It’s often a different story for Russian Protestant churches, says Eric Foley. He serves with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea and has contact with many Russian and Ukrainian Christians.

He says many Russian Baptist and Pentecostal churches were originally planted by Ukrainians. “What happened in 1989 on through the turn of the century was that even though the Ukrainian Church, on the whole, was focused on establishing itself in Ukraine, God put on the hearts of certain young people, including women, this missionary vision of going to Russia.”

“They did it without mission agencies. They did it without training.”

New legislation in Russia

Despite close ties to Ukraine, speaking out against the war can get Russian Christians in a lot of trouble. New legislation criminalizes any “discrediting” of Russia’s military action.

This vague wording led to the arrests of thousands of protestors once the invasion started. Foley says, “There are Russian Christian attorneys who have advised Russian churches to be very careful, even in the prayers that they pray in their worship services. Because even a call for peace could be construed as a statement that was discrediting the Armed Forces of Russia.”

A difficult position

But in many villages and cities across Russia, Christians continue praying for their Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Ask God to protect them and give them wisdom.

This isn’t a new position for Russian Protestants, Foley says. “In some ways, you could say that being Protestant in Russia is a statement of support for Ukraine. Because the Russian position is premised on the idea that the Orthodox Church is the religion of Russia.”

Orthodox fractures

In January of 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split from the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. Read more here about how the split helped lead to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Foley says, “That’s created two Ukrainian Orthodox churches, one that’s autocephalous (self-governing) and the other that is connected to the Orthodox global community through the Russian Orthodox Church.”

The header photo shows a Russian rocket that was dug up and defused by Ukrainians. (Photo courtesy of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Everything started in the city of Goiânia, where the couple first began their ministry. How fitting that 100 convention meetings later, believers would meet in that same city to plan their next big project.

Pastors and leaders from all over the country came to Goiânia for a meeting to share ideas and build plans for their May 2020 event. Expecting limited attendance, the meeting’s orchestrators only reserved one convention center. But, as Sammy Tippit of Sammy Tippit Ministries reports, the convention center quickly overflowed, as did backup overflow areas.

Photo courtesy of Sammy Tippit Ministries

What impressed Tippit the most was the lack of showmanship it took for the meeting to drum up so much attention. After a few worship songs and a short sermon by Tippit, believers gathered in droves to worship God and consider their relationship with Him.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Tippit says. “People responded, people came to Christ. It was just a great move of God. And for me, I felt like it was a moment of affirming all that missionaries have done over 100 years in Brazil, and an affirmation that the Brazilians are moving forward and God is blessing and using them in a tremendous way.”

Since that first couple came to Brazil, the local church has grown to include millions of Brazillian Baptists. In fact, Tippit says the Brazillian Baptist convention is the second largest missionary agency in the world, with members taking projects around the globe. This hundredth convention and the thousands that attended were tangible proof of that couple’s long-term influence.

Photo courtesy of Sammy Tippit Ministries

And that was only the planning meeting. In May 2020, Sammy Tippit Ministries plans to help launch a massive missions emphasis with a global perspective.

How big? “We’re trusting that we’re going to reach 10 million people with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Tippit says. “This is all beginning and being initiated inside Brazil, and it’s through discipleship.”

For Tippit and others working on this project, relationships is the name of the game. As Tippit puts it, “If it takes a dog and pony show to get a person into a meeting, it takes a dog and pony show to keep them, so we have none of that.” Instead, they use counselors, networking, and local churches to plug new believers into local Christian communities and give them a chance to experience discipleship from their neighbors and friends.

The project is already starting. Tippit says they helped Brazillian Baptists establish a 31-day prayer program for the event in May 2020. When the event does come to a close, “We’re going to have a great evangelistic event that will be livestreamed and broadcast throughout Brazil, and not just Brazil, but the rest of the world.”

At that point, Sammy Tippit Ministries will help new believers connect with small groups that in turn connect to local churches. In fact, many small groups have already started as local believers prepare to invest in one another and connect with God’s Word.

Consider joining Brazillian believers in prayer for this coming event. Ask God to give you the same passion and joy for Christ so many local believers are experiencing. Thank Him for the incessant excitement of the Brazilian Church.

“What’s exciting for me to see is that it’s not just something that is a program but it’s something where the lives of people are being changed,” Tippit says. “There’s excitement. There’s a joy, a thrill. There’s a young set of leaders who are on fire for the Lord.”

Find out more at Sammy Tippit’s website.

Header photo courtesy of Sammy Tippit Ministries.

(Read more on good theology from The Gospel Coalition here.)

The “What” of Historical Theology

(Photo by Valentin Rechitean on Unsplash)

Caleb Hutcherson, faculty development lead and lecturer in historical theology at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, is passionate about teaching historical theology to Arab evangelical students. This love for historical theology started during his studies at Dallas Theological Seminary when his class on historical theology opened up his understanding of the rich diversity of thought and practice in the history of Christianity. The course gave Hutcherson a new perspective and fresh insight into his faith.

“Historical theology [demonstrates how theology] is always contextual. Part of the beauty of studying historical theology is that it really exposes how contextual and perspectival doing theology is. So, when we look at history and listen to others who have done theology in history, context is there, and their experiences are there. The use of reason is there in all kinds of different ways. [You see the] different ways of weighing reason alongside tradition in relationship to the Bible,” Hutcherson says.

Finding a Path Through History

As students of historical theology take a step back and look at the topic from a wide-angle, a traceable continuity of the beliefs and practices of Christian believers spanning the history of the Church reveals itself. At the same time, the discontinuity of beliefs and practices through history introduces students to the diversity within the Christian tradition.

“We often have a tendency to think [favorably] of our own [personal] sufficiency [when reading the Bible]. So, me and my Bible, and the Holy Spirit is all that I need in order to know what to do and how to believe. That sort of rugged individualism, this…hyper-individualistic belief, that really all I need is me and the Bible, and because I’m indwelled by the Holy Spirit, then I’m set to go,” Hutcherson explains.

(Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash)

This mindset feeds the mentality in ourselves that we do not need to listen to what other people have to say about God’s Word. A belief in self means the mistakes of Christians from the past are easier to repeat. This mentality can also create a divide in the Church and isolate people from the body of Christ. Studying historical theology helps believers avoid clinging too tightly to traditions for the sake of tradition or distorting the past to hold onto concepts or practices that are unbiblical. The study of historical theology “provides us wisdom for the present and for the future.”

Studying historical theology also helps believers experiment with new ideas and think carefully about new questions. One of the new ideas Hutcherson provides as an example is the Bible app. The innovation of the app offers a new way to access scripture through a new medium.

This same app also raises questions of how people relate to the physical scriptures. Reading God’s Word through an app impacts how readers consume scripture as a collection of individual verses instead of a linked narrative. In this scenario, historical perspectives help the present-day Church recognize how past innovations produced both positive and negative impacts.

Historical Theology and You

(Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash)

Studying historical theology exposes an essential distinction between theology and revelation. Revelation is what God has said and done, while theology is what people say about God’s Word. Hutcherson explains historical theology helps the Church grapple with this tension. It helps untangle knots of “confusing revelation (what God says) with theology (which is what we say).” Theology is our commentary, and each person has their unique lens through which he or she views the world, God, and the Bible.

“Historical theology informs our understanding of God in that it helps us recognize who’s doing theology,” Hutcherson says.

Historical theology aids in distinguishing what we say God says from actual revelation.

“Recognizing those subjectivities all throughout history, I think, exposes our own subjectivities towards the text and towards God’s revelation,” Hutcherson notes.

But, if theology is what “we” say about what God says, then how can anyone trust any theology? Excellent question. The answer is a previously mentioned ten letter word beginning with the letter “c”— continuity.

(Photo by Anuja Mary Tilj on Unsplash)

Historical theology brings the researcher to a place of confronting his or her biases towards the text. These biases are a result of someone’s education, family, the context of their childhood, personal sin nature, cultural background, economic background, nationality, sex, race, and much more.

“We’re all reading…[the] Bible, this text that’s authoritative in our lives, from these contextual perspectives…historical theology provides us is a sense of [where our reading and understanding is in] continuity with the past. It offers us a resource to compare what we’ve understood with not just those who are different from us in the present, and that’s incredibly important…but it offers us a chance to think about the continuity with those who have different perspectives or come from different perspectives in the past,” Hutcherson says.

“We can never escape from our bias to the present unless we go back and pay attention to what other people said in the past. Historical theology offers us perspective outside of ourselves from the past about how to understand what God has said in scripture.”

Authority of Scripture

Historical theology exposes believers to the “presence of different perspectives.” This exposure has the potential to guide Christians away from beliefs thought essential to the Christian faith, but are dogmatic and not biblically supported.

(Photo courtesy of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary)

“Through the process of studying theology historically, we come to recognize what is essential to Christian faith, as well as what is not. This challenges us to walk in humility, with a healthy sense of openness and willingness to grow and learn,” Hutcherson notes in an email.

Historical theology helps broaden the Church’s understanding of God’s Word and remove blinders, which would otherwise inhibit our ability to understand the Bible.

“The diversity that makes up the body of Christ is an incredible resource for us. It’s the testimony of the Holy Spirit through the diverse community of the Spirit. We desperately need to gain humility in order to learn from others within the body of Christ. Historical theology contributes that perspective from a historical perspective,” Hutcherson says.

(Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash)

“The authority of scripture is not something that we deny. We acknowledge that, and all are subject to and submit to the text of scripture. That’s a part of what constitutes this community of the Holy Spirit that interprets that scripture.

“The other side of that…is that that the presence of the Holy Spirit in all of us actually challenges us to humility towards each other to recognize our own subjectivities. So, in some way, the authority of the text is held up and maintained, [while] our authority as interpreters becomes something that we [can] question, that we wrestle with, that we certainly take seriously but that we’re very cautious and careful about.”

Historical Theology on the Personal Level

(Photo by Ramy Kabalan on Unsplash)

Since Hutcherson is an American teaching in Lebanon, he has the opportunity to dialogue with Arabic-speaking followers of Christ daily about theology. These relationships provide a unique opportunity to listen to theology in the context of interfaith dialogue in a country where Christians are a minority. Historical theology is not just a topic taught in a classroom, but a way of engaging with the global body of Christ and remaining true to God’s Word.

“Being in this context and wanting to do historical theology that is particularly meaningful to students in my classroom has meant pushing further into Arab Christian history and trying to understand [their engagement] with Islam [and] with Muslims,” Hutcherson says.

(Photo courtesy of ABTS)

Hutcherson comments the body of Christ has a lot to learn from the history of Arabic-speaking followers of Christ, “from both the points [of] vitality and the points of weakness and mistakes”. Learning from the diverse body of Christ helps believers “recognize attitudes and approaches that continue to shape our engagement with each other today”.

Want to dig deeper into historical theology for yourself? Seminaries are always a great place to learn. A quick search through podcasts will also turn up valuable resources. However, these podcasts are ultimately based on texts, books. Hutcherson recommends the book “On The Incarnation” by Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373). Or for a quick reference to read on a train commute, check out this list of Arab theologians for a different theological perspective.

Explore studying through ABTS here!

Click here to support ABTS’s work and the education of its students.

Header photo by Jonny Swales on Unsplash.

The first challenge is adjusting to life in a foreign country, particularly one like Lebanon, which features more freedom than Sudan for religious minorities. Sometimes students come alone or with families. In both instances, it is a big adjustment leaving family, their churches, and their communities, not to mention adjusting to a different dialect of Arabic. However, despite their challenges, ABTS’s President Elie Haddad says the Sudanese students tend to be some of the seminary’s sweetest students.

Returning to Sudan

After three years of studying in Lebanon, many students return to Sudan. This is where the challenges increase. Adjusting back to life in Sudan could arguably be more difficult than adjusting to life in Lebanon.

(Photo Courtesy of ABTS)

“One of the big adjustments that our students usually have to go through is within their own churches. So, they come from the church, the church would send them. Many times, churches are small and they have sometimes limited vision of what ministry can be accomplished, and then they come here for three years. They’re bombarded with new concepts, new ideas, new ways [of] being church and then we ask them to go back and submit to the old structure that they came out of and then fit within that again, which is very difficult,” Haddad explains.

ABTS wants to help its Sudanese students transition back into life with their churches. Haddad says it is easy, once your mindset has changed, to want to give up on a structure that has not experienced the same change. But, ABTS does not want their students to give up. They want them to persevere in their relationships and positions with the churches who originally sent them to study and grow.

“It requires a lot of humility, a lot of submission to their church leadership…We want them to go back, submit to whatever system is there, and then help little by little, in God’s timing to grow the ministry from within,” Haddad says.

Adjusting to an Old Way

To help with engaging its own community, ABTS has been involved in peace-building initiatives. The seminary has been experimenting with new ways for churches to engage its communities. Haddad says a lot of the Sudanese students have been taking the concept of these initiatives back to Sudan.

These initiatives help bring people from different faiths together, even into the same room. The initiatives teach a diverse group of people how to listen to each other while also articulating their faith in a respectful manner.

“They’ve been doing that in Sudan. I love to see the pictures on Facebook and our students have been doing that. That creates more opportunities, many more opportunities to build relationships, to build trust, and it’s [an] amazing opportunity for the Gospel,” Haddad says.

Serving Well

It is vital that the Sudanese students can engage in conversation with people different from themselves. This will give them opportunities to build friendships and respectfully articulate their faith.

“When there is a context of multiple religious groups, lots of suspicion in between the groups, and one group sometimes dominating the others, it takes a lot of wisdom to build the right platform for what relationships can be nurtured and that would be the right platform for the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. So how can it be good news in a context like theirs. And how can they be contributing to the common good that needs to happen in a country like Sudan,” Haddad says.

In this region, the Middle East and North Africa, there are limitations to what ministry can look like because of external pressures, restrictions, and finite resources. There are also internal pressures, too. Many church communities are not comfortable with opening themselves up to have faith conversations with different faith groups. This can be for a myriad of reasons, like self-preservation.

ABTS wants its Sudanese students not to be viewed as a threat by their governing body, but instead as individuals contributing to the good of their country. Haddad says there is a need for the sense of the good news of the Gospel to permeate through the students.

Be Prayerful, Be Active

Haddad asks for prayer support for the Sudanese students. So please, pray for these students who often pay a high price for their faith and ministry. Pray for ABTS as it equips these students for ministry. Ask for wisdom for both ABTS and the Sudanese students. And finally, pray for ABTS to be equipped with the necessary resources to educate the Sudanese students as well as the financial support for the Sudanese students and their ministries on the ground.

To partner with ABTS, click here.

“It’s just such a privilege for us to be able to work with them for a few years. We bring them here to teach them, we end up learning so much from them. They’re amazing group of leaders and God’s already at work in their lives,” Haddad says.

Header photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

“Last year, we had almost 50 percent of our residential students coming from Sudan. We are expecting to have 19 students from Sudan next year, maybe three of them would be from the South and the remaining 16 are going to be from North Sudan,” ABTS’ Loulwa El Maalouf says.

“It’s exciting to know that we are part of God’s plan to prepare church leaders for the Sudanese Church.”

El Maalouf says Sudanese students are very sweet and tend to enjoy their new community at ABTS. The affection goes both ways. El Maalouf also says ABTS learns a lot from its Sudanese students.

Sudanese Students Continue Ministry

Since many ABTS students return home during summer break, they can use what they have learned to impact their churches.

“A condition for [students] to be enrolled at ABTS is that they have ministry experience, they are endorsed by their local church, and they demonstrate a clear calling to serve God in their communities,” El Maalouf explains.

(Photo courtesy of Terry Kearney via Flickr)

ABTS encourages all its students to use their summer breaks as an opportunity to serve back home. Still, this is not the only thing which sets ABTS apart from other seminaries. ABTS, unlike the traditional teaching method in Arab communities, trains its students to be critical thinkers.

When students ask questions, they are often answered with more questions and a nudge to head to the library. It is there, buried in books, where students learn to use their resources, conduct research, and think critically.

Students also study courses by looking at four distinct areas of a topic. These include biblical, historical, sociological, and personal backgrounds. Additionally, ABTS strives to focus on building the affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of leaders.

“Leadership formation is very crucial for the Church…and our curriculum is helping to prepare more leaders for the Church in Sudan,” El Maalouf says.

Welcome to ABTS

Some challenges the Sudanese students face include immersing themselves in a foreign culture. However, these challenges are not stopping Sudanese students from coming to ABTS. Many Sudanese students are recommended by alumni to attend the seminary.

ABTS tries to alleviate these challenges by acting more like a family. Students from cultures outside of Lebanon live in a building together. There, they learn about each other, the other cultures, and find they are not alone in a foreign land.

Another way ABTS tries to welcome international students is through food. Students have a stipend to buy and cook their own food, meaning they can enjoy a taste of home.

“Many key church leaders in Sudan are ABTS graduates. In fact, one of our graduates from Sudan had said that the ministry in Sudan would have been very much different if it was not for ABTS,” El Maalouf shares.

“We had the privilege of being a part and training the leaders who are actually serving in many different churches around Sudan.”

God is equipping the Sudanese Church for His work. Pray it would continue to persevere in faith and ministry. Ask God to help the Sudanese Church as it makes relationships with the communities around it. Finally, pray for ABTS graduates to be the salt and light in their communities, regardless of their circumstances.

Find ways to support ABTS and its students here!

(Header photo courtesy of ABTS)

About the MENA Studies

The President of ABTS, Elie Haddad, explains the seminary offers a distance-learning degree in English; the Master of Religion in Middle Eastern and North African Studies (MRel in MENA studies). The degree is designed to prepare individuals for addressing MENA issues. This includes work in the Arab world addressing poverty and humanitarian crises and work with churches, Christian organizations, and NGOs who are seeking to engage people in an Arabic Majority context. Geographically speaking, the wisdom reaped from this degree can be applied anywhere.

(Header/Photo courtesy of ABTS)

“It’s mostly [an] online program. It requires a two-week residency in Beirut for every module. So that’s twice a year, two years, so that’s four times total for residencies in Beirut. The rest is all online. We have these four modules; we have language requirements and some other requirements and projects. So, students can graduate anywhere between two-and-a-half and four years.”

Students of the MRel in MENA studies acquire the ability for contextual cultural analysis, needs assessment and problem analysis, project design, and peace-building and conflict transformation skills and more.

The four modules required for the program include:

1. MENA History, Politics, and Economics
2. MENA Christianity
3. MENA cultures
4. MENA Islam

Nurturing Conversations

However, one emphasis in these studies is how a history of one’s own religion doesn’t always effectively communicate personal beliefs. The “MENA Islam” module specifically helps students understand the mindset of Muslims and their beliefs. Digging into the course, students are exposed to the history of Islam, Qur’anic sciences, Islamic jurisprudence, and the diversity of Muslims. The course also touches on the unity and division within Islam and the necessary approaches and skills for Christian-Muslim relations.

“It’s very important for us if we want to communicate the Gospel message effectively with our context, that we understand what people think, what people value, and what’s important for them, and what questions they have, and what challenges they have so that we present Jesus as the answer to their specific questions and challenges,” Haddad says.

(Photo courtesy of ABTS)

So please, with that said, it’s also important for students to understand Islam from a Muslim context, not how it’s perceived by Christians or other non-Muslims. The same goes for Christianity, it’s best understood from a Christian’s perspective rather than a non-Christian.

“We work a lot in interfaith. We do a lot of interfaith events with religious leadership and now we’re doing a lot of peace-building initiatives among grassroots and youth groups and church and mosque leaders,” Haddad shares.

“This kind of dialogue is extremely important to communicate our message. Some people mistake dialogue for compromise, it’s not about that. If we compromise on our faith, they will not respect us. The premise of dialogue is standing firm in what we believe, but learning how to communicate with love and respect.”

How to Get Involved

Therefore, consider Haddad’s words an invitation to enroll in the Master of Religion in MENA studies and get involved with work in the MENA context.

Find more details on the Master of Religion in MENA Studies or enroll here!

However, if working in the MENA context isn’t where God’s compelling your heart, then please consider giving to ABTS to off-set student’s cost of attendance. Education can be expensive, but financial gifts help make it more affordable.

To give to ABTS, click here!

And finally, regardless of giving or attending, pray for ABTS’s students. Pray for the Church in the Arab World, for leaders to understand the changing social landscapes and then respond biblically.

The Consultation, held in Beirut, Lebanon, is bi-lingual with about half of the speakers presenting in English, and the other half in Arabic. Translation is provided and the consultation is open to anyone who desires to live out the Gospel message respectfully among Muslims.

MEC 2018

“It’s a really good event for followers of Christ from all over the world to gather together and speak about issues that are really important in our world today, and explore ways that the Church can have a more impactful and fruitful  life in our Muslim settings– both in the so-called Muslim world, but also in Western societies where Muslim communities are increasingly present,” ABTS’s Martin Accad explains.

(Photo courtesy of ABTS)

For the past 15 years, this consultation has been a flagship event for ABTS. Ultimately, this consultation exists because ABTS saw the need for a genuine, local, grassroots movement from Christians in regards to the challenges faced when living out the Gospel in the Muslim world. As a seminary, ABTS felt the responsibility fell on its shoulders to lead such a movement.

“We always deal with some important issue related to Islam and the Middle East, and the Church’s relationship with Muslims, and with the Muslim world,” ABTS’s Martin Accad says.

A ‘Glocal’ Conversation

In fact, this consultation has brought this conversation to life. However, it’s a conversation that’s coined a new term and is being called ‘glocal’ because the conversation isn’t just a local one, but a global one as well.

“The challenges that face the mission of the Church, in one part of the world, likely has echoes in another part of the world. So, we want to globalize the conversation about the Church’s work and witness in Muslim communities,” Accad shares.

This year’s topic is summed up in a catchy phrase, “Jesus Christ & The Religious Other”. The focus is on helping attendees form a biblical understanding of Islam. In today’s evangelical circles, Accad says there tends to be weak theology or understanding of other people’s faiths. And this lack of understanding has led to a lot of assumptions about different faiths, which impacts how Christians live out as disciples and witnesses to Christ.

“If we zero in on Islam, my observation is that these days we’ve got those who [have a] sort of friendly, open, gracious approach to Islam and Muslims. And their belief is that the Church is to engage in dialogue, positive encounter with Muslims, as well as a living witness, belief, and wholesome transformation,” Accad explains.

“And then there are others who believe that the Church’s mission among Muslims should be one of, it’s like they are entering a realm of darkness. They are trying to bring down the walls of a stronghold, as though they’re fighting evil.

“So, you have these two types of approaches or attitudes among Christians…with regards to Islam. And I think fundamentally, these two somewhat polarized positions really are a result of your fundamental belief about what Islam is.”

Need to Understand

Accad observes that when Christians have an almost demonizing view of Islam, their approach to Islam tends to be political. But, when people have a better understanding of the religion, there tends to be a more human approach towards Islam and ministry of the Church in Muslim communities.

(Photo  courtesy of ABTS)

Therefore, ABTS believes that a Christian’s belief about Islam is what eventually shapes how Christians interact with and ministers to Muslims and live out their lives among them. This means the conversation should include an exploration of the theology of Islam rather than just a focus on correct or incorrect methodologies.

“We’ve viewed MEC 2018, so consultation 2018 and consultation 2019 next year, as sort of parts A and B of the same thing, which is developing a biblical understanding of the religious other,” Accad says.

“This year…we’re going to look at a biblical view of the religious other and how did Jesus view people that were ‘other’ in their commitment to their faith tradition.”

Presentations at the consultation will include those from a Jewish background, a Hindu background, an African traditional background, and from “scientism” or faith in science as the answer. In 2019, the conference will focus more intensely on Islam, a biblical view of the Islamic prophet Mohammad, and the boundaries the Bible offers when it comes to viewing and interacting with the religious other.

Be Prayerful, Be Active

Two ways to take part in this conference consultation include in-person attendance or through prayer.

Pray for this year’s consultation to glorify God and to empower the Church to represent Christ with love, gentleness, and respect for Muslims and the religious other. Ask God to bring the right people to this consultation, for hearts to be open to what presenters say, and for this event to be a catalyst for reaching out more faithfully to the religious other.

Sign up for ABTS’s Consultation here!

Learn more about ABTS here!

She says, “We headed off to Russia on the 8^th which was Russia’s Orthodox Easter when they were celebrating.”

The goal of this trip was to distribute “Baskets of Hope” to children in orphanages. Ever year, these baskets are filled with necessities, small gifts, treats, and a Bible. Along with the baskets, the children receive a letter from the person who sponsored the basket.

The team was hoping to be able to hold a camp within one of the orphanages as well, but they learned just before they arrived that they would not be able to. However, Mangione says, “We were still able to go and visit the orphanage and do a distribution and ended up doing a small camp at the church there in Ryazan.”

(Photo and header photo courtesy of SOAR International)

At the orphanages, the team was also able to share the Gospel through a puppet show. This time around, the puppet show centered on Jesus as the Good Shepherd who pursues even just one of His lost sheep until they are found.

After this presentation, the church team asked the kids a series of follow-up questions.

“The kids have an opportunity to answer what the story was about, what it means for us, how it relates to Jesus.”

Mangione says it’s fun to be able to see the kids taking in what they are hearing. But the children weren’t the only ones exposed to the Gospel message. Typically, the orphanage directors also get to hear. And this time, there was another special visitor sitting in:

“It was actually pretty amazing, the first distribution we went to, there was actually an Orthodox priest at the orphanage. And he ended staying and watching the presentation which was pretty cool. Sometimes the Orthodox priests don’t often stay around to participate in anything that the Baptist Evangelical will put together in Russia. And he did, and got along with us wonderfully and was incredibly kind. So that was very wonderful to see the Lord work in that.”

(Photo courtesy of SOAR International)

After the presentation, there’s time for games and then, finally, the baskets are handed out to each child.

Overall, the SOAR team was able to do three distributions. Because of how schedules worked out, their church partners completed a few more distributions this last Saturday.

“In between the distributions, we were able to do a small camp for the kids at church. It’s always fun to do a camp for the kids at church, as well. Yes, the kids have been exposed to Scripture. Every once in a while, we get a child who is a friend of a friend who doesn’t know God at all and doesn’t know Christ. And so, it’s a really fun opportunity to get to reach out and share the Gospel.”

The two-day camp SOAR helped their church partner run included Bible learning, English lessons, games, and crafts. Among the children were familiar faces and those they’ve never seen before.

Following up the Easter Trip with Prayer

Easter provides a unique openness to ministry. Mangione explains, “One interesting thing is that Easter is acknowledged by everybody in Russia. It is the biggest religious holiday in Russia. So, obviously they believe Jesus was alive, existed—they just don’t all have a personal relationship with Him.”

(Photo courtesy of SOAR International)

So much so is Easter a part of Russian tradition that many children in the orphanage would respond to “Christ is risen” with “He is risen indeed.” The same is true for the rest of society.

Mangione says it is beautiful to hear these words in Russian. But because it’s such a cultural thing, it should also cause us to be praying:

“Christs name is being proclaimed in Russia, and may we not stop our prayers. May we increase them.”

that that truth would sink deeply into the hearts of the people of Russia, within the children, within the orphanage worker’s hearts.”

Overall, the Gospel was presented in letters, Bibles, and the puppet show. And, the church SOAR works with visits these orphanages on a regular basis throughout the year.

“Be praying for these follow-up visits, that during that time, the kids can ask questions—but that you would pray for our Russia partners, that they would be given the words to say, the wisdom, and that they know how to answer these questions– know how to direct them to Christ. And that these kids would come to a saving knowledge of Christ.”

If you’d like to support some of the projects SOAR does throughout the year in Russia and beyond, click here.

(Photo courtesy Slavic Gospel Association)

One of the four evangelicals, Pavel Unguryan, wrote to express his reflections on the aftermath of the past several months:

Today Ukraine is going through difficult trials, and despite this, the country has stepped ahead on the path toward purification and recovery. This year, our nation has experienced much suffering and depression, but God has spared us from the worst and has helped us through it all. I am very grateful to the Lord that Ukrainian churches united in special prayer for our country and for the early election to parliament—which is vital for Ukraine.

The recently-created political party called National Front is headed by Baptist minister and parliament speaker Dr. Alexander Turchynov and Ukraine’s prime minister Viktor Yatsenuk. Despite what low exit-poll results showed, the party ranked first among other parties in the vote. God enabled four Baptists to be elected to the parliament from the National Front list. I believe that God has a plan for spiritual renewal in parliament and politics, and has He has allowed me to be reelected.

Since God has entrusted me with this office, I ask you to pray that He will give me wisdom as I lead a prayer group within the walls of parliament. It is a perfect opportunity for politicians to get united around Jesus and to implement His principles through relevant laws, government policies, and sincere concern for the people of Ukraine.

The Situation in the East

A report Sunday in the Washington Post quoted a Ukrainian military spokesman, saying that Russian military support had been flowing into eastern Ukraine in recent days. Also, witnesses on Sunday reported long columns of unmarked military trucks traveling into the rebel stronghold of Donetsk ahead of their separate election November 2. Prior to the vote, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would recognize the results.

Separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko won the vote according to Russian media outlet RIA Novosti. After the elections, he said, Kiev “will recognize us, give us our land back without a fight, and we will establish good diplomatic relations.” Zakharchenko is a former electrician at an eastern Ukrainian mine. He took over leadership of separatists in the Donetsk region from a Russian citizen in early August.

It remains to be seen in the months ahead whether a final peace will be established between the Ukrainian national government and the eastern regions. The refugee and humanitarian crisis caused by months of fighting remains, and Slavic Gospel Association continues to help evangelical churches respond through our Crisis Evangelism Fund. The fund helps the churches provide food aid, winter clothing, mattresses, bed linens, and other resources, in addition to Bibles and evangelistic Christian literature. If you would like to find out more or help, click here.

October 13 is World Hunger Sunday, observed by Baptist Global Response and Southern Baptists throughout the U.S. This day of recognition and awareness started in 1974.

In places of extreme poverty such as numerous villages in India, strides are being made to break the cycle of extreme hunger. The ideal solution for hunger, when put into practice, is long-term and progressive.

One such solution delivers livestock to poor families. Rather than sporadically giving food to hungry families, this program offers a way for families to provide for themselves. They are taught how to care for and raise the animals.

When the livestock have offspring, farmers are encouraged to pay the act forward, giving some of the young animals to another family in need. The process repeats and continues exponentially.

This type of gift can help transform an entire village, and even beyond. Without the help of outside funds, however, these people have no way to begin such a process.

To provide this aid as well as many other effective programs, BGR has resources for churches and individuals across the world to get involved.

Since 2005, Southern Baptists have been raising $4-6 million a year for the cause. Overall, they have given more than $235 million.

The goal of World Hunger Sunday is to raise awareness, collect funds, and recruit volunteers to help hungry people. BGR provides for more than physical needs, however. As they work to improve health for villages through better food and clean water, they also seek to bring knowledge of Jesus Christ. By giving these people hope for a future, a unique gateway is provided to share the gospel.

You can be involved, too. From church-wide events to small group fund-raisers, anyone can participate. Click
here to learn more about ways to pray and to help. For downloadable resources
including activities and information to share with others, click here.

Pray that World Hunger Sunday would cause Christians to get involved to make a positive
impact on those in need.