Virginia Baptists are partnering with Baptists in Europe to support church planters across that continent as well as in war-torn Iraq.
Approximately 60 indigenous church planters in 21 countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East are being supported by the Indigenous Missions Project, a ministry of the European Baptist Federation.
Recently partners of the IMP—including repressentatives of the Baptist General Association of Virginia—met at the Valpre Retreat Center in Lyons, France, just prior to the annual general meeting of the European Baptist Federation.
Representing Virginia Baptists were Jerry Jones, team leader of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team, and his wife, Jenny; and Rudy and Helen Wood, who have been leaders in Virginia Baptist mission endeavors.
Through Kingdom Advance New Initiative funds in the BGAV budget, Virginia Baptists are supporting seven of the IMP's 60 church planters—in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Russia and Iraq.
“Virginia Baptists can rejoice at having the privilege of being participants in this crucial work,” said Jones.
At the IMP's fall meeting, Daniel Trusiewicz, who directs the project, introduced Volodia Omelchuk, a church planter in Kiev, Ukraine. Volodia is one of many church planters in the countries that formerly constituted the Soviet Union. He held the group's attention with his testimony of the Lord's work both within himself and in Kiev. The 33-year-old, a former drug and alcohol abuser, became a believer whose faith led him into ministry.
Volodia's church offers an example of what indigenous work produces. Currently there are nine groups meeting regularly, including one for those seeking freedom from drug addiction, HIV-infected persons, a discipling group for new Christians and a youth group. For the moment they are able to talk openly about Jesus and to conduct Bible study and youth clubs in the public schools.
The church's aim is to start two new churches next year. The congregation is growing so rapidly that the 100 who attend have outgrown the rented facility in which they meet; yet, their goal is to double that number within a year. Seventy-five percent of those attending are 30 years of age or younger.
Trusiewicz followed Volodia's report with a description of the present status of the IMP, which is in itself a fulfillment of the dream first expressed by Theo Angelov, former president of the European Baptist Federation.
Among the IMP's newest projects are a work in Armenia which is seeing great success; projects in Hungary and Romania among the Roma (Gypsy) people; and new churches in Iraq, including one in Baghdad to which 200 people come for worship weekly and which is mother church to two other church plants.
Work in countries where Islam is strong requires courage and patience. Trusiewicz requested prayer for places like Tajikistan, where people as recently as 10 years ago received the New Testament in their own language for the first time. Baptists are now distributing the Scriptures there with the hope that this will lead to churches being formed.
Under the IMP's plan a church planter is contracted for a five-year period and funded fully for about two and one-half years. As churches develop to support the local work, funding is gradually decreased. The goal is to double the number of planters in the next two years.
Indigenous church planters “hit the ground running” because they are a part of the culture, understanding the ways of their people and speaking their language. As they develop leadership within a congregation of believers, they can then move on to an area where there is no church and start anew. This approach is not only more successful but is by far more cost-effective than traditional church planting methods.