Moldova comes to Melksham
Counties Evangelist Bob Telford tells us about a mission method that started in Moldova.
For over 10 years, a few other Counties Evangelists and I have been going to Moldova every winter to preach at ‘FRANKS’ missions. FRANKS is an acronym for Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbours and Kids.
FRANKS missions were the idea of Mark McCormick (Director of Moldovan Mission). He was a pastor for many years in Moldova and is deeply involved in ministry, evangelism and church planting. It has been a privilege to work alongside him and I’m grateful for his encouragement to try the FRANKS principles and programme in the UK.
The missions in Moldova have been very fruitful, with several thousands of people making an initial response to the Gospel and many hundreds going on to baptism and church membership.
FRANKS – The way it works
FRANKS missions begin with the believers in participating churches asking the Lord to bring to their minds and lay on their hearts, the names of people for whom they should be praying.
Each believer then prays daily for their FRANKS for 12 weeks and meets weekly with other believers to pray for each others’ FRANKS.
Then the FRANKS are invited to events over a ten-day to two-week period. These take place mainly in believers’ homes. It is made clear to those who are invited that a brief explanation of the Gospel will be given by a visiting speaker and that time will be given for questions and discussion.
Many people have shown a readiness to accept the invitation, having undoubtedly been prepared by God over the preceding ‘prayer soaked’ twelve weeks. We make preparations for how we will follow up with interested people, and discipleship groups for those who will respond. No time is lost in encouraging responders into the discipleship groups. These groups are ready to start immediately once the FRANKS mission period is over. This promptness ensures that momentum is not lost.
It’s not rocket science!
The basic FRANKS paradigm is nothing new or desperately innovative! It is built on prayerful preparation, a bit of faith and boldness, good hospitality, clear proclamation and a well-planned discipleship pathway for those who respond to the Gospel. These should, of course, be part and parcel of the life and outreach of every church - regardless of whether it has a FRANKS mission.
Perhaps the unusual feature of the FRANKS approach to mission is the underlying intentionality. When a church decides to have a FRANKS mission it is determinedly focussing its energies, funds, time and effort on prayerfully, unashamedly and clearly seeking to bring people to faith.
Moldova > USA > UK > ?
After many years of doing FRANKS in Eastern Europe and helping with a FRANKS mission in the USA I was thrilled to be invited by the leaders of Queensway Chapel in Melksham to lead them in a FRANKS outreach.
Over two weeks in Spring 2025, events were organised. Some of these took the form of a FRANKS coffee morning or cream tea, and other FRANKS events were: A pub quiz evening, a South African Braai, a pudding evening and a ‘Wine, Cheese and Jesus’ event, largely in people’s homes.
In addition to the FRANKS events, the church hosted an evening thinking about loss, grief and hope, and three special Sunday services.
As well as programming a few new activities for FRANKS people, the church decided to try and make more of the opportunities provided by its regular activities. Consequently, the Gospel was explained directly and urgently to many people the church sees regularly, including adults with learning difficulties and their support workers, lunch club attenders, and children and parents at the midweek ‘Family Church’.
Over the 2 weeks, people responded at every event, with 25-30 people asking for literature and / or conversation to help them find out more about Christ and how they could know him. Four people publicly said they had received Christ, and two others spoke to me privately to say that they had as well.
Applying the principles and programme of FRANKS in the USA and most recently in the UK has been, and continues to be, a learning experience. There are some significant cultural differences between Moldova and the UK which need to be acknowledged. But the experience of recent weeks in Wiltshire has underlined once again that the Gospel, presented rationally and clearly to people for whom God’s people have faithfully prayed, will be used by God to bring people to Christ.
Churches in Gloucestershire, the Midlands and London are thinking and praying about how the FRANKS approach to mission might be right for them. Pray for wisdom for me and for them as we explore the possibilities.
Martin Erwin, Counties CEO comments, “As a church leader at Queensway Chapel, Melksham, we were thrilled to have Bob with us to lead our FRANKS mission. We were preparing for almost a year, and in the three months leading up to the mission, our congregation members were praying for well over 100 people regularly. It was moving to project 100 names on the screen every Sunday too, as we paused to pray for those people to come to know Jesus. Having Bob make an appeal during our normal Sunday service, and seeing people come forward to indicate they wanted to follow Jesus was incredibly moving too. Our faith has been strengthened, and we would encourage anyone to consider the FRANKS approach to mission.”
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