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June
2003
A
Letter of Thanks from the President Dear
Friends: I
wanted to extend my personal gratitude for how you have been supporting
the 300 Churches Project in Euro-Asia. The outpouring of your love
and gifts has been extraordinary. My wish for you is that God will
bless you as you have blessed us. We
are nearing the end of the 300 Churches Project. So much has happened
that it seems like a long time ago that we touched our feet to the
Jordan, so to speak, and started this project. Now, as we look back
over what has taken place, we can count miracle after miracle wrought
by God through the Global Mission pioneers involved in this project. Actually,
it's probably time to set the record straight on the number "300."
We actually began with more than 300 project sites, expecting that
we would lose some of them over the course of the two years. Indeed
we did lose a few, but praise the Lord we overestimated how many.
Now it is looking like we will finish the project with more than 320
churches-all in places with little or no previous Adventist presence,
all with new houses of prayer to bring glory and praise to our Lord. Out
of the dozens, yes hundreds, of miracle stories we've received, permit
me to relate just a couple to illustrate the way God has been working.
In
Tajikistan a pioneer suggested that God could help a lady open the
door to her apartment, which she had been struggling to unlock for
more than two hours. She scoffed and tossed him the key, saying that
if his God was so great, he could do it. The astounded woman froze
in her tracks as the pioneer prayed aloud, turned the key, and opened
the door. In
Ukraine a local priest tried to cancel a pioneer's evangelistic meetings.
He forbade anyone to provide a hall for the program. When the group
decided instead to meet in a house, the priest boarded their bus and
told the people to get off. Many did. Then he sent spies to accompany
those who insisted on attending. However, the Holy Spirit touched
the hearts of the priest's conspirators, and when they delivered their
report to the priest, he apologized to the pioneer and is now a supporter
of his work in that city. I
have so many stories I wish I could share with you, like when angels
stopped a pioneer from being physically thrown out of a building,
or the dream that convinced a man to sell his house to be used as
a church. But though I can't tell you all the stories, I want you
know that these experiences would never have happened without your
involvement. I think one of our pioneers said it best. "It
is impossible to make people love God, but your assistance and continuous
support were the keys that opened the hearts of people. I believe
that this is only a beginning." He's
right. This is only the beginning. Only in heaven will we learn the
full extent of what the Lord has accomplished through you and the
pioneers. We are close to finishing the 300 Churches Project. However, when we set our goal we knew we were raising the bar high, and that we would work hard at the end to reach it. If you are able and willing to wrap your arms around the world once more to help us finish this project, we would be very grateful. May God bless you. Sincerely, May 2003 Fighter, Searcher, Global Mission Pioneer Sergei Venevstsev grew up in the city of Tyrni-aze in western Russia. At 14 he became interested in martial arts, and he and two friends ran away from home to Moscow to train with the masters. However, Sergei soon decided to return home after he was unable to answer his own question: "Was it really worthwhile dedicating his life to punching some-one?" Then more questions began to trouble him. "Sometimes I woke up at night feeling a thousand questions in my mind," he says. "They tortured me, but I could find no answers." One day, Sergei says, his mind seemed to clear and he decided to change his life. In his search for meaning, he turned to Buddhism, Yoga, and Islam. But he says he still felt empty inside. He didn't find the answers to his questions. Eventually Sergei saw an Adventist program on TV, which he says he watched with enchantment. "I thought how good it would be to live among people who live as one family." Sergei picked up a New Testament his mother had recently purchased and began to read. "I did not understand a lot," he says, "but I started with Matthew and felt at peace. I was delighted." A relationship with a young lady that went sour threatened to end Sergei's new faith. "One day," he says, "in despair, I stepped outside and shouted to God, 'I reject you. I don't need you. I will succeed by myself, even if I have to turn to Satan to do it.'" Sergei says the results of these words didn't take long to appear in his life. Previously a quiet, peaceful person, he says, "Now I sought threefold revenge on anyone who crossed me." Unusual things started happening at home-occult-type things. Finally Sergei says he began to feel that he was not important to anyone. "Why suffer like this?" he asked himself. And Sergei began to consider suicide. About this time a friend invited him to a Christian program. Sergei refused. "Why go where people are only going to tell you how you aren't living by the rules?" he reasoned. But his friend persisted and finally Sergei gave in and went. He loved it. A year later Sergei was baptized into the Adventist Church. Even
through his mandatory army service, Ser-gei remained faithful to God.
After the army Sergei began to search for ways to serve God. He began
praying in January 2000 and in April he received the call to join
the 300 Churches Project. The 300 Churches Project is nearing completion and by the bars below you can see we still need some funds to wrap the project up. If you would like to help us in a final push to buy house churches for Global Mission pioneers like Sergei, please, contact us right away! April 2003 Greetings from Siberia Dear Friends, I greet you brothers and sisters with the peace of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers for us. Because of your support, people who are precious to God are receiving hope and faith. Mostly
military people live in our city and you can imagine how difficult
it is to reach their hearts. For a long time authorities forbade us
to hold meetings. Our work wasn't easy, but as the Lord said, "Is there anything impossible for God?" Finally the city administration agreed to allow us to run an evangel-istic program. All our troubles disappeared just like the walls of Jericho fell to the ground. We saw the power of God. Nearly 50 people were baptized, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. One day, walking along the street with my books, I prayed and knocked at a door. A young girl in a wheelchair answered. At first I was unsure what to say, but I went ahead and offered her my books. She invited me to come in, took the books and began to look the through them. I wondered why she was in a wheelchair and wished I could ask and maybe provide some comfort. As we became acquainted she told me. Six years ago she had an accident and despite seeing many doctors no one was able to help her. She had been studying religion with someone else but had not been convinced of the truth in what she heard. She listened to me very carefully as we talked about Jesus Christ. I offered her Bible studies and she accepted. She is an active, happy person and currently she is reading Prophets and Kings. I believe this will touch her heart and she will possibly become one of our small group leaders. When we devote ourselves to God and ask Him to lead us to people who are open and ready to accept the Gospel truth, then God gives us the desire of our heart. Praise the Lord for His generous gifts! Y.V. Permakov, Global Mission Pioneer Siberia is a particularly difficult place to work simply due to the huge distances involved. Commu-nicating directly with our pioneers there is not possible, as most have no phones, much less e-mail. Even reports and photos from our 300 Project pioneers are few and far between. Yet, we know the message is going forward in Siberia. Thank you for your help in making this possible. We still have several house churches to purchase in Siberia and would really be excited to hear from you if you are willing to help sponsor these projects. March 2003 New Congregations in Azerbaijan Salekh Tofik Kerimov and his family are church planting in Baku, Azerbaijan. Salekh became an Adventist in 1996, while serving in the army. When the invitation came for him to get involved with the 300 Churches Project, he accepted. His wife works with him. The following is a letter he wrote to all of you who have been supporting the 300 Project. Dear Friends: "After the documents for the house were signed, we barely had everything in order for the day of our first meeting, which we had announced in two of our communities. We had told everyone that we would be holding meetings in the Azeri language, and many responded to this call. But even before that when I decided to start meeting on Saturdays, I had made the decision that even if there were only two or three people, or even just one, we would still become the first church in Baku to conduct services in the Azeri language. But thank the Lord that He also called some of our other brothers and the sisters to serve him in this project. "Since I began working two people have been preparing for baptism and one is ready. Interestingly he is from Iran. Possibly the Lord wants to prepare him to serve in his country. Three more people want to begin preparing for baptism. Currently we have about 15 people attending, and four or five of them are not members yet. "My task right now is to prepare our new people to walk with the Lord, to teach our current members to bring new people, and to teach them how to teach themselves. We also want to begin some church departments and small groups and make plans for the future. "We need special prayer for our group, for its spiritual growth, for unity, for love, and for more members. This really is the first group to hold services in the native Azerbaijan language in Baku. "May the Lord bless our program and give to us energy, patience, love, and holiness. "I thank you for your prayers and concern." Sincerely, More than 300 new groups like this are now meeting together now in the Euro-Asia Division, and more than 250 of them have a small church home, thanks to your generosity. We still have a number of projects to finish, however, and we still need some financial support to finish the project. We're so close, but we're not there yet. If the Spirit so moves you, we could use your help in purchasing the last of these houses of prayer for these new congregations. Once again, thank you for you help! February 2003 Pioneering Kyrgyzstan I asked several pioneers in Kyrgyzstan to tell me their church planting stories. Here are a few of them. The names of their towns are in bold. Karabolta: One Sabbath a young man came to church, just from curiosity. During the service he became sarcastic and laughed at us. Afterward I approached him and asked why he came and if he would take some Bible lessons. I handed him the lessons and he left, never intending to return. Several months later, however, he showed up. Later he explained, "I used to have many friends, but they all faded away, got married, went to prison, or immigrated. I became lonely and depressed. Finally I remembered the lessons you gave me and I went through them. I was amazed at what I learned, and I decided to come back. When I did I was invited to become a part of a small group where I found new friends." Today this young man is an active Adventist working for the Lord. Ivanovka: A 17-year old girl we knew always refused to attend our programs. But then one day a knock came at my door. I opened the door and found her outside crying. "I've decided to accept Jesus and be baptized," she told me. After her baptism she took me to visit her alcoholic mother, and I began to visit the mother regularly. Over time her mother also accepted Jesus into her heart and was baptized. Later I asked her what finally made her decide to be baptized. "I saw how my daughter's life was changed," she said. Novo-Pavlovsk: A woman was searching for truth, but the church she belonged to didn't satisfy her. She told them she disagreed and was eventually disfellowshipped. Then she learned about our church. We began Bible studies and she became excited about what she was learning. She wanted to join us, but her husband wouldn't allow it. He guarded her every Sabbath, so she couldn't attend church. We started praying for her every Sabbath and the Lord worked a miracle to solve the problem. She was baptized and has become an active church member. Bishkek: Four ladies from my region of the city were attending our evangelistic series. All belonged to another church in town, and one was a small group leader there. They felt that the Adventist message was new light for them, so they began studying the Bible with me. They doubted the doctrine of the Sabbath, so I gave them a book on the subject. They studied it thoroughly and decided that the Adventist message was true. All four of them were baptized, and today we're working with their families. Once again, thanks to all of you whose support is making experiences like these possible. We are closing in on our goal, but we aren't finished! The end of this two-year project is fast approaching, and we really hope to provide a home church for each of these new congregations. If you can, please help us put the finishing touches on this huge project! January 2003 Yevgeny
Ligai, Pioneer in Kazakhstan Then something happened. We sent an evangelistic program on DVD, to all of our 300 pioneers. The program was created in Russian in a way that any of our pioneers can easily run a series of meetings using it. When this program was coupled with a practical tutorial from Mark Finley on running the program, Yevgeny got excited. He helped run a series of meetings in conjunction with a health program, and at the end he made a call for decisions. This was something he had not previously had the courage to do. Six people responded. When I talked with Yevgeny it was obvious he had caught fire. He was already making plans for how he would continue his ministry after the 300 Churches Project. At
the end of our conversation in Almaty, Yevgeny asked for special prayer.
He would be having surgery the next day. It was the fifth time. We
gathered all the pioneers who were there and asked for God to guide
the hands of the doctors. Some months ago Yevgeny wrote a letter to all of you who have been supporting the 300 Project. "Dear Brothers & Sisters: "Thank you very much for your prayers. It is only thanks to God and you that I am writing this letter to you today. Due to my illness I have learned a lot about myself. Earlier my plans were short-term: conduct an evangelistic program, fill the pews. And this was obvious in my communication with people. I didn't have the burning fire of the gospel in me, so I couldn't ignite that fire in the hearts of others. Today I view my ministry differently. I see that my mission is not to bring people to our church, but instead to help them meet the Lord. I believe the most important thing in ministry is our sincerity. Thank you for your patience. Please pray for the people we are working with so that a love for God will develop in their hearts." In
spite of the devil's efforts, with the Lord's help, we won't let Yevgeny's
or any other pioneer's ministry stop. Yevgeny is gone, but another
will replace him. December 2002 Central
Asia: Slowly But Surely As we rounded a corner my eyes fell on a nearly invisible village at the base a nearby hill. It was as brown as its environment. The homes were built of mud with holes for windows. The dusty streets were deserted except for one tiny girl dressed in bright reds, blues, and greens. Her dress was the only visible color. She carried a stick for controlling the three or four cows under her supervision. I wondered-who is going to reach out to her? The needs in this part of the world are real, though not necessarily in the way many of us may think. The people are not rich, but they live as they have for generations. They don't have cars or luxurious houses, but they lead quiet, unhurried lives centered around their families and communities. They have needs but they go deeper. Traditionally Central Asia is a Muslim region. We passed many cemeteries built in the Islamic fashion, and every so often a mosque. But the reality is that many people don't even have close ties to Islam. I understood that clearly when we crossed the border into Tajikistan. It was necessary to hire a taxi from the border to the capital city of Dushanbe. Our driver was a friendly fellow, who naturally considered himself a Muslim. But when we mentioned Abraham, he had never heard of the man that sincere Muslims considers the father of their faith. Back in Kazakhstan a day or two later, we worshiped with a group who had not been together for long. They were studying the Koran and the Bible together in their local Kazakh language. After the study session they brought food and we began to talk. I sat next to an elderly lady who spoke Russian. She was a mother of 10 and grandmother of 18. She leaned over and quietly asked me, "Are you a Seventh-day Adventist?" I smiled and said, "Yes, I am." She looked thoughtful for a moment and decision seemed to flash into her eyes when she looked back at me. "Me too," she said emphatically. We have nearly sixty new groups meeting in Central Asia right now. This miracle has been possible in large part because of you-people from around the world who have been willing to support the 300 Churches Project even though you are far away. In some countries, these new groups could not meet legally without a house church. Once again, thank you for your generosity. More than 2,000 people have been baptized and more than 3,000 more are taking Bible studies. Many new believers have asked me to pass their gratitude on to you. November 2002 Where
Worship Isn't for Spectators He became a Seventh-day Adventist against his father's wishes and even orders. His father beat him several times. When he was asked to become a Global Mission pioneer, he didn't tell his father until he reached Russia to begin training. He called home and his father, as expected, was extremely angry. Their relationship is slightly better now. We entered the small apartment where the group holds their meetings. It was mostly women. All the chairs had been cleared from the room, and they sat on the floor along two walls. Prayer was an experience not to be forgotten. It was an animated time. They knelt with palms turned upward, symbolizing their desire to receive whatever blessings God would bestow. Listeners prayed aloud almost as much as the person giving the prayer. They bowed to the floor and rose again, interacting completely in their conversation with heaven. Bible study followed and then after the service they began asking questions about Christianity as compared to Islam. "Have you read the Koran?" they asked me. I hadn't read all of it, but I was glad to tell them I had started reading it recently. Then I asked them, "What is your greatest need here?" Nearly every time I ask that question people respond, "We need a permanent place to meet. When will we have a church?" But a church didn't top the list for this group. It came second. They wanted books in their language. Mostly they wished they had the Old Testament in their language, and they also wanted to be able to read Ellen White's writings. The only Bible and other books they have are in Russian, which is quickly becoming an obsolete language in this country. Three books are already in production, so they will have some soon. As we were putting on our shoes and jackets to leave, out came the food. It didn't matter that we had a long drive ahead of us or that we had eaten twice in the last three hours. In their culture, to reject their food is to reject them. So we ate. This group really does need a place to meet. In an apartment they can't even sing during Sabbath services for fear of attracting unwanted attention to their Christian worship. And we've promised them that as soon as we find the funds, we will help them buy a house of prayer. Compared
to where we started we don't have far to go to finish buying the 300
house churches for these new groups. If you haven't yet helped to
buy a house church for a new group, there is still time. We would
love to hear from you. October 2002 Fourteen
Lights in Zakavkasia Just recently Rebecca and I traveled to the Trans-Caucasus to visit the 14 church planting projects started there last year. We found difficult working conditions, but we also found many people who refused to be discouraged or give up. Though largely secular, Armenia still proudly wears its ancient history of Christianity-1,700 years. Yet only about 800 Adventists live there. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the people's traditional religion. Georgia is also a secular nation with a Christian past. Georgian Orthodoxy is their traditional religion. The Adventist membership there stands at only about 600. Azerbaijan is largely a Muslim nation. About 500 Adventists live there. Despite professing religious freedom, the governments of all three countries support traditional religions, usually at the expense of others. Adventists have been threatened, interrogated, and even had services interrupted. Yet we have much for which to be thankful. Religious freedom in the Trans-Caucasus is still better than it is in many other places. The Adventist work is moving forward. Because our 14 church planting projects have had a slower start in the Trans-Caucasus than in some other areas, we have not yet purchased any house churches for the new groups. However, a few groups are ready and they expressed high hopes that they too will soon have a place where they can worship together. The number of house churches indicated on the bar below has remained the same for awhile. There are two reasons: 1) we are pausing while we receive some required reports from the field, and 2) because we have run short on funds. Since we have not yet provided any funds for the Trans-Caucasus, we need to find some people who are willing to reach out to this part of the world and help sponsor our new groups there. Prices are higher in the Trans-Caucasus than in other parts of our division, so we hope many hands will make light work in this region. We welcome your participation. April 21, 2002 Becky and I have returned from vacation in the United States. It was a nice break for us, and we accomplished a lot also. I was able to contact several people while I was in the U.S. who gave us a significant amount of funds for purchasing house churches. That's great because new congregations are springing up all over our territory thanks to the work of our Global Mission pioneers and they really need places to gather for worship. During the six weeks we were gone Ivan Ostrovsky, our Global Mission director, was able to locate and purchase about 20 house churches. The Lord really has been blessing. Ron Quick, from the Carolina Conference, has been here for the last couple of weeks shooting a video of the project. We dramatized a story of one of our pioneers in Belarus, which will make it quite a unique and interesting film. Let me know if you would like to receive a copy and I will make sure you do. It will be awhile before the final version is complete, however. Yesterday we went to film one of the new congregations in action not very far from Moscow. The group was packed tightly into a single room in the apartment of an elderly lady. I could hardly move to take pictures. I could appreciate all the more their need to find a house church to worship in. They had a collection box that they contribute to each Sabbath to help buy their church. I very much enjoyed worshiping with them. They were a particularly happy group of people. Thanks once again for all of your support to this project. We have been quite literally awed by the outpouring of people to help our pioneers in their work.
February 22, 2002 Becky and I boarded the train in downtown Moscow. Vladimir Krupsky, the Ukrainian Union president was on the same train going home. It was fortunate for him that we were there because he had stacks of books that he was taking back for the ABC in Kiev. He didn't have room for them all in his compartment so he brought two large packages to our compartment and stashed them under the beds. "If customs gives you a hard time," he told us, "tell them they belong to the bishop in car #10." Apparently that makes more sense than saying president to most people here. Presidents are for businesses, not churches. Customs asked, we answered, and sure enough, that was all. As usual I didn't sleep well on the train. We arrived Kiev Friday morning and were met by a small army of men that Krupsky had called to help carry the books. It was colder than Moscow but the sun was bright, which it never is in Moscow during the winter. We drove to the union office and dumped our luggage in a guest room. After a quick lunch they took us to a few places in Kiev just to get some video footage and photos to show later. I knew that I was to preach at Kiev Church #1 the next day, but when we arrived back our room Friday evening I was informed that I would preach for Kiev Church #3 in about an hour. Fortunately they said I could use the same sermon I would use the next day. It was the only one I brought notes for. Sabbath dawned bright and beautiful but Becky began to feel sick. I suggested she not come to church because it would be a long miserable day if she got really sick. She didn't take my advice and it did become a miserable day indeed for her. Sunday I spoke to and interviewed about 20 Global Mission pioneers working in Ukraine. I'll put some of their stories here soon, but I'm not sure if I will accomplish that before leaving for the U.S. though. Monday Becky was much better but she declined to go with me when we went driving to look for house churches to buy. By the end of the day we had agreed to buy two of them. Tuesday morning we looked at several house church possibilities in Kiev, but none of them worked out before we needed to head to the train station for the return trip to Moscow. That trip was an uneventful as the first, which I understand is unusual. From what I hear the Moscow Kiev trip is not usually a trip to be looked forward to. I'm looking forward to coming home for a few weeks. However, that means that this will be the last update until we return sometime in April. I hope to meet with some people who would be interested in helping to buy house churches. We're getting toward the end of the funds we have and must start slowing down a little until we can find more. If you're interested in helping, I'm reachable by e-mail while in the U.S. (jeff@scoggins.biz).
January 25, 2002 Things are rocking right along on our 300 Churches Project. I'm doing better at giving information about that program in the newsletter. If you don't get the newsletter, you can download it by clicking "Get the Newsletter" on the left. Things are rocking right along on our 300 Churches Project. I'm doing better at giving information about that program in the newsletter. If you don't get the newsletter, you can download it by clicking "Get the Newsletter" on the left. People have been giving the money to buy the churches, but we are finding it's a trick to bring that much cash into the country. But it's a good problem and with the banking situation changing it will soon be working smoothly. Reports are coming in from all over of the good things the pioneers are doing. I still haven't gotten an official report of the December 22 baptisms, but I have heard that around 1,000 people were baptized as a result of this project. Thanks once again to all of you who have supported this. It's working. We have a ways to go, of course, and so we still need your support and your prayers.
December 14, 2001 We have purchased more than 60 of the 300 house churches so far in our projects, thanks to many of you who are helping sponsor them. In Turkmenistan we were hoping to put at least one congregation, but the government decided the pioneer should do military service. We were able to show that he is still a student so they could not take him, but they made him leave the country. Another Adventist lady there recently had her apartment confiscated on trumped up charges. The situation is just getting worse and worse there for our church and the few members who are left. Please keep them in your prayers. We've recently approved around ten house churches in the other Central Asian countries. We want to move quickly just in case similar situations arise in those areas. We really appreciate the outpouring of support we've received for these countries. We still have quite a long ways to go yet, however. Your gifts are still very welcome. See some of the new house churches in Belarus and Russia. More will come soon.
November 23, 2001 I visited three potential churches the week before last and we bought two of them. In one town, the pioneer s, a man, his wife, and a baby, had been unable to find an apartment in the entire city, which they could rent. Finally, a man who spends most of his time drunk rented them a single room. For the past two months this young family has lived in one room, sleeping on a single bed, in awful conditions. Yet, the man had already made a list of about 40 people who were interested in studying the Bible with them. He had reached a kind of impass though because he had no place to invite the people to. They were putting all their hopes in the house church that we had promised to buy for them. This young family had made friends with an old lady who had lost her son and wanted to buy an apartment to get away from her memories. He worked out with her to buy her house if we approved it. Before we arrived, though, someone else offered her even more money if she would sell to them instead. But she said, "No, I promised it to the Adventists. If they will buy it, I will sell it to them." It was was a real pleasure buying that house both for the pioneer's sake and the sake of the sweet old lady. I can't say thank you enough for the financial support all of you have given for these projects. A lot of lives are being changed because of it.
November 9, 2001 Greetings again from Russia. It's been an eventful couple of weeks, but the nature of the events makes for boring letters. So I won't subject you to our year end meetings and all the work that goes into this time of year. The one noteworthy thing, at least for us, is that we finally completed the process and formed a new union that combines the west edge of Russia and the countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. This week I made a trip east of Moscow with one of the conference president's and the Global Mission director to look at buying a couple of house churches. One city, Melenki, about halfway between Nizhni Novgorod and Moscow, is an excellent town for Global Mission work. We have only three Adventists there right now. We decided to buy a house right in the center of town, pending approval of the local administration. We've had too many instances of administration causing problems for churches too nearby. The building will require some work by the church members, but that will actually be a good thing. We spent that night in the city of Vladimir, where we showed up unannounced at the local pastor's house. They seemed genuinely glad to see us, fed us, kicked the children out of their room, and put us there. The town we visited the next moring was Yuriv Polski. After looking at one house (and rejecting it) I found out that rather than the seven Adventists in this town as claimed, there are actually 31 already meeting as a group. So we postponed our decision to discuss with the Global Mission committee if and how to proceed in this town.
Things are still going well for the 300 Churches Project. I'm asking for the first reports at the end of November, so I will soon have some good stories to tell about the work that is happening. Yesterday the president of the West Russia Union told us about Dimitri, one of the pioneers who began planting a church. He found two others to help him and they got together for a meal and to make a plan. They looked at all the food they had and thought, maybe the way to begin was to share their food. So they went to visit the town mayor. He gave them a list of poor people and permission to call on local businesses to solicite their help. The first business they visited gave them 1000 rubles (about $33). The next gave them 500 rubles. That gave them on the first day a third of the money they figured they needed to feed 30 people in the next month. Anyway, to make a long story short, they began to feed people and invite them to Bible studies. At their first study they had a group of 35 interested people. At that rate they are going to need a house church very soon. Thanks again to everyone who is helping to buy these house churches. You have been a great blessing.
October 6, 2001 This week we released the funds for the first 30 or so house churches. Ivan Ostrovsky and Vasily Novosad have been traveling a lot, visiting the actual sites and searching for the best places to buy. Some of the people can hardly believe it's happening. It's been theoretical for quite awhile, so they're quite excited to actually see their own little churches coming true. We have heard good things coming from the pioneers who are working. They are selling books, getting other Adventists involved in outreach, and already there are some groups ready for their church. Hopefully soon Becky and I will start traveling to some of these places and getting some stories from them that we can tell to you. Thank you very much for the prayers and the funds you have sent for churches!
September 28, 2001 We had a conference call with the General Conference yesterday and officially voted to form a new union by combining the North Caucasus Conference with the Trans Caucasus Mission. I think it will be a very good move that will help our work there progress more efficiently. I haven't yet heard a lot of news from the field where our 300 pioneers are working, but it is a little soon still. We have two people already traveling a lot visiting house churches that we will buy. Becky and I are trying to receive visas to go to Ukraine in a week or so. I will go to visit some potiential churches, and Becky has some communication business in there. We'll take the train to Kiev and then probably drive from there.
September 15, 2001 Today is the official beginning of phase two of the 300 Churches Project. The Global Mission pioneers begin working to build new congregations in the cities where they are working. On Sunday or Monday, many of them will hit the streets with books, going door to door selling books and finding interests for Bible studies. We're doing well in our search for funding for the 300 buildings and soon Becky and I, along with a few others, will begin visiting the sites approving buildings to be purchased. By the way, thanks very much to all of you that have sent money to help buy these churches. It's really happening! The Global Mission Committee at the division has approved 49 house churches to be visited and then purchased. A good start on the 300. Please continue to pray for our work here. We really appreciate all the support we are receiving from home!
September 8, 2001 In a week, on September 15, the 300 Global Mission pioneers will offically begin their work in 12 countries of the former Soviet Union. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors each of the pioneers in Belarus already have a house church. Now we are beginning to inspect and to buy house churches in other countries also. On September 15 these pastors-in-training will begin their ministry through literature evangelism. They will sell books as a way to knock on the doors of their community, get to know the people, and find those who would be interested in spiritual things. After a month, November 15, the pioneers will begin to invite people to small, personalized evangelistic meetings, which they will give. On December 22 the first baptisms as a result of the 300 Churches Project will take place. The Euro-Asia Division has a special prayer time each day just before lunch to ask God's blessing and for the Holy Spirit to fill these 300 young pioneers. Also, on the last Wednesday of each month the whole staff spends the day fasting and praying for them. We would invite you to join us. These young people will face many challenges as the devil tries to stop their work, and only the prayers of people who care can protect them and inspire them.
July 21, 2001 Belarus: The First House Church of the 300 Churches Project! I went to Belarus last week for only one day. I went mainly to get some video for 3ABN, but while there the president of the conference, Moses Ostrovsky, showed me a few of the house churches that will be part of the 300 Churches project. I picked one to be sponsored by the Scoggins/Lane families. This church is in the town of Dzerzhinsk, named so because it is the home town of Dzerzhinsky, the man who founded the KGB during Soviet times. Russia has at least changed the name of the KGB now, even though I don't know how much has changed of the infrastructure. Belarus, however, still operates their KGB, even under the same name. There are no Adventist churches in Dzerzhinsk. This will be the first. It's on a nice street near the center of town. It won't be difficult for people to find it. If I get a chance to meet the pastor who will go to this church I will put a picture of him here, and also as soon as there are some new members I'll put a picture of them here too. The pastor will arrive in September to begin working. So, congratulations everyone for sponsoring the first church of the project! Buying the church, however, is the easy part. Now we need to fill it. Please make this little church and the pastor a special object of your prayers and soon you will see great things begin to happen. Jeff P.S. I will be traveling for about a month, so I won't be able to update this site again until near the end of August.
July 11, 2001 Yuri Durumi is dean of Zaoksky Theological Seminary's theology department. I recently spoke with him and this is what he said: "I believe the small group program is urgently needed for our church. When we think of the church growth in our division and consider the circumstances in which our church is developing, I think this program is on time. "For 12 years now we have done big evangelistic campaigns. A lot of people came to church because of that. But now the situation is very different. It seems that in many places like Russia and some Muslim countries, large evangelistic campaigns are not effective or even possible like they used to be. We need to change our strategy and put our main emphasis on house churches and small groups. This is the future of our church in Euro-Asia. "The 300 students are my favorite theme to talk about. When I look at these students studying together I'm excited. Sometimes we doubt whether God is faithful to all his promises, whether He's active in human affairs. The best way to be convinced that He is active is to look at these young people. They come from different backgrounds, different ages, all kinds of experiences, different conversions. When you see that you understand that there is God Almighty, that there is Jesus willing to pour out his grace, his Spirit upon the earth to change the situation, to prepare people for His coming. Speaking directly to those helping with this program: "You're most welcome to come or to participate in other ways. I don't have any doubt that you will be excited, changed even, when you see these young people ready to go, ready to work for Christ." What can I add to that?
July 7, 2001 It seems as usual the devil is working as hard as we are but against the 300 Churches project. Many of the students' families have taken ill or have some other problem that makes it difficult for the students to concentrate or even stay with the program. They have many fears about their new work, and things are just all around difficult for many of them. However, they are committed and are still at work--320 of them at last count. Here at the division we have started a daily prayer group to pray just for this project and for the students themselves. If you would like to join us wherever you are at 12:45 every afternoon of the work week it would be wonderful. Let me know and I will tell our group here. I know they would be glad to hear it. We have also decided to make the last Wednesday of each month a day of fasting for the same purpose. Of course prayers offered at any time are needed, so please remember us, the 300 pioneers, and this project.
June 24, 2001 The 300 pioneers are just beginning their intensive summer training. We have promised, in the next two years, to buy a house-church for each young pastor where they will be working. However, come September, pioneers in three countries are going to have a problem. In most of the countries of our territory, the pastors will be able to go, rent a place or use the houses of friends, to begin their work. But in Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, laws forbid any sort of evangelism if there is not a church in the area. That means in September a number of these young people will go to these countries and they won't have much choice but to wait until we can actually purchase a house-church for them. Fortunately, they aren't expensive. In Belarus we can get them for as low at $5,000 if we move quickly. In Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan we can get them for as low as $10,000. If you are interested in helping us get these young people started right away, please contact us. Just click the link on the left called "How to Help."
June 14, 2001 Wow! For several months here we've been talking about the 300 churches project and the 300 Global Mission pioneers who will be planting the churches. Until now it's been all theories and faceless, nameless pioneers. Well yesterday I walked into an auditorium filled with more than 300 beaming young people, all gathered by unions, the flags of their countries waving around them. They were singing, clapping, cheering, and praying. It was something to experience. These pioneers had just begun an intensive summer course to prepare them to go back to their countries, move to an unentered areas, and begin churches. I was inspired just watching. I took two and a half rolls of film that I'll get developed right away so you can see pictures. We dedicated those young men and today they were back to their studies. At the same time we had all of the conference and union presidents here for a Global Mission advisory. We were making sure they understood the process of receiving the funds for the 300 house-churches that we are raising money for, making sure they understand how accountable we are going to make them be, and how serious we are about their staying in budget and reporting the progress of each church. And they're willing to work hard on this out of gratitude to the people kind enough to be helping with these churches. I'm going to put up here sometime the Statement of Accountability we worked up for the division. We've gotten good news from Global Mission. They will be able to help us out financially with a good chunk of this church planting project. We'll have to work for it, but we're willing.
June 4, 2001 After attending graduation at Zaoksky, I stayed later Sunday so we could discuss more about the 300 Churches project that we're beginning. In just two weeks, or less really, we will be back at Zaoksky to dedicate the 300 pastors-in-training who will go out across Euro-Asia to plant churches based on a small-group model. This will be the first of Global Mission's programs to begin here since I've arrived. There's much work to do yet. Right now we're trying to set a system in place to ensure we can be completely accountable for every penny we spend. That can be a difficult thing to do here, but we're insisting that it work--and I think it will if we plan well. Peter Koolik will be working closely with us to make sure that we can do what we're promising within budget and with good quality. I'm very glad he's working with us on this. He knows Russia, knows good people to work with, and knows construction. We won't be building, but buying good houses to convert to churches, which needs the same skills. He just returned from Belarus where he inspected several houses. They bought two of them already. So we are officially moving in Belarus! He is working on creating some guidelines for what we need to look for in the houses we buy. We've also hired one man who will spend a significant amount of his time on the road making sure things are going as they should be out in the field. Possible good news for Uzbekistan. We've got a couple of people interesting in working with us in that country. They have already been heavily involved in organizing churches there over many years and have expressed interest in doing more. So that would be great if it works out. |