The city of Gori is located in the centre of Georgia and has a population of approximately 55,000. It was one of the most violent and corrupt cities in the Russian Empire and it was the birthplace of Josef Stalin.
Today, Gori is a poor city with high unemployment, living with the memory of invasion by the Russian army in 2008 which left many dead. The current situation in Georgia is tense. It was the first country to experience Russian occupation of part of its territory on the excuse of liberating ‘Russians’. Attempts to undermine the local economy are ongoing so as to draw it back under Russian hegemony. The events in Ukraine and Maldova are watched with anxious eyes.
Two churches
There are two evangelical Baptist churches in Gori. One small congregation meets in Stalin Street, only 100 yards from where the communist leader was born. The other, slightly larger, is housed on a mainly derelict site beside the railway line. It has a mostly ageing congregation of about 30 people. Two of their members were killed in 2008.
However, its leaders are people of remarkable vision. They run a soup kitchen, digging a well to provide clean water for this ministry. Members of the congregation visit people in their homes with medical, practical and spiritual help. However, the roof of their property is in a dangerous condition and the whole ministry could be endangered. A replacement requires them to raise around £10,000.
Pastor Stephen Dray of Ferndale Baptist Church, Southend, visits the brothers and sisters in Gori on a roughly six-monthly basis. He is returning in late January, early February.
