My favorite part of the Race by far is getting to hear all of the different stories from the people we’ve been blessed to meet. Since I did not grow up in a Christian home I am fascinated by how others came to know Christ especially in countries that do not have as much freedom to practice as we do in the States.
Today our host’s pastor helped us out on our adventure day by driving us all around Sevleivo province to see some incredible sites. Since I get car sick I sat up front and what a blessing that turned out to be because I got to hear this man’s incredible testimony of God in his life.
At 12 years old his father passed away; he lost all hope with his father’s death and had many suicidal thoughts. His teachers and others around him poured love into him and lifted his spirit as best as they could. He stopped to tell me, “As a young boy I knew something was different about them I just didn’t know what but, I knew I wanted to find out”. When he was 16, Communism came to an end in Bulgaria and people were once again able to freely preach the Gospel without such high repercussions. His teacher told him about Jesus and he asked for a bible. He wanted to read all about this hope they had that he wanted. The teacher sadly told him there were none available, that the communist party destroyed them all.
He looked at me and said “My faith is so deeply rooted because it started with sacrifice. I did not eat lunch at school for 3 months. I would save the money my mother gave me for food so I could buy a bible”.
His teacher was able to find him a bible and he started in Genesis as he didn’t want to miss a thing; “I didn’t understand much but I knew the answers I wanted were in those pages so I kept reading.”
At 18 he was drafted into the army. After fulfilling his legal requirement of 1 1/2 years he felt God tell him his next step would be bible college in the Czech Republic. He said, “I had no clue how God expected me to go; I had just returned home from the army, the bank which held my savings went out of business and my money was unrecoverable, and the job I did have was barely enough to support my needs then. It was then for the first time in my life I audibly heard God tell me “start giving.”’
He asked God to confirm this through scripture and came across Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you”.
So he began to give what little he had.
Within weeks things began to come together and he was able to attend bible college in the Czech Republic for one year. After, he retuned to Bulgaria and partnered with a church in his home city for 14 years. The Lord continued to bless him with opportunities that could only be explained by His hand making it possible. He was invited to conferences in the United States and God made plane tickets and other costs available to him so that it was possible.
During a trip to Springfield, Missouri the pastor there was told there was a guest from Bulgaria and called the pastor to the stage to tell the congregation about what was happening in Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria). “I don’t remember this happening but my colleagues told me it was so powerful. I didn’t know English very well at this point but, the Holy Spirit completely took over. I was preaching, prophesying, and singing in English. I remember the keyboard player jumping on stage to play along with me as I brought the Holy Spirit’s Revival to this church. Hands were in the air, amens were being shouted, and the presence of the Lord was undeniable.”
He had story after story of how God had shown up in his life. His explanation being because his faith started in sacrifice, he learned how to be obedient quickly and in that, blessings poured out.
“When you have no need to sacrifice you don’t create the same dependence on God and yes, you may have faith but, honestly it is more on your terms, not Gods”.
With that, my eyes were completely opened. My biggest question throughout the Race has been why don’t I see faith like this in America? There was my answer, plain as day. God is so accessible to us … so much so that we take Him and our freedom to know Him for granted. We have no excuse. This man lived in a former Communist country where bibles were destroyed and still found a way at the young age of 16 to get his hands on one so he could read the living word of our hope and unconditional love of our Savior.
Twelve years ago, God called him to the small city of Sevleivo, Bulgaria to plant a church. It is here that he raises his two beautiful daughters (9 and 13) and continues to live out God’s purpose for his life and share the Kingdom.
