2/2002. God bless you abundantly. Your brother and servant of Christ Tateos.

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1 2/2002 The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you! The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace! Numbers 6:24-26 It was about 6000 years ago that God s love was rejected and for the first time man did not appear at the usual place to meet his Creator. Then the voice of God was heard, Where are you? How much pain and anguish was there in the voice of perfect love! The bridegroom had lost His bride someone else had seduced her. About 2000 years ago we see what the Creator did to restore His creation, bride and friend. He did it all and everything is prepared, as we read in Matthew 22:2-10. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatten cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. But they paid no attention, and went off one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. As servants of the Lord we have been called to go out and invite every one to the wedding of the Lamb. But what would happen if the servants themselves were not willing to go? We can clearly see how the challenges of this world, the lust of the flesh and the creativity of Satan, have influenced the present day church. The desire to feel comfortable, our egoism, pride and denominational intolerance often quench our desire to commit ourselves to fulfilling the Great Commission. I thank God that in spite of the perilous times we are living in, He always has servants who are ready to respond to the Great Commission and go out into the harvest. I personally witnessed the unity of the churches in Bourgas, the fire and passion with which they carried out the Jesus film campaign there. In severe cold weather and record amounts of snow. They tirelessly handed out postcards and put up posters. The sacrifice they made is comparable only with God s grace. These people, as well as many other volunteers from different towns and villages, churches and denominations worked without getting tired sharing the Good News for the glory of God. You will find in this newsletter a taste of this along with news from the past, present and future of The Jesus Film Project. God bless you abundantly. Your brother and servant of Christ Tateos.

2 FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY O OPEN DOORS AMONG THE MUSLIMS Denko and Polya Kurshumovi, Hristo Banishki - from the town of Bourgas We were a little afraid to start showing the Jesus film in the Turkish villages but God has made a way where there was no way. In the very first village two policemen came to guard us and in the end they were even a bit worried lest there were not enough Who is Jesus? magazines for them to take home. During the summer we covered 58 villages altogether all of them 100% Turkish speaking. In one of the villages they turned off the streetlights because they caused a problem for the screen. In another village the imam (muslim teacher) was explaining to the audience who Jesus is and what the Koran says about Him. In still another village we showed the film on the wall of the mosque since it made such a great screen for us. One of the most well known and powerful imams, making and breaking magic, amulets, etc., lives in the village of T. To our great surprise, his son had reguested an audiocassette of Jesus. When we returned to visit him and take a survey, he told us that he had never read the Koran but that he wanted to read the Bible, could we gire him one. We had some copies of the Ingil (New Testament in Turkish) in the car so we gave him one right away but he asked for the whole Bible in Bulgarian. On our second visit, when we had expected him to have filled out the survey, it turned out that the he had not had the chance to do it because the audiocassette and the Ingil had been going round the village and he had not yet had the chance to listen to the tape. He asked for another audiocassette for himself and for more copies of the Ingil since so many people in the village wanted them. On our third visit he had already started reading the Bible and had filled out the survey except the final question, Do you want to receive Jesus Christ as you personal Lord and Savior? We started talking together. We shared with him and his family about our being born again and living with Christ, about the miracles accompanying our faith and about the gifts of God. At the end our time my husband started praying. When he stopped the Turkish man said, I understood everything! You were talking about God! His eyes were shining and filled with joy. On our way back home in the car I unfolded his survey and he had ansere the last question with a big Yes! Glory be to God! We had not even noticed when he had written that but we knew for sure that the Holy Spirit had worked in his heart because it is written: They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. MY LIFE ACQUIRED A NEW MEANING. Irena Savova Stefanova from the town of Dobrich Jesus and me. At the time I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, my life was a complete failure in all areas one could think of. I had a broken marriage, two daughters with whom I didn t know how to communicate, unfinished higher education and bad relations with all my relatives. I was despised by my parents because of my failures. I was living with a man who cared neither for me, nor for my children. My life was so vain that I often thought whether it was worth living at all. It was then that a woman shared with me the great love Jesus had for me. I experienced it and I was born again. But a year later I was still the same. One day someone gave me a video with the Jesus film based on the Gospel of Luke. I watched it and I watched it again a second time and then I committed my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. This film challenged me to trust Him for every decision and to follow Him. Now, five years later, I am a happy wife of a wonderful servant of the Lord (an assistant pastor) and a mother of three children. Both my daughters have given their lives to Christ and we are excellent friends. I even studied at a Bible college. It was very surprising to me when my relatives started calling me and asking me for advice about the important decisions in their lives. My life acquired a new meaning, for me to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21). For a year now I have been feeling God s calling to look after ill and lonely people, leading them to the Savior. The radio version and the videocassette have been extremely helpful to me in doing so. This is part of the social ministry in my church geared towards the lost. My life is a testimony about how the Jesus film can challenge a person to take up his destiny of being fishers of men. I thank God for The Jesus Film Project. I believe that many souls can be reached and their lives can be transformed in a way accessible to all.

3 F GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD REFUGEES FIND CHRIST Hristo Penkov, Kirilka Penkova, Maria Titeva, Rosa Vasileva, Stoika Ruseva from the town of Nova Zagora In the village of B. were we met the local doctor who asked us to visit the Home for Elderly People and to show the film there since many of the people there could not come to the film showing in the village. So we went there the very next day. God had prepared the soil. He was leading us in a wonderful way. We decided to show the film outside on the wall of the building. Some how we needed to hang the screen. Then God sent us some young men from the nearby refugee camp to help us. When they realized what film was to be shown, they left because they were Muslim. With great joy we watched them return one by one a little later when it was dark. That evening we heard Bulgarian, Turkish, Russian and Serbian words for Christ and thanked God. The staff of the Home welcomed us so warmly. OPEN DOORS IN THE RHODOPIS = NEED FOR WORKERS Dicho Kostadinov, Bonka Ganeva, Nadia Kostadinova, Tsanka Petkova from the town of Sliven I d like to share this testimony for the glory of God. In August 2001 a Jesus film campaign was organized in the Rhodopis, a part of Bulgaria, which really needs to be conquered for the Lord. We organized showing in the villages of Kochani, Garnati, Dimanovo, Burevo, Sredets and Izgrev of which some of them you can t even find on the map. When we first went there to make contact with the officials, we came across reasonable mayors who were open to the Jesus film. It is worth noting that the population there consists mainly of Bulgarian Muslims. While dealing with the details, the mayors showed love to us. Later we returned to these villages to invite the people with posters and postcards. We had grace in doing so because there were only four of us to do everything - our part and God did the rest. In the village of Burevo even the mayor himself handed out postcards. In these villages the people were open to the Good News when they saw that the mayors accepted us. The first day we had a film-show in the village of Kochan. The people watched the film with great interest and listened intently to the Good News. After that we went to the second village Garnati. That evening we showed the film outside on the central square where there was a big white wall for a screen. More than 110 people came most of them young. Before the show the mayor even asked us to play music for God so I turned on my car stereo with a Christian music cassette in it and held the microphone next to the car speaker so that the whole village could hear. The mayor was so kind that that night we slept in the town hall. The next day we had a film showing in the next village and started the follow-up meetings in the last village sp we organized our time in such a way that we could do both at the same time. It was about 2pm, shortly before we were to start the film in the village of Burevo when there was a central power outage. The people had gathered already and we thanked God that they waited patiently for over an hour. In the tiny village of D. - population 70 - the men and women there were in a state of despair and just our being there encouraged them to think that God had not forgotten them. After the show they invited us to have dinner with them. Later that evening we were in the village of Sredets and experienced a great blessings. The people there received copies of the New Testament with joy and openness. The woman responsible for the local library told us she had never heard about Jesus and had never read the New Testament. That evening they entrusted us with the keys to the town hall. The following day about 50 people came to the first follow-up meeting. We were amazed how they were so child-like in their sincerity and desire for more information and materials. A missionary is badly needed in these villages that would pur the people together and help them build a strong spiritual foundation. When the day came for us to leave we had mixed feelings - joy at their response to the Good News and sadness that at this time there is no one that can stay and help them grow.

4 FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY O THE JESUS FILM SHOW IN THE VELINGRAD REGION Jordan and Stoyanka Dechevi from the town of Pestera Abiding in constant prayer before God asking him to open the doors for the Jesus film to be shown throughout the Velingrad region. We received confirmation and a burning desire to work with the Muslims and on August 1st we left for Velingrad. We arrived in the village of K., where we found the imam. He agreed to show the film. Even though A Film showing on the wall of the mosque the weather was very cold many people came to watch. We had no problems whatsoever, as the policeman from the Velingrad police station lived cross from the mosque. It was great because he remained there until the end of the film making sure no accidents occurred. the imam speaking with a microphone, Now you will see how Isah Mesih rises. The next day the show was in the village of S.P. When we arrived we first wanted to meet the imam. He spoke to the mayor for us and convinced him that it was a good idea to have the Jesus film shown in the village. We decided that we would use the wall of the town hall as a screen. We handed out the post cards and put up posters. We even included the imam to help us with the ladder, hammer and nails and he responded with joy. Shortly after we had given out the postcard invitations, the square was full of people. The imam explained to them that they were about to see the film about Isah Mesih (Jesus Christ) whom Allah (God) had sent. When the show started there were at least 450 people. After the first roll the imam took the microphone and started telling the people about the miracles Isah Mesih had done. The same thing happened after the second and third roll, but after the fourth at 10:30pm he left to go to the mosque for the evening prayer. Before leaving he took the microphone and said, Now you will see how Isah Mesih rises. Then the devil got really angry and some people started throwing fireworks at us and at the audience, desiring to ruin the show. The fireworks came from the balconies of the nearby bars. Even with this chaos the show went on and many people watched to the end. We saw many of them cry. The next day the imam in Jakoruda shared with us that his life had been threatened the night before. Praise the Lord for His protection. We settled all the formalites for the show in the village of Kostandovo so we put up the posters and handed out the postcards. But since the cinema hall was being remodeled they suggested to use the wall of the local school as a screen. On the day of the show it was raining hard and we went to cancel the show and set another date, but to our surprise the people were The rain did not stop us waiting for us with umbrellas and insisted that the show go on. There were a couple of cafes nearby whose owners allowed us to use their large umbrellas to protect the machines. We started praying and the rain almost stopped and the show went on until the end. The people also prayed and asked for New Testaments and other materials for spiritual growth. And now just a few lines about the village of Dorkovo. We organized the film showings, handed out invitations and put up the posters. We met with the local Orthodox priest, who was very much interested in the film. Good news! Everything was going as usual in the cinema when all of a sudden we heard a loud cry right when we were changing to roll 4. Since we were on the balcny with the projector we didn t quite know what was going on until the woman responsible tor the cinema told us that something was happening to the An Orthodox priest repenting priest. It was then that we realized that he had been very touched. When the show ended he came up to us and we prayed together and he confessed that he was a sinner and that he needed to repent before the whole village.

5 F GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD The commune for drug addicts in Belmeken visited by Jesus We had heard that in the Belmeken area there is a commune for drug addicts and prayed that God would open the doors and the hearts of the boys there to watch the film. After meeting and talking with them, we were told to contact the head of the commune whose office is in Sofia. We thanked God because He heard our prayers and helped us. We set the date and hour for the film. Twelve boys came, as well as head of the commune with his wife. In the end some of the boys accepted Jesus so we gave them New Testaments and other materials. Later on brother Velichko from our team continued visiting them. We got to know them better and began to get to know their way of living. We became aware that if we wanted to work with Muslims, we needed to win their friendship first. All these things, however, can be achieved only by way of prayer. We are still praying for them. We give all the glory and power to God for everything He has done through us. So our work is still going on. And let us be able to stand with faith strong! What Paul and Barnabas set on You and I should prolong! A NEWLY FOUNDED CHURCH Dimitar Donchev, Racho Hristov, Anton Donchev from the town of Smiadovo The Lord gave us a great victory in Vesselinovo (with a population of about 900 people). There isn t even an Orthodox church in that village. When we arrived to show the film, the hall was already full (about 160 seats) and everyone looked greatly interested. After the film, the people asked questions about Christ so we started organizing follow-up meetings. In the beginning about 50 men and women came but after a period of sifting, there were 15 children and adults. The Lord lead us to rent a house to start to lay the foundations for a new church to help the people there become spiritually strong. One room was for services and the other was for the childred to gather. We have been going now for a few months and even five others are coming by foot from the neighboring village of Alexandrove. Doesn t that really shows how they hunger for the Lord. WE FOUNDED SIX NEW CHURCHES Pastor Janko Dobrev - from the town of Silistra Dear co-workers, I would like to share with you about the effectiveness of the ministry with the Jesus film. Over the past 3 years we have founded 6 new churches in our region after the film had been shown. There are many villages in Bulgaria where no one has planned anything to take the gospel to the people there. The Jesus film will be the only thing that has reached them before many of them enter eternity. This might become possible if we, as pastors support in any way we can the ministers of The Jesus Film Project. We beseech you not to turn down their appeal for help and collaboration. Pastor of the United Church of God and your coworker: Janko Dobrev

6 REFL ECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS AN APPEAL FROM SCOTT GILL In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Last week my wife and I were looking through the calendar and I said to her: Honey, the following three months will be extremely busy for me, but after that things will ease and I will have more free time. She lovingly reminded me that I had said exactly the same words in November. We laughed together realizing that I will probably say the same thing again in May. Life is so busy all the time I am sure you have got the same feeling. Being ministers of the gospel, we have got a choice to make. We could continue running faster and faster, compromising with the time spent with our families and even with our Lord; or we could stop and become aware that there is always time to do the things that He is calling us to do. One of these things is to love and support our families. If you arejust like me, a husband and a father, I encourage you to take in God s word where He commands us, love your wives the way Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25). Spend time with your wife, encourage her, and appreciate her. She is a gift of the Lord for you. The good family starts with a strong bond between the husband and the wife. Spend time with your children. This is a great challenge for me, since I have five kids! God s word is clear again on that matter, saying that I should take up my responsibility and teach them (Ephesians 6:4). It takes time but the result will be a godly family that will bear a witness for the world and glory for God. Work hard on the harvest, but spend time with your families too! This isn t just another good idea. This is God s word directed straight towards you! Scott Gill National director of Agape Bulgaria THE OPINION OF AN ATHEIST MOODY MONTHLY / SEPTEMBER 1985 If I were one of the millions claiming to have strong belief that knowing and practicing religion in this life determined their eternal destiny, then religion would mean everything to me. I would turn down the earthly joys like trash, the earthly cares like foolishness and the earthly thoughts and feelings like vanity. Religion would be the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing too, before my consciousness dived into the country of dreams. I would work hard only in its cause. I would think only about the coming eternity. I would regard the winning of a soul for heaven as a worthy deed for a whole life of suffering. The earthly consequences would never bother my mind or stick my lips together. The earth with its joys and sorrows would not engage my mind even for a moment. I would aim only at eternity and the immortal souls around me who would soon be either eternally happy or eternally miserable. I would go round the world preaching everywhere all the time. And my message would be, What good would it be for a man if he won the whole world but lost his own soul? S. T. Stud is quoting an atheist

7 WHICH PLACES HAS JESUS VISITED THE FILM We had a wonderful campaign in the town of Bourgas. We were blessed with a double measure. First, because the people were coming in spite of the severe cold weather and the 50cm of snow. And second because they were telling lies about us on one of the regional cable TV channels. (Matthew 5:11, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me ) We thank God for the hard work of all the volunteers from all the churches in Bourgas. With the help of God, over the past few months we covered with the grace of God the following towns: November December January February Svishtov Topolovgrad Malko Tarnovo Tsar Kaloian Balchik Bourgas Aitos Dimitrovgard Sadovo Pomorie General Toshevo Merichlery Samokov Nesebar Chirpan Sandanski Pazardjik Sozopol Dolni Dabnik Simitli Elin Pelin Petrich Kresna Breznik THE LORD WILLING, WE PLAN TO COVER THE FOLLOWING TOWNS: March: Suvorovo, Montana, Haskovo, Boichinovtsi, Kustendil April: the city of Plovdiv May: The Plovdiv region, Assenovgard, Panagjuriste, Silistra June: Vidin, Kustendil July: Lovech, Gotse Delchev September: Jambol, Svoge, Popovo October: Razgrad, Vratsa, Kardjali The campaign in the city of Plovdiv, which we plan to organize in April, is of major importance! Pray that the Lord would reach these 350,000 people for Christ! A CONFERENCE IN HUNGARY A Campus Crusade for Christ conference for Eastern Europe and Russia took place in Hungary. We were able to interview Paul Eshleman, one of the vice-presidents of Campus Crusade for Christ and worldwide director of The Jesus Film Project. The new Campus Crusade for Christ director, taking the place of Bill Bright, was honored there too. Left: Larry and Debi Thompson director of Eastern Europe and Russia Area of Affrairs. Right: Steve and Judy Douglass current president of Campus Crusade for Chrit Left: Paul Eshelman vise-president of Campus Crusade for Christ and director of The Jesus Film Project Right: Tateos Nigohosian - Bulgarian Jesus Film director

8 A FORTHCOMING CONFERENCE We thank God for the wonderful conference of The Jesus Film Project, which took place between November 2-4, 2001 in the city of Plovdiv. Very soon you can expect the fifth conference of The Jesus Film Project! When: March 29-31, 2002 Where: Plovdiv, Novotel Plovdiv, 2 Zlatju Bojadjiev St. Who: All volunteers who have a fire for the gospel, a heart for the lost and are ready to sacrifice time, efforts and themselves for fulfilling the Great Commission. If you also plan to organize at least three shows of the film before the end of October, you are more than welcome! Details: You may contact the regional coordinators or the national office. If you want to commit yourself and take part in the conference, please contact your regional coordinator or call our national office: 02/ Applications for the conference will be accepted up until March 26, NAME TELEPHONE REGION Dimitar Georgiev Dimitrov 088/ Haskovo, Kardjali Ivan Hristov Morunov 088/ Veliko Tarnovo, Lovech, Gabrovo Ivanka Dimitriova Hristova 088/ Sofia, Stara Zagora, Kustendil, Pernik, Pazardjik, Blagoevgrad Jordan Hristov KImanov 088/ Sliven, Jambol Krasimir Stoyanov Janev 088/ Ruse, Silistra, Pleven, Razgrad Marin Dimitrov Asamov 088/ Bourgas Mihail Simeonov Donchev 088/ Varna, Dobrich, Targovishte Mladen Ivanov Iliev 087/ Smolian, Kardjali Petar Nikolov Tsvetanov 088/ Vidin, Montana, Vratsa National Office in Sofia 088/ / ; Fax 02/ PRAYER NEEDS Please pray for the mighty action of God during the campaigns. May God open doors for the gospel, may many people be saved, may new churches be founded and may there be enough workers to take care of them. 1. Pray for the Volunteers Conference between March 29-31, Pray for the campaign in the city of Plovdiv in April. 3. Pray for the future campaigns listed on the previous page. 4. Pray for God to give us grace, wisdom, knowledge, guidance, humility, courage and incentive 5. Pray for us Thank you very much! May God bless you and reward you! ADDRESS: P.O. Box 56 Sofia, 1172 Bulgaria Tel.: (+359 2) Fax: (+359 2) GSM: jesusfilm@geobiz.net