Bulgaria
Anatoli Yankov
As a new Christian in 1991 Anatoli (Toni) became involved in his local church which eventually led on to his attending Bible College.
From the very beginning Anatoli started helping in the church of which he was part. He had a ministry in local villages and at the home for elderly people in his town. Together with other young people from the church, they led the youth ministry, Toni preached in his church and was in its leadership.
In 1995 Toni married his wife Desislava (Desi) and God spoke him about quitting his job as a professional judo player/trainer and committing themselves to church planting.
Their ministry began in Varbitsa, and later moved to their hometown of Svishtov where they pastor Christ’s Evangelical Church, part of the Shalom family of churches. They work with orphaned teens who have left the state institutions. Some of them are already married with children. They continue to encourage and assure them of God’s care and love.
Over the past seven years they have also been ministering in a home for children deprived of family care, some of whom have a criminal record. In 2016 they started a project called “Integration of children deprived of family care through sport”. Toni uses judo to train them to build their character and prepare them for the difficulties that they may face after leaving the institution and entering the world.
They have two grown sons, John, who studied in Bulgaria’s capital city of Sofia for a degree in Business Administration. Their second son Ezekiel lives and studies at home.
