Bulgaria (BP)–People once feared the Gypsy Ivan Zahariev He was a criminal and sometimes vicious when he was drunk you’d have been hard-pressed to expect more from him It’s a humble collection of homes strewn up and down a hillside; untreated sewage runs down the middle of dirt streets where in the summer naked children play Gypsies are second-class citizens at best in Bulgaria — poor But when Ivan Zahariev accepted Christ as his Savior International Mission Board missionary Bill Wardlaw taught him the Bible and discipled him a polished preacher well-versed in the Bible Today Ivan is pastor of a growing Baptist church in Berkovitsa Especially popular are the weekly children’s classes that teach music and Bible stories to about 100 children Their main teacher is the daughter of Victor Stefkov Georgiev Georgiev says crime has fallen sharply in Berkovitsa in the past decade Even smoking and drinking have decreased by 70 percent Other local improvements: Last fall ground was broken on three new buildings — a public bathhouse needed because few houses in town have indoor plumbing; a health center to provide much-needed basic medical care; and a new Baptist church building to replace the tiny rooms the church has long since outgrown but three area mayors came to the church’s groundbreaking — unheard of for a Gypsy village But Ivan is looking far beyond a single church He is looking toward churches for all his people Response was so positive that the pro-communist government gave him a permit to preach in other prisons across the country And his preaching in the “Rom” Gypsy language on radio programs six times a week has brought responses from far and wide Recently when he preached in a town for the first time “I’ve listened to you preach on the radio for three years and now I have an opportunity to see you,” the man said believer Natalie Kamenova recalls how excited she and her sister became two years ago when she heard a Gypsy-language broadcast — Ivan was talking about “New Man.” At the time they missed getting the response address but the next week wrote it down and sent a letter meeting upstairs in a house once owned by Joel Chiron a French Baptist missionary who works with Ivan in the area Similar churches have sprung up in towns between Sofia which stretches across Bulgaria’s northern border In a Sunday afternoon service at the new church in Damyanovo member Bobi Naidenov plays an electronic keyboard Lay leader Ventsi Kirilov testifies how reading the Bible moved him from atheism to faith in God “We thank God that he [God] is strong and true,” he tells the congregation afterward not just near us!” –30– (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at https://www.bpnews.net — Learn more about the Balkan Gypsies: https://www.bethany.com/profiles/clusters/8002.html — Workers needed in Bulgaria: https://www.imb.org/tconline/200103/ivan%5Fopp.htm — Map and country information on Bulgaria: https://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bu.html — Thank God for transforming Ivan Zahariev into a powerful pastor and missionary whose testimony has had a big impact on his region — Ask God to multiply the groups Ivan works with into a true church-planting movement that will reach thousands across Bulgaria — Pray that the indwelling Holy Spirit will bless and guide new believers like Natalie Kamenova as they study God’s Word and grow in the Son — Ask God to make the new church building health clinic and bathhouse under construction in Berkovitsa into lighthouses for the gospel that will help many find faith in Christ © 2025 Southern Baptist Convention. Site by Mere for the third time the Minister of Environment and Water Petar Dimitrov inspected the unregulated landfills in Montana and Boychinovtsi are the subject of an extraordinary control following reports Minister Dimitrov inspected the implementation of the instructions given to the mayor of the municipality of Montana by the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Montana to exercise control to clean up the sites identified during the previous two inspections with unregulated waste disposal "This is an extremely big problem for the entire country Literally everywhere there is municipal and construction waste being dumped," said the minister Today his tour started from the municipality of Berkovitsa During the inspection irregularities were again found on the old road to the village of Kotenovtsi only in the last four days four offenders have been detected disposing of waste in an unauthorized way in the area of the former quarry The mayor of Berkovitsa Radoslav Naydenov informed Minister Dimitrov that so far one of the violators has been identified the others are yet to be identified and then fines will be imposed the municipal ordinance for the protection and maintenance of public order provides for a fine of 50 to 300 leva "We are constantly working in two directions - one is to clean the sites as well as technical means to identify violators who throw waste illegally," the mayor said during the inspection which was conducted on initiative by MP Petar Petrov So much beauty in this unknown nook of paradise!" - This is how the patriarch of Bulgarian literature described his first impressions of the old mountain town of Berkovitsa in north-western Bulgaria Located in one of the regions of Bulgaria still untouched by concrete buildings and mass tourism Berkovitsa shines with its authentic atmosphere and preserved nature   The town is the starting point for Mt Kom (2016 m) - the highest peak of the Berkovitsa Balkan. The Bulgarian section of the trans-European E-3 tourist route starts from the new Kom mountain hut But hiking is not the only reason to visit this piece of paradise It's enough to stroll along the lush green streets and get inside a museum to take a trip back in time In the centre of Berkovitsa is the so-called Ipekliyska house, which has been restored and turned into a museum of the poet and writer Ivan Vazov Vazov spent one of the most fruitful periods of his life here between 1879 and 1880 Next door is the late 19th century Serbinska House which holds the Ethnographic Museum but contains interesting exhibits that are brought to life by the fascinating narratives of the curator we stop in front of mannequins dressed in Karakachan costumes Because there was once a large Karakachan community in Berkovitsa - transhumant sheep herders when the grass in the lower parts of Belomorie burned and there was no pasture for the animals the Karakachans used to move their herds to the lush meadows of the Berkovska Balkan We take a long time to admire a woman's wedding attire which had a luxury unheard of in those harsh times - an indoor bathroom as part of the construction of the house itself Visitors admire it and are amazed that in those days there was such a thing as an indoor bath it was equipped with a system for heating water through two earthenware jars built into the wall The water in them was heated by a supply of hot air from the hearth in the adjoining room where the kitchen was located Let's not forget that at the end of the 19th century there was no water supply system in the town and water was carried in copper buckets from the nearby well," says Dilyana Genkova At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century Berkovitsa was a craft centre and the most common craft was pottery In the Ethnographic Museum we can see magnificent examples of Berkovtsa pottery "There were about 50-60 ceramic workshops in Berkovitsa, 100-120 potters and apprentices were involved in the production of Berkovitsa ceramics, which is very similar to the style of Busintsi ceramics - says Dilyana Genkova. Our craftsmen went to the village of Busintsi to learn the craft ways of dyeing and working the clay were borrowed from there the way they painted the pottery in yellow and green But the masterpiece in the work of the Berkovitsa potters is the so-called Berkovitsa devil's wine jug because you have to close one of the openings Very few craftsmen were able to make this type of vessel" the remains of the late antique fortress of Kaleto the pleasant guest houses and the typical northern cuisine are also an important part of the tourist mosaic of this nature-blessed piece of Bulgaria Bulgaria’s Minister of Tourism Miroslav Borshosh and Zurab Pololikashvili Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) have officially signed the agreement for Bulgaria to host the 9th Global Conference on Wine Tourism,. The Mini Bulgaria Park is an unusual place for a tourist tour spiritual culture and natural landmarks of Bulgaria meet Gorna Oryahovitsa often remains undeservedly hidden from the eyes of tourists even though it is only about 10 km away from Bulgaria's old capital which lies at the foot of the Balkans on the banks of the. english@bnr.bg This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Subscribe to newsletters to receive our hottest offers: and illegally fenced-off areas on the banks of the Ogosta Dam near Montana Montana Regional Governor Kalin Haitov told BTA during a meeting with representatives of the municipalities of Montana and Berkovitsa and various state institutions related to the dam initiated by the Regional Government in Montana and the branch of the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (IARA) in the city data on illegal construction and appropriation of individual areas in the basin of the dam were presented Representatives of the IARA have reported that illegal stilted buildings on the banks of the “Ogosta“ appear almost every day with illegal construction becoming especially active in April and May when fishing is prohibited due to the fish breeding season Unknown people are leveling with an excavator and erecting prefabricated houses near the reservoir The most preferred area for development is the terrain around the water intake tower in the area near Montana and the area of the Rastnika peninsula where construction is taking place without a permit and without a plan “The representatives of the municipalities of Montana and Berkovitsa were aware of the situation but those from the Directorate for National Construction Control – DNSK the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Waters – RIEW were aware of the problem to a lesser extent "We have agreed that at the next meeting each of the institutions will come up with a statement on the problem and with joint efforts to start solving it," said the regional governor Kalin Haitov He pointed out that illegal construction creates problems with preserving the cleanliness of the dam It prevents amateur fishermen from practicing their hobby by casting fishing rods from the shore and in the Montana region alone about 7,000 fishing tickets have been issued approximately the same number of people with regular fishing tickets from other regions of the country fish in the "Ogosta" dam the shore of the dam is occupied by a much smaller number of people who have settled there and have illegally built various places More news from Bulgaria By 2009-04-08T11:02:01+01:00 Rewe Group-Owned discount retailer Penny Market has revealed that it will invest up to €100m this year on expanding its operations in Bulgaria which operates stores across Europe in the likes of Austria plans to construct a total of 10 stores and a logistics centre in the village of Stolnik near Sofia According to Penny's CEO for Bulgaria Vasil Fechko while the distribution centre will cost up to €30m The supermarkets will be opened following the launch of the distribution centre Site powered by Webvision Cloud HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria According to Bulgaria's Military Intelligence Service report for 2023 Russia remains the dominant destabilizing force in global security The United States and Ukraine announced today that they have signed an economic agreement concerning Ukraine’s natural resources following several weeks of pressure from U A deviation in the operation of a system on the F-16 Block 70 fighter has been identified during the aircraft acceptance process according to the Bulgarian Air Force Commander Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has called on the government to allocate the necessary funds to ensure the F-16 fighter jets remain operational has announced plans to propose urgent legislative changes aimed at the immediate extradition of refugees who do not meet the official criteria Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has issued a firm ultimatum giving ministries and agencies 10 days to ensure the BG-Alert system is fully operational Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase The German discount supermarket chain Penny Market will invest EUR 100 M in Bulgaria until the end of 2009 That was announced by company's CEO for Bulgaria Currently Penny Market plans to construct a total of 10 stores in Bulgaria's Lovech Their biggest project will be a logistics center in the village of Stolnik near capital Sofia and will be built on an area of 78 decares The main contractor for the construction is the Bulgarian Mix Construction Penny Market is a discount shops chain which operates 5000 stores around Europe (Germany It is owned by the German retail and tourism company REWE Group Penny Market has been in the Bulgarian market since 2005 the company is looking for terrains in Sofia and bigger Bulgarian cities All the supermarkets will be opened after the logistics center construction is finished Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany's next chancellor following the approval of a coalition agreement between his CDU/CSU bloc former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief and current Ambassador to the U.K. has provided insights into the pivotal role of the joint Ukrainian-U.S Germany has deployed its first permanent military brigade abroad since World War II A recent report from Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service and the Bundeswehr has revealed concerns that Russia is likely preparing for a large-scale conflict with NATO A nationwide strike by German airport workers led to the cancellation of 12 flights between Bulgaria and Germany on Monday A 40-year-old German man from Ludwigshafen has been detained in connection with the car ramming attack in Mannheim that left at least two people dead and 11 others injured all retailers in Bulgaria will be required to display prices in both leva and euros a major British tour operator specializing in holidays to Bulgaria has halted all its operations effective April 24 Wage growth in Bulgaria is projected at 9.3 percent for 2025 a 15.4 percent rise in the minimum wage since January The World Bank has revised down its forecast for Bulgaria’s economic growth in 2025 Bulgaria is approaching the final stages of preparation for transitioning card payments from the national currency Minister of Economy and Industry Petar Dilov held a meeting with Susan Falatko the Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy in Bulgaria