On September 28 to October 4, I traveled to South and North Carolina to get to know new communities and churches that are being opened up by migrants who have moved to these places from the western states. These are mostly young families with children who saw better financial opportunities for their families, as well as the “voluntary” options for vaccinations for their children in public schools.
It is true that a lot of things are cheaper in these states when it comes to the prices of houses, taxes, gasoline, etc. But along with the "positive" sides of starting a new life in these states, young families are faced with the need to take care of their spiritual needs and plant new churches. It turned out that this was not so easy due to the lack of pastors who are ready to take responsibility for setting spiritually building up the community. This task is in no way less important than the construction of new houses for physical living.
I held meetings with the leaders of three churches that are at different stages of their spiritual walk with the Lord. There are those who turned to the Pacific Coast Baptist Union for spiritual support. We are not intimidated by the distance or proximity to the Pacific or Atlantic oceans; we plant churches even in European countries. Therefore, the purpose of my trip was to study their situation in their context in order to provide support for them in the future.
I visited their communities in Anderson, Greer and Spartanburg. These churches are facing some critical issues that confront them today, and tare eager to serve the migrant families who have moved to these states over the past few years.
On Sunday October 2nd, I attended services at two large churches in Charlotte, North Carolina. These are the First Slavic Baptist Church and the Salvation Slavic Church. Interestingly enough, I visited these churches more than 18 years ago. It was nice to see the faces of those with whom I worked together many years ago before immigrating to the United States.
Returning to California, I thought about the fact that, wherever we live and in whatever conditions we are, it is important to be faithful to the Lord in small things, to stand up for our families, cities, states and the country in which the Lord settled us!
President of PCSBA, Ivan Mileyev
