What is your calling?

This question stands before all students who are part of the BCSU groups. That’s why the theme of our National conference, which took place from 31 October to 2 November near Strazhica, was “The Call”. Main speaker was Niki Ivanov from the “Krastoput” church in Sofia. In 4 expositions he discussed the Christians’ willingness to follow Christ, to lead the others and to pay the price for fulfilling their calling. Besides the main expositions the students had the opportunity to attend two seminars: “Dating”, led by pastor Tsonko Atanasov and “Tolerance and Christian witness in today’s Bulgaria”, given by Todor Velchev, a professor in the Astronomy Department of Sofia University and member of the apologetic magazine “harta-bg.info.” Pastor Tsonko underlined the fact that successful mariages should be built on a right attitude to marriage, to our neighbors and to God’s will. By using God’s word and illustrations from real life, Todor revealed the critical situation in which our society lives as a result of the change to the individual – from ‘a seeker of Truth’ to ‘an individual as a social unit.’ Finally he concluded that in contrast to contemporary postmodern tolerance, Christian tolerance means to accept the others with respect to his person, freedom and interests, to look for a sincere dialogue and communication aiming at discovering the Truth and to stand up for Truth with love and peace. “For all this we need love that is enlightened’, added Todor. An integral part of the program were the testimonies of students about the way in which God has worked in their lives. As every year we were able again to hear from the small groups leaders about their situations and to pray for their requests. We also prayed about our friends from InterVarsity California, UCCF England and Ichtus Belgium, and of course, about BCSU and Bulgaria. The worship team, led by Toshko, was used by God and contributed for the great atmosphere of praise and worship present all the time at the conference. We also celebrated 1 of November, the Day of the leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival, by presenting creative sketches on the topic of spiritual awakening of Bulgaria. If you take into account the chats late at night, the camp fire and the gorgeous forest around the hotel, we can be sure that this conference will live forever in our memories and hearts.