CYPRUS - BULGARIAN CHURCH REPORT
The Bulgarian work is growing very fast and also the needs for workers, training, and meeting places for our Bulgarian congregations. In September we had invited Bro. Dony Donev and his wife Kathryn, from the Church of God, to minister to our Bulgarian churches here in Cyprus, and here is his report after the training and conference ended. We hope to bring Bro. Dony and also Bishop Georgiev, our overseer in Bulgaria, to Cyprus in the next year 2011 for more teaching and ministry.
We desperately need help to buy a minibus for the Bulgarian church as the one which we bought last year with great sacrifices is not working anymore. Please pray for us.
We bless you and thank you for your love and prayers for Cyprus.
Michael and Soula Charalambous, National Overseer for Cyprus and Israel
BROTHER DONY’S REPORT
“For the past three years the community of Bulgarian immigrants on the island of Cyprus has been swept by a Holy Ghost revival much similar to the revival which brought freedom in Bulgaria some 20 years ago after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Similar phenomenon was observed in the mid 90s in the Chicago Metro area, where several Bulgarian churches spurred up into a revival and as surveys showed years later, this has become the main characteristic of the establishment of Bulgarian immigrant churches across the world. But the similarities with the Chicagoland revival of the 90s do not stop here. Just like in Chicago, some 65,000 Bulgarians live and work on the island of Cyprus. And this is the number of only the registered ones. But while the Bulgarians in Chicagoland are spread across only 220 sq.m. of the city, the island area of Cyprus has 3,500 sq.m., which makes their networking and communication much harder.
Pentecostal ministry among the Bulgarian Diaspora (Bulgarian emigrants and their descendants)began somewhere around 2005 with small groups that reached 30-40 people. In this context of ministry, in the spring of 2008, the first Bulgarian Church of God of Prophecy congregation was formed in the city of Nicosia (Lefkosia) with Bulgarian trained Church of God minister Rumen Metodiev as the pastor, under the supervision of Bishop Michael Charalambous, overseer of the Cyprus Church of God of Prophecy.
After a series of deliverance revival meetings, the growth of the congregation exploded and within a few months reached some 200 people. When special services are held once or twice a month over 300 people show up, making it impossible for the congregation to meet in their current location. Bulgarians from other parts of the island reached out to the new church and soon a new Bulgarian congregation was started in Limassol, a Mediterranean resort an hour way from the capital Nicosia. And then another Bulgarian Church of God was started only a few months ago in the city of Paphos and already numbers some 55 parishioners.
As the network of Bulgarian churches in Cyprus is growing, congregations are facing important decisions that demand immediate answers in the areas of leadership training, finances and cultural contextualization. After successfully recovering from some initial dilemmas through the establishment of a strong leadership team, the congregation in Limassol is already looking for a new larger building to rent in order to accommodate their growing attendance. The congregation in Nicosia is at a point where they need to acquire their own building for their meetings, but with their rapid growth, this will not be easy.
Our purpose in visiting with the Bulgarian churches in Cyprus was to hold a two week revival and to train leadership teams to assist the local pastors. We had a total of 14 services with the Bulgarian congregations and one with the Greek Church of God of Prophecy congregation in Nicosia. Our team held over 20 training sessions covering the areas of Bible study, the ministry of preaching, types of ministry, team building and church leadership. Pastor Iliya Panov joined us during the second week of training and covered the topic of praise and worship as well as provided a powerful presence of worship during our time together.
During the course of the revival, a Bulgarian pastor from Paralimni attended the meetings. Upon their invitation, we held an evangelization meeting on Saturday night, which brought many new souls to Christ and strengthened the faith of this new congregation.
Now, after having our annual “X” youth events in Bulgaria for four years in Sofia (2006), Bourgas (2007), Uzana in the Balkan Mountains near Gabrovo (8.8.2008) and the city of Samokov (9.9.2009) we are anticipating this new level of global ministry on 10.10.2010 in Cyprus, when “X” will be held for the first time outside of Bulgaria. The event will be hosted in partnership at the Cyprus Church of God of Prophecy in cooperation with all Bulgarian congregations of the Church of God of Prophecy on the island.
NEWS FROM ISRAEL
Dear Brothers and Sisters we send you greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. We have managed to visit and minister to our church in Israel after a year’s absence due to the problems I had with my health.
We thank and praise our Lord for maintaining our brethren there during this period as we are the only link and support they have with the Church in their walk with God. Brother Jules and Sister Ronnet, our assistant pastor and his wife, are doing their best to keep the work going and minister to the few members we have in the North of Israel. His secular work , which was not very much this year, has been taking him away from his home for days as he is taking up contracts everywhere in Israel. When we told them we were going to visit them in September they were so happy that he left his work for a week to have time with us. We had a great time staying with them in their home and they also gave us a special surprise four day holiday by the sea so we could be alone together and minister to them. We had a quality time with them and came back to minister to the rest of the church. The three members who were baptized last year were remembering the day on the 26th of September and were happy that we were with them. In their testimonies they praised God for keeping them in the faith as they had some temptations and attacks from the enemy in their walk with God.
We had the opportunity to minister to some young boys, Jews and Palestinians, and presented the salvation and grace of God who came and died for us because He loved us so much. Also we were invited to a family gathering, of Sis. Ronnet’s family, and again we shared the real meaning of Jesus coming to us. They invited us to go back again so now we have an open invitation from three families and we look forward to our next trip to Israel. We need these opportunities for ministry because people are not interested in religion or God or churches anymore. For this reason our church faces difficulties in evangelism so please continue praying for this ministry.
In Jerusalem our small house group continues meetings weekly in our pastor’s little house and Bro. Babisha is holding on the fortress. We need new workers to take up the baton and continue the race with more vigor and energy. There is a lot of work to be done and we pray for God’s help and answers.
This time in Jerusalem we made new contacts and we believe this is going to help our church in establishing the Church of God of Prophecy among the other churches and find support and assistance. We met the chairman of the Evangelical Alliance of Israel, an American missionary who is working for years in Africa and Middle East with his wife who is Greek, who invited us into their home. We had supper with them and we shared on a lot of things concerning our work in Israel and our struggles and they promised to help us as much as they can. Brother Richard Brogden knows our church in Cleveland and he invited me to preach in their church the next time we visit Israel. We are talking now for our church in Israel to join the Evangelical Alliance and in this way we will be established as church.
Also, they were to invite our brethren in the North of Israel to a conference so they will meet more church workers and people and get encouraged. We hope to be able to bring Bro. Jules and Sis. Ronnet to Cyprus for th International European Ladies Retreat in February 2011.
We thank you for your prayers and support and especially for the gifts that the Harvest Partners are sending for Bro. Jules. We want to say a special thank you to the Helping Hand donors for the offerings we received and also to these Harvest Partner churches:
Raceland Church of God of Prophecy KY
Tilghman Road Church of God of Prophecy MD
Pampa Church of God of Prophecy TX
Fort Myers Marion Street Church of God of Prophecy FL
Clarksville Church of God of Prophecy TN
Augusta Church of God of Prophecy GA
Canton–Phillipsville Church of God of Prophecy NC
PERSONAL NOTE OF THANKS FROM BROTHER JULES AND SISTER RONNET
Dear Brother Michael,
We enjoyed very much your visit in Israel and we hope that you will visit us again soon. We thank God for your recovery!! and we hope that God will give you the strength to keep serving Him. We want to thank you for your spiritual help and also thank the Alvin Church of God of Prophecy in TX and the Helping Hands for their financial help.
God bless you.
Hope to see you soon !!
Jules and Ronnet, Your loved ones in Israel !!!!
Harvest Partners,
Certainly, we praise God and give Him all the glory for what He is accomplishing in Cyprus and Israel. Thank you, Harvest Partners, for the impact you are making in these nations through your prayers, encouragements, and loving support. During these challenging times which surround the nation of Israel, we covet your prayers even more. It seems that events are aligning quickly with the Word of God, and we can sense an urgency in the air. Please stand with us in your prayers daily.
Annette Taylor, International Director
Harvest Partners Ministry
