On February 20-23, a Christian camp not far from Florence hosted ninth Summit of Russian-Speaking churches of Europe.
The movement of planting Russian-Speaking churches in Europe had its beginning in 2011 and was a testimony of God’s call to ministry. He continues to use faithful Christians who are ready to proclaim the Gospel in many countries of Europe. This opportunity was a result of the influx of people who come to Europe in search of work, as well as the bad economy of many countries of post-Soviet countries. Those who were a part of Baptist churches in their homelands began to search out their brothers and sisters in the faith in a foreign land as well. They felt a special need of spiritual help and support of each other in overcoming the difficulties which they were facing in the immigration. In addition, they found themselves in a new missionary field since majority of their kinsmen who migrated to Europe with them needed someone to share the message of Christ.
Currently the ministry of coordination of the Russian-Speaking churches of Europe falls on Ilya Danilyuk. He was the main organizer of this Summit of about 120 people who came from 12 countries of the world.
The first day of the Summit was full of spiritual program. There were various seminars by brothers like Vyacheslav Tsvirinko, Aleksey Melnichuk, Joseph Sheremet, and Andrey Romanov. Sister Patricia from San Diego led the women’s seminar. I taught the seminar on “How to be Effective in Missionary Ministry”. Vladimir Mitskevich who is from the leadership of the Russian Union of ECB gave a word of edification. In conclusion, there was a vivid, and well-prepared sermon by Mikhail Baloga who is a pastor from Poland.
The second day of the forum began with an exhortation to prayer by Pastor Andrey Dzuba, after which the entire day was full of presentations of ministers from various countries as well as prayer for Slavic ministers in these countries. There were also presentations of schools and missions that were ready to minister and share their resources with those who are serving in proclamation of the Gospel in Europe. The forum ended with a communion as a symbol of unity which we have in Christ despite the cultural, language, and other distinctions. God continues His work today and uses people who are obedient to Him who are ready to go and preach the Gospel around the world.
Late in the evenings a few days in a row there were productive meetings focusing on coordination and discipleship of those in this movement. The ministers brainstormed how to improve and increase the efficiency of ministry of the coordination committee. Additional members of trustee committee were added, who will help in the care for this movement to transform it from a small stream into a powerful current, which will be instrumental in opening many other Russian-Speaking churches and would lead to a revival of the national Baptist churches of these countries.
Italy is a beautiful country. Even though February is not significant in its colorfulness, it was possible to see the beauty of nature nonetheless. Also, while visiting Florence, it was interesting to see so many masterpieces of the world-famous artists and sculptors. It is God who gave these people their giftedness and ability to create.
Early on Saturday morning it was time to leave Italy and go to Spain, and I was thankful to God that He used brothers and sisters of PCSBA in missionary ministry among the Russian-Speaking immigrants in Italy, Spain, and other countries of Europe. Brothers from Ukraine and Moldova continue ministering alongside of them and are our partners in ministry. Even though the missionaries were sent by various unions, the Christian family is united under the headship of Christ! May He alone be glorified!
Ivan Mileyev
The document developed during the Summit.
Please click on the first slide to see photos in a bigger size
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