Delivered from Cigarettes and Saved

Zlatka, Haroutyun, and Len

I recently wrote about how my friend Haroutyun was raised from the dead nine years ago, and how the Lord spoke to him afterward in an audible voice.  For that testimony, see my previous post here.

He had only heard the Lord’s voice once prior to the time he was raised from the dead.  It was before he became a Christian. It was connected with cigarette smoking.

He had a desire not to marry at all. He and his wife Zlatka didn’t yet know each other. He worked in a printing house and she had a case of paper that needed to be cut. She asked him to help. That was the first contact. Afterward, she treated him to an ice cream for helping her. They met in a break room and spoke about friendship. She said, “Friendship should be true friendship.”

He asked, “What do you mean?”

She said, “Friendship is not for personal gain. Should not lie. Should be a person I trust.”

He said, “Since I am older than you, let me explain. That kind of friend does not exist.”

She replied, “I don’t agree with you, because I have a friend who has these qualities He never lied to me and He’s never disappointed me.”

He asked, “How long have you known Him?”

She answered, “Almost all my life. I can introduce you to Him.”

He protested, “No. No!”

She said, “Relax. His name is Jesus.”

Later she shared many things with him about Jesus. They became closer friends. He started inquiring more about Jesus. He realized he was one of those people Jesus came and died for him. And when that hit him, he started crying. He told Zlatka about this experience, and she became very joyful.

He said to her, “You didn’t understand. I cried!”

Then Zlatka explained what was happening to him, and how the Holy Spirit was revealing Jesus to him.

Then he prayed, “God, if you exist, help me quit smoking.”

He was playing bass guitar in a rock group. And a month after praying that prayer, he and his band had to go to Greece for a ten-day concert. He bought twenty packs of cigarettes before leaving. They went to Greece, but he smoked more than usual and finished them all in eight days. He wanted to buy Greek cigarettes, so he bought a pack, lighted one, and got sick.

He thought, “Those cigarettes are not good. I’ll buy a better one.” He bought Kent brand, but the same thing happened. He asked his Bulgarian friends for his usual cigarettes. They did, but after smoking one, he felt even worse. He began to see black spots and got a fuzzy brain. He thought, “I’m sick. What’s happened to me?” He was scared.

Then he heard the Lord say, “What did you pray for?”

He had prayed for the Lord to help him quit smoking, if He truly exists, and the Lord was reminding him of his prayer. His desire had been to not offend Zlatka with his smoking, but he did not connect this sickness with that prayer until the Lord reminded him.

That was in Athens. He couldn’t even get on the bus. On the bus he said, “I’ll never touch a cigarette again.” His friends laughed and placed bets that he would smoke again within one week. They watched for an opportunity to catch him smoking. But he didn’t. The Lord gave him the strength to stay free.

Later he gave his life to Christ and married Zlatka.

Author's note: I recommend reading Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Bulgarian Preacher Raised from the Dead

Zlatka, Haroutyun, and Len

I was in Plovdiv, Bulgaria recently, and had the pleasure of spending time with my friends Haroutyun and Zlatka at their home.  I asked Haroutyun to share his testimony with me once more about how he died nine years ago, and was raised from the dead.

He told me that on December 18, 2003, at age 50, he died for 9 minutes.

The problem was that for no reason he had internal bleeding in his stomach. All of his organs were bleeding arterial blood into his stomach.  The doctors thought he had bleeding stomach ulcers, so they cut out two-thirds of his stomach. However, it was no use.

Just before he died, when the doctor said things are out of control, the devil came to Zlatka and said with persistent thoughts, “Don’t worry. You’re young. You’re pretty. You can manage a house. You’ll find someone else soon.” Even the nurse said to her, “He will go to a better place.” But thankfully there were many people praying and calling on the phone to encourage her. The whole church was united in fervent prayer for him.

When Haroutyun passed away, the doctor took the wedding ring off and gave it to Zlatka. “We did our best, but, sorry.” She didn’t feel well. In fact, she almost died of shock right on the spot, but the Holy Spirit came upon her with power and she said, “I demand he come back to life in the name of Jesus!!” At that same moment, he came back to life. They saw his pulse in his neck!

After he was raised from the dead, his feet were freezing cold, and he could not see or hear well, but was conscious.

He prayed, “Lord, if it’s your will to take me, then I’ll go. But I have a family back at home to take care of.”

Then the Lord spoke two sentences to him in an audible voice.  It was a very, very quiet voice like a whisper.

The Lord said, “You could see what My Body would do with one soul that had a need of healing.” Then the Lord paused. Haroutyun felt very strongly the sadness and love of Jesus. Then he continued. “And how much I need from My Body to be in unity in prayer for a soul who needs salvation.”

He heard this audible voice, but didn’t believe it. He always had similar thoughts in his mind. He had always felt people emphasize healing but not salvation. If he said, “The Lord is here to heal us,” he would hear many “Amens” from the congregation. But if he said “the Lord is here to save us,” maybe five “Amens.” Since he always had thought like this, he doubted it was the Lord.

The Lord read his thoughts, and said, “For twenty-four hours I will give you assurance that it was truly Me speaking to you.”

Haroutyun started counting the hours. At the sixteenth hour, two sisters came to the hospital and (though forbidden to visit him in the ICU, even for nurses and doctors) they came. Three fellow patients passed away before his eyes and they expected Haroutyun to be the fourth. Nobody saw how the two ladies came into the room. After they shared the message, they left undetected.

They knew him. The first lady said, “I have a Word from God for you.”

He replied, “Yes, I know.”

She said, “Haroutyun, you will not die, but live and share…”

As she spoke, he thought, “Oh, I know this verse.” I expected something different from Habakkuk or Zachariah.”

But then she continued saying, “…And you will share and spread what the Lord gave you yesterday.” That hit him.  It was the first confirmation that the Lord had spoken to him after he was raised from the dead.

The second sister said, “The Lord told me to go buy you a new winter coat, the size is right for you.” He needed one, but thought, “I am dying. Why do I need a coat?”

She said, “I took the coat to your wife, but now I’m telling you that you will go home victoriously and will put on the coat and spread everywhere what the Lord has done for you.”

The same day the ladies visited him, a representative of the municipality came to his wife, Zlatka at their apartment. For thirteen years, the municipality had not allowed them to build an apartment building, although they owned the land. All their applications for a building permit were denied. But now the official told her to go to municipality and receive the paperwork to build the apartment building along with the other two property owners.

She thought, “Today should be my husband’s funeral!” Yet they were receiving the long-awaited permission to build the apartment building on the land they owned next door. They needed a bigger apartment building due to their growing family. So they got the permit and took two years to build it, before they could move in.

While he was in the hospital, 37 people heard the gospel from him and he gave them all a Bible.

Six days later, he needed another surgery. Both the first and the second were unsuccessful. The doctor said, “We cannot do anything else.” After the second one, he was still unstable.  Pastor Ivan Vrachev went to the hospital and was shocked when he saw how bad Haroutyun looked. He had lost 32 kg (70 lbs) in 20 days. And all the equipment that was attached to him was startling.

Pastor Ivan said, “Oh, you look like a Christmas tree now.” Then he said, “I will add something that you have not received here.” He took out anointing oil and said, “You have prayed for many for healing, but now you need prayer. Do you believe you will be healed, now?”

Haroutyun replied, “I have no choice!”

The pastor prayed and it immediately felt like he swallowed a dry piece of bread that went down slowly -- something bigger than usual. His hemoglobin level was 75. Anything less than 85 is dangerous. Six hours after anointing and prayer, his hemoglobin went up to 95 without adding blood artificially. By the next day it was 105. He could sit up in bed. He had been lying down for three weeks.

On December 27, 2003, his children prayed, “Lord, our father was not home to decorate the tree. Make it possible for him to be home for New Year’s Eve.” Everyday, something good (progress) was happening from the time they prayed. On December 31, the doctor asked, “Do you want to go home? If so, collect your stuff and your family will be here to pick you up.” At 4PM he was discharged, and he left wearing his brand new winter coat. He felt like a colonel in God’s Army walking out of there.

He later testified to many people how the Lord raised him from the dead and what the Lord said to him afterward.  And he did this while wearing that new coat just as the dear sister said he would.  Amazingly, his name Haroutyun means “resurrection” in his native Armenian language.

It was not until a year after he was released from the hospital that the doctors said the problem had been that all his other organs were bleeding into his stomach. It was arterial blood, bright red. They had initially thought it was an ulcer, and did not determine the correct diagnosis until a year later!

When he finally put on weight two or three years later, he realized his stomach was miraculously restored to normal size.  Now he can eat whatever he wants.

Praise the Lord for the mighty work that He has done in Haroutyun's life.  But let's remember the Lord's message to Haroutyun.  The Lord spoke to him with sadness and love about the lost, and indicated that He needs His Body to come together in unity to pray for their salvation.  The Lord wants us to join together in prayer with the same passion, unity, and faith for the salvation of the lost that we have when we pray for a sick friend.  Let's begin to do that in obedience to the Lord.

In my next post, read about how Zlatka reached out to Haroutyun when he was lost and led him to Christ.  Before he came to the Lord, he heard the audible voice of the Lord and was supernaturally delivered from cigarettes.  See that story here.

Author's note: You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Mladen of Plovdiv

Most of the disciples I know in Plovdiv, Bulgaria can probably trace their spiritual lineage to a pastor by the name of Mladen, whom we will simply call Mladen of Plovdiv. He is still serving God as a pastor, and he is very well-known throughout Bulgaria.

Here are some raw notes I took recently from a friend who knows this dear brother in Christ.

Mladen
Beginning around 1972, he pastored a church in the town of Kardjaly, located in southern Bulgaria's Rodopi Mountains, during the communist era. The church was right next door to the police station. He was so on fire for God and moving in the gifts of the Spirit that he was found out by the police.

They arrested him and sent him and his wife into exile. They were sentenced to 5 years in a town where there were no Christians, only Turk Bulgarians (Muslims) and hard-core communists. He was stripped of his official right to be a pastor, so his credentials were taken away and he was not legally allowed to function in this capacity.

He was given hard labor to do, which he had never done before. He was a very learned and intelligent man. He and his wife were required to sign in at the government office in the morning and then sign in again in the evening to prove they had not fled the town.

People there knew he was a pastor. So as time went on, these people began to come to his home, sometimes at midnight, to inquire with him. He returned from exile in 1979. Since then there is a church that exists in that village from those believers who came to Christ through this man’s witness for Christ.

After he returned from exile, he went to live in Plovdiv. Of course, his “criminal” records followed him, so it was difficult to find work. He eventually found a good job. He was still not allowed to function as a pastor legally. Yet he started another secret prayer group in the home of an old lady. They would meet Monday through Friday from 12 to 2 PM. He also had various other groups meeting secretly in the homes on different nights of the week. All the members of this secret, home prayer group went on to be leaders in the Body of Christ.

When the political changes happened in 1990, Mladen was once again recognized as a pastor. He emerged as pastor of the Plovdiv church. This is the church that my friend Marina and all the believers I am connected with in this area were a part of at one point! What a testimony of fruitfulness and multiplication!

My friend, Marina was one of those people who was part of Mladen's secret prayer group. She is now a PhD in Leadership Studies and heads up the ORA International ministry for the nation of Bulgaria. Marina came to the Lord through her sister, Zlatka, who came to the Lord through her cousin Nadia. Let's look at the testimonies of Nadia, then Zlatka, and finally Marina.

Nadia
Marina’s cousin, Nadyezhka, is known affectionately as "Nadia". Her name means Hope and she had two sisters named Faith and Charity, but the Bulgarian versions of those names, Vyera and Lyubov.

She was a prolific and talented writer of poems and novels, but she did not yet know Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

In the communist days, all written works had to be submitted to the government censorship committee, so they could check it and make sure you were not saying anything against the government. They would decide whether to allow your works to be published.

Every time she submitted her works to the committee by mail, they would write back saying, “Yes, you have talent. But keep practicing and one day your works will be published.” Then she found out eventually that the president of this government organization was publishing her works under his own name as his own works. She was crushed.

She went into her room and closed the door. She wanted to end her life. She looked up and cried out, “IF there is a God, where is Truth?!” Suddenly a very bright light appeared in the corner of the room. An open Bible appeared in the beam of light and a voice said, “This is the Truth.”

She did not even own a Bible. She went and told an old lady who had been praying for her to be saved. She said, “I know you have told me about Jesus, and I have not believed.” Then she told her about the vision in her room. The old lady gave her own Bible to Nadia.

Nadia became a believer. She was married at the time. She raised all of her children to serve the Lord and they are all serving him today in 2009. Nadia is a mature, elder woman now.

It was through her that Marina’s sister Zlatka came to Christ.

Marina
Here is the story of how Marina came to Christ through her sister Zlatka.

Zlatka came to Christ through her cousin Nadia. She then attended the secret prayer meetings
She invited her sister Marina, my friend, to the public church services, but Marina did not go at first.

Marina would hear Zlatka going around the house singing and speaking in these strange languages. One day Zlatka decided she would stay home. That day Marina decided this would be the day she would visit her sister’s church, but without her sister.

She went to the meeting and heard the pastor of the church preaching from Acts 13 about worshipping the “unknown God” named Jesus.

She went home and began to read her sister’s Bible. She started with Genesis and read Exodus, but when she got to Leviticus and Numbers, she was lost. She then started to read the New Testament. That touched her heart more than the Old Testament.

God began to get a hold of Marina's heart. She would wait until her family was gone to bed and then she would be up late crying out to God in repentance for her sins.

Her sister soon made arrangements to take her to the home of an old couple that was 82 years old, who had opened their home for prayer. So it was Marina, her sister Zlatka, and two other ladies went to the old couple’s home. They met there on May 15, 1980. That day she became a believer and was baptized in the Holy Spirit all on the same day.

Once Marina gave her life to Jesus, she was invited to attend the secret prayer meetings. She continued to attend these every weekday from 12-2PM for 10 years, plus many of the groups that met at night.

As previously mentioned, it is worth repeating that all of the people who attended these meetings are still serving the Lord today in leadership roles.

The police did not know about this meeting, since they would have stopped it if they knew. Church meetings were only allowed in public buildings. The secret police would attend these meetings to make sure everything was bland. She said the believers always knew who the secret police were that attended the church services, so the police were not too secret.

If the pastor started to preach on the gifts of the Spirit or telling people to evangelize others, the police would call him down to the police station and tell him to tone it down and stop that.

The church was not allowed to have any programs or outreach. There was no social work among the poor, the sick, or those in prison. Sunday School was forbidden, since “Children must be trained by the government!” No teaching them the Bible in church in a way they can understand.

You were not allowed to own more than one Bible. So there were no Bible bookstores or stockpiles, except secretly. People like brother Andrew would smuggle Bibles into Bulgaria and the other countries that were behind the iron curtain.

Marina did not have her own Bible for 3 years after she was saved. She was reading her sister’s. The way you would get a new Bible was that while you were at the prayer meeting and you were bent over kneeling in prayer, someone would quietly come up behind you and slip a Bible under your arm. You would not own who gave it to you, so that if the police asked you who gave it to you, there would be no way for you to divulge the person’s name.

The other way it could be done is that a person could write their name in a Bible and then give it to you. They were legally allowed to give you their own Bible, as long as they didn’t own a second one. So as long as the police thought that someone gave you their personal Bible, it would be considered legal.

So Marina came to Christ through her sister, Zlatka, who came through her cousin Nadia. Both Marina and Zlatka attended Mladen's secret prayer meetings. As for Pastor Mladen, he is still serving as a pastor today in Asenograd. Mladen’s life has borne much fruit and he has truly multiplied. All of this through small groups during the days of communism.

Believers have met in small house groups in Bulgaria going back to communist times. It has been a very effective way to build the church for decades.

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.