DEAR FRIENDS,

Please be so kind and support us in prayer. The case of the church El Vetil, town of Samokov, in Bulgaria is on the rise.

The church which has about 1,200 members, decided to hold its Sunday worship service outdoors in two parts, in order to avoid gathering of many people.

The worship service took place in compliance with all sanitary requirements, observance of distance requirements, wearing of face masks, and temperature measurement.

Both then and at the moment in Bulgaria, worship services and church halls are open, as per the explicit instruction of the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, although during the event there were no people infected with Covid-19 in the town, 12 people, from the church members, were brought to court. 11 people from organization assistants have been charged with large financial fines.

The pastor of the church, Nikolay Vasilev, was brought to court with a charge for a fine of 25 000 Euro and 5 to 15 years of prison.

The mayor of the town, and I, Pastor Pavel Ignatov, were summoned, as the head of the national leadership of the church. From 12 to 19 March 2021 the case was heard in the city court of the town of Samokov. It was postponed to 14thApril 2021.

Please pray to the good Lord that we may have a possibility for favorable development.

We understand that the pressure on the church is enormous that the dark forces want to hinder the development of the church El Vetil, town of Samokov.

Thank you for the kindness and fraternal feeling towards the Bulgarian Church

Pastor Pavel Ignatov

Sofia-Bulgaria