Viktor and Teresa Kostov—Sofia, Bulgaria phone: 011 359 2 65-28-33
web site: http://kmission.homestead.com e-mail: vikkostov@hotmail.com
“Show me, O LORD, my
life’s end
and
the number of my days;
let
me know how fleeting is my life.
You have made my days
a mere handbreadth;
the
span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each
man’s life is but a breath. (Ps.
39:4,5)
Missionary
Newsletter September/October
2001
Dear
Friends:
Thank
you for your prayers and encouraging emails these last 4 weeks. As many of you
know, Teresa fell ill after our trip to the seaside. She was diagnosed with a
serious pneumonia in her right lobe and spent 11 days in the hospital. Since
being released almost two weeks ago, she's been gaining strength and
limiting her activities. We spent several days in Vidin, at Viktor's
parents' house, for some additional rest and to pick up our boys. It's good to
have everyone back home and under the same roof finally!
The
Lord spoke to me (Teresa) during this time of sickness through the words of the
Psalms. The Lord spoke to me about my frailty as a human - for He
remembers that we are dust. About busying myself in vain - getting
caught up with projects, with ways to help people, with the
frustrations of daily life here, with setting up the house, etc. I was slowly
allowing my strength to be removed from me. The Lord used this time
of sickness, ironically, to return my strength to me by reminding me that
my hope is in Him and that my/our reason for being in Bulgaria is
to serve Him by being a sojourner with Him in this land. He has been
so good to me!
IN THIS ISSUE:
YLTS—A TIME OF TRAINING AND NEW
BEGINNINGS
Peter is a young man from Russe whom
we met upon arriving in Bulgaria last May.
We spent some time together at dinner one night sharing about our lives
and finding out that he had some knowledge of Christianity. It turned out that he was a translator by
training. As we needed an interpreter
for the Youth Leaders Seminar, when the time for the event drew near, I decided
to risk and have an unbeliever interpret the teaching for the main
speaker. We would pay him and have him
take in some Christian influence, I thought.
The risk was well worth it. His
translation was far from accurate. The
briefing on Christianese we had before the seminar was obviously not enough. I had to jump in and fill in the gap quite
often the first two days. But the
gospel, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the very teaching which he had to
translate were at work. Peter was
surrounded by witnesses of God’s love and His transforming power. By the last day, he was singing along during
worship times and affirmatively saying “Amen!” along with the other Christian
trainees. Late in the last evening he
opened up his heart and shared how he got in trouble with the law a year ago
without really intending to do anything criminal. Spending a day in police custody, he sought for the Lord and in
his immediate release he saw God’s answer to a desperate prayer. A year later, at that evening conversation,
Peter said the sinners prayer and gave his life to Jesus. That was a time of a new beginning for him.
The seminar, outside of the
encouraging story about the translator’s new birth, was yet another highlight
of God’s work in Bulgaria.
Denominational barriers are a major stronghold here. Lack of trust, so rampant in this society,
is a sad fact among Christians of different groups, too. Our intention was to train youth workers
across the denominational line. The end
result was that youth workers received a good and challenging teaching, but
also started friendships. Our hope is
to encourage networks of ministers to youth so that they allow ideas and
inspiration from God for ministry to enhance their effectiveness. Many trainees shared that the seminar had
“exceeded their expectations.” Well, it
boosted my faith, too.
A MEN’S MOUNTAIN RETREAT
I have always been impressed at how
little men attend church services in Bulgaria.
Therefore, in our house church planting attempt I thought it was
important to work on male friendships.
Two of the men in the initial home group we formed joined me for a
three-day retreat in the mountains.
Ivo, Valio, and myself stayed at a house near the Rila mountain. This was a time of fellowship, prayer, Bible
study and talk about cars. The second
day was given to a day hike in the mountain.
The goal was to find a route, cover the distance by sunset, and discuss
spiritual leadership lessons that God would teach us from the hike. We were amazed at the ample material for
thought and discussion about Christian living and leadership we gathered from
only 8 hours on the hike! On the down
side—it took me a week to recover from the soreness in my legs after the
intense climbing and descending. Yet, I
saw our friendship and vision for joint ministry in the house church grow stronger.
OTHER UPDATES AND PRAISE REPORTS
PRAYERS
Teresa and I thank you for your
faithful intercession on her behalf as she spent 3 weeks down with pneumonia
and is now recovering from it. Now she
feels much better but her immune system seems weak—she caught a cold twice
since coming home. Please, continue to
pray for the health of our whole family, too—fighting sickness has worn us down
significantly.
2/3 of our shipment is still
somewhere unknown. It will be great
loss if these items are lost or stolen for we have all of our photos there,
important documents and 15 boxes of Christian and missionary books—a treasure
for the work here. Please, pray the
recovery of the shipment and for clarity for those who are handling the issue.
A SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST
We have testified about the gospel
and Jesus to these people from our neighborhood: Danka and Soti—an elderly
couple, and Iva—a young lady working in the nearby food store. We also gave them gospel literature. Please,
pray that the seeds we’ve sown God will grow to give a fruit of salvation for
their souls.
We thank you for your interest in
our work and what the Lord is doing in Bulgaria and the Balkans. Your prayers, support and e-mails lift us up
in our daily walk and ministry! Thank
you and remain in the grace and peace of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Viktor, Teresa and the boys
To support
us financially, please send checks to: Door of Hope International S-15, PO Box
303, Glendale, CA 91209-9984
Visit our web site for our mission
statement, our vision, and additional information: http://kmission.homestead.com