Russia is in God's heart. Every Russian should have the opportunity to hear the saving message of Jesus Christ. This is God’s size vision that the Head Bishop of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians Edward Grabovenko has. And this is a dream of many faithful Christians in Russia.Despite the fact that millions of Russians are starving spiritually, their lives are broken by alcohol, drugs, suicide, pain and desperation are present in almost every family, faith in a better future for their country makes men and women of all ages to pray, to go and take the Gospel to the lost.
This is why there are more and more teams from different churches across Russia join the project “One Year for Jesus”. The teams consist of people who care for others' pain, who believe in the power of God’s Word to change people’s lives and who can commit at least one year of their lives to evangelism.
One of the teams works in Zabaikalye region, region that is located to the east of the Lake Baikal. “Great desire to reach every town and village in Zabaikalye motivates us to travel for two months in a row on country roads from place to place. We are evangelists. Every day brings a lot of interesting and sometimes even extreme events. God manifests His glory through them. He supports us on the deserted roads, helps us to get warm in the frosty night”.
This desire and the decision to serve brought missionaries together in a friendly team. They are people of different ages and hobbies, most of them are residents of the city of Chita. The oldest of them is 52 years old, the youngest – 20 years old. But it’s not about the age, it’s about the passion. “Their passion is so strong, – says Vladimir Vairakh, coordinator of the “One Year for Jesus” Project in Zabaikalye region – that they already have plans to continue to minister even after their term is over”.
And the mission in this region is not easy. Difficulties come mainly from the weather. Winter was snowy this year and the vehicles that the team has are not for snowy roads. They have to spend the nights in town convention centers (so called houses of culture), and other buildings that mainly are not being heated, but the Lord opens hearts of local people and they open their homes for the missionaries.
The project participants’ goal is to visit every village and every town of Zabaikalye region. They go from door to door, sharing Jesus with every person. They continue to communicate with those who accept the Lord into their hearts through letters. Through correspondence Bible courses people are learning the basics of faith. The plan of Zabaikalye team is to visit each church in the region to share the vision and the results of their work and to inspire people of faith to participate in the project through prayer, giving and organizing more teams.
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