Helping our partners to build churches

How international networking is helping our partners to build churches

James Vaughton reports on how networking is enabling churches and ministries in Eastern Europe to reach their communities with the gospel.

In 2019, we embarked on a formal partnership with International Cooperating Ministries (ICM) in the United States. ICM’s vision is to see a local church building within walking distance of every person in the world. It is quite a vision and not one they can accomplish on their own. To date they have helped build or renovated over 10,000 churches across the globe. This work involves ICM and their supporters in the States, TEN and our supporters, and of course our partners.

Keith Townsend, Director of Partnerships Review for Russia and former Soviet Republics, says, “ICM was founded on the power of partnerships, networks of incountry ministries that have depth and experience in the country’s they minister in.”

That is where TEN and our partners come in as the following examples make clear.

In Kucove, Albania Pastor Turi, trained by the International School of Theology and Leadership (ISTL) got in touch with TEN to see if we could help them purchase the church they were renting. Due to the generosity of a TEN supporter, we were able to match funds from ICM to enable the church to be free from rent to minister in their community. Turi reports that the provision of the church has already seen new people come to the church. Turi is so thankful: “We are free from the monthly burden of rent, now we can use this money for the ministry.”

In Tarcea, Romania, we have worked with Life 2 Romania’s Andrew Saxton, Gavril Covaci and the local Roma community to complete the church build in the community. The church is a wonderful gathering place for the people to hear the gospel and worship as they are led by Pastor Gavril. As reported in this edition of Connect, God is at work powerfully among Roma communities and having a building to meet in is part of that.

In Shtip, North Macedonia, ICM and TEN funds have enabled Petre Petrov, now leader of the Evangelical Church in North Macedonia as well as pastor in Shtip, to renovate the church building to make it a 21st century facility that can be used to see God’s kingdom grow. In a recent report they told us of four people coming to faith and being baptised.

TEN has further projects under consideration and it is the power of the network to make these church building projects possible.

Here is Keith again, “We can’t be experts in over 100 countries, so partners like TEN that are on the ground and know the people and see what they need, are the biggest resource for us. The international ministry world would be so much more difficult and so less impactful without these networks.”

The impact Keith talks about are the lives transformed. We can truly say that all the glory goes to God as no one partner in the network could have done it on their own.