BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Read Through the Bible JULY 2019 Old Testament / New Testament Mon 1 1 Chr. 5-6 / Rom. 13 Tue 2 1 Chr. 7-8 / Rom. 14 Wed 3 1 Chr. 9-11 / Rom. 15 Thu 4 1 Chr. 12-14 / Rom. 16 Fri 5 1 Chr. 15-16 / 1 Cor. 1 Sat 6 1 Chr. 17-20 Sun 7 Ps. 79-81; Prov. 17:1-18 Mon 8 1 Chr. 21-23 / 1 Cor. 2 Tue 9 1 Chr. 24-26 / 1 Cor. 3 Wed 10 1 Chr. 27-28 / 1 Cor. 4 Thu 11 1 Chr. 29 / 1 Cor. 5 Fri 12 2 Chr. 1-3 / 1 Cor. 6 Sat 13 2 Chr. 4-6 Sun 14 Ps. 82-85; Prov. 17:19-18:9 Mon 15 2 Chr. 7-9 / 1 Cor. 7 Tue 16 2 Chr. 10-12 / 1 Cor. 8 Wed 17 2 Chr. 13-15 / 1 Cor. 9 Thu 18 2 Chr. 16-18 / 1 Cor. 10 Fri 19 2 Chr. 19-20 / 1 Cor. 11 Sat 20 2 Chr. 21-23 Sun 21 Ps. 86-88; Prov. 18:10-24 Mon 22 2 Chr. 24-26 / 1 Cor. 12 Tue 23 2 Chr. 27-29 / 1 Cor. 13 Wed 24 2 Chr. 30-31 / 1 Cor. 14 Thu 25 2 Chr. 32-33 / 1 Cor. 15 Fri 26 2 Chr. 34-35 / 1 Cor. 16 Sat 27 2 Chr. 36; Ezra 1-2 Sun 28 Ps. 89; Prov. 19:1-17 Mon 29 Ezra 3-6 / 2 Cor. 1 Tue 30 Ezra 7-8 / 2 Cor. 2 Wed 31 Ezra 9-10 / 2 Cor. 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * article from p. 15 continues * * * * “None of us knew much except the plan of salvation, but we were starving for God’s presence. The guy who told me about the Lord had given me a magazine called "Believer’s Voice of Victory" that was published by Kenneth Copeland Ministries. I’d taken English in school, but you have to actually attend classes to learn. Now I worked hard to take what I knew and persist in learning English so that I could read that magazine. It was my strong motivation. “The city of Burgas is divided into regions and I lived in the largest one. There were some other believers in another region who heard about us. We met and merged, becoming one larger group of young believers, most of us in our 20s. Together, we set about evangelizing the city.” Using the address on the magazine, and every cent he had, Nikola ordered other materials from KCM. “There were very few churches at the time,” he recalls. “We had no one to mentor us. So, we depended on those materials to learn. I also ordered tapes, listened to them and translated them to the group. The only gospel we’d ever heard was the message of faith.” Army Life In 1994, Nikola began serving in the army. Military recruits were forbidden to practice Christianity. They were required to sign papers about that and pressured not to speak of their faith. So, Nikola used the time to learn. Taking all the materials he had received from KCM with him, he hid them under the seat of his army truck. During every free moment, he immersed himself in them. Unable to go home, except for a few very short visits, he wrote long letters sharing what he’d learned with his friends. Whenever possible, the leaders of the group back home took a bus to visit him. Nikola preached to them and then sent them back to share what they’d heard with the others. In 1995, after being discharged from the army, Nikola continued to order all the tapes, videos, books and other materials from KCM that he could afford. In all, he bought over 40 different teaching series, spending all the money he had. When he saw an ad in the magazine to order back issues of the magazine, Nikola ordered them all. “At the time, there were very few Christian materials in Bulgarian and not many Bulgarians could speak English,” Nikola explains. “But people were hungry for the Word of God, so we gathered in homes, in churches and outside. I translated the messages from KCM into our language for them. I also taped improvised translations of Brother and Sister Copeland’s teachings and distributed them around the country. We were just a bunch of 20-year-old kids, but we were on fire for God. “I’m not sure where the man who shared that "BVOV" magazine with me got the copy,” Nikola recalls. “There had to be a connection somewhere, but during those early years I never heard anyone else preach those messages. I don’t mean to say people weren’t preaching faith in God, because they were. I mean I never heard anyone else preaching KCM’s specific messages. Over the years, I’ve translated and distributed more than 1400 messages from KCM, including ones by Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle. They have been like manna for us. “In 1996, our first church started a prison ministry. Soon the church inside the prison outgrew the one outside. Although at one point the group had not been allowed to officially register as a church, they continued to thrive, registered as a ‘charity organization,’ with the leaders meeting every day to pray, prophesy and practice moving in the spirit.” During one meeting, the Lord told Nikola that Helen, one of the other leaders, was to be his wife. Two years later, Nikola and Helen were married. Their first child, Anna, was born in 1999 and then in 2001 Mikaela was born. “In about 2000, we began ministering to the Gypsies, called Roma in Bulgaria. The Lord connected us to a Gypsy reformer we have been working with to transform the Roma ethnicity in our nation, which involves spiritual, educational and social work among the poorest of the poor amidst severe racism and discrimination. Their living conditions are appalling. We are committed to working with this leader and doing whatever we can to help.” Faith for Food The aroma of baking bread wafted in the air as Nikola stepped into his apartment. Helen called, “Dinner’s ready!” urging their children, Anna and Mikaela, to the table. Helen cut each of them a piece of bread, plating it and drizzling honey on top. Seated at the table, the family bowed their heads as Nikola thanked God for the bounty of their meal. They took their time, savoring each bite. 16 : BVOV

• Cover