Now I Want You to Know

TROWEL & SWORD

Christine Farenhorst

On July 24, 1948, very early in the morning, three men came to the house of Haralan Popov. They searched his entire house, turning everything upside down, as they pulled private belongings out of drawers and closets. With zeal akin to vandalism, they knocked books and knick-knacks off shelves. Haralan, his wife Ruth, and their nine-year-old daughter Rhoda watched them fearfully. For three hours these men ransacked the house, before taking Haralan along for questioning at the police station. He kissed his wife goodbye and hugged his small daughter. Then, for one brief agonizing moment, he gazed at the humped-up form of his infant son Paul in the crib. The boy had slept through the entire ordeal. Haralan would not see his family again for more than thirteen years.

Haralan Popov was the pastor of a Protestant church in Bulgaria. He had served churches all over Bulgaria, travelling as an evangelist to mountain towns and villages to proclaim God’s Word. Haralan had not always been a Christian. Born in 1907 and raised on a farm in the little town of Krasno Gradiste, Bulgaria, his childhood had been one of poverty and hard work. A self-professed atheist, the teenager Haralan had left home to look for work in the larger city of Ruse, located on the Danube River, when he was eighteen years old. Unemployment was rampant and a former neighbour, Christo, allowed Haralan to live with him in a tiny room all of six feet by six feet square. Although Haralan landed the occasional part-time job, he did not earn enough on which to live, and the kindly Christo continued to share both his food and lodging with Haralan.

One evening Christo invited him to attend church services. Haralan agreed to go, although reluctantly, and was surprised to find that these services were conducted in the Bulgarian language, instead of the old Slavic, which many could not understand anymore. He was also very much moved by the enthusiastic hymn-singing of the entire congregation, set to melodies of Bach, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. Having been taught that religion was for the old and feeble-minded, he listened with increasing astonishment to a fervent and well-spoken sermon. After the service, several people spoke to him and Haralan was in a quandary. Had he been wrong his entire young life? Or were these intelligent, kindly people simply misguided? Christo invited the pastor to visit them in their small room. The pastor read the Bible and explained the Gospel to Haralan. Scales fell, as it were, from his eyes, and the Holy Spirit moved him to a rebirth – a rebirth which left him buoyant with newfound faith in Christ and a desire to share that faith.

Early in 1929, when Haralan was twenty-two years old, he left Bulgaria to prepare for a life of Christian service. He attended Bible Institutes in both Poland and in England. The Lord increased his knowledge and also gave him a helpmeet who bore the appropriate name of Ruth. They married in 1937. A Swedish native, Ruth was moved to say, when Haralan asked her to marry and accompany him to his native Bulgaria, “Haralan, wherever you go, I go also.”

The years that followed were ones of great spiritual blessing for Haralan and Ruth, as well as for Bulgaria. For many years, Haralan preached and evangelised across the land. When the Second World War broke out, preaching became hazardous, but not as hazardous as it became after the war. The Communists, hard on the heels of the German Nazis, took over and religious freedom became a thing of the past. Puppet pastors were trained – pastors who would preach Communism instead of Christ crucified – and the pastors who refused to preach Communism were slandered, displaced and arrested. Haralan Popov’s arrest in the early morning hours of July of 1948 was no surprise to him – no surprise at all.

From his home, Haralan was taken to Secret Police headquarters. For the next five months, a cell in these headquarters was his home. At night he was taken out of the cell to an interrogation chamber and forced to stand facing a wall. Behind him, interrogators continually asked him to deny his faith. He had to stand stock-still. If he so much as blinked an eye, he was beaten. During the day he was prevented from sleeping and was put on a starvation diet. After ten days of beatings, Haralan, upon passing a window, saw his image reflected. He later wrote that he saw “...a horrible, emaciated figure, legs swollen, eyes like empty holes in the head, with a long beard covered with dried blood from cracked and bleeding lips. In that moment of total, crushing hopelessness, I heard a voice as clear and distinct as any voice I have ever heard in my life. It said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ The presence of God filled the Punishment Cell and enveloped me in a divine warmth, infusing strength into the shell that was my body.”

There is a great sadness about being imprisoned, about being closed away from the rest of the world. This sadness was particularly poignant for Haralan Popov. A sham trial sentenced him to fifteen years. He had done nothing worthy of imprisonment. The prospect of being shut up for such a long period of time was devastating, not only for his body, which was subject to beatings and torture time and again, but also for his heart and mind. For although he longed to be with his family, to see his wife and children, he longed with a greater desire to be back in his pulpit, to preach Christ. He often wondered why God had permitted such a devastating event to take place in his life. But over time, over long time, Haralan clearly saw that, although suffering is a state which human beings try to avoid, it is actually to be regarded as something of great value, something more precious than gold; he understood that suffering was a fire which Bulgarian churches had to undergo so that all that was hay and stubble would be burned up, leaving only pure gold; and he felt that suffering was a fire which would purify himself as well.

Haralan’s insight about suffering did not come suddenly, but only after much thought – much musing on Scripture passages within his heart. He heard Luke’s voice: “...we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” And he heard Peter speaking: “...Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Haralan also began to understand that God had placed him within the confines of prison walls to minister to those nearest to him, even as Paul had ministered to the Praetorian Guard when imprisoned in Rome. In due time, Haralan’s congregation became fellow prisoners – men who had great needs – many of whom had also been imprisoned unjustly – men who were starving physically and emotionally from lack of food and love. These men had had their wives, children and jobs taken away from them. Their material needs were all gone. In prison they had time to think, and a great number realized their need of God. Haralan Popov’s church building became a prison cell, a prison exercise yard and a hard-labour field.

That prison was indeed to be Haralan’s pulpit became apparent during his first year of imprisonment. One day a young man named Mitko was brought into Haralan’s cell. He was frightened and kept repeating, as he paced the cell floor, “I’m innocent. I’m innocent.” He praised Lenin and Communism loudly, hoping that the guards would hear him and testify to his good behaviour. Haralan spoke to Mitko of Christ as the hope of salvation. The first weeks Mitko paid no attention, but later, distressed and weary, he stopped his nervous pacing and began to listen to what was said. Haralan rejoiced. This was not his work but the Spirit’s. Later Mitko requested that they pray together and so deeply professed his faith in Christ that he wept. Not too many days after this profession, a guard came for Mitko saying that the young man had been exonerated. Mitko left, release papers in his hands, but not before he passionately said, “Pastor, here in this cell I have been found by God because of you, and I shall follow Him all the days of my life.”

Haralan Popov had memorized much of the Bible and was known as a “walking New Testament.” Ministering to fellow prisoners was dangerous work, as it was punishable by beatings and starvation. There were always informers, also among the prisoners. After considering the possibility of informers, however, Haralan decided that he would not worry about them. After all, they needed to hear the gospel preached also. He was called to the warden’s office many times and told, “Popov, we know that you hold secret religious meetings in your cell! We know that. When will you ever learn?” Then he would be taken to a special punishment cell for a week of water only. On one occasion, the prison director called him back to his office and said, “What is it with you, Popov? Do you enjoy punishment? This is the sixteenth time you’ve been in that cell?” Popov answered, “You can never deny a bird singing or a fish swimming. It is natural. I am a pastor. My entire life is given to bringing men to God. And, whatever you do with me, I cannot stop doing what my God has given me to do. You have taken me from my pulpit and put me here, and here I shall do my work.” Consequently, Popov was taken back to the special punishment cell for another week.

Even the punishment cells became pulpits for Popov. These cells were a row of solitary confinement cells next to one another. A prison telegraph system had been devised. One tap on the wall stood for the letter A – two taps stood for the letter B – and so on. Using his drinking cup, Popov began a ministry. There was no hurry. He was usually there for days on end and his neighbours on both sides of his cell were there for long periods of time also. “What is your name?” he would tap, and after a brief introduction with a bit of general information, Popov would ask his cell neighbour. “Are you a believer in Christ?” Then, he would, for the remaining time there, tap out to his neighbour the message of hope and love in Christ Jesus.

Several times during his incarceration, Haralan was taken from one prison to another. One of these prisons had cells fifteen feet by six feet. Although this was a good-sized room for one prisoner, for fifteen men it was very tiny. Each man in Haralan’s group was allotted a space of one foot. At night all the men slept on the same side. If anyone wanted to turn over, they all had to turn in unison. During the day they sat in the little spaces. The enforced idleness, however, gave Haralan a wonderful opportunity to speak to the men about God. And the Spirit moved many to believe.

God brought many men to Himself through the preaching of Haralan Popov. Birthdays became good opportunities for men to worship God and Haralan often preached under the guise of best wishes. Often men had five or six birthdays a year. There was great hunger for the Word of God. Prison also brought friendship between Christians who shared suffering. There was warmth and caring for one another. It was not unusual to see a prisoner whose jaw had been broken by a guard, fed by fellow prisoners who broke bread into extremely tiny pieces for him so that he could swallow more easily.

It seemed to Haralan that whenever he had done his best with one prison group, that the Lord had him transferred to another prison to begin a new congregation. Stara Zagora was one of the last prisons to which he was transferred. It held many young prisoners who were under constant surveillance. During the 90-minute exercise period allotted them outside each day, Haralan began to teach these young men English. It was a language they were all most eager to learn. When they understood enough English to comprehend whole sentences, he began to preach the Word of God. Their hunger to learn English brought the young prisoners back every exercise period, and the Spirit moved many of them to believe. A significant change took place in Stara Zagora. Many prisoners stopped smoking; cursing was not heard anymore; and the spirit of brotherhood became apparent. “Graduates” of Popov s English class began conducting their own classes. The Word of God spread.

Haralan Popov was released from prison in 1961. Because his wife had been born in Sweden, she had been allowed to leave Bulgaria for her native country during Haralan’s imprisonment. She and the children had been safe during most of the time that he was gone. Haralan himself, after a certain period of time, was also allowed to leave Bulgaria. In the free world he continued to preach the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. His message from the underground church in oppressed countries to the free Christians was, and is, “Pray for those who are in chains for Christ. Do not forget them. Try to supply them with Bibles, for they will use them for Christ.” He often asked, as he spoke on behalf of the persecuted churches, “Who here has prayed for the suffering Christians of the Underground Church?” Usually the answer was that almost no one had prayed.

On November 19, 1989, the Marxist dictator of Bulgaria, Tidor Zhivkov, resigned. He had held power for 35 years. He was imprisoned when the Bulgarian Parliament voted to revoke the constitutionally guaranteed dominant role of the Communist Party. Today Bulgarian Christians have more freedom than they have had for many years.

God mightily used the imprisonment of Haralan Popov to spread His Word, even as God used the imprisonment of Paul in Rome to let the Praetorian Guard – the emperor’s Imperial Body Guard, some nine thousand men – become acquainted with the gospel (see Philippians 1:12,13).

The truth is that no matter who you are and no matter where you are, God has placed you in your particular area so that the gospel may be advanced. May it be advanced greatly in 2000.

From: Reformed Perspective (Feb.1999)

Sources:
Popov, Haralan, Tortured For His Faith, Zondervan Books, 1970.
Hefley, James and Marti, By Their Blood, 2nd ed., Baker Books, 1996.

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