March/April 2006

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,

He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him,
We have found the Messias which is, being interpreted, the Christ.  Jn. 1:41

The springtime is upon us and it is such a welcomed sight.  The trees are all blossoming, and the birds singing and so much "life".  What a picture of the resurrection life from the dead!  With springtime also comes planting which always reminds us of the sowing of the Word of God.

Ever so often the Lord will open a door to witness to someone special to you and you know it was God who made it possible to talk to them.  One of my neighbors whom I have known for more than four years is a man named George Gochev.  We call him Grandpa Gochev and he is eighty-three years old and a former Communist mayor of our village.  He is a very devout Communist and although he doesn't claim to be an atheist he talks like one.  He is more full of talk than anything else and he is a pleasant man and easy enough to make friends with.  He helps us with whatever kind of village problems we have.  He even helped me to learn bee-keeping as he himself is a bee-keeper.  We love him and are concerned about him because he is lost and without God.  The other day I happened to be with him and the Lord's Spirit started to move and before I knew it I was talking to him about how I became a Christian and "found Christ" and received Him as my Lord and Savior.  I thank God for the desire that God puts in our hearts to tell loved ones how we have found Him.  Grandpa Gochev listened to my testimony and to the Word of God attentively.  Please pray for him and may it come to pass as in the scriptures, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." 1 Cor. 3:6.

We are continuing to copy and distribute gospel tapes which we have seen the Lord greatly use.  We also have been going to some new villages and holding meetings in the hope that a new church would be established

In our main church where we try to bring in as many of the new and old converts as possible for church services, we are building a kitchen and dining room to eat in.  It's such a blessing to come together for good fellowship in the Lord.

Brethren, please pray for us as we labor in the fields of Bulgaria and Romania telling all of how we have found Christ and how He has found us. 

All Because Of Calvary,

Matthew Welch

 "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
 2 Corinthians 4:5

August - September, 2003

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,

 "  I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works."

Psalm 9:1

On September 11^th my family and I returned back to the United States for a one-year furlough.  We are thankful to be back and are looking forward to seeing our friends and families again.  We were especially blessed to be able to visit recently with Pastor Herbert Noe, who is the pastor of our home church, Galilean Baptist Church in Livonia, Michigan.  Please pray for him, as he has been very ill for several months.

In this prayer letter we would like to give a brief summary of our involvement in the mission work over the last ten years in Bulgaria and Romania.  We thank the Lord for His grace and mercy that He has shown to us over these years.  We thank you also, for your faithful support and prayers toward this ministry.

We came to Bulgaria in 1993.  During the two years we lived there we learned the Bulgarian language while also going to village-house churches daily and conducting Bulgarian and Turkish services together with national pastors.  We also did much evangelization by street preaching and passing out tracts.  After two years we experienced resident visa problems and realized we would have to move and continue the work from Romania. 

We moved to Constanta, Romania and began learning the Romanian language.  We also began seeking out Turkish Moslem gypsies in the city and in Turkish villages where we could hold church services.  During this time we were also periodically making trips into Bulgaria and working there temporarily on tourist visas.

After five years on the field we returned home in 1999 for a one-year furlough and had the blessing to come and present our work to many churches and to show them all of the Lord's marvelous works and to thank them for their part in this ministry.

Upon returning back to Romania in the year 2000 we felt peace about working mainly in the country of Bulgaria.  At this time also we began working at learning the Turkish language.  My only desire in learning any of these languages was to preach the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to be able to tell my own testimony of how I came to know Him.  I worked at the language hard but for me it does not come easily.  However, I am thankful that with God's help I am now able to preach in Bulgarian, Romanian, and Turkish.

Presently we help support and maintain over 70 churches in Bulgaria and have helped to start six new churches since the New Year. I am a carpenter by trade and in the last three years I have helped fund and built with my own hands five churches in different villages, and also a feeding center for poor children.  I visit as many of these churches as often as I can.  I greet them from the other churches there and also from the churches in America.

We work together with about eleven national pastors. Men that are interested come with us to hold the services and the way we go about training them is "on the road.

They learn the Bible, how to pray, and lead songs, and to moderate a meeting, and to preach the Word of God by example.  Most of our pastors are on the road everyday holding meetings in different villages.  Most of them pastor anywhere from three to five churches and each church meets once or twice a week.

We personally help these pastors and churches with financial support.  We give the pastors gas money so they can get to their meetings and help with car maintenance.  We purchase firewood for the churches and the children's feeding centers.  We continually are busy with the upkeep of the buildings that are being used in these ministries.  We help with the purchase of bibles, songbooks, and gospel cassette tapes.

As far as the number of souls that have been saved I can't give an exact count but there have been many (numbering into the thousands).  Most of our congregations are from 20 to 50 people.  We hold baptismal services during the summer months and just this past August we saw about 100 believers get baptized.

The Campmeeting in August was a blessing to all that attended.  Everyone was given transportation to the meetings and was fed and given a place to sleep overnight.  At the nightly meetings there were hours of singing, testifying, and preaching.  There was much rejoicing for all that the Lord has done and we were all edified by what we saw and heard.

Brethren, there is an awakening in Bulgarian and Romania among the Turkish Moslem gypsies and we are thankful to be a part of that ministry.  We are grateful also to our many churches, friends, and families who also have a part in this ministry.

During this year that we are home we would count it a privilege to present our work in your church.

We can be contacted at:

Charity Baptist Mission
P.O. Box 692
Bristol, TN  37621-0692
423-878-8131

 In God’s love,

Matthew Welch and family

Matthew Welch and family

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
                                                                    2 Corinthians 4:5

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