“Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” Ezra 10:4 (NIV)

Stoyan Angelov lives with his family (pictured right) in Elhovo, a small town in the southeast of Bulgaria close to the border of Turkey. When he moved with his family to Elhovo four years ago to be closer to his parents, he went to a village called Boliarovo to preach and was told by the congregation of ladies (pictured right) that he was an 'answer to prayer'. So he stayed!
Today he works as a deacon for the Evangelical Pentecostal Church, travelling regularly to not one, but six surrounding villages to lead small churches in each. As you can imagine, to pastor the communities and preach the Gospel in six different villages, with a distance of about 35 kilometres between them is very time consuming, but there is nobody else to do it.
Alexander Vulkanov, Pastor of the main church in the town of Elhovo and overseer of the entire District of Yambol, approached Eurovangelism to tell us about Stoyan. Stoyan's story was told at a Eurovangelism Conference (2004), and some supporters decided to rise up to the challenge and support Stoyan in his ministry.

There are many more people like those featured the Euronews February/March 2009; people who want to serve the Lord in Ministry. Many times, they may be the only Christian(s) in their area, called by God to preach the Good News and deliver the oppressed. For the people in the communities they are called to, the presence of somebody who so obviously cares can be quite literally, a lifesaver!
In many parts of Eastern Europe, unemployment is very high and so the possibility of gaining part time employment is practically impossible. In these scenarios, to work for the church can mean putting your trust in Him to provide all your needs. And where poverty is rife, the church tithes are often not enough to provide for a pastor.

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Committing to giving through a Standing Order means that we can offer support to more people like these. Could you or your church become somebody's answer to prayer? To find out more about giving regularly please phone the office 0117 951 6151 or click below to give a one off gift.