Voynikov, HristoDear brothers and sister in The LORD
My name is Hristo Voynikov and I was born in Bulgaria, Plovdiv on 10 of February 1970. During the communist regime I found myself searching for the meaning of life. When I was twelve in 1982 after my European tour (Germany, Austria, Belgium) for world choir competition, I saw for the first time The Western civilization and I knew that something is definitely wrong with the communist regime. When I came back I found and old Bible and started reading in secret as Evangelical Christianity was monitored by the government informers. Back then I read the Bible for the first time and I knew that there was God. However I was missing the most important thing about Christianity- the atoning and complete work of Christ. So I found myself a spiritual guide which I kept meeting secretly in private house meetings. When The Iron curtain fell in 1989, I started running my own business and my life changed completely. It was full with ‘’sex, drugs and rock and roll’’ but I never lost my belief in God just did not have that strong spiritual hunger for Him. One day God spoke to me and told me that I was wasting the life he had given me and that He’d had prepared a different path for me before the creation of the World. In July 2001 I went to London UK and stated working. By the providence of God while I was walking on the road I met a total stranger and asked him if he knew any local church in West London. He happened to be called Paul Clowney and was the son of Theological professor- Dr Edmond Clowney from Westminster seminary in US. He invited me to his church where he was an elder. Then he invited my for lunch in his house and then I lived with his family for over 4 years. During that time I was able to observe a family relationship, which was very different from my non believing parents. That transformed tremendously my life in a positive way. In my second month going to church I was converted, because of the regenerating work of The Holy Spirit. I finally managed to see the big picture of who Christ is and what a wretched sinner I am. In 2002, 1 year after my arrival in UK I was already running my own window cleaning business. That was clearly a present and a blessing from God. My English boss had a drinking problem and he lost the business, which I bought from him for pennies. I became a member of a local Presbyterian church IPC Ealing, http://www.ipc-ealing.co.uk/ planted by the work of Francis Shafer. When our pastor Paul Levy and the leadership saw that I have a zeal for evangelism, they decided to send me to study in a Bible college. I found myself talking boldly with no hindrance to everybody about Christ despite of their age, race or background. The church leadership decided to send me to study in a Bible college. In 2006 I went to study in EMF. https://www.europeanmission.org/ During my studies I had to write many essays but the topic of one of them was ‘’Called to become a pastor’’. I did not feel called to become one but I prayed and asked God, what he wanted me to do and he focused my attention to this verse: 1 Corinthians 9:16 Woe to Me if I Don't Preach the gospel! In 2009 to 2010 I did further studies in Proclamation Trust, Cornhill course where I learned how to handle the Bible in a better way. https://www.proctrust.org.uk/proclaimer/cornhill/ During my studies I met with the writer of Christianity Explored, Rev. Rico Tice and decided to work with him in the future advocating the course in Bulgaria. https://www.christianityexplored.org/ I have been involved in teaching and preaching around the world since 2002 I was an active church member in IPC Ealing for almost 19 years. In my summer journeys to Bulgaria I was inspired by the mission work of REF and MTW missionaries and have always dreamed about working with a mission in Bulgaria. However being involved full time in business was taking almost all of my time and strength and I could not do what I love doing; Talking to people about Christ! Having listened to the the great motivational reformed preaching of my Pastor Paul Levy, I realized one thing clearly: When God choses someone to be the light to this world we must humbly submit and proclaim it until the rest of our lives. I met again with Rev. Rico Tice and discussed with him my plans to go to Bulgaria in 2019 and to advocate Christianity explored course. My application was accepted and now I am back to Bulgaria on a mission to proclaim Christ alone and to teach others do the same. Praise be to God, since we have been back to Bulgaria I was able to start Christianity explored courses in Bulgarian and in English. I also preach in English services here in Bulgaria and translate for English speaking missionaries in Bulgaria from other missions. Currently I am doing my masters in theology with Mints seminary in Bulgaria. https://mints.edu/ I am 50 years old and will be travelling for the next 25 years of my life from church to church in Bulgaria in various cities and run Christianity Explored course myself as well as teaching others how to do it. My prayer is that God will prepare the hearts of those with whom I will be meeting and help me communicate my passion for evangelism to others. We are also involved in prison ministry, where I preach and my wife Maria and kids Annie ( age of 8) and Paul (age of 9) sing and play various instruments. In, Him, Hristo Voynikov |