Head Bishop Edward Grabovenko traveled to the Far East – cities of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – to minister in churches.
In Vladivostok Bishop Grabovenko met with brother Roman Dombrauskas, senior pastor of the House of Life Association of Pentecostal Churches. Bishop highly spoke of the work the church is going, recognizing the perseverance, loyalty and dedication to fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The vision of the church includes being obedient to the Word of God – preach the Gospel to all nations, and plant churches in Jerusalem (Vladivostok), Judea (Primorye region), Samaria (Russia), and to the ends of the earth (world mission). And this is not sequentially but simultaneously. The Church believes that the harvest will be reaped, and they dedicates themselves to this work with all their heart, soul and strength. House of Life Church of Vladivostok was founded in 1993, and since then has started more than 70 churches across the country, and more than 30 churches in the nations of Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
According to Bishop Edward's words, such work deserves to be an example to all the churches, “My dream and my prayer is that all the churches in our country would do what you do, that we might become the generation that leads people to Christ.” Bishop Grabovenko preached at the evening service. His sermon on faith and testimonies of the works of God in his life and ministry inspired the church.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was the next city that Bishop Grabovenko visited. There he ministered at the conference of Pentecostal churches of the Far East. It was attended by ministers from all over the Far East.
Alexey Rudenkiy, first deputy deputy, Peter Yarmolyuk, bishop in the Far Eastern Federal District, Nicholay Voskoboynikov, senior presbyter frm Magadan, Roman Dombrauskas, senior pastor of House of Life Association from Vladivostok, Pastor Ivan Jurkov from Khabarovsk and other misnisters from the Far East attended the conference.
Bishop Anatoly Paprotskiy, senior pastor of the Kamchatka association of Full Gospel Churches welcomed the participants and opened the conference.
Senior pastor of the House of Life Association Roman Dombrauskas shared a word about the mission using the example of prophet Jonah: “God was the first missionary. Our heart must be bound to God, that we might bear fruit.”
Head bishop of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (the Pentecostal Union) Edward Grabovenko in his sermon about faith shared a remarkable testimony of his life – how God raised him and called to be a pastor in the city of Perm. Edward shared his experience in raising his four sons, setting an example of the father. He told some stories of personal evangelism. Based on the Scripture verses: “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God” (Mic. 6: 8) – pastor urged believers to serve others, to give the needy “heavenly bread”, spread the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth – whether it's a city, a village or a town. In conclusion, Bishop Edward Grabovenko called for prayer and asked to come forward those whose hearts are filled with the desire to participate in the evangelistic ministry. Far Eastern bishops and pastors of churches prayed for everyone.
Peter Yarmoluk Bishop of Pentecostal Churches preached about the influence of the church. He explained that the effectiveness of the impact is caused by such factors as vision, discipline, humility, accountability, discipleship.
On the second day of the Conference Bishop Alexey Rudenky preached. In his sermon he gave an example of how God called Nehemiah to restore the ruins, and addressed the participants of the conference: “Today the Lord calls His Church to be “a repairer of the breach.” Often we are engaged exclusively in rehabilitation of drug addicts, alcoholics, but do not pay attention to what the devil destroys – the younger generation – child prostitution, teenage alcoholism, and more. No matter what happened in the past. God made you righteous and can use in the rescue of the lost. At the end of the sermon, Bishop Alexey Rudenky urged pastors and bishops to pray for those who came forward.
Bishop Peter Yarmolyuk about the conference: “Participation of Bishop Grabovenko in the Conference was a special blessing. His word from the Lord penetrated the hearts of those present, and many came forward, wanting to spread the Gospel. Words of Bishop Rudenkiy, who spoke about the depths of the human heart and the need of God's involvement in the healing of the heart, also were very encouraging. Again, many believers come to prayer, seeking God's healing.”
On the final day of the conference, church ministers, representatives of NGOs and the Ministry of Justice met at a round table to discuss the relations of church and state, of non-interference in the political affairs, etc.
Head Bishop Edward Grabovenko shared his impressions of the conference: “The Pentecostal Churches of the Far East gathered together for the first time – it's on one hand, the indicator of Christian maturity and on the other hand, the opportunity to glorify God together, to come to a common vision of ministry in the region. This means that the churches have come to realize the importance of unity. Undoubtedly, the Far East and in particular Kamchatka is the place of God's movement, and in preaching the Gospel Kamchatka is ahead of some central regions of Russia. People are very open to God in prayer: they came forward, willing to devote themselves to the ministry.
I have a very good impression of the Kamchatka Full Gospel Church, pastor of which is Anatoly Onufrievich Paprotskiy. This is a strong, mature, open, sensitive to the leading of the Hole Spirit church. It has daughter churches in 20 communities in Kamchatka. They have a Bible school, where they train pastors and missionaries to open new churches. Pastor Anatoly Paprotskiy does a great job, he has invested his life in the preaching of the Gospel, has dedicated himself to the service. He has a good, loyal and dedicated assistants – Nicholay Poyalkov who stands with him, and others. These are the leaders who took responsibility before God, and do a great job for the region and for Russia.
My expectations after this Conference – I believe that the brothers will be more open to work on the mainland of the Far East region. They have a lot of experience, which they could share with the rest of the Body.”
The Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith