrote to us: “Dear Pavel and Monica, I am sending the report from the Halloween 2023 project. Thank God for using you to distribute these brochures. I had never seen this kind of brochure for this “event” before. When I placed the order with you, I requested 100 pieces, but they were distributed in a flash, and we did not have enough. I am glad that there are people who want to spread the truth and those who accept it… Thank you for making us part of Halloween Project 2023.”
This spring we have encouraged churches to reach especially villages. We are glad that 57 churches have agreed to participate in the project and reach at least one village each. Some churches distributed the literature with their youth, teenagers and even children from Sunday school. Others distributed with the Pastor and some old ladies. Before the distribution every church had to organize a “prayer and fast” week to prepare spiritually for the outreach. It is so good to see the benefits and the fruits in their stories. For some churches this was the first outreach in the church’s existence.
Thank you once again for all your support and help with the literature. We would like to request a further 500,000 leaflets for our outreach work this year. May God bless your faithfulness and provide for your needs too. Pavel Valkov, Every Home for Christ. Bulgaria.
