The “Way of Peace” church in Fier
The visit of John Blanchard
Having just celebrated 50 years of full time ministry, John Blanchard was able to join us for two special meetings in Fier. The first was on international women’s day on March the 8th. Traditionally ladies go out to restaurants and other cafes to celebrate this day but this year the ladies of the church decided to use the church building and to invite their husbands along. It was a delight to see such a cross section of ages in the church. There were teenage daughters of some of our believers, husbands who as yet are not believers and also some pensioners too! We even had an Indonesian lady whose husband works on the oil fields here come and join us. The children recited poems dedicated to mothers, songs were sung and games organized but the highlight was the presentation of the gospel by John. We were able to offer the newly translated and published booklet “Why the cross?” also. Over 60 adults and over 20 children were present for a very special time. The next day saw a very different audience coming both from the Way of Peace church and another fellowship in Fier. Well over 70 people gathered to hear John speak with several unbelievers present. Do pray that God would bless His Word and use the literature that was handed out.
Will translating John Blanchard
Children's choir
Geoff Townsend manning the literature table
Doreta and Jennifer leading the celebrations
Baptisms
We praise God for the baptism of four people in January in the Fier church. Over 100 people gathered to praise God for His work in their lives and to witness their baptisms. A sister church from Fier and our sister church in Patos joined us for the occasion. Several people came for the first time and we were also pleased to welcome two believers who have been in the Gjirokastër church when students and who have moved to Fier.
The baptismal candidates
The time leading up to the baptisms was one of the most intense we had ever known. Doreta’s mother slipped and fell, banging her head badly, and was unable to get out of bed for days. We had two new believers in hospital. Festim’s father had a heart attack and he thought that his mother was going to pass away the day before him being baptized. Hektor’s father was struggling after a stroke and his mother broke her wrist. Imeran’s mother stopped eating and drinking and can no longer speak because of her cancer. A multitude of other problems crowded in. Yet our prayers were answered as Festim, Alda, Marjana and Ina gave clear testimony as to the work of the Lord in their lives.
Alda giving her testimony
Alda shared how at 21 she lost her sight and thought that her life had ended. Yet God had given her not only a husband but two girls also. It was the fact that God had heard her prayers for a family that caused her to believe and to embrace the gospel when she heard it.
Festim being baptised
Festim, who has been blind from 2 years old, shared how he no longer considered himself to be blind but to be an enlightened man because the light of the gospel has been shed into his life. He described the difference that God had made to his life and how he wanted to serve Christ.
Ina
Ina comes from divorced parents and described how she struggled with this and became introverted and angry. It was the love of the church that spoke to her and she gradually came to understand the gospel.
Marjana
Marjana is a single mother who first came to church thinking that she could get some aid because of her poverty. She resisted the gospel for a long time and was completely closed but was again moved by the love of the fellowship. Slowly she began to read the Bible and to accept what it teaches. Her mother who was baptized over a year and a half ago exhorted her to get right with the Lord before her passing and she gradually grew in a personal faith in Christ.
We thank God for His work in the lives of these people and ask for your prayers that they would grow and mature in faith and that many more would come to know Him.
Spontaneous growth of the gospel
One of the marks of the church in the last year has been the spontaneous way that the gospel has gone forth. A good example of this has been the Friday night meeting which takes place in the back room of a hairdressers salon. One of the believers in Fier, Donika, had been burdened for years to see her neighbours to be saved but despite all her attempts to witness and to invite people to church no fruit was ever evident. This left her feeling that she had no gifts nor any contribution to make to the church. However, her faithfulness was rewarded as a number of neighbours and some of her apprentices in the salon became believers.
Christmas Day 2011
It soon became clear that these new believers needed a meeting especially when they could not get out to the church meetings in winter months. Donika began sharing from the book of Genesis and the meeting, which was originally just for ladies, began to attract a number of men. Eventually Will and Doreta were asked to help lead this meeting and now we have sometimes more than 20 new Christians and enquirers crowded into the room. The warmth of fellowship, the practical studies and the opportunity to ask questions have all helped to make this a key meeting in reaching nonbelievers and helping young believers.
One of the joys of this time has been to see the mixture of new people coming to church. We have young men, the blind, people with learning disabilities, pensioners and others coming to our meetings and giving us a greater breadth of people in the church.
Establishing new believers
With so many new people in the church, one of the most urgent needs is for them to be established in the faith. We are delighted that Bledi from Patos has begun a new study for young men on Mondays and Doreta has studies with several of the new ladies in the church. There is an urgent need for young believers to be cared for, encouraged and taught so that they will become fruitful workers!
The Old People’s Home
In a land which prides itself about the way that the elderly are cared for by their families, there is a new tendency for pensioners to be abandoned by their families. There are only 6 old peoples’ homes in all of Albania but the waiting list for the one in Fier is always long. Between 50 and 60 residents live at this home, abandoned by their family and their society and conditions are often poor there. The church has long been involved in the life of this institution after two of its members saw how English churches held services in local residential homes.
Handing out Scripture calendars at the home
Doreta Niven has been visiting some of the men in the home each week to read the Bible to them. One day she was called into a different room by a man who has been crippled from birth called Sokrat. Sokrat asked her for the Bible on cassette and explained that he is a believer. Now he seeks to share his faith in the home and has sought a weekly meeting there. Even though he cannot walk, his greatest desire is to come to church on a Sunday. The church hopes to co operate with a sister church in Fier to maintain monthly meetings with all the elderly and to continue visiting them.
Work in the villages
When driving out of Fier in any direction what is noticeable is the number of villages in the area that have no gospel witness and no gospel church in them. God has brought the church into contact with three villages. In the village of Ferrasi, the work has begun with Beni and Flutra Sema who heard the gospel through a friend from the village who is now living in America. A number of contacts have been made with people in the village and it is hoped to begin more extensive work in the near future.
In the village of Suk there is a family of believers who spend most of their time in Fier but who also work the land in the village. The change in them has been noticed by their neighbours and we have been able to start meeting with neighbours to explain the gospel. Last summer one of the young men in the village went to camp which was another wonderful opportunity for witness. In Fermë Çlirimi we have a Roma couple, Marjus and Rudina, who have been coming to the Sunday meetings in Fier. We are having Bible studies at their home monthly and praying that God would open a door in this area. The work in all these villages is at the earliest stages but we seek God for His blessing.
Beni and Flutra Sema
Prayer points:
- Please pray for the work in the villages. Pray that the believers would be mobilized from the Fier church to work there and that the gospel would go forth and bear much fruit. Pray for the families living in each of these places that God would help them to mature and to be a witness where they are. Pray for the economic needs of these places also as there are deep problems effecting them.
- Pray for the work amongst the elderly at the Old People’s Home in Fier. Pray that Sokrat might be enabled to share the gospel more and that the residents would not only be comforted and encouraged by the churches but would know God themselves.
- Pray for the work amongst the learning disabled that God would help us to bless not only these precious lives but the families that they come from.
- Pray that young believers would mature and become established in the faith and that they would become effective workers in God’s harvest fields. Pray that God would raise up more and more workers to help establish these new believers.
- Pray for the ongoing witness of the church. Pray that new people will turn to Christ and that the church will be continually active in proclaiming Christ and making disciples.
- Pray for leaders to be raised up from the church to lead it, care for it and equip it for the work of the gospel.
- Pray for workers to assist Will and Doreta in this ministry. With so many openings for the gospel and such a need for establishing believers in the faith there is a great need for co workers.
