Baptist Russian-American Television – or BRAT TV – is perhaps the only Baptist television that exists not only in America, but also around the world. You will not believe it, but with such a significant calling and influence, which is impacting people around the world, this ministry is done by only two people from First Slavic Baptist Church of Sacramento.
A few years ago, when the online Russian television company «Kartina TV» was looking for an audience for their channel in America, their representatives contacted Pentecostal and Baptist churches of Sacramento with an offer to organize an online Christian television and include them in the packet of programs «Kartina TV». Only First Slavic Baptist Church of Sacramento, and to be more specific – Aleksandr Vivsik, Igor Voronov, and Valentin Burlaka accepted the offer.
Igor has some experience in working on television; Aleksandr was responsible for the church online broadcasting, and Valentin Burlaka, working for radio “Teos”, had a studio at the church. When the church encouraged this project and agreed to finance it, they found another person, Aleh Zimin, a programmer, who developed a computer program and helped to launch a broadcast through the internet in record time. The new channel BRAT TV's only goal was to preach the Gospel around the world. In 2012, it was included in the package of channels that was offered by the «Kartina TV[1]» company around the world.
It is the sixth year that BRAT TV airs programs 24 hours a day through television broadcasts around the world. Thanks to the inclusion of the channel into the package of «Kartina TV», this Christian television became accessible to 5 million subscribers from 13 countries. Additionally, BRAT TV's website also broadcasts programs, and 30,000 - 50,000 people per year visit it. The Gospel preached in various Baptist churches in America, Russia and Ukraine through BRAT TV channel now spreads around the world. It is impossible to estimate the scope of influence that this ministry has on the international level. It is a remarkable ministry! May the Lord bless it and give it a chance to spread the Gospel until the second coming of Jesus Christ!
With that being said, the channel is desperately in need of help. Since the beginning of the channel, there were many changes. The equipment that the channel initially was used malfunctioned; the computer program that was used for broadcasting was lost. Alex Zimin moved to a different state and could no longer assist in this project. It was necessary to hire the services from American companies, and the expenses for this service became roughly $1,000 per month. First Slavic Baptist Church covers these expenses. This church also provides room and equipment for the studio.
However, the equipment becomes obsolete, and comes out of order because of the overload. The costs for replacements reach tens of thousands of dollars, which the church does not have. On the other hand, working with an obsolete equipment and constant malfunctions lead to interruptions of broadcasts and complaints of subscribers.
Brothers Igor and Aleksandr are doing all that they possibly can in order to provide the smooth broadcasting, and are driven by only their enthusiasm, without any pay. However, they are becoming weary. Think about what it is like to provide 24-hour broadcast during the 365 days a year. They have to find many-hours of video materials from churches, upload them to their computers, check the quality, transfer to the company servers through which the broadcast is made, make program schedules, control the quality of the broadcast, and in case of malfunction, immediately work on resolving the issues. This is hundreds of hours per month of intense, grueling, and not noticed work. Those television specialists, who see their work, cannot believe that one person, Igor Voronov, does all this work over the course of these years.
Aleksandr Vivsik is nominated by the church to lead this project and is responsible for the equipment and technical support. But what can be done and changed if there are no resources for the needed expenses?
It is a wonderful project, and a useful and needed ministry…Would you like to be a part of this ministry supporting it in prayer and contributions according to your means? Brothers Aleksandr and Igor are very humble and will never ask for help neither for themselves, nor for this wonderful ministry. However, knowing about their difficulties and needs in this project, let’s do what we can! For more about what we can do, visit a page «Join us in Ministry» on the BRAT TV channel's website.
[1] Brief overview of «Kartina TV»
From 2008 until now, the company remains a leader in internet television, and its servers reach more than 5,000,000 audience members around the world. The company's website is https://kartinatv.net.
Please click the first slide below to see pictures as a slide show
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