On Agust 20-21, the First Slavic Baptist Church in Sacramento hosted a retreat for the Association ministers. Initially, the retreat was supposed to take place at Sierra Pines Camp, but due to the forest fires and air pollution, that plan had to be cancelled. The decision to change the retreat location was made only a few days before the retreat, and for that I am very grateful to the leadership of the First Slavic Baptist Church, which responded so quickly in resolving this issue. The rest of the things planned went according to plan, which included the pre-planned speakers, food provision, and organizing the video and live stream.
Aleksandr Girbu who is a guest from Kishinev and a professor at the «Divitia Gratiae» Moldovan Theological University taught a few great seminars. He covered a theme on procrastination very well which was dedicated to the many failed ministries because its leaders were not able to use their time effectively and prioritized the «primary» things for later, and the «secondary» as the «primary». Because of this, their ministry became impossible or unfruitful, and in the end it led to the burnouts in ministry.
The Ph.D. candidate at California State University of Santa Barbara, Yevgeniy Runkevich spent over 6 years in studying the book of Revelation. He taught a seminar about which «key» can be used in understanding this book of the Bible. The depth of knowledge in various biblical subjects were felt by the audience, who benefited from the research and interpretation of all of the chapters of this book. The only thing that restrained Yevgeniy in this exciting study of the book of Revelation was the time dedicated for this seminar.
Mick Stockwell of the Global Mobilization IMB in Europe taught a seminar dedicated to the potential partnership of service in Europe, considering the knowledge of the language and culture of the Slavic immigrants in America, which can be especially effective in this potential ministry. Unfortunately, we are not taking advantage of these great opportunities for joint ministries, even though they are offered to church representatives who are not just part of the Pacific Coast Association, but also part of the Southern Baptist Convention. International Mission Board is one of the biggest agencies around the world who are sending their missionaries to various parts of the world.
Jud Boies, Church Goals and Business Goals Executive Director, Trive Church, introduced a well-known program to prepare leaders. This program was made available to us thanks to the partnership of the director of Hados Leadership Institute, Aleksandr Negrov, and The Church Goals and Business Goals. There was a great resource that was offered in preparing church' leadership groups.
Meetings of pastors of the Association is a time when we can share the resources to make them available for active development and ministry to the local churches. This is a time when we encourage and support one another in ministry.
I also led a business meeting during which I presented the issues that the Association faces at the present time, as well as the questions that we will need to deal with in the future. We are not avoiding the issues and challenges of our days, and with God's help we are pressing on despite the unique challenges of the times we are living in.
Ivan Mileyev, President of the PCSBA
