Religious Freedom in Bulgaria
Six buses from Bulgaria, carrying over 300 delegates to the “Lovers of Freedom” District Convention, arrived at the convention grounds outside Thessalonica, Greece, Thursday night, July 11, 1991. Because of the civil war in neighboring Yugoslavia and the unrest it created in the area, these delegates had been unable to obtain their visas until the last possible moment.
On Wednesday afternoon embassy personnel in Sofia, Bulgaria, stayed overtime in order to process the visas. Thus, the buses were able to pick up delegates from various parts of Bulgaria just in time to get them to the convention site the night before the convention was to start on Friday, July 12.
At the time, Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned in Bulgaria, so what a thrill it was for them freely to enjoy Christian fellowship in the neighboring country of Greece! A hall at the convention site, with an attractively decorated stage (seen in the photograph), had been prepared for the Bulgarian visitors. How delighted and grateful the visitors were to have practically the entire program presented in their own language! The exception was the Bible drama. A 15-minute talk summarizing the drama was given in Bulgarian, and then the delegates met with their Greek brothers to watch its presentation.
A highlight of the Bulgarian convention was the baptism discourse on Saturday morning. A peak of 342 attended, and 39 were baptized (some of them seen standing above). The delegates were also thrilled by the release, in their own language, of the brochure Spirits of the Dead—Can They Help You or Harm You? Do They Really Exist? and the publication My Book of Bible Stories.
But the greatest thrill of all awaited the delegates shortly after they returned home to Bulgaria. On July 17, less than a week after the convention, the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses were legalized in Bulgaria! Remarkably, the following month the congregation publishers in Bulgaria averaged 21.2 hours in their ministry. How happy we can be that religious freedom is being enjoyed in yet another Eastern European country!