Transform Europe Network - Our Partnership with Burlacu Baptist Church in Moldova
 

Transform Europe Network is a Bristol-based charity that is passionate about partnership with indigenous Christian leaders in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. We want to see lives transformed through evangelism, church planting and compassion. In this article, Lance Mason writes about the blessings of church partnership with Burlacu Baptist Church, Moldova.

Our Partnership with Burlacu Baptist Church
by Lance Mason, Pastor, Stockwood Free Church, Bristol

“Give and it will be given to you”. So begins Luke 6:38, a verse whose deep truth has been tested and proved many times in my church’s relationship with our partners in Moldova.

This small country, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, with a population of around 3.5 million (and falling), is the poorest country in Europe. Signs of the former Soviet occupation remain everywhere. The twin dead-weights of bureaucracy and corruption stifle economic and social progress. And yet – or perhaps because of this – the Baptist Church is thriving in the country.

For very many years, Stockwood Free Church has had the joy and privilege of partnering with the Baptist Church in Burlacu, a very poor village about three hours’ drive from the capital of Moldova, Chisinau.

We have visited our friends four times and they’ve visited us twice. I count Andrei, the pastor, and his family as close friends; we regularly speak to one another. The thrill of supporting the local community, and especially of encouraging the church, is amazing. Our journeys to
Burlacu have given us insights into a different culture that we could never gain online.

Mission is now very real to Stockwood Free Church – a named village, a named pastor, and his family. And it doesn’t stop there. I often talk to Stockwood residents about our partnership. “Where is Moldova?”, they ask. So begin many fruitful conversations in my own local community; Andrei has unknowingly become a missionary to Stockwood!

Transform Europe Network welcomes interest from UK churches, regarding new church partnerships. For more information contact: melanie.griffiths a_t ten-uk d_o_t org