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Welcome to Tonchev Missions Site!
Who we are?
Our Ministry History:
We are one of the few atypical, but very happy, Bulgarian families with more than two kids. Both of us met Christ when we were students at the universities in Sofia, Bulgaria, back in the ’90s. You can read our personal stories HERE.
God created our family back in 2001 and blessed us with four amazing kids over these years. From the time we knew each other, we have been part of the Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry in Bulgaria. We both joined full-time mission work from the beginning of our marriage and served for many years in Sofia, in different capacities: Student Ministry, Financial Management, Operations, New Staff Training, and Family Life Ministry. It has been an amazing journey with God, over all those years in Bulgaria, but it was an even more incredible time when God allowed us to expand our borders.
In 2012, we were challenged to step out of the country of Bulgaria with a population of 6.5 million and to move to the vast country of Russia.
Our family got in the car and after a 4-day drive, we arrived in St. Petersburg - the Cultural Capital of Russia, with a population of five million. Our home country is 7 million as a whole.
The next 5 years were an adventure of trusting God every day, facing cultural differences, facing some legal issues, and receiving blessings from our local Russian church.
Let us know if you want to hear more of the stories.
God Change My Life and Give me Purpose to live!
If you would have met be before, you would have said that by all standards I was “living the dream.” I was known as the life of the party and had lots of friends. But inside there was an emptiness and lack of satisfaction from all my successes. Life did not seem to have any meaning, and each day seemed to be like every other. Often laying in bed at night, I would ask the big questions: “What is the final purpose of life? What comes after death? How can things be so harmonious and so messed up at the same time?” I did not find satisfying answers, and so I kept filling up my time with alcohol, amusements, and all sorts of activities. I lived everyday like it was my last, trying to forget about time and eternity.
During my college years I started to play baseball. Through one of the teams I met some Christians. There was something different about them. They seemed to enjoy life in a real way, without complaining, without looking for faults in others. They seemed truly free. I secretly envied them.
After graduating from college, I went into the army and everything went on like before. One day though, I received a package with some baseball magazines and a New Testament. I had looked over the Bible before, but now for the first time I began to read it carefully. I was very interested and even curious. I started to find answers to my deeper questions. I started to see things around me in a new way.
I went back to Sofia, and my interest in Christianity got stronger. I decided that if what the Bible said was true, I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to live my life in trusting God. I knew, that there was life after death. I decided to make the most important decision of my life, to put my faith in Christ.
I began to see a change in myself. I had thought that if I became a Christian, I would have to start keeping a bunch of rules, and my way of life would be restricted. As it turned out, I found I had more freedom than before. I stopped being controlled by a desire to be liked by others, I had more freedom to share my opinions, I stopped lying and deceiving. I began to experience the freedom I had seen in my Christian baseball friends.
Before trusting Christ, I did not suspect that many people experience the same deep spiritual hunger that I had. I saw people that seemed to have everything, but were not happy. I didn’t understand why it was that way, but now I knew. I wondered why I had ignored God’s existence for so long and why people are afraid to trust in Him. Many do not even know what that means.
Now I have a wonderful family and what I want for my four children is for them not to not wander in meaninglessness and confusion like I did for twenty-five years, but to live with faith in Christ, free from sin. I want to leave behind me a spiritual legacy to my children, and that is what I would wish for you as well, who happen to read the story of my life.
Have you ever laid in bed at night, and before you go to sleep, asked yourself, “What will life on earth be like after I am gone?” When I was in high school I asked that question often, but could not find an answer. I was afraid and did not want to believe that one day everything could end like that. Each morning, in the midst of the busyness of everyday life, I would forget my fears. But the question, “Why am I alive?” remained without answer. I looked for meaning in life through different things.
I believed in love and goodness. My parents had taught me to treat others well. But I was not good to everyone, and I didn’t love everyone, and as a result some treated me in the same way. I started to think that maybe my answer was to be found in friendship. I had a very close friend and lots of colleagues in school, but after graduation we scattered around the country. Once again I looked for answers to the basic questions of meaning. After going to college I was faced with a host of new challenges. I was away from my parents for the first time, making my own decisions and having new experiences. It was interesting and fun at first, but I kept seeking answers. I kept feeling like something was missing, that there was more to life.
One day I saw a poster, that said, “Bible, history and prophecy.” Out of curiosity I went to the lectures. For the first time I saw a Bible. I had grown up in a family formed by socialism and atheism, typical of the time.We had never spoken about God at home, and had never been to church. I thought that God was for old people and naïve people. But I bought a Bible and started to read it, but couldn’t understand it.
Some time later a colleague invited me to a birthday party. I met other young people like me, but there was something different about them. They were cheerful, attentive, kind and seemed to have an inner peace that I didn’t. I found that with them I felt loved and accepted, even though it was the first time we had met. I told myself I wanted to be like them. It took some time to figure out what made them so different. The difference was they believed in Jesus Christ.
I gradually realized that there is a God, that He is the Creator of everything, and that He loves me and can give meaning to my life. But there was a problem. I lived life independently from God, looking to please only myself. The Bible called this sin, which was leading towards an eternal separation from God. I learned that Jesus Christ had been crucified on the cross for my sins and that He is the only way to God. I prayed very simply that Jesus would forgive my sins. I asked Him to change and direct my life.
And He did it. My fear of death and the unknown disappeared. God gave me eternal life. The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him would not die but would live forever.”
Now I have peace, security, and confidence. My attitude towards others has changed as well – God has given me real love and a heart of concern for them. God has given my life meaning through knowing Christ, and in caring for and helping others. I have found what I had been seeking for so long.
Alexander Graduated from LCC, Lithuania. Working in Vilnius
Lora, Graduated from Georgia Southern and now serving as an intern with Cru there!
Tony, Student at Taylor University
Mira, Senior at ICSB
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