At the end of 2001 we sent 15 promo-packages to different Christian festivals in Europe and the USA. At the beginning of February this year we received a letter from LIME 2002, Memphis TN. We hadn’t sent anything to them so we were quite surprised. We later found out that the managers of Lime are the same people responsible for ONE FEST,
Memphis. This festival was in our primary list.
LIME 2002 is a Christian showcase in which 100 bands from all over the USA take part and it continues for a month (1st March- 6th April). On reading the letter we thought it would be great for us to be there. But…no
way! We didn’t have $150 to pay the entry fee, neither to get visas nor plane tickets. Nevertheless we decided to write a letter to the LIME managers and explain to them the situation - we simply decided to be honest with them. In the mean time we sent a fax to the American embassy and appointed a date for an interview to get visas - 28th February. A lot of people told us that this date was too soon and we would probably be assigned for the end of March. These were our first two steps of faith so we said: ‘Lord, if You have planned for us to go there we know that You will take care of everything and we’ll trust You.’ In a week’s time we got a reply from the LIME managers that said: ‘If you can manage to pay for your
expenses to come here - we’ll take care of the accommodation, the food and we’ll arrange for the entry fee.’ This was a great encouragement to us. We checked our interview date - it was exactly the date we wanted! Miracles were happening one after another! We just stood watching how God put things together and thanked Him.
We still hadn’t a penny but we decided to make a flight reservation for 7th March. We took up a chain fast for two weeks praying that we would get visas and we would have $2000 for plane tickets. Due to the Bulgarian low standard of life, our salaries are $70 per month. Everyone would agree that a miracle was needed for us to get $2000 in just a couple of days. We had decided not to ask anyone for money. Ken
Steorts, the LIME director, sent us an official invitation which we needed for our visas. Here, we’d like to thank our producer Sasho Jelev who helped us with the money we needed for the visas. So, on 28th February we went on an interview at the American embassy. Julian was called first but without giving him any explanation they refused to give him visa. On leaving the building he clearly heard the voice of God saying: ‘Don’t worry’. ‘Fine, Lord, but did You see what just happened’, Julian said. For the second time God said to him: ‘Don’t worry!’ In about 20 minutes it was our turn. We didn’t know if Julian was approved or not but we had peace in our hearts and were absolutely calm because we knew that everything was in God’s hands. The interview lasted for about 15 minutes. We were asked all sorts of questions. We told them the whole truth. They inspected our CD and some other materials of the band. We were also asked how we were going to prove that we were coming back. We said that we were Christians and that we had other arrangements this summer in Bulgaria and Europe. They weren’t very impressed. Then they told us that Julian’s visa was cancelled and asked us what we were going to do if we were the only ones to get visas. Our answer was that in that case no one would depart. Finally, we were told the good news that we were all approved. Once again we became witnessed one of the many miracles that only God could do.
Now, all we had to do was find the money for the tickets. We were led by the Spirit to speak to two men and share with them the whole situation. Pastor Plamen
Tzolov, ‘New Generation’ Church Sofia, was one of them. On 3rd March, Sunday, during the service he decided to collect additional offering for us. But before that he informed the congregation about our ministry and about everything that had happened to us concerning that journey. The sum that was raised by the offering was $400.
The other person we talked to, Stan Newton, blessed us with $300. This is a man who believes in our ministry. That very day, many people, friends from the church came to us and gave us money. So, in just a day we had almost $1000. On the following day a friend called us on the mobile phone and asked us how much money we needed yet. By the end of the evening she gave us the rest of the money. Since she preferred to remain anonymous we won’t mention her name but we are extremely grateful both for the money and for her believing in us. All the finances for the journey were blessed and we didn’t borrow any money at all. God’s grace has no limits!
So, on 7th March we set off for Memphis. God was taking care of us during the whole journey and He would send everywhere special people to help us. After our participation in the showcase He opened a door for us to play in three other places. We went to six states and managed to meet a lot of people. We made new friends which is very precious to us. We also shared about our faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We would like to thank everyone who helped us and believed with us for our departure. We also give special thanks to the people who arranged for our stay in the States:
Sasho & Lubov Jelev; pastor Plamen & Debby Tzolov; Stan & Virginia Newton, Judy-
AEA; Anouchka; Tony & Vessy Radoslavov; Valio, Milena, Lidia, Anny - CLC Sofia; Stefan Ivanov from Amsterdam;
Katia; Ken & Joy Steorts; " American radio "; Rayn; Sam; Aaron & Autumn; Gene & Angie Norton; Brent & Camille; pastor John & Carla Phillips, Tony & Rubby Thompson, Ken Parks- Step of Faith - Worship Center; Randall Morgan- SOZO fest- Hungary; Stoyan & Pepa
Nedkov; Kerry Keman- Sounds Eternal; Suzanne Melear- Lakewood Church; Johni
Peckinpaudh- Guitar Centre Houston.
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