WHEN the communist regime in Bulgaria confiscated our church building, the benches, hymnals, and pulpit were all thrown away. We were forbidden to come near our church, and our small congregation was scattered. When government workers pulled down our church belfry, three of us young people secretly took the bell and buried it. We never expected to see it again.
Then God sent the first of many blessings when the democratic changes in 1990 made it possible for us to build a church on a plot of donated land. Further, God sustained us through three years of wrangling with nationalists who tried to confiscate our half-built church.
When that was over, we received unexpected permission to build a belfry, so we dug up our 550-pound bell buried for over 40 years. Then, when we had no money to finish the building, God helped spread the news of our plight across the world. Many people gave to help us, and one family in the United States made a huge sacrifice to help us finish the church. Now as its pastor, I stand every Sunday morning with the congregation, listening to each toll of our bell as it resonates in our hearts and testifies to the faithfulness of God.
