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How did the volunteers begin Nazarene work in Bulgaria? News about Jim Jones and David Koresh exploiting their followers in the name of Jesus Christ received widespread attention in Bulgaria. Scandals involving American televangelists did not go unnoticed. Those are the things Bulgarians think of when someone mentions Christians who are not Eastern Orthodox. It has not been easy to overcome such erroneous stereotypes.
In Bulgaria, we have to show that born-again Christians are people who care. We are well equipped to do that. Nazarenes aren't into "excursion evangelism" or "safari evangelism." We do not sweep into a place, make a big splash, report "thousands" of converts to supporters back home, and then move on. That's not our style. Indeed, our long-term goals for Bulgaria center on planting loving, caring communities of Bulgarian believers in Jesus Christ. That will not happen overnight; it will take time.
A key to entering Bulgaria's open door was finding a way to offer that "cup of cold water" that Jesus mentioned. The team even came to see that
compassionate ministry needed to be modeled for Bulgarian believers. They saw that they could
be mentors in setting a tone for the future church in Bulgaria. So, early on, the team adopted a
rule: If we cannot get young Bulgarians to join us in a particular compassionate ministry
avenue, we will abandon that avenue and look for another one.
When the doors opened for Nazarenes in Bulgaria, Hermann Gschwandtner knew that open evangelism there had already become difficult. There were new freedoms. Still, evangelicals faced formidable problems in holding public worship services. As we've mentioned earlier, Hermann formulated a strategy built on a compassionate ministries foundation. When the denomination entered a country, it would register that foundation before attempting to register as a church. He used the term "Institute for Total Encouragement" as a title for those foundations.
That compassionate ministry thread has many different strands. Don Moore worked with farmers wanting loans from international lending organizations. When Communism took over, family farms were seized and consolidated into huge collective enterprises. Many families are now getting their land back from the government, but they have neither the equipment to farm it nor the knowledge needed to obtain loans. Don helped several of these farmers successfully apply for loans.
The team came across an orphanage that desperately needed help. The building needed considerable renovation, particularly in its kitchen. If that work was not done, the government health department planned to close the orphanage. With the help of some Nazarene businessmen in the U.S., that kitchen was remodeled, and the orphanage stayed open. The team was able to start a regular ministry for those orphans.
Many of those orphaned children were Roma. Often despised by other Bulgarians, Roma children are considered throwaways. Some have never sensed that anyone cared about them, much less loved them. Without loving guidance and support, these children faced an increased risk of exploitation, crime, and other destructive circumstances. They desperately need loving, caring guidance. The Nazarene volunteers are determined to make a difference in those orphans' lives.
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has shipped at least one container of donated medical supplies. Bulgaria's hospitals are severely underfunded, so this assistance is urgently needed. As those supplies have come through customs, the volunteers have discovered that some items had been pilfered before the shipments reached them. The good news is that most of the medical supplies have been delivered to hospitals and put to use for needy people.
One of the team's ministries has been visiting elderly Bulgarians. They took a sack of food to each home. Each winter, several elderly people die in Sofia from malnutrition. When bad winter weather sets in, they sometimes do not get out to buy food. During that first year, the team adopted about thirty elderly couples and individuals.
One of those was a blind couple. The ministry to that couple began the day Don Moore saw a confused man standing in the middle of a busy street. Cars honked while buses and trolleys rumbled by uncomfortably close. Don ran out to help and discovered that the man was blind and also quite deaf. Don got "Grandpa" Ivan safely back on the sidewalk. Then, the Nazarene volunteers began visiting him and his wife regularly.
Another elderly lady with whom they made friends had a wood floor in her kitchen/dining area that had buckled upward. Amazingly, those floorboards were a foot higher in the middle than they were around the walls. Apparently, moisture had swelled the flooring so much it no longer fit in the kitchen. The walls were unyielding masonry. So, the only place the swollen floor could go was up in the middle. It was a remarkable sight!
The elderly lady had no money to pay someone to fix her floor. So, she had learned to live with the huge bulge. Then, to her surprise, one day several Nazarene volunteers showed up and went to work. Board by board, they carefully dismantled the floor. Then, they pieced it back together flat on the concrete subfloor (and, yes, there were a few boards left over!).
About one evening a week, the team played basketball with Bulgarian young people. They rented an old gym in which most of the lights did not work. That did not seem to matter. They raced up and down the dimly lit gym, laughing and shouting till they dropped from exhaustion. On other evenings, Bulgarian young people would stop by the team's apartments. There, conversations often turned to the Bible and spiritual matters.
Will the gospel take root in Bulgaria? Yes. Many obstacles rooted in mistrust will arise. But the team has hit on a wonderful design for the Bulgarian tapestry.
The team came home from the Bankia planning retreat knowing they needed space for English and CPR classes. They began looking for something to rent. Everything they found in their price range needed extensive renovation. Other places were beautiful but far too expensive. They were on the verge of giving up. Then, they came across a small four-room apartment that could be used as a classroom and office space. That second-floor apartment was totally unfurnished. There was no furniture fund. So, at a team meeting, they decided that each volunteer would buy one chair. With that, they were in business, and classes started immediately.
Scripture says: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them” (Matthew 14:14). As the team has moved around Bulgaria, they've cheerfully offered a "cup of cold water." The part of the tapestry into which the Nazarenes are being woven clearly has a compassion motif! . . . [ continue reading ]
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
 | One concern of prospective
volunteers was about how their parents would react. A common concern was: What will my parents think? They're still reeling from my college costs. They think I should find a job right away. How can I convince them that I should devote my first year after college to volunteer missionary service?. . . [ more ] |