Архив за етитет: bulgarian

General-Major Clay Buckingham: I love the Bulgarian soldiers and I want to support them

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Veteran General-Major Clay Buckingham from the U.S. Army: “I love the Bulgarian soldiers and I want to support them.”

General-Major Clay Buckingham is a graduate from the class of 1949 from the West Point Academy and has served in the U.S. army for 37 years. He has served in both the Korean and Vietnam War. He worked in the U.S. tank brigades, became general-major in 1974 and was responsible for the operative training of all U.S. Army tank brigades in Germany with 250,000 soldiers. He served as the officer of operative training for the U.S. Army in Europe and for six years after that, he first headed the computer and then the communication systems of the Pentagon. He retired in 1982 at the age of 55 and currently serves on the board of directors for the International Association of Evangelical Chaplains. He has five children, 21 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

What were your motives that brought you to this line of work?
In the military academy after the end of World War II, I was included in a Bible study group. At the age of 20, I was agnostic. I did not know if there was or was not a God, I had questions about life and death, for eternity and the cosmos, and what happens after death. I found these answers in the Bible.

How have Christian values helped you to overcome fear and terror?
I believed the words of Jesus that death is only a pass to real life. This does not mean, however, that I am not afraid for this is a natural instinct. But my conviction is that even if I die, or if I am killed, I will be with Jesus Christ. I had this peace in my heart regardless of the natural fear from death. This gave me the opportunity to remain calm and not to panic, but to give the best from myself as a soldier.

What are your impressions from the Bulgarian seminarians and professors?
Awesome response! Our Bulgarian friends invited us to come and we gave our experience of 40 years of history. I was in the service in Germany and made fiends with people from the whole world. Some 10 years ago, we became part of an organization which reaches the evangelical chaplains in armies from various countries. We understood that out of 200 nations around the globe, only 20 had chaplaincy departments. But even where there was no chaplaincy, there were people who wanted to work with the army. Our organization sends a mobile team of officers to teach such people. We have developed a course of 40 hours including what a chaplain needs to know in order to be effective in the ministry.

Our purpose here is that the Bulgarian government organizes chaplaincy as a ministry for the army. All religions can be included in it – evangelical, catholic, orthodox, Muslim and other chaplains, which represent various faith confessions before the soldiers. I believe that chaplaincy is a tool which can bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the soldiers of Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association Annual Meeting

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The third national annual meeting of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was held in the capital Sofia on November 22, 2008. Founding members and delegates from the country and abroad joined together to thank God for His help with the chaplaincy work in Bulgaria, elect new government and receive the 2009 strategy. The Bulgarian Church of God, Eastern Orthodox Church, Baptist Conference and Assemblies of God, as well as many ecumenical and non-denominational churches were represented at the meeting. New members were voted in after the general election session and were welcomed by the President of the European Evangelical Alliance, Dr. Nick Nedelchev. The delegates discussed the opportunities and difficulties for chaplaincy work in Bulgaria and emerging alerts in government relationships within the NATO context. Important leadership decisions concerning the involvement of the Association in the Chaplaincy master’s program offered by the newly accredited Bulgarian Theological University in Sofia were put in motion. Fifteen proposed projects were brought for deliberation in the afternoon session as the 2009 Strategy was voted in and project officers were appointed. It was further resolved that the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association will be hosting the Balkan Chaplaincy Conference in 2009 and the new advanced chaplaincy training program with extensions in Sofia, Yambol and Varna.

Bulgarian Chaplaincy in Church of God Publications

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Cup & Cross Ministries news bulletin was recently published in two strategic publications of the Church of God namely:

The weekly bulletin of the Church of God World Missions: http://www.cogwm.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1945&Itemid=60

and the Church of God Chaplaincy Commission’s Weekly Update:
http://www.cogchaplains.com/ministry/?p=140 as follows:

“One of our chaplaincy organizations, the Cup and Cross Ministries, has worked toward the establishment of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association for many years. After five years of training, strategic professional placement and providing ministry in all areas of chaplaincy, we began the process of registration with the Bulgarian government. It was only after resorting to International Human Rights and Religious Freedom organizations that on February 23, 2007, the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association received registration by the Sofia Municipality Court to become the first legal chaplaincy organization in Bulgaria officially recognized by the Bulgarian government.”

Say Ye to the Righteous is a mesage preached at the 12th Annual Mission Conference in Pahokee, Florida

transcripted via: http://cupandcross.com/index.php/say-ye-to-the-righteous/

and broadcasted on: http://www.cogwm.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1945&Itemid=60

Chaplaincy Degree Offered at the Newly Accredited Bulgarian Evangelical University

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As the school year began in Bulgaria on September 15, we have just received word from the newly accredited Bulgarian Theological University, formerly known as the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute, that its United Church of God departments will offer a degree in chaplaincy ministry in the 2008 fall semester. This is a long awaited news since due to the new government regulations, both the accreditation of the university and the future the of the chaplaincy program have been on hold for some time now.

The program is an answer for all of us here in Bulgaria, as one of the goals of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association was offering chaplaincy education in an accredited evangelical educational institution. We submitted a proposal for the program in 2006 and now two years later the Bulgarian Theological University is recognizing and responding to the need. This goal has been reached through the sacrifice of many godly and gifted men and women and we would like to recognize and thank everyone who has invested in this great work for His Kingdom. The further development of the chaplaincy ministry in Bulgaria and the educational program which accompanies will be a subject of discussion on the upcoming annual meeting of the Bulgarian Chaplaincy Association.

The Case of a NATO Chaplaincy Model within the Bulgarian Army

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In April 2004, Bulgaria was officially accepted into the global structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The event followed a long series of historic developments that were accomplished despite the existence of highly antagonistic forces that opposed the very idea of Bulgaria’s membership in any Western alliance. Among these were internal and external political, economical and social factors that historically have forced the country to remain under the influence of the forces opposing the West.

Territorially, this tendency could be traced to the dramatic split of the Roman Empire even before the establishment of the first Bulgarian Kingdom on the Balkan Peninsula in 681AD.  The consecutive military, cultural and economical influence of Byzantium over the Bulgarian nation claimed the newly established country to the side of the East from its birth. This propensity was sustained through the two Bulgarian Kingdoms (established respectfully in 681AD and 1188AD). It was renewed with even greater strength when the Ottoman Empire overtook the weakened country of Bulgaria in 1139AD and for the next five centuries, the Orient claimed control of European Bulgaria.

In 1878, Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman Yoke by Russia, but only to remain under its political and economical umbrella for the next 111 years until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This event reaffirmed Bulgaria’s belongingness to the East as the country joined the Central Powers throughout World War I and deliberately remained with the Axis Powers in World War II. Продължете да четете The Case of a NATO Chaplaincy Model within the Bulgarian Army →