A New Mission Work

For the past six years, Northside has been supporting the Lifeline of Hope. Lifeline is an organization that gives orphanages around the world the money they need to provide better food, housing, and medical care. Northside has been sponsoring a Russian government orphanage in Siberia. The kids are living better, but they're not receiving much Bible teaching and the elders just didn't feel right about subsidizing the Russian government. The elders want to make sure that the Lord's money goes to something even more helpful advancing God's kingdom.

As of June 1 we're going to switch to a new work in Bulgaria, a south-eastern European country on the Black Sea. My family went to Sophia, the capital city, one time trying to keep our Greek visas current. It was a wonderful trip.

We're going to support a Bulgarian man and his wife who have a proven track record of planting churches. Hristo (CHREE-sto) and Vania Arnaudov (are-nah-OO-dof) began a congregation in Athens, Greece, among the Bulgarian immigrants in 2001. He graduated from the Sunset School of Preaching branch school in Athens in 2002 (that's the school I went there to establish). He started the congregation with 15 people and their number grew to 60 in the next 3-4 months. Since then, the membership of the Bulgarian church has reached 160-180 members.

Besides their regular worship services in Bulgarian language and the Bible classes they teach, their ministry at the Omonia church (where the building is located) also involves the leading of the singing and worship in the Greek, Russian and International congregations which have their own worship times on Sundays.
For the last seven years they have been encouraged and financially supported by several church families with their main sponsor being the Bammel Church of Christ in Houston, TX. Their contractual obligations with Bammel church ends in December 2008.

Their vision has been to return to Bulgaria and continue to serve the Lord there. He's worked to have the Church of Christ officially registered in Bulgaria according to the Bulgarian laws. God gave them victory, and now Churches of Christ have the right to open medical, social and educational institutions, Bible schools, Colleges and Universities. The church can own real estate, rent places for worship services, and publish literature.

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and has a population of two million people. There is one other Church of Christ in the city. There are only two or three others in the whole country. Hristo and Vania have been making many evangelistic contacts in Bulgaria through the congregation in Greece. We are convinced God will bless their work in Sophia as He has blessed them in Athens.

We're going to support them $500 a month. The Loveland, CO, and Norphlet, AR, churches are also going to partner with us. We have some individual contributors, too. Hristo and Vania need $3,500 a month to support themselves and have the funds necessary to begin a congregation.

In the next few weeks I will post pictures of Sophia and some other information on the church website. If you have any questions, please direct them to the elders.