BALKANS OUTREACH '94

by Stephen Poulard

On September 6th, a team of twenty-nine travelled to Mylotopos, near Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, for 2¹/₂ weeks of evangelism. Between seven and ten thousand Greeks and Albanians were reached with the Gospel.

The team of twenty-six Britons, a Frenchman, a Romanian and an American were joined daily by up to thirty Greeks from local evangelical churches for events including music, mime, sketchboarding and puppetry.

In Greece, work took place in several towns varying in size from Thessaloniki itself to Kria Vrissi - a small town near Mylotopos. In Edessa, the team were told by locals Michel and Helena that since the previous year's campaign, many other young people in the town had talked about Jesus. In Veria, they experienced a major breakthrough, realising opportunities for ministry in Greece for those with gifts in drama and music.

In Thessaloniki, the team worked in partnership with the Thessaloniki Apostolic team and the local church, using music and sketchboard to preach to hundreds of people, many of whom stayed on to find out more after the programme had finished.

In Kria Vrissi, the team were delighted to find a flood-lit stage, a PA system and a crowd of around 500, all provided by the town itself! Unexpectedly appearing as the finale to an annual music contest, they performed music and mime before Andy Economedes, an evangelist from Chichester, preached the Gospel - probably the first time it had been heard in the town.

Other team members returned to Kria Vrissi with puppets and a sketchboard a week later to continue the work. The puppeteers included Greeks trained by Rob & Traci Davis.

In Edessa, a town on the edge of the mountains, opposition was encountered in the guise of a trainee Orthodox priest, who tried hard to interrupt as a pastor from Bristol preached the Gospel using a sketchboard for the first time. Despite this, a number of contacts were made. Two Christian families, refugees from Azerbaijan, are starting a Bible study for those who made commitments.

A week was spent in Veria, noted in the Bible (as Beria) as having people 'more noble than those living in Thessaloniki'. Meetings were held in a cafe in the town centre, and an evangelistic concert was put on at a local night-club. The fifteen Christians who are now meeting in Veria have just taken communion together for the first time.

Seven of the team spent a week in Albania working with Linda McIntyre, a British missionary with a vision to reach Albanians. Many Albanians working in Greece are imprisoned and forcible repatriated by the Greek authorities. Linda does much to help the families of those imprisoned, working with very little support.