Join the Club: MTW’s EFL Ministry in Bulgaria Builds Bridges to the Local Church

A few years ago, MTW Bulgaria missionary Lizzy Cary sat with her friend Aneta* at lunch listening to Aneta describe how her life was falling apart.

The two women met in English Club—MTW’s English as a Foreign Language ministry in Sofia, Bulgaria. Aneta had been a student in English Club long before Lizzy began running the ministry in 2017. They had been meeting weekly during Aneta’s lunch break. During their lunches, Lizzy learned Aneta longed to be married but had a string of unhealthy relationships. Aneta also had a difficult work environment and family with ongoing health issues.

Lizzy knew Aneta, like most Bulgarians, was a member of the Orthodox church and, at best, believed God to be impersonal and irrelevant. Aneta would often make comments like, “There is a God, but can you really know Him? Probably not.”

But today Lizzy saw a chance. After listening to Aneta describe her current challenges Lizzy asked to pray for her. Then Lizzy told Aneta she should start praying because God hears us when we pray.

This is just one story of how English Club opens doors for MTW missionaries to enter into people’s lives with the truth. What began as a way for one missionary to meet people in the community has turned into one of the main outreach arms of MTW’s Sofia church plant. Over the EFL ministry’s nearly 20-year lifetime, it has been much more than a way for Bulgarians to learn English. It is a place where they can connect deeply with one another and provides a welcoming glimpse into the local church.

More Than an EFL Class

“I came because I wanted to improve my English, but I stayed because I made friends.”

This is the refrain MTW Bulgaria missionaries hear over and over again from participants in their English Club. Bulgaria is currently climbing out of a season of economic decline and poverty into a time of development and advancement. As a result, Bulgarians are searching for jobs that pay a livable wage—most of which require employees to speak English. This is why they are eager to learn the language.

When communism fell in 1990, the nation’s economic performance plummeted. Lizzy has a friend who grew up during those uncertain times. She remembers her parents going hungry to make sure she, their only child, had enough food. She would feed her portion to her cat, making sure her pet had enough to eat. When she was in high school, her parents moved to England to get better paying jobs and sent money back to their daughter.

Though the nation’s economy has slightly improved, this family’s situation remains common in Bulgaria. When family members get a well-paying job, it’s usually in another country, forcing them to leave family and friends behind. With their closest people gone, many Bulgarians are lonely and those who have made their way to English Club have found a source of connection.

MTW Sofia missionaries have designed English Club to foster relationships. Before the lesson starts, there is a time to chat and get to know each other. Whenever they are able, the team provides dinner for everyone after the meeting and it is common for everyone to get dinner together after English Club multiple times a month. As participants keep attending, they build friendships with people who have the same needs, fears, desires, and motivations that they do.

Relationships Lead to Gospel Conversations

As these relationships deepen and grow, God provides opportunities for the MTW missionaries to have conversations about Jesus, Christianity, and the gospel. While the ministry is focused on community outreach and building relationships, the Sofia team is committed to planting gospel seeds by seizing every opportunity for evangelism. Like Lizzy did with Aneta, the team looks for places of overlap between their Christian beliefs and the lives of those around them, stepping into those moments with a gospel conversation.

After the lunch meeting during which Lizzy prayed for Aneta, Aneta took Lizzy’s advice. She started praying and lost her job. Then her boyfriend dumped her.

Despite these drawbacks, Lizzy kept encouraging her to pray, assuring her that God cares for her. A few months went by and Aneta found a new job with higher pay. She told Lizzy, “I think maybe you’re right. Maybe God does hear when we pray.” Soon after she started her new job, Aneta met her husband, Pascal*, at a salsa class.

“I saw her change from someone who thought, ‘There’s probably a God but who knows?’ to, ‘There is a God and He does hear me when I pray.’ And her husband is just a beautiful picture of someone who loves her well,” says Lizzy.

Lizzy said that she never witnessed a defining conversion moment in Aneta’s life. But she believes God used their friendship and Aneta’s exercise in prayer to make Aneta’s faith real and personal rather than insincere and cultural.

“This is one story where English Club is our open door and it’s really the relationships that come out of English Club that is where we see God working in individual lives,” says Lizzy.

Gospel Seeds Begin to Sprout

MTW missionary David Pervis started English Club almost 17 years ago as a way to meet the local people and connect them to the church. Throughout the years, the shape of English Club has bent and flexed. David has moved to Ukraine and transferred leadership to Lizzy and MTW missionary Lydia Goeglein. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team moved the English Club meetings online. They have tried various advertising avenues to get the word out and used different lesson plans and curriculums. There have been stretches where the community showed great interest in English Club and periods where there is a small number of participants. Yet every week the Sofia missionaries show up ready to build the relationships with those God has led to English Club and He has worked through their consistency.

Lizzy is finally seeing tiny sprouts from the gospel seeds the team has planted and watered in people’s hearts over the past 17 years. The English Club numbers for 2025 have been low so far. However, Lizzy decided to host a weekly Bible study in tandem with English Club and several participants are showing up every week. Lizzy says that in the past when they have done these Bible studies, people haven’t been interested. Sometimes they did one during an English Club lesson and would have the lowest turnout on those weeks. But this time has been different with eight people regularly attending the weekly Bible study—many of whom Lizzie has known for six years, and all but one of whom came from English Club.

“It just goes to show that a lot of the movement toward God happens over years and years of relationships,” says Lizzy.

She and one of the Sofia team’s interns are leading a five-week study on biblical wisdom focusing on Jesus’ “I AM” statements in the book of John. The goal is to provide participants another way to practice English while diving deeper into God’s Word. “The insights, comments, and questions that have come from our students show deep interest, engagement and hunger,” says Lizzy.

Bulgarian students have said things like:  

“The believers I know live a full life. They are not frightened of the things non-believers are, and they are willing to take risks.”  

“We have to be aware that there are lies in the world. If Jesus is the truth that means that other things we put our trust in might be lies.”

“If being separated from God is separation from all good things, then spiritual death sounds worse than just ceasing to exist when we die physically.”

“These are statements of germinating faith seeds,” says Lizzy. She and her teammates pray and trust that God will continue to cultivate life and will one day produce faith in Jesus that bears true Christian fruit.

English Club Is a Window Into the Local Church

As primarily a church planting team, MTW’s Bulgaria missionaries are intentional about working toward the establishment and enrichment of local churches, and through its many phases English Club has been an outreach tool for the local church.

Today, English Club meets in the same space as the Sofia church plant and MTW’s Bulgaria team has structured their meetings parallel to the church service. Just as there is a time to visit with others before the English lesson during English Club, on Sunday mornings there is a coffee hour during which people mingle before the church service.  Then after church, similar to after English Club, everyone enjoys a meal together. Whether it is the meal after church or after English Club, everyone pitches in to get the room setup.

“We invite our English Club people to help us with everything and so they already know how to set up for lunch. And so at church when we’re like,  ‘Ok, we’re getting ready for lunch. Let’s set up the room,’ that’s something they already know how to do,” says Lizzy. “We also have a number of church people coming to English Club so when new English clubbers walk into church they already know four or five people beyond just the teachers.”

This is touching on one of the main goals of English Club—to provide a space where Bulgarian Christians interact with non-Christians. According to Lizzy, the Christian community in Bulgaria has a history of being insular. During the communist regime, defectors from the state church could wind up in jail. It was therefore dangerous to admit to being a Christian to other people. When communism fell, missionaries from all sorts of religions—Latter-day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christianity—flooded into the country and bombarded the people with their various beliefs.  Bulgarian society quickly labeled anything besides the Orthodox church as a cult. MTW’s team has used English Club to bridge the gap between Christians and non-Christians.

“One of our goals is to provide a safe place where Christians don’t feel threatened by non-Christians but also where non-Christians can meet Christians and be like, ‘Oh, maybe they’re not in a cult,’” says Lizzy.

Attending English Club offers a glimpse into the compassion and hospitality of God’s people, reflecting the welcoming community of the church. It has become more than just a place to practice English. It has increased the Church’s presence in the community, breaking down misconceptions about Christians and the God they serve. Day by day, through simple yet consistent faithfulness, MTW’s Sofia team has been able to build meaningful relationships that exhibit God’s care for people and introduce non-Christians to the gospel. As they use English Club to plant seeds of truth, they trust God will continue to use their work to open doors and strengthen His Church in Bulgaria.

*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.