Members of John the Baptist church are excited to see many coming to hear and respond to God's word.

Tbilisi, Georgia–Recently, during a four-month period in the Republic of Georgia, 17 people were baptized.  Tim, an IMB missionary living in the capital city of Tbilisi is excited that the growth is not the result of people moving over from another church, but new believers who are hearing and studying God’s Word, and it is changing their lives.

“When we arrived, there were about 15 people attending the church worship service including our family and the family of the pastor,” explained Tim. “Now, we average more than 60 people.”

John the Baptist church began as a Saturday bible study in the home of a missionary named Charles. In September 2010, the Bible study started growing and the leaders decided to begin meeting on Sunday for a worship service and officially become a “church.”  Since that time the increase of people has become nearly exponential, necessitating more space. They had been meeting in one room of Charles’ house, but the maximum capacity was 30, and they were having over 50 every week.

“One time, a lady came in sat in the only seat left, but no one was able to greet her or even get her name,” Charles said. “We never saw her again.”

Now the church has built a bigger meeting room to accommodate what God is doing.

Losha, the pastor, has caught a vision for the Great Commission and hopes to see many churches planted in Georgia. Trained abroad as a dentist, Losha returned to his home country after some time.  He attended a local church in Tbilisi for six years, until he sensed God calling him to start a Bible Study that would become a church. This vision became John the Baptist Church and they are witnessing God moving in a mighty way.

This is in spite of persecution from the local authorities. The Orthodox Church in Georgia is usually one of the biggest opponents to evangelistic efforts and discourages people from studying God’s Word.  In fact, church leaders recall once when they were handing out Bibles in a village, the local Orthodox priest gathered each one of the Bibles and burned them in the central square. But in this environment, God is blessing after years of sowing seed. Other IMB missionaries have lived and ministered in Georgia since it opened after the fall of Communism. They helped prepare the soil for the growth that is now being seen.

Please pray for this new church as it grows and ministers to the community. In addition to Sunday services, they have a youth program on Saturday, and special services on Sunday for children and Russian speakers.

Jack Gilliland, a long-term volunteer, meets a few Russian women who attended his spiritual gifts seminar in Izhevsk, Russia. Jack is from Arkansas and serves as a virtual strategy coordinator to the Republic of Udmurtia.

Baptists in Texas are hosting the Engage Europe Summit Oct. 11-13 at First Baptist Church (FBC) of Forney, Texas. The Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention are joining the International Mission Board (IMB) and FBC Forney for the event.

IMB workers from more than 15 Eastern European nations will travel from their ministry locations to interact with conference attendees and share their visions for planting churches among Europeans. They represent missionary work in Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, southern Europe and Ukraine.

IMB worker Russell Kyzar, who helps lead the efforts of reaching out to Europeans across the globe, said he looks forward to the opportunity to connect with volunteers.

“This summit is like an NFL draft—missionaries come eager to find new team members, and church leaders come ready to sign up,” he said. “The enthusiasm is really contagious. It’s an exciting time for everyone.”

The event will start Sunday night with two missions encounters at FBC Forney and Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton—churches of the Kauf Van Baptist Association of Texas—with testimonies from the field. The following two days will include opportunities to meet one-on-one with IMB workers and discuss partnering with them to reach their respective people groups. Attendees will also hear a challenge from IMB President Dr. Jerry Rankin and “best practice” testimonies from churches aggressively involved in international missions.

Missionaries are looking for volunteers to pray and lead others to pray. They’re also looking for those interested in visiting a ministry location to prayerwalk; help with children’s and youth camps, concerts, student ministry and evangelism projects; conduct English as a Second Language courses; and build relationships with businesspeople, teachers and others for evangelism and discipleship—to name a few opportunities.

“In most places in Eastern Europe a church can’t be started ‘from scratch’ in a week or even in a few months,” Russell said, “but long-term partners can greatly reduce the time that is required and give an encouraging boost to our field personnel.”

Churches looking for long-term partnership opportunities with an unreached city or people group are urged to attend to discover how they can be strategic partners in Eastern Europe.

Register for the summit online at fbcforney.org/EngageEurope.

Guliko fiinds joy in serving hot meals to refugees

As she prepares to serve the hundreds of refugees waiting for hot soup, Guliko is thankful for the opportunity she has been given by God. Through the International Mission Board’s (IMB) presence in Georgia and their partnership with Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist entity, Guliko is helping her people get the food they need and hear about the love of Christ.

BGR intervened in Georgia soon after the recent conflict that left hundreds homeless. They brought in numerous disaster relief teams to teach church members how to prepare and serve food to large numbers of people. Although Guliko was only supposed to be visiting her home city for a short time, she is now planning to stay long-term, working with her local church to meet the needs of refugees.

Guliko’s Story

Guliko graduated from University in 2000 with a teaching degree. At the time, a teacher’s salary was $15 a month, so she decided to look elsewhere for work. Two years ago, she accepted the well-paying position of nanny for a couple living in Istanbul, where she remained until the weeks before the conflict between Georgia and Russia.

She returned to Georgia to renew her visa and took the time off as an opportunity to visit her mother and extended family living in the Gori region that borders South Ossetia, where the conflict broke out.

South Ossetia is a disputed land within the border of Georgia, though most people living there would prefer to be associated with Russia. A war in the early ’90s has since kept Russian peacekeepers in the South Ossetia region.

Guliko related that her nephew, who works for the Georgian Special Forces, was on patrol with his unit near the disputed area on August 1. As they were returning to their base, a roadside bomb exploded, injuring everyone in the patrol car.

Guliko’s immediate family was at the nephew’s bedside in Gori when the conflict broke out so they were out of harm’s way. The rest of the family soon joined them there. Guliko’s visit was becoming complicated.

Guliko desired to return to Turkey and prayed about the situation.

“The family I worked for (in Turkey) was a great family. They were very friendly, and the lady was like a sister to me, not an employer,” said Guliko. “She called every day during the conflict to check on me and to encourage me to return quickly.”

However, Guliko was willing to stay in Georgia if God had something for her to do.

“My pastor called me one day and said that there was work for me at the church,” Guliko said. “I was so excited!”

Guliko decided to stay with her family and work with the church to provide for the needs of her people.

New fruit

IMB’s and BGR’s presence have had a huge impact on the people of Gori. Through workers like Guliko, many are not only hearing about Christ but seeing His love for them in action.

The church has seen many new visitors to its Sunday services since the conflict ended. Six people recently professed Christ as Lord—many of them were people who came to the church looking for a hot meal.

Guliko is very thankful for the help received from these servants of God.

“It was important for me to see how (IMB and BGR) cared for my country and my people,” she said. “The people working at my church are like one big family. I am content and thank God for the opportunity.”

Guliko’s mother is now living in the tent city set up by the International Red Cross. At first, Guliko wanted her mom to live with her. However, she realized that God was providing through the arrangement.

“If she didn’t live at the tent city, she wouldn’t be considered a refugee and wouldn’t qualify for help. ” Guliko said.

The Georgian government is quickly building small homes on the edge of Gori to provide housing for many of the refugees. Guliko is hopeful that her mom will receive one of these homes.

During a recent church service, the Lord’s Supper was served to the congregation. Guliko’s mom was setting next to her, and she was filled with a sense of contentment. The Lord has heard and answered her prayers.

If you want to get involved or receive more information about ministry possibilities in Georgia, send us an email at hope4cee@pobox.org.

Southern Baptists (SBs) are reaching out to help people in Georgia after Russians left a disaster in their wake. Volunteers coming through Baptist Global Response (BGR) have joined SB workers already on the ground to minister to refugees and others affected by the latest violence.

“We had people go to Gori the day the city was reopened following the Russian departure,” said an on-site worker.

Texas Baptist Men recently arrived and plan to stay until Sept. 10. They set up a kitchen in the courtyard of a kindergarten that serves as a home for 115 refugees. This school is only one of 17 where temporary housing has been set up for the newly homeless. The men are cooking for 400, planning to transport some food to other makeshift homes. 

Georgian officials used the school next door to the kindergarten as a base of operations during the fighting. As a result, Russian forces hit the area with no less than three bombs. One hit an apartment building directly across the street from the school, killing at least 10. 

Many have suffered greatly from the conflict. Volunteers talked with one man whose wife was killed in the explosion—only her hand was found.  One worker spoke with a child at the kindergarten, asking if his house was gone. The boy burst into tears and nodded his head in affirmation. 

Locals have stepped up to aid those providing relief work. Beso, a Georgian pastor, has opened up his house for volunteers to have a place to sleep. His brother, Bakhva, has allowed workers to use his home as a command center. 

Part of relief efforts have focused on doing light construction on an old shell of a building Beso’s church owns. Volunteers are pouring a concrete floor, hanging light bulbs and organizing the installation of windows and doors so they can use the facility as a base of operations for ongoing relief work to the refugees. Yet the volunteers see a different future for the structure.

“We have talked with the pastor about using these facilities as a church-planting and evangelism training center for national believers and pastors,” a volunteer said.

More workers are making plans to help the Georgian refugees. American groups from Kentucky, Oklahoma and Georgia are coming Sept 6-25, 9-22 and 12-20, respectively.

If you’re interested in volunteering with BGR, visit their website for information on where they are serving. Giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is also a good way to contribute to ongoing disaster relief efforts by SB missionaries. 

In the village of Velitsikhe, 600 villagers surrounded the home of a church deacon, which was still under construction. This home was also to serve as the meeting place for 12 Baptist families in the village. The mob, carrying banners declaring “We’re Orthodox, we don’t need Baptists,” surrounded the house and shouted insults for three hours before dispersing.

Despite the fact that the Baptists have won the legal right to build, the District Governor claimed that they could not enforce a law against the will of the people.

“[The Villagers] don’t understand the Baptists’ rights, and the village is against the Baptists’ buildings,” he said.  This was his justification for the persecution. His advice to the Baptists was to sell the house or watch it be demolished.

In a separate incident, unknown attackers smashed windows of a house in the village of Kuchatani that is used as a simple church for up to fifteen local Baptists. This is just the latest in a series of attacks. The house had just been repaired from a prior incident in October. The village of Kuchatani is in the same district as the church that was burned out in 2003.These church members have still not been granted the right to re-build.

The arson of 2003 was the grand finale of a five-year reign of terror against religious minorities by self-appointed and self-declared Orthodox vigilantes between 1999 and 2003. One Priest and 6 of his associates are currently on trial for the crimes committed against Baptists and other non-Orthodox congregations during this time. However, according to those who have been victimized, hundreds more individuals who organized and took part in the wave of violence, including the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch, have never been punished.

Much planning went into this latest attack in the village of Velitsikhe. Though the village administrator and the district governor deny it, Baptists claim that the villagers were “stirred up” against the Baptists for two days before the attack. Even teachers and children missed school to take part in the demonstration.

“This was all prepared in advance,” said pastor Akhalmosulishvili.

The persecution is not only against the Baptists and other Evangelicals in Georgia. The Catholic Church is also complaining of denied permission to build churches.  The local authorities in the city of Akhaltsikhe say that they need the permission of the Orthodox Church to build. Throughout Georgia, no religious minorities are currently building places of worship openly.

“There is no religion law and religious communities apart from the Orthodox Church have no legal status, so they cannot build,” explained Nikolai Kalutsky, a Pentecostal pastor.

Meanwhile, the Orthodox are building more than a hundred new churches across the country. Pastor Akhalmosulishvili is frustrated with the bureaucracy. “If we’re banned from building churches, meeting and praying together, let them expel us from Georgia,” he said.

The information in this report was obtained from Forum 18 news service.  Find out more at http://www.forum18.org.