How did the Church of the Nazarene first begin in Georgia?
The church in Tbilisi is an outreach of our coaching and counseling center [The Open Door Center], where people can come for free weekly group coaching or counseling.
When we first came to Georgia, the coaching center was run by a different organization. Our family would go prayer walking each week, praying for a center similar to The Open Door, and one day that organization asked us if we wanted to own the center. It was a huge answer to our prayers, and I daily remind myself the center is an answer to prayer from God.
What kind of coaching is offered at The Open Door Center?
We offer a 7-week Marriage coaching group, a 6-week Emotional Regulation for Parents, and a 12-week Spiritual Journey with God.
Our counselors also offer grief counseling and trauma counseling. Originally, we started a program that combined counseling, coaching, and English training all together—a women’s advocacy program for women who had been victims of domestic violence.
Now we mainly focus on spiritual coaching and trauma counseling, for both single and married people. The center gives back to the community by offering a weekly free coaching group, a weekly free counseling group, a free English club on Thursdays, and church on Sundays.
What is the connection between The Open Door Center and church services?
When we first came to Tbilisi it was really hard—we were told our job here was to disciple and train leaders. However, when we arrived there actually was nothing here to disciple. So, we became church planters.
While I was helping with communications for the field, I interviewed another remote worker. He told the story of how they started their church—through their girls taking music lessons, learning songs to play for church, and then they would play them each Sunday. They said basically they started with just themselves and one other family.
That was encouraging to me, because it made it feel like we didn’t have to grow a huge Bible study in our home, to then outgrow our home to then plant a church.
Before, I had this idea that okay, you start with a Bible study in your home and when you outgrow the space in your home then you can have enough people to start a church.
During this time, I went through the ‘Promised Land Living’ coaching group that I now run for Eurasia. God spoke to me through this group in a module where we look at ‘Responsible For’ vs
‘Responsible To,’ and felt that God called me to be responsible to start the church, and not be responsible for all of the work in Tbilisi.
We started on Friday evenings. We would just meet and go through discipleship questions with us and a couple of other couples, local people we knew at the time. Those family’s kids then came to summer camp.
After summer camp we invited everyone who came to summer camp to join us on Sunday morning, where we would read the Bible and sing and have a service, and God just opened the doors for more and more people to come and be a part, so we had a steady group of people coming every Sunday. And it’s still not huge, but God keeps sending people to help such as Abishek and Utkarsha, and Cristhian and Vane, and there is also another Nazarene family in town. The more we say yes to God, the more we see people joining.
How have the Open Door Center and church impacted the community?
Our Wednesday night coaching group is free, and a lot of people come to it because they are looking for community and feel lost.
A lot of times when people ask questions like how do I create the kind of relationships I want, we then can ask, ‘What kind of relationships are you looking for,’ and people say, ‘People who are encouraging, or will help me be the best version of me,’ and then we can say, ‘On Sunday morning we have a group of people who worship God and love God and help each other do those things.’
It helps people to move back into community, and be more focused outside of themselves, and to see God as the ultimate healer.
How can we pray for you, the Open Door Center, and your church
We are asking for a local person who wants to grow in God and lead the church—that is the biggest prayer, and for someone who can plant churches in other cities in Georgia.
Our other prayers are also for more local people to join the church, that we can reach out to them, serve them, and love them, and show them this is what it means to love people well.
Please also pray for the Galindos who moved to Georgia earlier in the year and will support the ministry while the Hendrix family is on home assignment!
