Short history of modern Bulgaria
From 1940 to 1989 Bulgaria was under the iron grip of communist Russia. Bulgarian Christians were under great pressure because of their faith. There were few Bibles, no Bible schools or Christian literature. The church was fighting just to survive. Bulgaria was considered as one of the republics of the ex-Soviet Union and often called “The Little Russia”. The communists have used the theory of evolution for many decades as a mighty propaganda of Atheism and presented it as the only explanation about the origin of the universe, humans etc. No alternatives were allowed under fear of persecution. Many generations of Bulgarians were raised with this mindset and worldview. The majority in Bulgaria was made to believe that there is no God and the Bible is just a myth that has nothing to do with facts and is not worthy of giving it any attention as a viable revelation from a God and Creator. Those that believe the Bible are mocked as irrational, lowly educated and superstitious. Atheism in the face of the theory of evolution (presented as solid scientific fact) reigns and there is an atmosphere of fear to ask about the Bible or talk about it, which is a great obstacle for Christians to share the Gospel. Sadly, most of the Evangelical Christians are not prepared to defend their faith and give satisfying answers as 1 Peter 3: 15 says. Most of the Orthodox Christians don’t believe there is a God. For them Christianity is a matter of national identity, observance of rituals and religious traditions. As strange as it might sound many call themselves “Orthodox atheists”. “No one created us, so we are not responsible to anyone, science has long proved that there is no God” – it is this kind of thinking that makes people not listen to you when trying to share the Gospel directly. This is the sad and dreadful heritage left to the Bulgarians from the iron Communist rule.
Communism is gone and we have a remarkable freedom to share the Gospel as never before in our history, but we don’t see a lot of fruit for the Lord (we have only about 1% Evangelical Christians in Bulgaria). The Body of Christ in Bulgaria struggles to reach this nation, but in most cases the preaching of the Gospel looks like sowing seeds into a rocky and hardened soil. After the Communists have urged this nation for decades to have faith in a bright future, in communist leadership, and ideology, they have failed them awfully. Bulgarians are bitterly disillusioned and find it hard to have faith in anything again. They demand good answers and logical reasons that they can then evaluate in their minds. Our ministry has proved that when they get them, they are more than willing to take the “faith part” of the Word of God into their hearts as well.