BULGARIA

For this country profile, we interviewed Kate and Andrew Blackwell, an Australian missionary couple who have been serving God in Bulgaria with European Christian Mission since 2013.

Tell us a bit about Bulgaria and what you love most about the country

Bulgarians have known oppression from many hands, In the late 14th century the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria and the country was part of the Ottoman Empire for the next 500 years. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria came under the influence of another major power, Russia. The People’s Republic of Bulgaria as the country became known after the Second World War was ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1946 to 1989. This history has resulted in a significant lack of trust in government, authority and outsiders.

Bulgaria is a real crossroads between east and west. Despite being highly dependent on the Soviet Union during the 20th century, Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007. The country is a refugee and asylum seeker route from the Middle East to Western Europe, although Bulgaria has often sought to actively deter people from taking this route.

There is a significant Roma minority in the country estimated at 10% of the population.

Bulgaria is a beautiful country. It is blessed with a great deal of natural beauty and all within a relatively small area. We have mountains, lakes, sea, plains filled with lavender, sunflowers, roses and so on. One of the things we love most is the very distinct seasons, which is so different to Australia.

Where is your favourite place in Bulgaria that a traveller to the country must visit?

There are many. Here are a few of the great historical and natural wonders of Bulgaria.

Belogradchik, a natural rock fortress in Northwestern Bulgaria

Plovdiv is an ancient city in southern Bulgaria that holds many preserved ruins including the Roman Amphitheatre. Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria and was the European Capital of Culture in 2019.

Bulgaria has some very popular ski resorts which are half the price of resorts in Western Europe!

The Balkan Mountains run west-east across the entire country

Fields of Sunflowers and Lavender

What are the particular challenges facing Bulgaria at the present time?

There has been a long period of political instability in Bulgaria characterised by limited trust in government and low voter turnout. There is an expectation that corruption is part of life and that nothing can be done about it.

There is a lack of hope that anything can really change.

Covid is also a challenge as there are very low vaccination rates in Bulgaria (As of June 2022, less than 30% of people have had two or more doses). Most Bulgarians don’t trust the vaccination. Low vaccination rates, poor general health and a weak health system mean that Bulgaria has the highest reported mortality rate from Covid of any nation in Europe and the second highest in the world.

From a Christian perspective, 82% of Bulgarians will identify as orthodox Christians, but only a very small number have an active faith. It is very much a cultural religion.

On the positive side, Bulgarians are open to talking about their faith, but they have few good models for what real discipleship looks like.

How did you come to be serving God in Bulgaria?

In 2013, God focused us on the issue of human trafficking (specifically sex trafficking), and on the country of Bulgaria. There are many Bulgarian girls trafficked both within Bulgaria and into Western Europe, forced to work on the streets in prostitution. The majority of these are from a Roma (Gypsy) background.

God used trauma from Kate’s past to get us to Bulgaria, and focus us on the trafficking issue, however He has helped us to understand that the broken-ness which results in trafficking impacts on all areas of life, and so the solution must also focus on all areas of life.

Over time, God has shown us that stopping trafficking requires holistic transformation, especially within these Roma communities. There is much brokenness within communities in Bulgaria, and God has grown within us a desire to see the gospel transforming these communities so that this trafficking no longer happens.

So often, social action ministry is focused on providing a need or solving a problem for someone. When it is done better, its focus shifts to helping people to learn to solve problems for themselves. Yet the gospel is holistic in nature. The ministry of reconciliation that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5 refers to far more than just broken relationships between people. God’s plan of restoration of broken relationships extends to all areas of life, and that has big implications for our discipleship, which must also be whole-life focused.

What kind of work that you are involved in?

Navigators use a term, “Mobile Alongsider”, which I think sums up really well what we do as missionaries. God has called us into multiple relationships where our key role may not seem like direct ministry, but it is to walk alongside others and help them lead and minister more effectively.

This has a number of different faces:

Discipling for Development

Andrew is the local team leader for a Navigators ministry called Discipling for Development (D4D) in Bulgaria. D4D’s ministry is focused on whole-life discipleship amongst poor communities, and so, in Bulgaria, the focus is on Roma communities.

Our key role in that is walking alongside local Navigators/ ECM missionaries, Radi and Ani Asenovi. God has gifted them incredibly to be able to go into communities and disciple church and community leaders in a whole-life way. It is exciting to see what God is doing in them and through them and to walk the journey with them.

International Church

Our family are members of the International Baptist Church of Sofia. Over the last couple of years, Andrew has stepped into leadership in the church, which has been a bigger role as we have been without a pastor since August 2020.

International churches are typically very transient, and historically we have had an average turnover of 30%. This can seem frustrating, but we are coming to recognise that the real vision of our church is to equip and send people on, to whatever God is calling them to next. This gives international church ministry a strong discipleship and missional focus, which is really exciting.

Again, our role as Mobile Alongsiders is relevant here. God is working within the lives of those who He has brought to Bulgaria, and who He plans to move on to other places. Part of our role is to walk alongside others in the church, to equip them to come alongside other people, and grow their vision for what God is calling them to. We would love to see more mature believers come to Bulgaria and join our international church, to help us in this.

By the way, we are still looking for a long-term pastor for the church. Someone who has experience in pastoring amongst an international congregation, and who shares this vision of equipping and sending.

Leadership development – ECM

God has used some challenging situations in the past, to give us a passion for good leadership, especially in our own mission organisation. For the last couple of years, Kate has been instrumental in developing and providing training for leaders in European Christian Mission, using the Lead Develop Care framework, (developed by Terry Cook and LDN Global.)

God has recently called us into a cluster leadership role within ECM, overseeing a number of missionaries in four countries, and is opening up opportunities for us to walk alongside other leaders in the mission, to help them to see how they can more effectively lead those they are working with. Leadership can be lonely, especially when people don’t understand your context and the challenges you face. Again, this Mobile Alongsider role comes in here too.

Tell us about the challenges and encouragements you have experienced in serving Christ and spreading the gospel in Bulgaria.

Firstly, although Bulgaria identifies as a Christian country, there is a real spiritual darkness here, with a lot of superstition and ritual mixed up in the Orthodox Church practices. We are coming to understand how much work is needed in prayer to overcome this.

Secondly, the concept of discipleship is not well understood, let alone whole-life discipleship. Most pastors try to disciple by preaching, but that doesn’t really work. Whole-life discipleship requires intentional long-term relationships. It requires modelling what it means to follow Christ whole-heartedly, and walking alongside people, allowing the gospel to touch all areas of life.

It is hugely encouraging when we discover someone who actually gets that, and who understands the key role of the Holy Spirit in bringing transformation. Radi and Ani have been working in a community in North-East Bulgaria, with a pastor who is humble and teachable, and we are starting to see the Holy Spirit moving in people’s hearts there.

Yet there is so much brokenness in these communities, and transformation will take a miracle. Christian workers could labour for years in their own strength without seeing any substantial change. We are starting to recognise that much of the “work” in Bulgaria will need to be done by faithful believers many miles away. The miracle won’t happen without prayer, and God has been gently whispering to us that ministry partnership development is key to what He will do here in Bulgaria. Please get in touch with us if God is whispering about that to you too.

How can we be praying for the people of Bulgaria and the work you are doing?

Please pray that God will move people to join us in His work here, either by coming to Bulgaria or by partnering with us from home.

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to sweep through Bulgaria, drawing people to Him, turning them to His word, and turning them away from superstitions, false beliefs, and the sense of hopelessness that is so common here. Pray also for a lifting of spiritual oppression that binds many believers here.

·Please pray for a movement of whole-life discipleship in Bulgaria, especially amongst the Roma. May people recognise that the gospel seeks transformation in all areas of life. Pray that more pastors in Bulgaria will come to understand that discipleship requires more than preaching.

Please pray for our International Baptist Church of Sofia. Pray for wisdom in knowing how to be a godly community and to encourage people to meet and grow together in faith. Pray also that God will send us a pastor who will lead us into our vision for discipleship and what it means to be an equipping and sending church.

Please pray for leaders within ECM, especially that they will feel well supported in their leadership, and well equipped to lead, develop and care for their missionaries in a way that reflects Jesus, our Chief Shepherd. (1 Peter 5).

To find out more about the work Kate and Andrew are doing in Bulgaria follow the link below …

Learn more

Faith and Focus in the Storm

COVENANT RENEWAL IN JUDAH

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