Sofia, Bulgaria [CD EUDNews, Ivalina Ilieva]. October 26, 2014.
Sofia was the first centre for Big City Evangelism in Bulgaria. Two simultaneous crusades were held there September 28-October 11. The main campaign was held in downtown Sofia, the second – at the 'Roma' (Gypsy) area of the city. It was entitled "Code: Predicted" and held by Vadim Butov, Russian-Australian, senior pastor of Avondale Church. Butov, 38, had claimed to be able to reach even the hardest post-Communist areas for the Gospel and fully lived up to his reputation. Almost 430 people attended meetings every night, 140 of them got Bibles as a gift after 8 visits. Fifty people enrolled for a follow-up Bible course and 36 are preparing for baptism.
There were several special features that kept the interest of the audience. The fact that Vadim can read Cyrillic alphabet allowed him to read some of the verses on the screen in Bulgarian and the audience just loved it! A group of Ukrainian singers called "Glory", came to help with the campaign and they were greatly appreciated by the seminar attendees.
There were also a couple of special treats for everyone with tea and cookies allowing some time to relax and make acquaintances, not to mention free massage and blood pressure measurements prior to the program! There was a line-up patiently waiting for their turn for a massage. Free books were distributed on several nights, including the Mission book of the Year.
The program was broadcasted on the Internet thanks to "Hope Channel". The seminar was followed by 354 IP addresses in over 65 countries! Some of the countries that received our program really surprised us: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Jamaica, India, South Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco… Thus "Code: Predicted" turned out to really be a global evangelistic effort!
Several affiliated campaigns were organized in smaller churches around Sofia and broadcasted a day or two later. In Pernik (with a congregation of 25 members) 11 visitors came on a regular basis resulting in 8 enrollments in baptismal class. Montana has 47 members and about 15 visitors came to watch the program. A church member across the country was watching the program every night in her confection store and invited four of her friends to watch with her!
Simultaneously with Vadim Butov's campaign there was one at the 'Roma' (Gypsy) area of the city. The main speaker was Craig Young, Head Elder at Avondale Church. There are several strong Pentecostal churches in that area and a small Adventist congregation with 38 members. It became a real camp-meeting! Because there wasn't any suitable hall in the 'Roma' area, we used a tent. 80-130 people attended the seminar, 96 of them received a Bible after being present 8 nights and 19 (50% of the current membership!) requested baptism!
We are already planning another big campaign with Vadim Butov that will be broadcasted in all Bulgarian churches as a nationwide evangelistic effort in 2016!
Pictures: 1. The Choir of Solunska Church. 2. The Audience.