Dear Friends,

 

In this issue:

·        War as the way to peace: the war in Iraq as a symbol of the spiritual war

·        Ministry on wheels:  ministry team trips and Stuart Watkins’ visit

·        Praise report: one supporting church provides the funds for 1 VBS this summer

·        Back in the USA: To tell, expand support, recruit and reflect on life and work with Jesus.

 

WAR AS THE PRICE FOR PEACE

The war in Iraq has stirred up passions worldwide, including within the Christian community.  Some are against the war.  Some support the war effort.  This war, in many ways reminds me of the situation in the church.  Feeling safe and secure is part of freedom and of quality of life by worldly standards.  Feeling the peace of God and the safety of His presence is a sign of faith by Christian standards.  In both cases, however, there are two approaches to peace—one that seeks peace at any cost and the other which seeks the cost for peace. 

 

Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you” (Jn. 14:27a).  Many supporters of peace would find this statement supporting their cause.  Yet Jesus continued:  “My peace I give you; I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  Obviously the peace He gave was accompanied by trouble.  Jesus promised something more than not having conflict in the home, the streets, the nation and between different nations.  Jesus also said:  “I did not come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).  He adds that man’s enemies would be those of one’s own household.  The apostle warns that all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). 

 

It is obvious that God’s idea of peace has little to do with the peace that humans imagine.  It means that our lives, given to His standard, will collide with the standard of the world.  If we are not prepared for this conflict, or try to go for a nicer version of it, we are in the trap of what Jesus called “the yeast of the Pharisees”—hypocritical religion (Matt. 12:3).  Therefore, true peace is the fruit of going to war and claiming the victory, over our own selfish desires and over this world, which Jesus gave us at the cost of pain and death.  But without the pain and the loss of war, the victory over our own selfishness is not there and peace is just a temporary truce.  For it was given to us to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him (Phil. 2   ). When ready to embrace the fact that war and struggle is the price we have to pay to find peace, we will be much closer to the state Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, promised to His followers.

 

THE POSSIBLE RESULTS OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

Speaking in the natural—if the effort of the allied forces is successful and democracy is established in Iraq—this will mean a lot of new opportunities for the Gospel to come in.  I cannot but relate to the Iraqi people who are in a desperate need to hear about Jesus’ power to bring new life.  I myself, and many other young Bulgarians, believed only after the oppression of communist atheism crumbled to pieces in 1990.  Then the door was opened for missionaries to come into Bulgaria and share the good news I was so hungry to hear.  Let’s pray that religious freedom and the freedom of truth of the Gospel be brought to Iraq and the souls there.  Because oppression and terrorism are not the result of poverty, but the fruit of a life devoid of the glorious hope of eternal life in the presence of the true and living God.

 

MINISTRY TRAVEL IN BULGARIA

The weekend of Feb. 28-March 2 we traveled to Alexadnrovo, Lovech and Svishtov.  The team from our house church, the Gathering and my brother, visited a pastor and a missionary in Alexandrovo, a village 2 hours from Sofia in the North part of the country.  The pastor there, Toshko, was very warm and welcoming.  He lives in very poor conditions in a small, mud house with a big yard.  He came to this village 7 years ago as a missionary from the southern part of Bulgaria where he had become a Christian.  He has a little church and visits small congregations he has started in the nearby villages mostly inhabited by Turks and Muslims.  At the time of our visit his wife, who cooked for us a lunch, was expecting their 3^rd child.  His salary is 110 BGN ($55) paid by the denomination that he works for.  This made me upset about the ways in which central location religious bureaucrats often control funds given for the purpose of supporting the work of ministers like this man who had to live in such dire conditions with his family.  His car is over 35 years old, a “Lada,” that was held together only by the grace of God. (At the time of the first draft of this writing, yes—but not any longer.)

 

We (myself, my brother and two leaders from our house church) also visited a pastor of a church in Svishtov—on the Danube. We offered that this church host a prophetic teaching seminar that our team would organize.  After a week the pastor declined our offer.  Him and his leadership team did not feel the time was right for such a ministry.  I also think that our direct approach was a new way of relating and this may have been a setback for them to give us a positive answer.  We still hope and believe that we can have a good relationship with this church and to help the Christians in Svishtov at a later time.

 

We visited Vidin March 7-10.  We had time of fellowship and encouragement with my brother and his family.  They are going through a lot of changes in their ministry and lives that make them trust the Lord in ‘new and different from what they’ve known’ ways.  For example, the name of the church is now the Oasis, not Petra any longer.  They feel that the Lord is calling them to a new relationship of deep trust in Him and openness for one-another.

 

Stuart Watkins, a minister from Wales came to be with friends and with our church for a week.  Again it was a time of travel, fellowship and strengthening the saints during the last week of March.  Our fist visit was to Alexandrovo for a Wednesday evening service.  Stuart delivered the message which called people to live out their Christian faith.  Later he shared that he felt a strong spiritual opposition while preaching—his thoughts seemed to not come together and follow each other.  I was translating for him and actually felt an anointing on the message.  His message was about how we as Christians need to be people who treat each other with love and do not slander each other.  In the ministry time after the service when our ministry team prayed for people it became clear that there were a lot of people with headaches.  We sensed the influence of witchcraft in the area.  There were a lot of Muslims in the region, and folk Islam, where the imam practices practical magic (placing curses or lifting them from people) was very influential.  After the service we had a time of fellowship and a meal in with the local pastor and his family. Regardless of his modest income, he had prepared a meal for all of us.

 

In the next two days our mobile ministry group (of families with small children!) traveled to Vidin where we ministered to the kids in the Novo Selo orphanage.  Stuart and I shared some Bible stories with them and played ping-pong and soccer.  I got creamed by Rosa, a 14 year-old orphan, 3:0 on the table tennis front.  Then I joined Stuart on the soccer field.  We, the adults, lost there, too.  It didn’t help that Stuart came from the motherland of football—these kids run much faster than us and we felt old (but wise).

 

We ended the trip with two services of teaching and ministering in a newly started church, mainly of gypsies in Kula—30 km NE of Vidin and in my brother’s church.  The Holy Spirit’s presence was obvious and the Lord touched many hearts weary of life’s struggles and encouraged them through the teaching of the Word, delivered by Stuart and through the prophetic ministry.  Teresa and I had a good time with Stuart and were able to get to know him better.  We are looking forward to some future plans in terms of ministering together and forming a team with possibly him and his wife being a part of it.

 

PRAISE REPORT

We are glad to report that a church which supports our work has committed the full budget for one of the 2 vacation Bible schools we are planning with the orphans for this summer.  Praise the Lord!  And “thank you” to those whose heart is bent on helping the ones who cannot help themselves.  Please, continue to pray that the Lord will open doors for us to raise the full budget for the second VBS as well. 

 

BACK IN THE USA

Right after the end of the last week of March trip, we boarded the plane to the US the next day, early morning.  The traveling was hard not only because of the long hours but because Teresa and the boys were all sick and on antibiotics.  Now, over a week back in California, they are for the first time lively and well again and there are no signs of the jet lag.

 

The purpose for our visit back here is threefold.  We want to tell our friends and supporters about our work in Bulgaria for the last two years—we would like the church here to be encouraged by what the Lord is doing;  we would look for opportunities to expand our support base, as the Lord leads us;  and we would probe to see if there would be someone willing to participate in the mission work there.  I will also take care of some Fuller seminary courses (I am still working on a Ph.D. in Missiology there). We are also planning to have some time of rest and reflection on the last two years outside of the intense environment of work.  Teresa will be a bridesmaid in a close friend’s wedding at the end of May in the Bay Area.  Doesn’t sound restful with this heavy schedule?  Our peace in Jesus is the best guarantee for rest.

 

We want to say how much we appreciate all of you who devote time to pray and give money to make our missionary work possible.  If you would like to see us or talk to us we would love to hear from you, as we plan to see as many people as possible while in L.A. area and Northern Cal.  We will be leaving to go back to Bulgaria in the first week of June, 2003.  Please, give us a call if you can at (626) 351-8270 to plan a visit or a time together.

 

Love in Jesus,