The mission work in Belarus constantly faces new obstacles but the indigenous church planters manage to continue their mission.
Baptists in Belarus
Belarus is inhabited by approximately 10 million people. The Baptist Union is comprised of nearly 12 000 members who worship in about 275 local Baptist churches and church plants.
Rev. Leonid Mikhovich, the president of Baptist Union says:
“Our mission is to share the Good News with all people who listen and particularly care for the spiritual growth of believers. Our work concentrates mainly in cities, as young people leave villages and move over to cities. Naturally young people are our target group as they are more open to the Gospel than older generation.
Due to the political situation, many young people have left the country and now are in Poland, Lithuania, Turkey, Georgia, or even in the USA. Some of them are involved in ministry and started new groups abroad.
Several years ago the state required re-registration of our churches and later this year we will again face another process of re-registration of all Baptist churches. Pray with us that we can handle it… The challenge is mainly for new churches as the law requires a minimum of 20 adults for a congregation to be registered, in addition such a group must have a building that meets the state imposed criteria.”
Starting a new church in new town or village is almost impossible in Belarus. Several congregations can’t get so much desired registration. However it is possible to organize some public events under an umbrella of the already registered churches or recognized by the state institutions. Currently the union supervises about 30 mission stations that aspire to become churches in future.
Church planting supported by EBF
The EBF Mission Partnerships have supported several church plants in Belarus. Two of the church planting projects are being currently aided by EBF in cooperation with our mission partners. Here are a few extracts from the mission reports that illustrate the process:
Church planter Alexander
Our group meets twice a week, for a Sunday worship and a Bible study on a Thursday. Almost every church member has completed a Bible study training and most of them lead small groups using a manual of the Inductive Bible Study. Our goal is to develop leaders who understand the process of discipleship and can teach others.
There are a couple preachers in our group, including me. We preach in turns and train two others. We also run a children’s club because there are several families in our congregation who have children.
Last summer we organized a camp and a Bible study training. We studied together the book of Nehemiah. Several church members have taken the course and some of them started new groups afterwards. There are 25 members in our congregation and we baptized two new believers. One person moved to Poland, fleeing from a persecution after the protests in 2020.
Last year was difficult for us, but it produced good results as our people became closer in their relationships with God and learned to love each other. We are grateful for the support which we get from the Baptist union and through an international network.
The link below leads you to a film which shows the life of our congregation:
Church Planter Valery
The goal of our meetings is to study the Word of God and train church members in discipleship. There are already 5 leaders who lead small groups and have personal meetings with people.
Recently several new people joined our group, including two Christians who are a war refugees from Mariupol, Ukraine. I invited them to a weekly meetings where we to study the basics of faith (teaching about God, faith, church etc.)
Last summer we organized a camp for families. There were group seminars and individual conversations with both parents and their children. We had lessons and games for children every day. Altogether 56 people attended this camp, among them were 10 new persons. Some of them visited our Sunday service and want to join small groups. Two persons met with me the following week and signed up for a baptism course. The camp was a great blessing for our church plant.
The attendance has decreased, this is due to the fact that we changed the location and time of our meeting, after that some people began to come less often. Although new people come, with whom we build relationships. We don’t have a church registration and therefore rent a meeting hall from a church that has its own building.
Unfortunately our leader of music team relocated to Poland at the end of 2023 and now we pray for a new leader. There are 40 members in our congregation but even more attend regularly. Praise God for His goodness!
The link for a video / pictures that illustrate our work:
Prayer requests
Pray for a successful continuation of the church planting projects under the leadership of missionaries and responsible oversight of the union leaders.
Pray for all the Baptist churches that they will continue ministry despite the harsh state regulations.
Pray for the nation of Belarus that the people may continue to have hope for a better future of their country.
In Christ,
Daniel Trusiewicz
EBF Mission Coordinator
Planting new churches together!
For the glory of God!
Comments