Our link with Bulgaria
In 1990 the Baptist Union asked UK churches to help their fellow Baptists in Bulgaria who were suffering great hardship. The church here in Beeston agreed to send food parcels to a town in the north-west of Bulgaria between Sofia and the Danube. This was the beginning of a friendship between the two churches from which we have all benefitted.
The Bulgarian Baptist Relief Fund was established to channel support from Beeston, Luton Central, Bristol Broadmead and other friends throughout the UK to Bulgaria. A church was built and dedicated in 1997. The church grew strongly and had 40 baptisms in the following year.
In order to help the minister and congregations in Montana, and associated fellowships in Krapchene, Kosharnik and Chiprovski, throughout the years the Fund has helped provide bibles, a computer, car, knitted goods, chairs and building materials as well as money for education, medical treatment and other needs.
The minister and his wife visited Beeston in 1991, 2002 and 2008, and members of the Beeston congregation, who visited Montana several times, have met many of the members and experienced the warmth of their love and prayers...
The fund-raising aspect of our link with Montana was subsequently scaled back, and the Fund, in accordance with its establishment, was made available for other needs within Bulgaria, finally closing at the end of 2019. The church continues to pray for our fellow believers in Bulgaria.
