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 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. Chris
Fox of EPIC visited our link church at the end of October.
She was there as Daniel Nalbantsky the pastor was launching
the publication of his first book, a novel on the subject of four
Roman soldiers who were present at Christ’s crucifixion.
He has presented us with a copy – now we must wait for a
translation! 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 a clinic which opened in November and provides basic health care and
first aid free of charge to church members and neighbours. 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. Latest
news from Russe: The
renovation of the flat for orphans that will become a protected home
for 6 children was finished in early March. Once they are
established more children should be allowed to join them – up to
about 12 in number. A pictures of the flat can be seen to the right.
Before the children can move in, there is a lot of paperwork
to be done – there is a huge amount of bureaucracy which is
preventing the children being moved in immediately. The
Nalbantskys were very grateful to the Bures benefice for all the
money sent which enabled them to do this work. They had had a visit
from a British woman who was involved with the establishing of
protected homes and with the Mogilino case (a documentary shown on
the BBC last December about the appalling state of Bulgarian
orphanages which said that Bulgaria had
more institutionalized mentally and physically disabled children
than anywhere else in Europe – see www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/bulgarias-children).
She came to see the flat and was truly impressed with the
work. She was accompanied by Mr. Ivan Stanchov, a former Bulgarian
ambassador to the The
Nalbantskys said that there was 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 was all thanks to our
generous support. However, they were not forgetting that the church
was primarily responsible for spiritual growth and people coming to
know Christ. At the end of March they organized a special
celebration of the Annunciation and invited teachers from all the
schools and homes that they’re in touch with. They had a very nice
time sharing their faith and communicating with them. The
Nalbantskys also said that they finally had 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 and medical care
becomes more and more of a ‘luxury’ for them.
See right for a photograph of the clinic in action.
|
Daniel & Emilia Nalbantsky Pastors of Friendship Church
Friendship Church, Russe
Church Meeting
Interior view of half-way house for orphans
Bedroom Kitchen
Patient and doctor in Friendship Church clinic |
