Pray for Bulgaria

Week of June 23-29, 2014

In the News: Bulgaria floods: At least 12 killed in Varna and Dobrich

At least 12 people have died and several are missing after torrential rain and heavy floods hit eastern Bulgaria, officials say.

Floodwaters in the Black Sea port city of Varna surged up to 1m (3.2ft).

Many residents had to be rescued as cars were swept away. Hundreds have been left without electricity or food.
"The tragedy is enormous. I am here on a street in the suburb of Asparuhovo. The street is not here, the houses are not here, there are cars on top of each other," Varna mayor Ivan Portnih was quoted by the Reuters new agency as saying. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27935436

Prayer Points:
1. More floods in the Balkan Peninsula. Let us pray for the victims of these floods in northeast Bulgaria. May they be comforted during this time of hardship.
2. EI Balkans was in Serbia last week distributing much needed aid. We partnered with local church ministries that are reaching out to the flood victims there. Let us pray that similarly in Bulgaria, churches will be motivated to reach out with help for these flood victims.
3. Tragedies that disrupt our normal life experiences, force us to take another direction. This has happened to the flood victims in the Balkans. Let us pray for humility (accepting human weakness), peace (reversing anger), hope and strength. Being a lover of history and an intercessor, I like to seek out the root causes of grounds won and grounds lost. So I was reading up on how the Christian Bulgarian kingdom fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks. The conclusion was that the Bulgarian nobles were in disunity and could not maintain a united front against the Turks.
The situation in the Balkans on the eve of the Ottoman invasion (Wikipedia)From the 13th century, the two main Balkan powers Byzantium and Bulgaria fell victims to a process of decentralization, as local feudal lords grew stronger and more independent from the emperors in Constantinople and Tarnovo. This weakened the military and economic power of the central rulers. The process deteriorated central authority to an even larger extent in the 14th century, when numerous nobles came to be only nominally subordinated to the government. [They were not able unify their armies against the invading Turks] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian%E2%80%93Ottoman_wars

4. Satan is clever. Sowing seeds of disunity helps him divide and conquer. Let us pray that the churches will unite in Bulgaria so they can stand against the enemy.
5. May the curse of disunity that was not able to stand against the Ottoman armies be broken in this generation.
6. I do not know what the spiritual condition of Bulgaria was in the 14th century but there was political disunity. May the churches stand strong in their relationship with God’s purposes as they stand against Satan’s present attacks.
7. It was not until the early 20th century that the Muslim influence over the Bulgarian nation was fully broken. Then communist atheism replaced it. Bulgaria needs a Spiritual revival. Let us pray for revival in Bulgaria to secure it as a sheep nation for the return of the Lord.
8. Let us pray for events that gather Christians of different faiths. May the single purpose of these events be to lift up Jesus, knowing that when He is lifted up and the churches are standing as one united front, the enemy will have to flee. Just want to give a shout-out for Ballet Magnificat and how they performed for Jesus in the main square in Zagreb, Croatia. Take a look this 3 minute video just released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1g5EwFJvk&list=UU7XcSP0N1IM_rT32JfDTjyg

We visited Obrenovac, Serbia where some of the worst flooding occurred. We worked alongside Daniel and Vera Kuranji and the ministry they work with, http://www.transformeuropenow.org/serbia/daniel-and-vera-kuranji

Other events that we close to my heart that need prayer:  European Initiative in conducting an evangelism outreach on the streets of Zagreb, Croatia and visiting Roma (Gypsy) villages this week and weekend. www.europeaninitiative.com  Operations European Capitals is conducting a meeting of intercessors in Podgorica, Montenegro June 23-24 and then in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina June 26-28. June is an important date in that it is the 100year anniversary of the start of World War I, the war that re-mapped and forever changed Europe. The war started because a Serb nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. http://oceprayer.com
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Pray for Bulgaria

Week of Nov. 12-18, 2012

I met a man recently here in Dallas who is from Varsa, Bulgaria. He is here studying to earn a degree so he can return and help others like himself to secede in life. This really thrills me because I often pray for Balkan nationals to return to their country of origins to give back to that country. Svitlin is a gypsy and was an orphan. His mother left him at the hospital when he was born. He grew up in an orphanage in Bulgaria. He had every reason not to succeed. He determined to come to America and get an education. He was blessed to find a sponsor. His plans are to return to Bulgaria and work with orphans. After talking with him many times, I am amazed at hearing his heart.

As you can see, this young man has touched me. Many times over the years I have been praying for the “brain drain” of the Balkans; Many success-minded individuals who are discouraged by the lack of opportunity in the Balkans are immigrating.

1)    Although we are mainly praying for Bulgaria, let us pray for these immigrates from the Balkan countries. First of all may they be surrounded by Christians and see the love of Jesus lived out through them. Second, they would decide to let Jesus captivate their hearts. Third, they would get a burden for their home land.
2)    Let us pray for Bulgarian immigrates wherever they are in the world. Lord, bring them to You and then bring them back to Bulgaria.
3)    Let us pray for Svitlin. Lord, protect him here in America and help him all along the way to acquire his skills and credentials. I know Svitlin is a chosen vessel for Bulgaria. Even here in America he is leading others to Jesus.

Bulgarians are responding more and more to the Gospel. People are coming to the evangelical churches and giving their lives to Jesus. It is positive to even see a great percent of parents favoring religious teaching in the public schools.

4)    First of all let us thank the Lord, for many Bulgarians coming to Jesus. Lord, Give them teachers that are anointed to expound upon the uncompromising Word.
5)    Pray that Christians would want to go into teaching. Pray they would stand firm in their faith through their time in the universities.
6)    Let us pray for teachers in the public schools to teach scripture in the religion classes and not church dogma.
7)    Let us pray for the Evangelical churches. Pray that they would continue to be a light upon a hill shining God’s love out to the Bulgarian people.

Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

8)    Let us pray for abundant joy in the Bulgarian Christians. A joy that overflows to their families, friends, work place and in the market place. Lord, show them how You desire to walk with them daily wherever they go. May they be known as the people of joy.
9)    Let us pray for the Orthodox church in Bulgaria. If only they would seek the power and freedom Jesus desires for them to walk in.





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Pray for Bulgaria

* Please leave a comment or reaction at the end of this article.*

Varna, Bulgaria, an important Black Sea port city, is a very popular vacation spot. Having a population of about 350,000, it attracts about 4.5 million tourist each year. The city has been fortunate, even in the present world economic down-turn, to be financially strong. I have no Christian contacts in this Bulgarian city and do not know the spiritual climate, but felt we should pray for this key city.
This city is believed to have been visited by Christian disciples as early as 57 BC. So there has to be redemptive seeds in the cities’ DNA.
1) Lord, we ask for an out-pouring of Your love on Varna, Bulgaria.
2) Lord, we ask for a bubbling over of Your joy in the Christians there.
3) Lord, raise up men and women of vision, wisdom and boldness. Give them a heart for Your purposes in Varna.
4) Let us pray for a ministry that reaches out to the tourist.

5) There is a Ministry to the Bulgarian Military that works with the International Association of Evangelical Chaplains. They provide a spiritual presence to the Bulgarian Army and the police. Let us pray for their ministry to reach men and women in uniform.

I am not sure who did the following survey but I found it on a Bulgarian Church website. It is sad to see that prayer, fasting and standing under persecution are not mentioned. Humbleness is considered but it is at the bottom.

Spirituality is defined by church members as:
Walking in the Spirit (40%)
Closeness to God (31%)
Operating under the gifts of the Spirit (11%)
Love toward neighbor (10%)
Works of faith (5%)
Care for widows and orphans (2%)
Humbleness (1%)

6) Lord, we all need to pray and fast so we may be able to then walk in humility. Let us pray that the Bulgarian church would learn that prayer is necessary before they try to walk in the spirit or love their neighbor.
7) Let us pray for the teenagers in Bulgaria. Western culture is rushing in with its brand of decadence, so let’s pray that their eyes would be opened to the destruction of lustful pleasure.
8) Let us pray for the school system of Bulgaria, asking the Lord to put it in the hearts of administrators to let the Gospel be taught.
9) As both parents are choosing to work, the children are being somewhat neglected. Let us pray that the parents would be diligent in guiding their children around the pitfalls of life.