With Bulgarian and American Baptists working side by side on the two construction teams, for example, one at a hospital in Lom and the other at tennis courts in Kazanluk, the country s citizens will see that Bulgarian Christians have a pride in their homeland. Many Bulgarian leaders hope if this inaccurate perception can be turned around, it will make people more receptive to the gospel. Bulgaria s economy is struggling. The average working adult earns a monthly wage of almost 120 lev, the country s unit of currency. Many of the elderly chose to go without heat during the winter because they couldn t afford it.
Churches also feel the economic pinch.
The Baptist union helps many supplement their pastors salaries because they can t afford to pay a full-time wage. In spite of the economic challenges, the church has been seeing steady growth. When Communist control ended, only 14 Baptist churches existed with 700 members and four pastors. More churches still need to be started, about 4,500 Bulgarian communities have no evangelical work at all.