BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Bulgaria had long been among the poorest nations in Europe. But after being under the heavy rule of communism for more than 45 years, in 2007, when it was admitted into the European Union, there had initially been a slow drip of financial aid. The economic depression that followed, however, had left the Bulgarian people in even worse financial shape. The price of petrol, food and clothing had skyrocketed to match those in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. But there had been no matching increase in income. Except for those in the capital city, the average Bulgarian made an equivalent of $300 to $400 a month. Millions fled the country to escape starvation. Although Nikola had numerous job offers outside the country, he’d refused each one. He loved the Bulgarian people and was determined to stay and help them. Besides, Nikola and Helen had been very blessed. Helen’s parents owned a small plot they allowed someone to use to plant crops. In return, they received flour which they shared with Nikola and Helen. Helen’s grandparents were also blessed to have a beehive on their property. They gave Nikola and Helen a bucket of honey each year. Nikola’s parents were a tremendous help during those hard times as well. They bought food, paid for utilities and took care of the children’s immediate needs as much as they could. Even though Nikola and his family had gone on bread and honey for quite some time, it never occurred to them to complain. They were grateful for every bite. Blessed far beyond most of their neighbors, they had something many people in Bulgaria did not have. They had food. “Our children were small and growing,” Nikola says. “We made sure they had enough to eat. Helen and I often didn’t get enough, especially me, but I can live now on one small meal a day. We’d always shared our food with others, but once the depression hit, we had less to share. “About five years ago, I saw a man living nearby whose wife occasionally attended our church. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of months and asked about her. He said, ‘Hadn’t you heard? She died. Starved to death.’” The woman was 45 years old. “The situation is a lot better in and around the capital,” says Nikola. “Some people there now make up to $700 to $800 a month. But once you drive 100 miles away, there isn’t enough money to buy food. Those of us who began on a solid foundation of faith are still standing. We did as we were taught. We never talked about the problem. We spoke the Word of God. We never talked about poverty and lack, we spoke the blessing of the Lord. Faith for Miracles “In 2014 and again in 2018, we planted new churches. As the church has continued to grow, we’ve experienced amazing healing miracles. In 2017, someone brought a Muslim woman, a heavy smoker, to us. She’d been diagnosed with end-stage cancer which had spread to her liver, lung and breast. She had been given 10 days to live. The entire church prayed for her in glorious unity. “Afterward, we sent people to her house every day to pray for her, cook and clean. Her doctors couldn’t understand why her tumor markers started dropping and continued to drop. Today she is totally healed, vibrant and walks faster than I do. “More recently, one of my friends called to say his wife had had a baby. Immediately afterward, she suffered a stroke. The situation looked grim. I told him, ‘Don’t listen to your thoughts. Don’t listen to relatives. Don’t listen to the doctor’s prognosis. Listen to me. I guarantee you by the Lord’s living Word that your wife will recover. When this passes it will be as if she never went through it.’ “I notified the intercessors at the church, and we committed to pray until her healing manifested. It took 5 hours and 23 minutes before her brain was restored, she woke up and was discharged from the hospital. All to the glory of God.” The Lord instructed Nikola to write a book in English, a compilation of the four Gospels. The book combined Matthew, Mark, Luke and John into a single chronological story written in a novel format. Not a single word or punctuation was deleted, only repetitive words. Nikola spent 10 years writing the book and then trying to get it into print. Facing thousands of rejections, he refused to get discouraged and quit. Instead, he stood in faith, speaking God’s blessing over the book. Then, one day Nikola received a call from an American publisher asking to publish his book. A well-respected theologian endorsed it, and "The Four in One Gospel of Jesus" was accepted into the Oxford Library of Apologetics. “When I look back over the past 27 years,” Nikola says, “all I see is God’s faithfulness. I am 100 times hungrier for God today than I was yesterday. All these years later, those young people on fire for God are still on fire. I can’t fathom what we would have done without the uncompromised Word of God, which I was first introduced to through KCM, as our foundation. That’s what partnership with KCM means to me. It’s been the difference between life and death. Many times, it has meant not only the difference between life and death for individuals, but for the church in Bulgaria—and for the nation.” V * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Join us in teaching believers how to use their faith. KCM.ORG/PARTNERNOW 1-800-600-7395 U.S. only * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BVOV : 17

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