Meet Trif and Vanya Trifonov, IM Missionaries to Bulgaria
Trif & Vanya Trifonov have served as church planters with IM since 2013 in Varna, Bulgaria when they planted the New Life Church. They both had been atheists and came to the faith after the democratic changes in the country in 1989. Trif and Vanya got married in 1993. They have three children and one grandchild. Vanya likes cooking and dancing Bulgarian folk dances. Trif likes watching soccer and tasting Vanya’s culinary specialties!
Why Bulgaria?
After coming to the faith, we both served for 20 years as student staff-workers (the last 5 years we were also youth pastors). We loved our ministries but felt God was already leading us to “pass the baton” and leave student and youth work. So we started to pray and ask God what He would want us to do next.
Soon after that Tim and Lydia Awtrey invited us to join IM as church planters in Varna. God had been preparing us for this transition as we saw the great need for more Bible-based churches in Bulgaria. So, we had already church planting on our hearts. Tim and Lydia’s invitation came right on time!
There are only about 1% of newborn Christians in Bulgaria. The biggest chunks of the population are nominal Eastern Orthodox (about 75%) and Muslim people (10%). Most people worship the gods of materialism, sex, and entertainment. The ignorance about the Bible and Christianity is staggering. There are evangelical churches in the country but many of them do not teach sound doctrine and the full gospel of Jesus Christ.
The city of Varna is the third-largest city in Bulgaria with a population of about 330,000. 85% of people in Varna are Bulgarian. The biggest minority groups are the Russians (8%) and the Turks (4%). Some 20% of its population are students in various educational institutions, four of which are higher. 30% of adults have higher education. Both students and people of higher education (altogether 44% of the total population of the city) are the main target audience of New Life Church Varna.
8 Unreached People Groups in Bulgaria
IMpact Bulgarian Freedom Project
The New Life Church in Varna, Bulgaria is growing! We thank God we were able to buy the church property. We are still fundraising to pay back the remaining loan of $100,000. We are also going to need $100,000 more for the remodeling and renovation.
How they are ministering to people in Bulgaria
How you can pray for the Trifonovs
- Please, pray that God would help us reach out to more people in Varna and make a difference in their lives through the gospel and the resources He’s given us.
- Pray that we would be able to build disciples of Christ who would be willing to commit themselves to take up responsibilities and ministries in the New Life Church.
- Pray for us to be able to send out church planters and found more local churches in the Varna region.
Trif and Vanya Trifonov
You can partner with the Trifonovs to reach people in Bulgaria with the Gospel.