The Swanns

The Christian Baptist Church of Mladost was started in an apartment on the
last Sunday of December, 1998. We met in the apartment for 8 months until
we were able to find a building to rent in September 1999.

Church planting in Bulgaria is different than some countries because, even
through we have religious freedom we are still considered a sect and that
makes it hard to attract people. When we first arrived in Bulgaria in 1997,
there was an article in the paper spreading vicious lies stating that Baptist's
ate babies. Another article ranked the list of "sects" and out of about 20
listed; Baptist's were listed as the most dangerous. Thankfully things have
gotten a little better and journalists can be sued if they print blatant lies like
they did in the past, but the opposition has not totally gone away and it still
rears its ugly head every once in a while.

Since we have been meeting in the building we have seen several people
saved and baptized and also a steady influx of visitors. The church now
averages between 30 and 40 people for the Sunday morning service.

On Mondays we have an afternoon Bible study and around 40 to 50 people
attend it. Most of the people attending the Bible study do not attend the
church on Sunday.

On Tuesday evenings we offer a leadership Bible study where we are seeking
to build up national leadership that one day can take over the church.

On Wednesday we offer a soup kitchen along with a Bible study and we
minister to 20 people, most of which do not attend the church on Sunday.

We also run a day care program from Monday's through Fridays from 8am
to 7pm where children can come, before or after school, receive a hot
lunch, help in preparing for their lessons the next day, a Bible lesson and
receive encouragement and love in a Christian environment. This program
is sponsored by Manna Worldwide.

One Saturday night, every other month we have a family night where we get
together, play games, eat, do a craft and have a devotion. This is a time that
we can minister to whole families and encourage them to put God first in
their lives.

This year we will be starting a ladies ministry and also a young mother's
ministry. These ministries will include a Bible study along with a time of
fellowship and crafts.

Each year, during the summer we also run a VBS/English club where we
write English lessons to go along with the VBS program. This has been a lot
of fun and also a blessing to our church.