Nationell bönedag i Bulgarien

Detta är ett mycket uppmuntrande vittnesbörd om hur Herren också förser med ekonomiska medel till det som är Hans vilja. Just på ekonomins område tror jag vi svenskar har speciellt svårt att sätta vår tillit till Herren. Och därför tror jag vi behöver läsa sådana här uppmuntande berättelser.

Global Day of Prayer 2009 in Bulgaria

Bulgaria: With God on stage, the contract is different

In some nations, due to opposition or lack of resources, it's hard for Christians to get access to public facilities. But God can work miracles, as Philip Rashev of the Global Day of Prayer in Bulgaria experienced. Together with his team he prepared for a national prayer rally in Sofia on Pentecost Sunday, 31 May 2009. "Most people who see the stage, the cameras, the advertisements, the media, and everything else, ask: 'How do you organize such a thing and how much does it cost?' To speak the truth: it cost us 10 euros!"

Although Rashev and his team made a budget for the event and tried to raise money, by the end of March they had only 10 euros in their ministry bank account. How would that ever work out? Also, because it was election time, they could not find a hall for the Global Day of Prayer. But God was in charge. In one of the team prayer gatherings He directed them to the Alexander Battenberg Square, the largest square in Sofia. "Unfortunately, when we called the City Hall and explained to them why we needed it, their first responses were very negative. We gathered again and devoted time to pray about this problem. The Holy Spirit filled our hearts with the knowledge that this square would be needed not for us, but for the Lord. We went back to the City Hall to talk to them again and boldly said the square was needed for God. This time they gave us permission to use the square! They also ordered that all incoming and outgoing streets were to be closed."

"After prayer, we went back to the City Hall and boldly said the square was needed for God."
"The next step was to provide security. We made an appointment with the police department where we described the size of the event. According to the inspectors, we would need 50 policemen. But, we didn't know that they would have to be paid by the hour. When we calculated the sum for all of them, it amounted to 1,500 euros. One of the inspectors asked us if
we had included such expenses in our budget. Having in mind our 10 euros in the bank account, to answer with a 'yes' would be a lie. We said we did not have it right now, but believed we would. He warned us that if we did not pay on time, we would be prosecuted. We signed the contract and the policemen were assigned to show up at the square from 4 to 9 PM on 31 May 2009."

Rashev also needed a stage, sound and light for the event. The owner of a music company offered it for 5,000 euro, which was a good price, but it looked impossible compared to what they had. "We appointed a second meeting with this owner and made it clear why exactly we needed it. The man immediately reduced the amount to 1,500 euros. Of course, we accepted the offer right there. Our agreement was to provide half of the money in 5 days (until Thursday, 5 PM) and the other half was due after the event. Since we would never expect such an amount, we brought the case to God in prayer. On the fifth day, Thursday, we still had only those 10 euros and had no idea where we would find the stipulated money before 5 PM. But at noon one Bulgarian church from Spain donated 400 euros without knowing our need, or its amount. At about 4:30 PM a friend of ours came to the office and told us God led him to donate 350 euros!"’

"When the worship band started singing 'God Save Bulgaria', the policemen took off their hats."
"In the meantime we made advertising posters and flyers that we spread all over Sofia. A Christian ministry, Bibliata.tv, offered us to broadcast the event live on the web. In order for this to happen, they needed cameras and a fast internet connection, which we arranged with the Christian '865' Studio in Bulgaria. After this offer we started thinking about ways to broadcast on television as well. To broadcast a non-Orthodox event during prime time on Sunday evening would be quite a challenge, even if we had the means to. We were informed that in order for us to do that we would need about 20,000 euros. Standing in faith, we set up a meeting with the representatives of the TV channel and after long negotiations the price was brought down to 500 euros."

For Bulgaria it was unique to have the Global Day of Prayer broadcasted full-length to the nation. On the day itself the police came up to Rashev and said he had to finish earlier than agreed. But also here the Lord intervened, so that by the end of the meeting when the worship band started singing 'God Save Bulgaria', the policemen took off their hats, and one of them came up to the team to ask when the next event would take place.

How did this story end? "Two days after the Global Day of Prayer, we received two donations, which completely leveled the negative numbers in our account and we managed to cover all of the expenses on the contracts," says Rashev. "A man who heard this testimony remarked: The contract is always different when God is on the stage, rather than backstage."

Source: Philip Rashev
Källa: Joel News