Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end

Dear prayer and financial partners,

Maria, Vicki and George - last warm days of fall

Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ! I hope that you and your loved ones are enjoying the Lord's favor during this very special time of the year. We have many reasons to bring thanks to God and above all it's His greatest gift - The Son of God - who came down to live among men and manifest the fullness of God's grace and mercy by giving himself up for our sins and providing us with an eternal hope and salvation. I was recently researching the reasons for the Day of Thanksgiving, because like with Christmas and Easter, I really wanted to seperate the precious and holy from the heavily commercial reasons for a celebration. And it did make sense then. I could see, why we today in this modern world full of conveniences need to learn from the 53 Pilgrims who survived the harsh winter of 1621 and as people who have come to know God and His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ we are called to walk in thankfulness every day, not just once a year.

It must have been easy for the 53 Pilgrims to be really bitter and angry with God and their surroundings. According to the historical records, the Mayflower carried 102 Pilgrims across the Atlantic in 1620, but the harsh winter, disease and hunger took the lives of half of that group! Neverthless, the rest of the Pilgrims looked around and saw the mercy of God in bringing them safely across the dangerous ocean deep and providing the first good harvest and blessing them with peace among their newfound neighbors - the Native American Indians living in the area - today's Massachusetts. They gathered, gave thanks to God for His goodness and mercy and of course ate turkey! In one of the letters a Pilgrim sent to his family in England, he has said, that the area around Cape Cod abounds in fowl (turkeys among them) and the lakes and the sea in fish. They lost so many and yet their hearts were full of grace and gratitude and brought thanks to God after the first harvest of 1621. We sure have many more reasons to be thankful!

I want to bring special thanks to our Lord at this time of reminding ourselves how gracious and generous our God is. During our summer ministry outreach, we gathered most of our core ministry team with their families and children. We had been planning for that time of prayer and encouragement and really desired to lift each other's family up before the throne of Grace. One of the families which came to the retreat have been praying for a child for several years. They had the doctors say to them, that was a very serious problem and that medicine may not help. As they were sharing, they were very and and tears flowed down their faces. We said, "Listen, let us come before God in prayer! Let us intercede for you and see what God will say." We were worshipping and began to pray. After all, we felt that we need to focus on intercessory prayer back then. That was the main focus of the entire retreat.

Several days ago, I received an email from Ivaylo and Daniela saying that Daniela is now 2 months pregnant! She feels well and doctors say that there are no complications whatsoerver. PTL! He gave Samuel to Anna when she was desperate and had nowhere to go for help! Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever! He is a miracle workin God!

Christmas is coming! It's that great reason for our thanksgiving and praise, for our joy and hope!

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever  (Isaiah 9:7)

I have been praying recently for The Kingdom of God to increase dramatically among us. And the passage in Isaiah 9:7 gives us this promise. The Kingdom of God will always increase! That is the promise of Christmas. Each Christmas there are people who experience the Kingdom of God for the first time and receive the peace only Christ came to give. When Mary placed her baby in a manger, it became the throne of our King. We the Christians of today, like the shepherds, still bow before the manger to worship their Messiah.

Jesus came to reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, to reign in our hearts to guide our lives. The Messiah's throne would be over all the people who would belong to the Kingdom of God. Jesus would be the last King the people would ever have because he was the last King the people would ever need. Jesus upholds God's Kingdom with justice and righteousness. That was true on the first Christmas and it is still true today. I wonder how the Pilgrims of 1620 celebrated their first Christmas! It would disrupt a lot of our nativity sets, but imagine Joseph and Mary, the animals and the Magi gathered around the baby Jesus – on a throne instead of a manger. 

The baby was a King. The Magi understood that. King Herod feared it. The shepherds were fascinated and awed by the tiny baby. Many would question the details surrounding his birth. But from that time until now, billions have believed in Jesus as their King. That number will always increase, according to Isaiah.

Christmas means we have a King – and we always will. May we place him on the throne of our lives this Advent season, and give him our worship.

I appeal to you to become our partners in mission in 2014! Help us reach out to children, youth and families in Bulgaria! Let us together serve and bring increase of His government and peace in the lives of many in Bulgaria! 

WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS, YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR PARTNERSHIP! PLEASE, PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER GIVING $100.00 FOR THE MINISTRY OF NEW HOPE BULGARIA USING OUR ONLINE FORM ATwww.newhopeinternational.org OR SEND GIFTS TO:

New Hope International / P.O.Box 25490 / Colorado Springs, CO 

80936; Call: 1-800-297-9591

Training in Ireland - Mobilise 2013 - Train the Trainer

Dear prayer warriors and ministry partners, 

      Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ! As Psalm 108 says it, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and and abounding in lovingkindness." We see His goodness every day. At our ministry we always look for possibilities to partner more and strenghthen the existing partnerships. One of those partnerships is in the area of children and teen ministries where New Hope BG has been working with BCMI - Bible Centered Ministries Int'l. 
Our BCM partners provide valuable children ministry resources and training, which we use to equip and empower the body of Christ in Bulgaria. 

Mobilise Participants - Ireland 2013

Two weeks ago, I took part in Mobilise 2013 - an international training for Master/Leader Trainers hosted by BCMI in Ireland. The purpose of the training was to have new Master Trainers prepared and equipped to use In Steps with the Master Teacher in our respective countries and prepare more children workers - a growing need for many local churches. I got certified to be the first Master/Leader Trainers for Bulgaria. Besides the training, we had a very refreshing time of sharing and prayer with many co-workers from countries across the world - from South Africa to England and from the Netherlands to Peru. The training was very dynamic and we had lots of interaction with co-workers from various countries. 

Pat Govender BCMI's Director for Africa

   

Master Trainers for Europe and Africa

I was blessed to listen to the testimonies of children workers, who have gone to places where Christians are living under heavy persecution and right there by the Lord's grace they witness about Christ and continue to bring hope to the lost. Some of our co-workers at Mobilise had just gone through the loss of a dear loved one and we prayed that the consolation of the Holy Spirit would help them go through this very difficult time in their lives. 
  In the end of Mobilise 2013, we were certified as Master/Lead Trainers and off we go, ready to equip and prepare more national workers for effective and fruitful children ministry. Nevertheless, I would like to stay humble and say that acquiring more skills and Scripture-based knowledge is great, but above all we are all dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit to make us successful and effective in every aspect of our ministry. So, with that said, I'm turning to you our prayer friends. We need you more than ever to uplift us in prayer, to partner with us in ministry, to reach the lost and fulfill the Great Commission with us at New Hope BG in our part of the world.

P.S. Thank you for praying for the Syrian refugees who are coming to Bulgaria in large numbers. Many local churches are coming together for a unified response to the needs of this desperate Muslim community. As a church community, we have already provided thousands of packets with basic necessities ranging from canned food and bottled water to medicines and toiletries. The Lord brings a challenge to us in Isaiah 58, where we see that our religion cannot remain simply a lip service. 


WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS, YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR PARTNERSHIP! PLEASE, PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER GIVING FOR THE MINISTRY OF NEW HOPE BULGARIA USING OUR ONLINE FORM AT www.newhopeinternational.org OR SEND GIFTS TO:

New Hope International / P.O.Box 25490 / Colorado Springs, CO 

80936; Call: 1-800-297-9591



        

Summer is behind us, the harvest is finished - October 2013 Update

Dear partner,

I was reading Ps. 145 today and something captured my attention and I began to pray bringing that Scripture before the throne of grace. Here’s what the Holy Spirit drew my heart to:

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,   and his greatness is unsearchable. ⁴ One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. ⁵ On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.”

I don’t need to preach to you today. You get a lot of that in church, I believe. But in the last two months, in the face of fear and worries about the future, our family, the families of our co-workers and our ministry, the Lord has been speaking peace to us, He’s been bringing us to a place where we trust and confide in Him, His Word and constantly urging us to remind ourselves about His unfailing love, power and mercy. As we meet with families, we seem to be tuned into the same frequency of thanksgiving and praise. Do we have all things taken care of and do we see a solution to every struggle we face? Not really. But this is where the Lord reminds us that we walk by faith and not by sight, bringing all our worries, fears and needs before a loving and caring Father, who’s graciously giving us all we need.

           

Maria keeps things under control with our fast growing children

     Our children, thank God, are back to school and doing very well. Vicki and George are the tallest in their classes, as I’ve heard. What brings us even more joy is that they excel in class. I told them, that this is all the result of God’s mercy and grace and their good mother Maria keeping them in line with their homework. That, I hope, will keep their feet on the ground. Maria is almost finished with her seasonal airport job. I have mixed feelings about it. I’d love her to take a break from all the night shifts, but at the same time, I realize that when she finishes work there, it’ll be another half a year without the extra income that we really, really need. Keep us uplifted in prayer before the throne of grace!

One mighty national team having fun and good food

On the ministry front, we were really blessed to have all of our volunteer families and co-workers in one place for three days this summer. We have been praying for a special retreat/fellowship/training for those we’ve been serving in the field for many years. I thank God for His wonderful work of raising a generation of new servants! As the verse I just shared says it, we are called to make His power known to the next generation. We really wanted to have the children there, the wives and create that special atmosphere for sharing, intercessory prayer and encouragement. That worked powerfully! The presence of the Lord was there! His power touched our children and they began to listen how their moms and dads heard the call of God, committed to ministry, struggle, fight and win by the mercy and grace of their Lord. As the prophet Zechariah once encouraged the priest Joshua, “It’s not by power (of man), not by might (of the strong of the day), but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” Our special retreat/fellowship/training brought a sweet fruit because of the partnership of our friends from Southshore Community Church in Sarasota and we are thankful for their love, prayers and support. 

       
     In August, we had to make some changes in our plans due to some financial constraints, but that doesn’t mean we had to sit on our hands. Not at all! The Lord always finds a way to prove to us, that His thoughts are higher than ours. Our team got a message from a team traveling to Bulgaria and they were all collegegrads from various colleges in the US. Fresh out of college, these guys have committed one year to missions all over the world. The World Race is the mission which has recruited them and sent them to 12 countries in 12 months! We were impressed with their itinerary. So, they asked us, whether we can use them in ministry and we said, “Absolutely! We need volunteers who are not afraid to go places they’ve never been to before. And especially young guys like them.” 

Say hello to a World Race Team in Bulgaria

     

     So, we took them and used them for 10 days in every place we needed prayer, sharing of the Gospel, more prayer, physical work, etc. We really felt that the Lord wants us to take them to serve the needs of the poor Roma communities, so that’s where we took them for a week – to Roma/Gipsy churches. We would walk the streets of our city, then we’d stop to talk to people, pray with them, ask them about anything they would like us to pray about and in many places share about our hope in the Lord. It was a very powerful and enriching week for all of us. 

     We feel that the Lord had us bond with that group of young graduate students and we pray they come back to Bulgaria, God willing. 

The Lord is good, His mercy endures forever! Please, pray for our nation! We need the Lord’s mercy and grace, we really, really need Him to open the heavenly windows and pour His Spirit on us. The churches here get another challenge. How are we going to treat and serve the desperate and the foreigner? Our government is building a temporary shelter/camp for thousands of Syrian refugees 10 ml. away from our city. We have thousands of Syrians in Bulgaria already. They all people running from the horrors of civil war, bruised, scared and looking for hope. Surely, in times of war and turmoil, we have trouble, but the Lord Jesus brings a challenge to our churches today – how are you going to treat the needy and the desperate? So, we want to find the power, the resources, partners and strength to reach the Syrian refugees with the mercy, love and hope of Christ. Please, help us do it! Pray, give for our Muslim outreach to Syrian refugees, and again pray for our churches in Bulgaria!         

 Pray for:

 1.      Our family and ministry needs – we need God’s power, wisdom, funds.                      2.      Our follow up work with children, youth and families – we don’t want to waste the fruit of summer camps.

 3. The local churches, as we all desire to join hands in reaching the Syrian refugees next to our city.

WE NEED YOU TO BE OUR PARTNERS IN MINISTRY IN BULGARIA! PLEASE SEND YOUR GIVING TO 

New Hope International | P.O. Box 25490 | Colorado Springs, CO 80936 | 


1-800-297-9591

Empower families, strengthen co-workers in local missions

Dear ministry and prayer partners,

          We believe that we have been given a mandate to equip and strengthen many co-workers from that new generation of Christian ministers in the field of Bulgaria. They have started a family, went into the ministry in their 20s or 30s and today they face enormous challenges as they strive to fulfill the Great Commission and to be obedient to the higher call they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ. Our hearts are breaking for God's servants, their families and churches. This is the reason, we search for people who have the same broken hearts and seek to empower the Body of Christ in Europe and in particular in Bulgaria, a place which has for many years been hostile to evangelical believers.

Strong families, make strong ministries

     We thank God for His great work in our land! In the last 23 years, we have seen tremendous growth in the planting of new churches (many of them too small to be able to support a full-time minister). Nevertheless, evangelical churches have multiplied from around 50 to around 1,400 and that calls for our commitment, energy and work. We have been investing time, prayer and love for a project which our partners from Sarasota launched with us this summer. The heart of this effort is to strengthen the families of ministers - their wives and children - by coming together for a unique time of intercessory prayer for our families, nation and the world, sharing from the Word and ministry experience and personal interaction as we leave the routine of family and ministry agendas.

One of those mountain tops where we see God's beauty in creation

     Oftentimes, the children of ministers feel alone in our country. Today they face numerous and more subtle temptations and we really pray our young grow up to be strong, filled with boldness and joy from the Lord.
      They simply need to realize that there are other children and youth like them, who live in homes where dad and maybe mom do work, which their peers in school find to be very strange, to say the least. The children we had coming with their families met in a group like that for the first time in their lives! That really made all the difference. They played together, made new friends, exchanged contacts and now I can see our daughter Vicki talking to them on skype.

Children of ministers meeting for the first time

    As the Scripture says it, "iron sharpens iron", and our time with co-workers from 10 churches and several Bulgarian cities was very much like that. Our wives had the time to share and speak to us. We think that we really owe that to them.

Zdravka speaks on prayer and family relationships

And then the men felt comfortable to open up their hearts and pour them in prayer, and everybody shared out of their walk with the Lord and ministry experience.

 and we had some very refreshing moments walking up and down the slopes of this beautiful mountain forest.
We are very thankful to be in ministry and see how the Lord reaches His own servants and their families through our mission.
We cannot cease to thank God for our ministry partners from Southshore Community Church in Sarasota, FL.Their loving and caring hearts makes all the difference as we reach out to empower, strengthen and equip the mission efforts of our co-workers from various churches.

Team member Alex shares on "To obey God's calling for ministry"

        Please, pray for our team and consider supporting our ministry in Bulgaria!

       You can send your donations for Bulgaria to the offices of New Hope Int'l in Colorado Springs.

1. Pray for more than 1.5 million children and youth in Bulgaria who begin school Sep.15th
2. Pray for the children and youth from Christian homes to be bold for Jesus, filled with the Spirit of God as they face many challenges and temptations like we never used to. 
3. Pray for our nation which begins a new political season and pray for Europe which desperately needs a spiritual awakening!  

Summer Update - August 26, 2013

    Dear partners in ministry,

As we continue to serve the Lord and reach believers and nonbelievers alike, we want to thank you for uplifting us in your prayers and supporting our ministry in Bulgaria. We know from experience that the Lord never leaves us or forsakes us! At the same time, people like you our partners remind us that we are one body, built to stand and walk and work together. Jesus was praying that we all come to understand it and live it out loud by what we do and what we say and the way we relate to one another. We praise Him for His presence among us!

I think that at the end of this summer season, we owe appreciation and gratitude to our special church partners from Bonita Springs and Sarasota, FL. Because of their commitment to our partnership in ministry, girls like Constantina (Kotsi, in the picture below) came to accept the Lord Jesus as her Savior.

Kotsi is the taller girl

         
         

Left to right, Danny, Nicky and Tsonko

      And then, teens like Danny and Nikolay felt the touch of the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives! I met with Danny’s father a month after camp and he said, “What has happened with my Danny on camp?! Dimitrie, you won’t believe it! The Lord has used your team there and God has broken His heart. He is so different now. And that in an absolutely positive way!” I was so-o, glad to hear the news. Danny was one of those guys, who was just bored and was chewing gum all the time, I was preaching. At one point, I had to challenge and confront him in a loving, but firm way and I thought, “God, I need to pray more about these young men!” And I made every effort to do it, going up the hill every morning at 6.00 a.m. and crying out to God for mercy. Thank God that he searches the hearts, both ours and of the ones we reach. Danny and Nicky are now going to the youth services, filled with love for the Lord, praying and studying the Word with hunger and passion together with other teenagers. God is doing a mighty work in their lives!

Thank you partners and prayer supporters! Thank you dear friends at First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, FL! You are reaching these young men and women through our ministry partnership. 

Please, uplift these needs in prayer:

1. 2013-2014 school season. All sudents are getting back to school. We want to reach many and turn their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

2. Our need of $1,000 for a strategic training which Maria and I want to receive from BCMI partners in Ireland and expand our sunday school training program.

3. The families of our co-workers, many of whom struggle financially. 

In His Service,

Dimitrie Todorov and team

Summer Camp Ministry Update

Dear friends,

       God is good, all the time. His tender mercies are new every morning. I want to thank the Lord for people like you, who continue to pray for us and support our ministry in Bulgaria. We can witness His power in our lives and we praise Him for the work He is doing through us! Your prayers work! Your giving is changing lives! Thank you!

      Sometimes, we find it hard to decide which ministry project and outreach is more important in summer, when we usually say that it’s harvest time and one has to never miss the opportunity to bring more harvest into the Kingdom of Christ. 

Summer Camp in June-July 2013

        Let me begin this update with our summer camp outreach to children and teenagers and with the story of a young man who is now in his late teen years. His name is Tsonko. Do you remember that name? Several years ago, when we began our summer camp outreach he was one of those young men, who never seemed to stay out or trouble – broke an arm, broke a leg, and some of the leaders I know simply didn't want to have him close nearby. I remember how he would ask me, “Uncle Dimitrie (that’s the way he would call me – uncle!” I would think, “Wow, I must look old to these young men!” So, Tsonko would come up and just seek a word of encouragement and ask me, “Did I do well here? How do you think I did there?” He just had so much trouble in the way he was behaving, being very emotional and kind of doing a thing first and then thinking about it that one would ask the question, “Lord, when is he going to change?” But he was a very young and dynamic man! What can you do?! 

Tsonko - 3 years ago

         Well, after 3 years or so, I was talking to our team and the youth leaders from one of the churches we work with said, that we need a good praise and worship team for this camp and they have invited Tsonko. I thought like, “OK, that sounds like a good idea.”

He came to camp and I just never ceased to thank God for the great work he’s done in Tsonko. He has become such a responsible and loving young man! He was part of the worship team playing Cajon and his caring heart was going out for the sick among us.

We were tested when two of our campers developed a very bad fever. Tsonko was next to their beds in the wee hours of the night checking their temperature and giving them the meds that a doctor had prescribed. After they got better and healed, I just hugged Tsonko and told him, “You did great! Never went to bed until 4 o’clock in the morning! Thank you my friend!” He is now going to a great arts school where he plays drums, xylophone and Cajon and performs at different competitions for young talents in Europe winning first prizes!

God is good and His mercy endures forever. He changes our hearts and transforms our young through His Word and Spirit! Your prayers and support make a difference in the lives of many like Tsonko!

Tsonko plays Cajon, Joel and little Kotse are on guitar and flute

       And then, our team on summer camp had another very special experience this late June. We had a family which sent their children to camp and their father Barakat is a Lebanese Muslim. When the children came to camp, we felt that they were kind of keeping distance from our groups of teens during the times of worship and Bible studies. But then, 3 days down the road, Nadiya (the girl) came up to one of the other young teen girls and said, “You know, I don’t know how to say it, but I feel God among you! I see this honesty and purity in the way you treat and care for one another.” Our leadership team wondered what made her say that, but then we just said, “Praise God for His presence among us!” Her brother Hodour wasn’t coming to our worship and Bible studies at all until day 4 on camp. But then, in the evening of day 4, he said, “I can’t describe it and I don’t know what it is, but what you have is real. You are real.” And then began to attend our worship and Bible studies until the end of camp. God’s Presence makes all the difference among us! Thank you Jesus!

Nadiya and Hodor

The most encouraging result is that the youth groups got bigger after camp! We have Nadiya and Hodor joining the youth congregation in one of the churches in town after their Father Barakat allowing them to come to church every week. We have Tsonko join the worship team throughout summer until he restarts school in September. I went to see two of his street performances after camp. And then, the Lord brought two other young talented rebels to camp and that was one more mixed blessing. J Nickolay and Danny are all about beat box and rapping (all that Christian stuff J) but then they didn’t want to give their best ear to what our speakers would say about living our faith out loud. But we know that God is good and we continue to pray and work patiently with these young men. God is able to work His way in our hearts. He proved it with Tsonko, he touched Nadiya and Hodour, He will touch Nickolay and Danny. Please, keep on praying!

Nickolay and Tsonko perform on All Talents Night

I was glad to see how our children Vicki and George enjoy their time with old and new friends. Vicki invited her classmate Ally who doesn’t come to church, yet. We are patient and we keep praying for her. She is a more quiet girl, but we trust God to move on her heart. We often don’t see a change taking place until God doesn’t surprise us through what he’s been doing in our children and youth. The younger children enjoyed their time in games and interaction with one another, Bible studies and just had lots of time to enjoy the outdoors and the air in the mountains. There's much more to share about what the Lord is doing in and through us, but let me do that in our next Ministry Update. 

Some of that better time for children on camp... :)

I urge you to please, pray for:

1.      Our follow up with children and youth after camp

2.      Our family outreach in August

3.      My wife Maria who’s having a hectic summer season at Burgas airport.

4.      Maria and I have our 15 year anniversary this summer. I want to make something special for Maria. Pray that I get great ideas. J

  

      Dimitrie and Maria and Team

Prayer points for July

Dear praying friends, 

I appeal to you to lift our ministry to children, youth and families in prayer! In the last 2 months, we have been praying and preparing, planning and recruiting volunteers and here we are - ready to go and make a difference in the lives of many children and youth. The Lord spoke to me today taking me to the book of Zechariah where He told the young priest and his company, that His House will be built, but it won't be by human effort, might and strength! We all know this verse - "Not by might and not by strength, but by my Spirit" says the Lord of Hosts. 
So, here's my most earnest desire and request - Pray for our ministry to children, youth and families in these upcoming weeks! 

1. Pray for the Spirit of God to flow and move through us and to touch the lives of the ones we serve in a way that cannot be mistaken for a mere human effort, but rather to be recognized for a sovereign work of our God. 
2. Pray for us, the Lord's workers to speak clearly and serve with compassion, mercy and power of Christ. 
3. Pray for safety and provision for our team of volunteers.

    

Leadership Training in June 10-14, 2013 - Update

         Dear praying friends and ministry partners, 

New Hope BG team members Rado and Simeon

       Thank you for your prayers for the leadership training which our team at NH BG facilitated last week. From our perspective it was a great success. Twenty-nine church leaders from 5 denominations attended and really interacted with the materials which we had prepared and most of it was basically Scripture. We believe that we live in a critical time, when above all, we need to encourage one another to seek the Lord in prayer and make bold steps to obey the Lord and truly be doers of His Word rather than simply talk about it. So, we encouraged one another to actually go out into the streets of the city where we did the training and immediately put the Lord's teaching about reaching out to the lost and to seek to make new friends, who God willing could be potential disciples of Christ. 

Facilitating a dynamic discussion on Scripture

     Our hearts are broken for our nation - the country of Bulgaria - and we see how the waves of human anxiety, desperation and discontent flood our streets today - literary! At the same time, we see how the Lord commanded his disciples to care for the sheep, build up the Body of His church and seek the lost. So, one of our main goals in these days is to encourage leaders and ordinary believers to be naturally supernatural - to pray and seek the Lord's face, to trust in His great power to save and to step out in the streets of our cities and seek the lost by sharing about Christ in love, mercy and compassion. In a nutshell - live out loud our confession of faith. 

Pastor Plamen and wife Maya share a powerful testimony

     You see, our goal as ministers is to encourage people to live naturally in ways that reveal we love God by what we say and do. For many of us this requires intentional practice to live a conspicuously godly life (not to be confused with an obnoxiously religious one). We had people like Pastor Plamen and his wife Maya share about how God has used them to start new churches and how He leads them to people who need the Lord and seek Him. There are many souls out there, who already cry out to God and we have the joy of bringing in a harvest, that is already ripe.  

      A few days ago, I had an interesting experience which the Lord used to teach me obedience. What I did seemed kind of weird, but I needed a lesson in obedience. I was having my weekly bike ride and when I got to the seaside park I felt kind of hungry. I thought, "Dimitrie, why don't you get a snack and then ride for 10 kilometers along the beach." But then, I felt this strange desire to just ride up north and have a snack in the neighborhood next to the city airport. So, I skipped dinner snack and when I got to the place next to the airport, I thought, "Now, I'm really hungry and I'm having Arab kebab for dinner". I did get it and went to sit at a bench overlooking the beach. I had just had a bite from the pita bread and started my dinner snack, when a young man sitting on bench across from where I was came up to me and asked me like, "Where did you get the snack?" I said, "Well, 100 feet up this street." He said, "Aha, thanks" and he got back to his bench." Then, as I was just getting back to my snack, I heard a voice like, "This young man is dressed OK, looks OK to you, but he is very hungry, because he has no money to buy food today. Stop eating! Offer him your dinner!" I looked up and saw a young woman standing like 20 feet away from me and she was looking into my direction. I said like, "Well, this would be awkward. I'm already eating the bread and had a piece from the meat. How is this guy going to react and what would that woman think?" But then I heard the voice speak again, "I don't care about her opinion or about your fears of being refused the food! You don't need that food! Give it to the hungry young man and He will realize that I love him!" 

Interacting with the trainees

I stopped right there, motioned to the man and when he came up to me I said, "Listen, I'm not going to eat this food. I had only a bite from the bread and a piece of meat. If you are OK with it, you are welcome to eat it." He looked at me and said, "OK. I'll have it, thank you!" I was like, "Glory to you Jesus!" I heard then, "This young man just realized that miracles of mercy happen! I'm speaking to His heart, right now!" To God be all the glory! Really, to Him alone! He will share His glory with no man!      

       Why I'm sharing all of this? I came to realize that I need to be obedient to the Lord's leading in situations, that seem weird and strange. If I speak to leaders, youth and children about being obedient to the Spirit's leading, then why I don't do it? That was a lesson for me. I went to have coffee after that experience and didn't want to have another snack. I began to thank God and realized that I need to learn to be obedient just like I teach others to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.  

June 10-14 Leadership Training

   Now please pray that the truth that was heard and learned will be put into practice by those who attended. Meanwhile, our team continues to meet and prepare for our summer camps, the special retreat for families of ministers in July and children and youth outreach programs in July and August. 

Pray for us and support us as the Lord leads your heart! 



The Lord bless you and keep you!

Dimitrie and Maria and team

Dimitrie and Maria's June Ministry Update

       

      Dear praying friends and partners in ministry,

      Greetings from Bulgaria!

Our 2013 end-of-school year photo

I thank God for your prayers and love for the ministry to which we have been called! In the last two months, we have witnessed God’s mercy and steadfast love, as I was traveling away from home for meetings and ministry appointments in your beautiful country. My wife Maria was “keeping the fort” as many of you would say with a smile and she is a real champion in multitasking – making sure, that Vicki and George keep up with their homework, dealing with the exciting job of filing and reporting our expenses and now with the new summer season, she took a second job at the busiest airport in Bulgaria – which is our regional Burgas airport. It is a seasonal airport, but it has more traffic going through it in 5 months, that the capital city airport in a year! This year, she is serving there as an information service supervisor, which doesn’t exactly mean more pay – it just means more responsibilities. This job really helps us with balancing our family budget out. You know … things like Vicki’s out-of-school math classes and some winter bills.

        I was so blessed to see all of our National Directors in Vienna, VA! We had a wonderful time of sharing about our ministries and each of us shared for a few minutes at a luncheon at Vienna Presbyterian Church. Our time there was short and after 1-2 days, we headed different directions. We were going to meet again for our international leadership retreat and conference in COS, but for a week or so, we had other appointments.

Our Eastern European Staff and hosts from Vienna Pres, VA

       I had the privilege and joy of visiting the home and church of Dennis and Helen Gudz. They have been committed supporters of the ministry of New Hope for many years and now, I had a week of fellowship with them and hey what do you – I visited the Big Apple! I am thankful for the opportunities I had to share and pray with believers and some non-believers. Dennis has been a great advocate for our ministry at his church and he introduced me when I shared there for a few minutes. The response was very positive and I pray and trust the Lord that God willing, we can develop a ministry relationship which would serve to touch the lives of many in our country.      They have a family much bigger than our usual Bulgarian families, so I could meet the two sons who live with them and just before I flew to COS, I took a tour of the historic part of the city of Philadelphia with one of their older sons. Dennis and I had great fellowship and we enjoyed some very honest and prayer filled conversations. And last, but surely not least in importance, I really appreciate Helen’s generous hospitality and great cooking! Thank you Helen! 

Dennis and I on the Staten Island Ferry

In COS, our team of National Directors sat down for 3 intensive days of reporting, brainstorming ideas, discussions and prayer. We are grateful that we could meet all board members of NHI and pray with them. God was truly present during our prayer and worship time and we touched by His Spirit moving among us! We needed that experience so much! We really appreciate the great job that our COS staff did in preparing and hosting the leadership retreat. Great work!  Well, we sure missed the nuns and the deer this spring, but what’re going to do … life is never perfect (Just a reminder that last year, we had our leadership conference at a Convent with a herd of deer gracing the premises with their presence)! 

       I will never forget the time of intercessory prayer we had just before leaving on our way back home and off to some more meetings! The Presence of the Lord filled the room, where we prayed for our COS staff and the board of NHI! I had 4 more days of special time with old and new friends. Several years ago, I met with Susan Palmer and Dave Lyons for the first time, respectively in VA and FL.  

Howard and I in front of the house we were fixing

They have been trying to get me to meet with people from their church in VA and finally, in the Lord’s timing, it did happen! I was hosted by a very family in Alexandria – Howard and Carole Borgstrom. He and Dave are men of merciful and compassionate hearts. They had me join a team of volunteers and we had a day of volunteer labor for the poor of their community. The initiative their church is part of is a national project called “Rebuilding Together”. So, I was cleaning gutters, painting shutters and made new friends with people from their good church. During my stay with Howard and Carole, I had the privilege of sharing with their church congregation and what a generous group of believers they are! Thank God for churches like Heritage Pres! I pray we continue to nurture this new relationship and develop a long-term partnership for the glory of God and for the lives that we will be able to touch through the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ!  

    

Painting shutters, cleaning gutters 

     And here you go, 20 or so days were gone and I flew back to Bulgaria. There are so many things to look forward to in this busy summer season of harvest for both churches and ministries like New Hope Bulgaria. I cannot list all the prayer needs here, but I’ll make a list of top 5.

     Please, please, uplift us in prayer for:

1. The Lord’s Presence to fill our ministry to youth and families in June, July and August.

2. The leadership training and workshops for children and youth workers June 10-14.

3. The summer camps for children and youth starting the end of June.

4. The family retreat and training for families of leaders of new churches July 15-18.

5. For Maria and our children – Maria will have a busy summer with many night shifts and our children will be staying with their grandparents for almost 2 months. 

We keep praying for you, your families and churches! May the 

Lord bless you and keep you!