Why are you in Bulgaria?
Bob Faber: When we talk about missionary work, it’s very important to know what it is exactly. Though in fact, when talking about Bulgaria, I’m not talking about missionary work, because Bulgaria has been a Christian nation for almost 2000 years. In archaeological museums there are items that show that people were Christians here in the third century CE. That is why I’m not going to say that Christianity is something new here.
As a theology student in New York, I met a representative of the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance, Nik Nedelchev. When I graduated, I received an invitation to come to Bulgaria and help out as a teacher in different disciplines at the United Theological Faculty, a Bulgarian evangelical theological institute.
In 2000, I came with my wife and our three children. We were invited to assist in churches. We serve in the Bulgarian church and do what is important for them. They don’t only have ideas, they also have a calling from God that is important to fulfil. If we can help them, so much the better, but that does not depend on us. It depends on what God says to them about what is important for the church.
I lead a scouting troupe for children from seven to 17 years old. It’s a mixed group of Bulgarians and foreigners of different nations. We teach about useful and good things from life, from nature. My wife teaches church history. For her, Bulgaria is a very interesting country, with a long and rich history and culture.

Kevin Beery: I’ve been in Bulgaria for 14 years with my wife Wendy. We were sent by Assemblies of God. Until last year (2007), I was director of the Higher Pentecostal faculty. Now I’m co-ordinator of the Assemblies of God for the Balkan Peninsula.

Tanja and Steve Pankratz: Our goal is to live and to share our faith, to encourage believers in Bulgaria. We arrived in Bulgaria from Minnesota, US, in 2004. The missionary organisation Send International sent us. We began our service at the evangelical church Sveta Troitsa (Holy Spirit) in Sofia, and since then, have started new areas of service.

Tanja: I do arts and crafts projects with women, working with mothers and in Sunday school. Most recently, I’ve created a group for parents of children with Down's syndrome.

Steve: I teach apologetics in the theological department of the United Theological Faculty. In addition, I lead a nation-wide worship team, a pantomime troupe in fact, and I also work with Harta, which has the goal of explaining in an intellectual way why Christianity is true, and what it says to society.

Christina Stoimenova: In 2004 I came over to Bulgaria from California. In 2007, I married a Bulgarian. Together we are working on various Christian projects. At the moment, we work with children at children’s social care homes in Gorna Banya, Trun and Dupnitsa. Our focus is to teach children the skills they need so that they can find a job and integrate into society after they leave the orphanage. I teach English and sport.

What results have you seen from your activity?
Kevin: In Bulgaria, there are devoted evangelical believers who contribute a lot of personal strength and work, which is encouraging. At the institute, hundreds of pastors have passed through the course of education with good preparation and results.
Bob: It’s better that the Bulgarians with whom we work to say whether they are satisfied with us. I think that there have been very good results; we are pleased with our current work and have been mutually blessed. We share various gifts. At the school where I teach, we have seen very good students who have gone on to serve in their churches. We teach in Bourgas, Sofia and Varna, and many students from all around Bulgaria come.
Tanja and Steve: The results will be seen later. We will feel successful if people draw close to God.
Christina: It is hard to evaluate the results from one side only. In some regards, we’re happy, in others we’re disappointed from the many problems. The results, particularly as concerns individual cases of help, depend on the specifics of the concrete situation. Sometimes is is just too late to help as would be best, in others, we can help. Yet is is a joyous thing that the children are open to support, and respond.

What is the religious state of Bulgarians at the moment?
Kevin: I find that Bulgarians are open to God’s word, but because of occultism, superstitions and Orthodox stratification, they remain far from practising it daily.

Tanja and Steve: It is a mixture of Orthodox traditions, superstitions and materialism. Post-modernism, from the West, entered strongly and the values system fell quickly, being replaced by the idea of “what is good is what is good for me”. There are believers, both Orthodox and Protestant, who are open to more spiritual matters. Older people are more uncertain spiritually.

Bob: I have thoughts from unbelievers as well. People are different, but when we ask them honestly, they say whether or not they are interested in spiritual matters, which is better than those who waver between the two. Usually, people know what they believe in and say it freely. Our work is not to debate, but to show there is a difference.

Christina: I have come to find that religion for a Bulgarian is more of a cultural heritage than something that is part of their everyday life.

Is there hope in what you do here?
Kevin: Missionaries are envoys of God from various churches. And the co-ordinator is God. Not everything depends on the missionaries. Their joint work with Bulgarians is beneficial. Things turn out better when everyone does what they can.

Tanja and Steve: We see that there are people who are encouraged. The world changes person by person; that is why we should not be discouraged, but focus on the truth in our lives, to live righteously and to give joy to others. We meet many selfless Christian leaders who share and live what they believe and take reassurance from their service.

Bob: Bulgarians are not well known, because the country is small. But people here are very pleasant, kind and curious. It is more encouraging here than in some other places. They are interested in us and how we feel, they want to help us. I know that life is hard here, because many things have changed.

Christina: We are encouraged by the changes that have resulted from Bulgaria entering the European Union.

Would you like to share anything else?
Tanja and Steve: We think that the heart of a person is international – each one has a “hunger” to know God. It does not matter where you live, you can still love the people and feel very close to them. We continue to grow through times of hardship and joy. Our privilege is in God.

Bob: When people say “missionary work”, they think that we want to fight. That is not a suitable method of work. In the churches here, there are many good people. They are the leaders, and we work for them. The pastor at a church is also our pastor. I think that, as foreigners, it is very important to find a place where you feel at home. In our church, that’s how we feel.

Kevin: There are missionaries with various jobs here in Bulgaria. They work in Bible and in various public and private schools as English teachers, with churches as personal support to the pastor, they organise churches in Roma societies, they work in agriculture, they run firms or restaurants with the goal of having contact with people, there is a church for foreigners where the services are held in English, they collaborate on translating Christian literature... There is still a lot of work but the doors are always open.

How do you feel in Bulgaria?
Kevin: We came to Bulgaria without any children. My wife actively participated in working at the institute. Now she cares for our three children, and also works on the Evangelical Newspaper. Our kids already understand and speak some Bulgarian.

Tanja and Steve: At the beginning it was hard, because it was different from the States. But we got to know people, made friends and kept relying on our faith – which helped us a lot. Now, Bulgaria is like our home.

Bob: Our children left for the States this year. It’s good for them but harder for us.

Christina: I love Bulgaria, I enjoy it here and I have no plans to leave.