She Learned How to Speak with God For the First Time, and He Responded (with Eva Timothy)

Picture a 15 year old girl in post-communist Bulgaria. Religion had been outlawed her entire life. Christmas was not a holiday. Her family's most prized possession was a hidden copy of the U.S. Constitution. She had never once spoken to God. Then two missionaries walked past her on the street carrying a picture of Jesus Christ, and a quiet prompting told her not to keep walking. That decision set the course of her entire life.

Eva Timothy, a photographer and faith-centered artist who was among the earliest converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bulgaria. Her family was baptized together in 1992, just two years after the country was dedicated to missionary work. Today, Eva creates art that invites people to see Jesus Christ in a new way, and she has never once shown His face in any of her pieces. In this episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Eva shares the full story of how God found her in one of the most spiritually barren places on earth.

Growing Up in the Dark

Eva grew up under communist rule in Bulgaria, a regime that lasted 45 years and controlled every aspect of daily life. There was no freedom of religion, no freedom of speech, and no freedom of assembly. The government installed Orthodox priests who were connected to the state, and genuine worship was discouraged at every turn. Christmas did not exist as a public holiday. The only celebration was New Year's Day.

The propaganda was relentless. State-run media told citizens that Americans got drunk by drinking Coca-Cola and could not even pay their car bills. Meanwhile, Bulgarians had to wait 20 years just to be placed in line to purchase a car. Eva's parents quietly pushed back against the darkness. They instilled in her a love for America, for freedom, and for possibility. They told her not to settle, that better things existed beyond the borders.

When the Berlin Wall fell on November 10, 1989, a domino effect swept through Eastern Europe. Bulgaria's communist leader was forced to resign the very next day. Free elections followed soon after. And with the new freedoms came missionaries from England, Australia, and the United States. Eva, then 14 years old, began visiting different churches that flooded the country. Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, and others. None of them felt right. Something was always missing.

The Prompting She Almost Ignored

One day, Eva saw two young missionaries on the street carrying a picture of Jesus Christ in the red robe. She told herself to keep walking. But something inside her said otherwise. The prompting was unmistakable: stop and talk to them. She stopped, and that single act of following a spiritual nudge set the course of the rest of her life.

The missionaries told her where they held church services, in a rented room above a soccer stadium. Eva traveled an hour by public transport to get there. When she arrived, she found taped-up pictures of Jesus on the walls (not even framed), three or four members, and three sets of missionaries. It was one of the humblest church settings imaginable.

During that meeting, a missionary told Eva something that stunned her: she could pray to God. Eva had never prayed before. She thought you needed robes, theological training, or a priestly title. But the missionary said God wanted to hear from her just as she was. During the sacrament, Eva bowed her head and spoke to God for the first time. She asked if this was His church, if this was where she should be, and if He loved her. A feeling filled her entirely, head to toe. It was warmth, love, and a certainty she had never experienced. She brought the missionaries home that day and insisted they teach her family.

Baptism, Persecution, and a Father Who Fought

Four weeks later, Eva and her family were baptized together in an old Byzantine mineral bath. Their mission president joked that they washed so many sins that they clogged the drain. At the time, the branch had roughly ten members. The Book of Mormon had not yet been fully translated into Bulgarian. Eva studied it in both Bulgarian and English, learning the language she had loved since childhood.

The transition was not easy. Eva's friends abandoned her. Extended family members called them crazy for joining what many dismissed as an American cult. She did not attend her own high school graduation party because she knew the environment would conflict with the standards she had committed to keep. But she never doubted.

Her father became one of the Church's strongest advocates in Bulgaria. He progressed through callings, from Sunday School teacher to branch president to district president, and he worked directly with Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. When the government and public challenged the Church's legitimacy, her father stood as its face and spokesman, defending its place in Bulgarian society alongside the mission president.

Here are some of the obstacles the Timothy family faced during those early years:

• Friends and extended family cutting ties over their decision to join the Church

• Government hostility toward a religion perceived as an American import

• No fully translated Book of Mormon available in Bulgarian

• Only a handful of members in the entire country

• Constant public labeling of the Church as a cult

Art That Points to Jesus

Today, Eva lives in the United States and creates faith-centered photography that has become a tool for teaching, firesides, and sharing the gospel. At the very beginning of her art project, she received a strong spiritual impression: do not show the Savior's face. It felt impossible at first. But the impression was clear. She was to portray what Jesus did, not what He looked like. The rescuing, the healing, the tender search for the one who wandered.

One of her signature pieces is called "For the Love of One," inspired by the parable of the lost sheep. Eva went to a local breeder to find a baby lamb for the shoot. The breeder did not charge her. She only asked for Jesus pictures in return. The finished piece captures the Savior leaving the 99 to search the wilderness for the one who is lost. It serves as a reminder that He will go anywhere and everywhere to find, heal, and bring back anyone who needs Him.

Eva also created a piece called "My Lord and My God," depicting the moment Thomas encounters the resurrected Christ. She points out that Jesus did not scold Thomas for his doubt. He returned specifically for him, appearing in the same way Thomas would understand. Eva sees that same pattern in her own life: a God who meets each person where they are and shows up in the way they need most.

Trust the Next Step

Eva Timothy's journey reveals that God does not need perfect conditions to reach someone. He reached a teenage girl in a country where religion had been outlawed for nearly half a century. He answered her very first prayer. He provided a test score of 503 when she needed 500. He sent a sponsor family she had never met. And He gave her a creative gift that now blesses people across the world.

Consider what prompting you may have pushed aside recently. Eva almost kept walking past those missionaries. Her obedience to that one small impression set off a chain of events that blessed her entire family and continues to bless everyone who encounters her work. God does not always give us the full map. He gives us the next step. And when we follow it, He leads us somewhere we never could have found on our own.

Thank you for reading this week's blog post inspired by the Why We Believe show. If you are interested in more stories like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes at WhyWeBelieve.com.

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