Hello and welcome to the new web site of the ministry formerly known as
George Bakalov Ministries International
A process has been initiated for this name to be changed, for a new board to be formed and for the organization to enter a new phase of its development, focusing mainly on charity and missions.
At present I am working on formulating the future direction of what has been a defacto international semi-itinerant ministry. There are issues to be taken care of before we can move forward. There are new people God has raised up and has placed in our lives, who might have interest in supporting this future charity and missions arm to the
Open Source Christianity paradigm
and the micro-church as its basic building block.
Since its inception in 1997, GBMI operated with a very small number of loyal supporters, which was indeed the supernatural provision of the Lord, but it never gave us broad enough base and the resources to develop more of a mature missions and charity work. My hope is that all the lessons learned in this previous chapter of our history will be well used to avoid any pitfalls and to be able to achieve meaningful results going forward.
Evangelism, the restoration of the natural family, leadership development, Biblical education and humanitarian work are the key to transforming the nations for the Kingdom of God.
I am extremely thankful to the handful of friends and supporters who have stood by us for quite a while. Your labor of love, your seeds of blessing and your faithfulness have been to God, not to a man. Perhaps we could have done better in terms of cultivating and nurturing our relationship with you all. But the reality is, life has been one constant struggle against chaos, dysfunction and limitations on each side of the ocean. My trust is based on the fact that God knows our hearts. My hope is that who we are is what truly impacts others, not so much how professional we are in our ministerial functions.
As someone who was born in a dysfunctional (Communist) nation, raised in a dysfunctional family (with parents who were never around) and called by God at the age of 20 to preach to and pastor scores of other dysfunctional people who had just come out of the same, I have made just about any mistake you can think of when it comes to the way we have done things in the last two decades. It’s inevitable, especially when your main modus operandi of learning is trial-and-error.
However, I also know that I and the people who have shared this journey with us thus far, we have done our best within the measure of what we have known. Like many others in a similar situation, I’ve worked hard to compensate for so much of the practical help we never had. I’ve also been blessed to have travelled and ministered in over 30 nations of the world. I’ve come to know some very fine men and women of God and the spiritual powerhouses they have built by God’s grace. By God’s grace is indeed who we are what we do. I also believe He is pleased with me in spite of all my mistakes as I’ve been on this growing journey.
Now a time for change has come. The past has passed and a new season has arrived.
I have no interest in ever becoming a “success” in the world of Institutional Christianity, or the Church that it has built. Our whole family, our spiritual sons and daughters and many other like-minded, Kingdom believers have a deep sense of conviction that we have been created for something else, something glorious.
It won’t come easy, there will be a price to pay, but the time has come and it’s worth going all the way!
2013 is the year of parting with past paradigms.
We’re looking forward to the new wineskin God is raising up. I call it Open Source Christianity. It’s a Christianity based on the same core, non-negotiable truths that powered the 1st century Church and every other revival and reformation movement since that time. The source code is the same. It’s as ancient as Moses and the 10 commandments.
But it’s also a Christianity that is totally and completely OPEN when it comes to the FORM of what we call “church” today or what we have thought that a “ministry” is supposed to be.
Stay tuned & sign up for a our periodic update by email, using the sign-up box to the right. Also, if you want to learn more about the new beginning God has given us here in the Twin Cities and how’re pioneering a micro-church within the context of Open Source Christianity , check out this web site this is where I’ll be posting most of the new materials on this subject.
I will continue to seek the Lord in regards to my international commitments, including Bulgaria, which has by far received the bulk of our energy and attention in the last two decades. The work there is moving forward and there’s much more to be done. However, I’m pleased that my role has changed and I no longer carry the same burden as I used to. Mature leaders have taken over, a new generation is rising up from the ashes of both Communism and post-communism and I firmly believe that the best is yet to come!
Now we can set our sights on the future and synergize with the Lord in raising up new wineskin initiatives that reflect and release the glory of God, be they micro-churches, networks, companies, training platforms, charity, missions or civic leadership.
George