Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                                                                                                           November/December 2009

I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Joshua 1:5b

Glad tidings we send you from the brethren in Bulgaria and Romania. God has been good to us throughout this past year, and as always, has blessed us in so many ways. In this letter, I would like to look back on the year 2009 and relate to you a few of the many works that the Lord is doing in our midst. I know it will be a blessing to you, who have faithfully supported this ministry through your prayers and offerings.

We helped start two new churches this year. One is in a town called Devnia, and the other in a village called Kamarovo. These meetings are held in believers’ homes with about ten to twenty people present. It is a blessing to worship with them. The way we hold a church service, is of course, new to them. Even the way we pray, speaking directly to the Lord and making known our requests to Him, is something very different for them to hear. The singing of the Turkish hymns touches their hearts and their tears flow freely. The gospel is preached and the people are attentive as we endeavor to do like Ezra when he opened the book, blessed the Lord, and caused the people to understand the reading. (Neh. 8)

Please remember a Turkish pastor named Hassan in your prayers. He recently suffered a stroke during a church service in Kamarovo. He was so excited about this new meeting that he hardly slept the night before. He brought a message from Mark chapter 1. He told how he had been saved twenty years ago and how the Lord had changed his life. He stopped suddenly and asked the believers to give testimonies. It was evident that something was wrong with him as he lost mobility of his right arm and his speech became slurred. We excused ourselves from the service and took him to the hospital where he was admitted immediately. Hassan is home now, doing fairly well, and attending meetings with me once again. He certainly would be comforted knowing that you are praying for him.

A fifteen year old boy named Iusniu, has been coming to one of our services for about a year now. He stands and gives good and encouraging testimonies about how the Lord saved him and daily helps him. He doesn’t know how to read; but, little by little, he has been learning from the gospel songbook that we gave him. Just last week, we also gave him a New Testament. He was very grateful and it is wonderful to see that he has a desire to go with God.

A few months ago, we held a special church service in our home for the Bulgarian widows we minister to. We asked Mitko, one of our national pastors, to preach to these ladies. He preached a simple but powerful message from John 3. The Lord continues working in the hearts of these widows, and three of them have trusted him as their Savior. Please continue to pray for the salvation of Grandma Bona, Grandma Ana, and Grandma Marica.

Throughout 2009, we personally distributed hundreds of singing and preaching DVDs. We are thankful to all of you who have helped us to do this. We have sown the Word of God, and we have seen people receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and join the church.

In a normal week, we attend about fourteen meetings. We have made progress in the language and it is a real blessing to be able to preach in Turkish. The year has gone by swiftly; but, it is encouraging as we look back and know that the Lord has been with us and has not failed nor forsaken us.

All Because Of Calvary,  Matthew Welch

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                                                                                            September/October 2009 Prayer Letter

 For God is gone forth before thee...(IChron.14:15)

The Lord's work here in Bulgaria continues to flourish. The other night after church services in Marcovo and Sneshna we stopped in a village named Komarevo for the first time.  We went to the home of a woman called Elmas.  Her daughter is 45 years old and became a Christian just a few months ago at our meeting in Sneshna.  We sang gospel songs at the home and prayed with the people there.  These people were very touched and God's Holy Spirit was speaking to their hearts.  Then they cried and rejoiced when we told them we were going to start a gospel meeting in their village. While there we also gave away DVDs that have Turkish hymns and testimonies, and a message from John 3.  It was wonderful to see such a hunger for God and His Word.  While we were singing the hymns in  the house some of the neighbors started coming over and asked why they had not been invited to the meeting.  Well, of course it was because Elmas had not known that we would be coming but by the end of the night we all could tell that God had gone before us.

Just recently, in the village of Dalgopol we had the great blessing of celebrating the birthday of a young man named Ali.  He is 25 years old and is mentally and physically handicapped.  He lives with his mother and it is in her home that we hold a church meeting.  It was a  few weeks ago during a church service that we were taking requests for songs and I asked Ali which song he would like to sing.  Some of the folks there said that he didn't know any of the songs.  But I told them that he probably knows more hymns than any of us because the church has been meeting in his home for years and the Lord knows he has been the most faithful member.  Then his mother told me which hymn he likes and so we all sang it. Afterwards I asked when Ali's birthday was and they told me it was in the month of May.  But we decided that even though it had passed we would celebrate it in October.  And what a celebration it was!  All of the church folk got involved in the preparations and on the day of the celebration there was a houseful of people.  We held a church service first and then we celebrated Ali's birthday.  Ali was so happy that he cried.

At that same meeting in Dalgopol, Riza and his brother Shaban preached and testified.  They are brothers and were both saved this past summer.  They are in their early thirties and married and have several children.  Their mother has been a faithful church member for years and prayed fervently for her boys.  She gets such a blessing when they preach and testify in the services.  In the past she cried and prayed for them to be saved and now that they are she stills cries but the tears are tears of joy and thankfulness.

A few months ago we announced that our son-in-law, William LeFevre, and our daughter Hannah surrendered to the mission field.  If you would like to contact them for a meeting, enclosed is their prayer card. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

 All Because Of Calvary,  Matthew Welch and Family

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                                                                                                                        July\August Prayer Letter

...Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

Greetings we send you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To begin with I would like to thank the Lord for the work here.  It makes all the difference when God is blessing.  It has been refreshing to see His Spirit working in people's hearts and lives.

Riza was saved not long ago in one of our church services in the town of Dalgopol.  I have written about him previously and now it seems that the Lord is calling him to preach His Word.  Last week in his home church he preached for the first time from the gospel of Mark.  Everyone was blessed and God spoke to our hearts through his preaching.  When the service was over we all rejoiced in the Lord knowing that God was working among us.

I had the privilege to visit 5 of our churches pastored by Bro. Demir who is a national pastor from the city of Provadia.  I have not been in these churches for some time and it was good to see at each church there were new converts. They were all so happy to give their testimonies about how they had come to the Lord and gotten saved. I am thankful we have stayed with preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom.1:16).  People continue to come to Him and are saved by the blood of the Crucified One.

This summer has been busy with a number of baptismal services.  Over one hundred adults have been baptized.  I had the privilege to baptize my 17 year old daughter, Rebecca, who professed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and was baptized in the likeness of His death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection.  It was wonderful!  What a blessed gospel we preach!  What hope and good news we have to give to our children and to the rest of this world!  (Matt. 28:19-20) 

We continue to produce and distribute DVDs of singing, testimonies, and Bro. Ralph Cheatwood preaching.  The Lord is using them all over this land.  Last week we sent over 50 DVDs to Spain with a Turkish family from one of our churches.  The family works there and said that there are over 200 Bulgarian-Turkish families in their area.

In closing I would like to mention that in February of 2010 we will be applying for permanent visas.  We have been on the mission field for 16 years through your prayers and support and this is the first time we have had this opportunity. Up to this time we have only been able to purchase yearly visas at a cost of $5,000.   These permanent visas will cost about $10,000 . We would appreciate your prayers concerning this need. 

                                                             Your Servants For Jesus' Sake,   Matthew Welch and Family

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.  2 Cor. 9:8

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints, June 2008

In March we began a new meeting in a town called Devnia.  Two men from our church here in Dabravino named Mutalim and Jevjep have relatives in that town.  Their relatives were desiring to have a church started and so they invited us to come.  Most of our meetings begin this way.  Someone has a burden for a friend or relative to hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ preached and a meeting is started.  We would appreciate your prayers for this new church in Devnia and that the Lord would bless and protect it.  I would also ask your prayers for an elderly Bulgarian man named Malcho.  For many years he and his wife, Denka have graciously opened up their home and invited believers in their village to come there for a worship service once a week.  They also enjoyed attending our other meetings whenever they could and they would faithfully stand up and testify about the Lord and His workings in their lives.  But at the end of April Malcho came to our home early one morning and with many tears told us that his wife had passed away suddenly.  Even in the midst of his sorrow he praised the Lord like he'd always done in the past.  We attended her funeral the next day and our van was used as a hearse.  Pray for Malcho that the Lord would comfort him and give him strength in the days ahead.

In April my son, Mark returned to the States to graduate from high school and to further his studies there.  Then on May 7th our oldest daughters, Grace and Hannah will be graduating from college.  We are very proud of them and our prayer is that they will follow our Lord in their lives.  We are also very proud to announce that our daughter Hannah will be married to William LeFevre on the 7th of June.  We ask that the Lord would look upon this union and bless them as they serve Him together.

My wife, Jane has continued visiting with some of the widows in our village and she has written another update about them which I believe will be a blessing to your hearts.  She writes:

In September we attended the birthday party of Ivanka who turned 76 years old.  She is the lady who has opened up her home for us to meet together with the widows for Bible reading and singing.  She is a very kind lady and the Lord has certainly touched her heart.  Grandma Penka has witnessed to her for months and she is very open to the gospel.  When she attended Grandma Gina's birthday party in August she was so impressed that she decided that she wanted to celebrate her birthday the same way.  So she invited our whole family to her home along with her widow friends and we sang hymns and read from the Bible and prayed with them.  It was a very happy time for all of us.  And while we were singing a hymn Ivanka left the room and came back with a small stack of books in her hands.  When I looked more closely I saw that they were two New Testaments and a Bible.  When we finished singing the song Ivanka looked around the room and very simply and sincerely stated,  "I have read these books and I believe what is written in them."  That was it!  Just a short testimony from this little lady but she said it with all her heart.  On December 26th we gathered with those dear ladies again at Ivanka's home.

Grace, Hannah, and Matthew were visiting for the holidays and they had the opportunity to meet the widows.  The widows were so delighted to have all the children around them and they loved all the joyful singing.  After learning that several of the ladies had spent Christmas Day alone we sure were thankful to the Lord that He had given us this privilege of being a blessing to these poor, lonely women- just by remembering them and loving them. 

In February Grandma Ivanka suffered a stroke during the night.  The ambulance came and took her to the hospital in Varna.  She was left partially paralyzed from the stroke not being able to walk nor speak.  After a week she was showing some improvement and her daughter took her to her apartment to care for her.  We all missed her so much.  But just this past week she came back home to live.  Her daughter or her son would have continued to care for her in Varna but she said she was lonely and wanted to be where all her friends were.  I visited her and she is so weak that she can hardly walk.  I cannot understand her when she speaks but she understands me.  I told her that I was glad she was home and that we pray for her every night.  Her widow friends have promised to visit her and take care of her daily.  She looks so pitiful but she is so happpy to be home.  We sure look forward to being able to have meetings in her home again if the Lord is willing.

Grandma Penka has become so dear to our family.  It seems the closer she gets to the Lord the closer we are drawn to her.  Matt's mother and my mother died years ago and so most of our children have never known the love and care of a grandmother.  Maybe that's why it's so easy for our children to love these older women- perhaps it fills an empty spot in their hearts.  Just the other day Sarah returned home from visiting Grandma Penka and she was so happy and told me what a nice visit they had together.  She said,  "  You know what!?  I have seen how other grandmas are with their grandchildren and I always thought it would be so nice to have a grandma.  Well, Grandma Penka is like a grandma to me now.  Really!  She's just like a real grandma would be."  I had given Grandma Penka four Bulgarian New Testaments and she carefully and prayerfully gave them away.  Then she was witnessing to a good friend of hers and this friend said that she would like a Bible.  Penka told me,  "  I didn't have any Bibles left so I gave her my own!"  We both laughed about it and afterwards I gave her several more Bibles.  I can still hear her chuckling as we slowly made our way down the street that day.  I think she finds it humorous that God would use an old, crippled woman to help get out the gospel message.

Traiyana is 85 years old and she also is a widow.  She lives in our village but during the winter months goes to Varna and stays with her son until spring.  I really wanted to meet Traiyana and witness to her.  Grandma Penka told me that Traiyana was an atheist and that she and her husband had been members of the Communist Party.  She had been on my heart for some time but things didn't work out to visit her and I was really disappointed because I knew that she would leave the village soon.  Then one evening in November I saw Grandma Penka and Traiyana standing in the road in front of our house.  Grandma Penka saw me and called out.  I opened the window to see what was the matter and she told me that Traiyana was leaving to Varna and wanted to say goodbye.  I invited them in for a tea and they readily accepted.  As we were introducing ourselves and our children to Traiyana I noticed that Grandma Penka was all smiles and she kept pointing at a package in Traiyana's hand.  Then Traiyana overhearing what Grandma Penka was trying to tell me unwrapped the little package. Inside was a Bible.  She said, "  I was at Penka's home telling her goodbye because I have to leave this evening for Varna.  She gave me this Bible and said it was a gift from you and so I wanted to come and thank you for it before I leave."  I couldn't believe it!  What a tremendous blessing to my soul!  I really look forward to seeing her this spring after she has had that Bible all winter!

 Once again I want to thank every one of you for your many prayers and faithful support of our ministry in Bulgaria and Romania.

 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

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                                                                                                          March/April 2006

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

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                                                                                   August - September, 2003

 "  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 

"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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