The Science Of Saving Souls
In a world brimming with brilliant minds, fascinating research, and endless possibilities for human advancement, scientist and Haggai Institute alumna Lyubka Tancheva sees a God-sized hole. She’s surrounded by constant reminders of the need for the Creator.
She says, “Many, many areas can be in darkness if the Christian people – researchers, students, and professors – are not there.” Lyubka snatches every opportunity she can to witness.
“As a scientist believing in God, I am His witness for my colleagues and students.”
Associate professor of neuropharmacology at the Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Lyubka’s area of research is experimental neuropharmacology. She’s head of a team searching for neuropharmacological agents that can change and improve learning and memory.
Her position has her working with many young scientists. She’s also privy to many advances most people only hear about in the movies, such as artificial intelligence, cloning, and recording brain activity.
She says, “Science is developing so much. It cannot only change our bodies, it can change our genes, minds, thinking – everything. It is very important for Christians in science to be a light in this area.” After attending Haggai Institute on Maui in 2012, Lyubka realized that her most important work is sharing the Gospel.
“The training was very practical for my life and ministry. It developed my imagination, provoked my creativity, and motivated me to do my best in God’s work, with a spirit of excellence.”
She relates, “After training, I made a decision: ALL my activities and ministries would be centered around the main goal – the salvation of precious souls. I try to keep this focus every day in everything that I am doing.”
Lyubka realized she had a unique platform. “I started to attend many academic discussions in society. The young intellectual people of my country are very interested in these discussions – about creation vs. evolution and about spirituality in medicine and science. Using the language of science, I started to speak about some spiritual truths that are hidden in creation, with the goal of being a witness for the Lord.”
Through her travels and involvement in various international research projects, Lyubka has continued to speak those truths. Each year, she visits Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Hadassah Medical Center. She has also created an organization comprised of young Christian Ph.D. students called Good Future and Hope. As the director of World Christian Doctors Network, Bulgaria, she organized two large, national medical Christian conferences on “Science, Medicine, and Spirituality.” She also serves as president of Academic Friends of Israel in Bulgaria.
“My dream is to have devoted Christian people (scientists, doctors, professors, students, teachers, etc.) working in each level of society and government as light and salt – for real transformation of scientific and medical areas in Bulgaria and in the Balkans.”
Lyubka’s life has not been without adversity. When her two children were young, her husband died suddenly, leaving her to raise them alone.
“I had converted to Christianity, and my relatives opposed me very strongly,” she says. “I had to fight alone to care for them. But in that, I understood how God cared for me like my husband, like my father. And something began happening in my family. Little by little, my relatives accepted Jesus – my mother, my father, my sister, my daughter. Only my son is not a Christian yet.”
It is her desire to see her family not only come to the Lord but also to serve Him. “After Haggai Institute, I realized that there is no more important thing than the salvation of human beings. I am so thankful for the investment in my life through my H.I. sponsor, who I believe the Master of the Harvest will reward.”
haggai-institute.com/alumni/lyubka-tancheva/
