WASHINGTON (BWA) — The European Baptist Federation, with the generous help of mission partners, has developed a mission project to facilitate evangelism and the planting of new Baptist churches in Europe and the Middle East.
The Indigenous Mission Project, one of Virginia Baptists' partners, provides funding for suitably gifted people to work as evangelists and church planters in their own countries. The project was launched in 2002 in Moldova and in 2003 was extended to Armenia, Belarus, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. In 2004 it expanded to Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria and in 2005, the EBF approved several candidates as missionaries from the Baltic nations, the Caucasus and Central Europe. In 2006, new missionaries were accepted from Romania and Hungary, mostly workingn with Gypsies.
In 2007 church planters from Israel, Macedonia and Tajikistan joined the project.
Currently there are 65 indigenous missionaries aided by the EBF in their ministry of planting new Baptist congregations in 24 countries.
The EBF organizes the project in cooperation with its member unions, which are responsible for the selection of church planters, their theological education and spiritual oversight.
Eventually the indigenous missionaries and church planters are expected to be fully supported financially by their congregations and unions.