Bansko, Bulgaria Church

The Evangelical Church in Bansko

Last week I was in Bansko, Bulgaria meeting with several of the CCC ministry leaders from Eastern Europe who are using the Internet to reach students. My goal was to hand off the job I have been doing in the area to them.

We met in an evangelical church founded in 1868 by American missionaries. It started under the reign of the Ottoman Empire and, ironically, had more freedom then than during the period of control by the Soviets. We spent two days in this antique building planning how to use the Internet to reach more people in this part of the world with the gospel.

Bansko, Bulgaria looked like a cross between Hungary and Colorado, and it was cold. The rest of Bulgaria (that I saw) looked like Hungary, so it felt quite comfortable.

One other unique thing about Bansko is that it has its own language, Banski. It is not a dialect of Bulgarian either, but is related more to Macedonian. Only about 15,000 people live in this village, so there are not many Banski speakers.

All in all, it was quite an interesting place.

  Category: Ministry
[2] Comments