Meet Tim and Lydia Awtrey, IM Missionaries to Bulgaria
Здравейте! Hello. We are Tim and Lydia Awtrey and we have been serving in Bulgaria for over fifteen years. Tim grew up in a Free Will Baptist Church in California and Lydia grew up under the communist regime in Bulgaria. While Tim started attending church one week after being born, Lydia didn’t see a Bible or hear the name of Jesus until she was twenty years old. We start churches here in Bulgaria to make sure that never happens to anyone again. We have two children; Yanna and Alex who now live in the USA.
Why Bulgaria?
More than a thousand years ago Prince Rastislav of Moravia sent out the following appeal, “Many Christians have arrived in our midst, some Italian, some Greek, and some German, and they have spoken to us in their different ways. But we Slavs are simple people and have no one to teach us the truth… Therefore, we pray you to send us someone capable of teaching us the whole truth.” It was from this appeal that the Bulgarians were given a very precious gift – the Bible in their own language.
And, yet Rastislav’s petition, one thousand years later, remains largely unanswered. Bulgaria is one of the “forgotten” countries of Europe. There are very few missionaries, few believers, and even fewer churches. Less than one percent of the Bulgarian people have heard a concise presentation of the gospel, been to a protestant church, or have ever read the Bible.
For this reason, Tim and Lydia have been called to Bulgaria. We help to establish Free Will Baptist churches in cities and towns that have few if any, healthy Bible-believing churches. With the help of our team, our goal is to fulfill the call of Prince Rastislav and the call of the gospel – that no one will grow up in Bulgaria without having seen and heard the gospel in action.
8 Unreached People Groups in Bulgaria
How they are ministering to the people in Bulgaria
How can you pray for Tim & Lydia
- Pray for God to provide the church in Svishtov with a faithful Bulgarian pastor.
- Pray for the training of new leaders in Bulgaria. We are in desperate need of leaders in the local churches who will lead and care for new believers.
- Please pray for new missionaries who will help us in Bulgaria as we hope to plant three new Free Will Baptist churches within the next five years.
Tim and Lydia Awtrey
You can partner with Tim and Lydia to reach the people in Bulgaria with the Gospel.