Bulgarian Bible Project
When the communists came to power in Bulgaria, they immediately destroyed all of the Bibles and all of the Bible printing presses. Growing up under that regime I had never even heard a scripture or God's name spoken out loud, let alone see a Bible in print. Those old tyrants had tried to outlaw God (as if such a thing would be possible.) When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, the Lord divinely connected me with someone in Sweden who had in his possession the old printing plates for the Bulgarian Bible. The plates had been smuggled out of Bulgaria to safety as the communists were gaining power, and he was only too glad to be able to connect with me. Together with the help of Pat Robertson of CBN, we were able to print more than ten thousand Bibles and personally bring them to my homeland.
Somehow, Winnie and I knew that wasn't enough. The Bulgarian Bible was ancient. Several of it's letters were no longer in the modern Bulgarian alphabet, and the language was so archaic that much of the meaning was lost in the vernacular of today. And so after Holy Ghost inspiration and prayer, twelve years ago we gathered together Bible theologians and language scholars and started this very special Bible project. Not only did we refresh the language, we created the first of it's kind inter-linear study Bible with corresponding Lexicon/Dictionary, using the Strong's Concordance numbering system.
Secular scholars are acclaiming the Lexicon as a "national treasure" and in 2010 the pre-release copy was put on display in Bulgaria's national library. It will soon make its way through all of Bulgaria's public libraries. In the English-speaking world where we enjoy over 150 translations of the Bible, it may be hard for some to grasp the magnitude of what this really means to the Slavic world.
Thank you partners from the bottom of my heart! You have helped us to build a resource that will educate and equip this and all future Christian generations in my small little country of Bulgaria. The communists have come and gone, but God's word will never fade! Next on the agenda, our wonderful team of scholars will begin work on refreshing the Bulgarian Old Testament.
*Our Bulgarian Interlinear editions are keyed to the Greek text using the Strong’s Concordance numbering system. These editions allow the reader to see the original and literal Greek text with Strong’s words while reading the updated Bulgarian translation. This edition also provides for Lexicon study.
After nearly eleven years of academic research, we have been able to publish the following Interlinear Bible editions:
1. The Gospel of Matthew Interlinear Edition
This was our first publication, intended to introduce the Bulgarian reader to the Interlinear Bible as a study tool
2. The Bulgarian Interlinear New Testament Translation
Original title of the book: Ancient Greek – Bulgarian Literal Translation of the New Testament (with Greek words coded according to the James Strong’s numbers.)
3. New Testament edition of the First Bulgarian Bible (Originally published in 1891, refreshed and updated into today's Bulgarian language)
4. Ancient Greek - Bulgarian Vocabulary of the New Testament
Original title of the book: Ancient Greek – Bulgarian Vocabulary and Bulgarian – Ancient Greek vocabulary with the words coded according to the James Strong’s numbers.
Watch for these editions to come in 2011:
5. Bulgarian Interlinear New Testament translation (Second edition)
6. First Bulgarian Bible (Originally published in 1891 – the full Old Testament and New Testament edition, refreshed and updated into today's Bulgarian language)
Georgian and Winnie Banov – Co-Founders and President of Global Celebration: Co-Founders and General Director of the Bulgarian Bible project; Chairman of the Bulgarian Spring of Life Foundation
Angel Pilev – Founder and Pastor of Zion Christian Church, Sofia; Board member of the Bulgarian Spring of Life Foundation and Manager of the Bulgarian Interlinear Bible projects. Angel serves as the main editor and a theological consultant for the Bulgarian Interlinear editions. Education: Bachelor of Theology Bible University, Ramona, California
Ognyan Todorov – Executive Director of the Bulgarian Door of Hope Foundation (Dr. Haralan Popov's Foundation); Executive Director of the Bulgarian Spring of Life Foundation; Main Publisher and Manager of "Gospel" Publishing House. "Oggy" serves as project manager, text-editor, and responsible publisher (pre-press work, text design and printing) of the Interlinear editions. Education: Computer Engineer, graduate of Electro-Machinery University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Ventsislav Stoykov – General Overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God; Senior Pastor of Crossroads Bulgarian Church of God in Sofia; Lecturer of NT in Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute. Ventsislav served as Linguistic and Theological Editor of the first edition of the Interlinear editions; and is the Co-author of the Introductions and Appendices of the Interlinear editions. Education: Bachelor and Masters Degree in Classics from Sofia University; Bachelor of Theology from Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute.
Desislava Todorova – Coordinator and Lecturer in Church Bible School; Editor for "Gospel" Publishing House. "Dessy" served as the Ancient Greek translator for the first edition of the Bulgarian Interlinear NT translation; and continues to serve as Ancient Greek translator and editor the Bulgarian Interlinear editions; and Co-author of the Introductions and Appendices of the Interlinear and the Greek-Bulgarian Dictionary of the New Testament. Education: Bachelor and Masters Degree in Modern Greek Philology from Sofia University.
Bobby Yaneva – Secretary of the Door of Hope Foundation and Minister; Educational programs with deprived children. Bobby served as Linguistic and Style Editor of the Bulgarian Interlinear editions. Education: English Philology
Maria Pileva – Minister in the Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Bulgaria. Maria serves as Linguistic and Style Editor of the BG Interlinear editions. Education: Bulgarian Philolog
