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Frequently Asked Questions

A. What is PastorAid BG?

PastorAid BG is a project for a not-for-profit Christian organisation.

OUR AIM

The aim of PastorAid BG is to provide support and encouragement to evangelical Christian pastors operating in the smaller towns villages and rural areas of Bulgaria.

PastorAid BG is an organisation that aims to provide spiritual and material support for pastors and ministers of the Gospel in Bulgaria. Pastors best understand the needs of other pastors. Seeing the needs of pastors in Bulgaria, we wish to support and assist them. Local churches cannot cover the needs of pastors’ families. But we really value their dedication and consider that it should be encouraged not just morally but also materially.

Through contacts with other pastors from various parts of Bulgaria, he saw the need for a support organisation to help pastors meet all kinds of expenses that are beyond the means of their denomininations and congregations - anything from notebooks to gearboxes!

B. Why BG

BG is the widespread international abbreviation for Bulgaria. It is used to designate Bulgarian cars, Bulgarian Internet addresses and all things Bulgarian. Bulgaria is the country we focus on, because of the love and concern for our native land that God has laid on our hearts.

C. How is PastorAid BG financed?

We have various sources of funding. We believe that within the Body of Christ there are resources to meet its every need. We also believe that God has given some people in the church the gift of earning so that they can meet the needs of the poorer members, and more especially of ministers of the Gospel.

  1. Local Christian businessmen, who wish to support the advancement of God’s Kingdom in Bulgaria.

  2. Charity foundations (PastorAid BG)

  3. PastorAid BG is not limited in its sources of funding. Anyone who wishes is welcome to participate in this work of God. Nevertheless we want all the funds that reach the organisation to be of demonstrable origin and not the proceeds of criminal activity.

D. What is the structure of PastorAid BG?

Currently PastorAid BG is led by a working group, consisting of a chairman, two advisers and a secretary. PastorAid BG plans to increase the number of advisers in future, with new members being taken on only with the full consensus of those already participating in PastorAid BG.

E. What are the criteria for those we wish to support?

These are:

  1. Established ministers, not those just starting their ministry but those who already have significant experience behind them (at least three years).

  2. Pastors who are supported by their local church. Our ultimate aim is for the church in Bulgaria to be self-supporting. That is why we encourage the local church to cover all the expenses and needs of its minister. Unfortunately what we see in practice is that churches in Bulgaria are developing in an environment that is hostile to the Evangelical faith and have not yet reached a level where they can be completely self-supporting. Some churches pay their pastor’s salary and consider that in so doing they have fulfilled their responsibility towards the pastor. But they do not consider that the pastor needs tyres for his car, fuel for transport or even Internet and a computer. Many pastors’ families suffer and fall into debt because of the pastors’ low salaries. PastorAid BG exists to fill precisely this gap – between pastors’ salaries and pastors’ actual needs according to a modern standard of living.

  3. Chiefly pastors of small churches in villages and small towns of less than 50,000 inhabitants. Our experience shows us that the missionary strategy of Western churches is to direct their efforts towards evangelism and work in big cities, supposing that the churches founded there will take care of the churches in their regions. But what happens in practice is that the churches in big cities cannot cover their own needs and their support for the regional churches and their ministers is minimal or non-existent. As a result of this the large churches in big cities such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Russë, Stara Zagora, Sliven etc. are relatively well supported. But outside of the big cities the picture is rather different. The congregations are poorer and, despite their desire and the effort they put in, they cannot support their ministers. They in turn, suffering from a lack of resources necessary for their work, are not able to fully care for the members of their flock or tell the good news to people in the world. PastorAid BG exists to help build a bridge over this obstacle to the growth of God’s Kingdom.

  4. Pastors who are prepared to provide periodic information in letters and reports about themselves and about what God is doing in their ministries.

F. Can anyone apply for financial support?

No. Financial support requires an examination and evaluation by the PastorAid BG working group. The initiative for supporting pastors will be solely that of PastorAid BG and not of the pastors themselves. Of course, we encourage pastors to look for all kinds of sources of their own to support their ministries.

G. What form does the actual support take?

Members of the working group look for sponsors, who would donate funds to the cause. They gather and distribute funds as they decide. What guarantees the transparency of the support is the fact that responsibility for the funds rests not with one but with all the members of the working group. PastorAid BG supports pastors in need in several ways:

H. Do the supported pastors know which others of their colleagues are also supported?

No. Information about who receives support and how much is confidential. We do not want to create tension between pastors, nor to discourage their own churches from moving towards self-support. Therefore information on finances will be held only by the working group and by those sponsors who wish to receive information about the funds they have given.

I. Is PastorAid BG registered in any way?

PastorAid BG is not yet registered but plans, when its activities increase, to register as a foundation or some form of non-governmental organisation.

J. What can you do to help PastorAid BG?

  1. Pray for our country and for Bulgarian pastors

  2. Pray for the PastorAid BG working group.

  3. Share the work of PastorAid BG with other Christian businessmen

  4. Sow finances in PastorAid BG that will go direct to God’s servants to meet their most pressing needs.

  5. If you have any ideas on how we can raise more funds for the ministry of PastorAid BG, contact us and feel free to share them.

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