The central Sofia Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bulgaria had a vision to record Sabbath school lessons and sermons to upload on the Internet for anyone to watch. They had purchased the camera and other basic equipment to operate the studio, but they needed a few more pieces of equipment. Where would they get the money to buy the needed equipment? They prayed and they searched, but they hadn’t been able to complete the studio.

Then one Sabbath after vespers, a Bulgarian couple from abroad found Lena and told her, “We’ve heard about your recording studio, and we want to help you. What do you need?”

Lena’s breath caught in her throat. This is it! She thought. God is doing what He has promised. “We need an air conditioner to protect the equipment from the heat,” she said.

“Make a list of what you need,” the man said. Lena and the pastor gave the man a list of equipment needed to complete the studio. The cost was about US$15,000. As they gave the list to the couple, the pastor said, “Choose what’ you’d like to help us with. Only the air conditioner is urgent.”

The man and his wife agreed to buy all the equipment, and soon the internet station was up and running.

Word of the Adventist Internet site spread quickly, and people began watching.

An old woman called the church to say that her church in a small Bulgarian village had only a handful of aging Adventists with no pastor. They felt they had no option but to close the church. Then the woman’s son brought a computer and set it up in the church so the members could join the believers in Sofia via the live video feed through the Internet. “Not only did the church not close,” the woman said, “but 10 new people are coming to church to watch the video worships.”

A man reported that he is a sailor aboard a ship. He isn’t an Adventist, but he was searching for an inspirational website on the ship’s computer. The only website he could pick up was the Sofia church’s. None of the 30 crew members is an Adventist, but they like the programming and watch regularly. “Now when we’re in port, I visit an Adventist church and several other sailors come with me,” he said.

In the three years that the website has been operating, the church has seen ample evidence of how God can use such resources to reach searching souls for Jesus. Our mission offerings help implement creative ministry around the world.

Lena Dyukmedzieva manages the Internet studio at the Adventist church in Sofia, Bulgaria. See it at vvv.bg.

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