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Let’s
help complete the Friendship Church, Russe It’s now 10 years since EPIC (see below) linked St.
Mary’s with a church in There is a solution to this – the roomy attics would be
perfect. At the moment
they are fairly basic with no inner walls or wiring etc. and the
roof has not been lined or insulated in any way.
With our help, they would be able to carry out the following
development: Rooms for Sunday school groups and young people’s gatherings A
small room for the church office The
present church office to become a library – many people are
borrowing books to learn more about Christianity. A
small room for guests Sadly as everywhere costs in Design
of the project and planning approval
£2,000 Construction work materials for rebuilding
the roof,
building rooms, Furnishing
the rooms
£5,000
______ All the building work will be done by Daniel and the men of
the church, so no money will be spent on labour. To help them St. Mary’s is having a Gift Day at Harvest
Festival on September 27th.
Before that on Tuesday 22nd September we will have
some time of prayer in church. Please pray about this and ask God to guide your giving.
Let’s surprise ourselves as we use this opportunity to
thank God for all that He has given us. Please send your cheque to: Revd. Canon Robin King, The Vicarage, Bures, EPIC EPIC is a charity linking churches in
the UK with churches in Eastern Europe to share and exchange the
gifts they have. Bures Parish Church is linked to the
Friendship Church in Russe, a large town on the Danube in northern
Bulgaria. The pastor and his wife are Daniel and Emilia
Nalbantsky. Daniel and
Emilia also have a
ministry together translating, writing and printing Christian
literature. They produce daily Bible Study notes called 'Spiritual
Manna', which has a huge circulation across the country and amongst
Bulgarian Christians abroad. After a wonderful Harvest collection in
October 2003, we raised the money needed for the Nalbantskys and
their church to buy a
plot of land and build a new church, the Friendship Church. The building has facilities for health and education
projects - an important
part of the ministry of the church there, with so little being
provided by the state. The
church has its meals programme for the elderly in full operation.
During most of the year 30 elderly and poor gather daily for
a time of prayer and bible study and then take home a hot meal.
During the winter they eat the meal in the upstairs room of
the church to save their heating costs.
Those who are housebound are not left out – church members
take the meals to them. The
meals are paid for by the church and distributed by them, but
actually come from a nearby restaurant, giving it much- needed
custom. Sunday lunch for
about thirty including about ten orphans is also provided. The
orphans have got to know the church through the work done in their
school and come to the regular Wednesday evening and Sunday morning
services. At present the
total congregation numbers approximately 80 and is growing. The
church continues to support the unit for children with learning
difficulties and this year the numbers have increased to 60.
Money from Bures funds the cookery class which provides the
ingredients and the wages of two teachers.
Daniel and Emilia are delighted that these teachers and
several others have joined the church.
The contact with local schools has given them the opportunity
to distribute children’s bibles which are written in English and
Bulgarian and are therefore welcomed by the head teachers.
There
is now an operational medical
room. They have a doctor who comes in twice a week to conduct
checkups and people are very happy that they can receive quality
medical care that is free too. It is getting more and more difficult
for the people to spend money on medical care which becomes more and more of a ‘luxury’ for them.
See bottom right for a photograph of the clinic in action. The latest work of the Friendship Church has been the conversion of two flats into a single unit (called a 'protected home') to house orphaned boys and girls who are coming to the end of their time at the orphanage, when they reach the age of 18. With no family, these young people could very well end up on the streets homeless. The
Nalbantskys say that there is no other church in their town as
actively involved in so many social activities and supporting the
children from the orphanages as theirs and it is thanks to our
generous support. However, they don't forget that the church is primarily responsible for spiritual growth and people coming to
know Christ. It
is wonderful to see how God is using our gifts so effectively,
reaching a very spiritually and materially impoverished community.
Do continue to support and pray for EPIC and Daniel and
Emilia.
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Daniel & Emilia Nalbantsky Pastors of Friendship Church
Friendship Church, Russe
Church Meeting
Patient and doctor in Friendship Church clinic
Emilia and boys in flat
Daniel and boys on balcony
Welcoming party |
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