Madisonville, KY – A very special men's prayer breakfast was held Saturday morning at the Hanson Baptist Church.  The special guest came all the way from Russia to tell of their ministry to the Russian people.

Serge and Victor are pastors who serve Baptist churches in the Iraquetz area which is a remote community in the southern part of the country.

Both pastors are a part of the Antioch Initiative, which is a ministry created to train and equip pastors in an area of Russia so that they may be able to reach out to the people of Russia with the Gospel.        Rev. Tom Branson, pastor of the Hanson Baptist Church and three other pastors from the Nashville area traveled to Russia to teach seminary courses to pastors.  The pastors from here that are involved in this part of the program must have had the benefit of a theological education.

The Hanson Baptist Church is in their second year with the Antioch Initiative for a 6 year program directed through the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) of Loves Park, Ill.  The Antioch Initiative is a thoroughly Biblical and systematic strategy for achieving greater effectiveness in the efforts to evangelize and disciple all of Russia. 

Both men were warmly greeted by their American brothers at the breakfast.  About 40 men of the church gathered to hear what the two pastors had to say about a country that is still somewhat unfamiliar to Americans despite Russians enjoying more freedom now than in times past.

The program started with the men playing guitar and singing a song in Russian.  This followed by both men giving their personal testimony with the help of their interpreter Natasha.  The two talked about how Christ changed their lives and called them into ministry.

The 42 year old Victor began by telling of his life with his wife and five children.  He told of how he was raised in a Christian home and since childhood knew about Christ love.  But he did not begin living the Christian life until after he first chose, what he said, “The wrong way.”  He began smoking at age 10 and drinking by age 14.  He began being trained as a mechanic by age 16.  It was then that he fell into the wrong crowd and began to go down the wrong path.  He said, “I became friends with three co-workers, former prisoners, who taught me how to take advantage of such a life style.”  He said they drank every day.  Victor said, “It is a wonder I did not end up in prison.”  Then finally, a sister began talking to him about his lifestyle and about Christ.  His sister told him of how God could help him become free.  Victor told the men that he had always dreamed of being free.  In 1985 he joined the army were his destructive lifestyle continued.  Then one day on Dec. 6th 1985 he said he felt a special presence of God.  He said he always knew he was a sinner.  He said that, “With tears in my eyes, I began to cry out to God to give me a new life.”  The next day, Victor said he felt joy in life, “I became a new man.'  He continued saying, “I knew God forgave me and gave me a new life.”

But life for Victor was not easy after that.  He said at that time, believers were persecuted for their faith and some were sent to prison.  Friends in the military where he served began to threaten him if he did not renounce his faith in God.  Then one night some drunken soldiers came to his room.  They woke him and demanded he deny his faith or they would beat him.  He refused and was beaten.  The next day Victor said, “It was very hard but, I had real joy in my heart.”  He said that God helped him.

Victor said that he drove a tank while serving in the Russian military.  He said there was a radio in that tank and he would listen to Christian radio without his officers knowing about it.

At the time, Victor had no bible, but his parents would send him letters with special bible verses.  He put those verses into a small book and would hide it under his bed.  When he would have guard duty, he would get it out and read it when no one was around.

He thanked God for watching over him during his two years in the service.

Victor was baptized in the church in 1985 and married in 1991.  He helps lead the Antioch work in Russia.

Serge is a former KGB officer.  He also told of stories of how he sacrificed for his faith in Christ. 
The forty nine year old is married and has four children.  Serge said that he was not a believer until later in life.  He joined the army and after that began seeking higher education.  When he was just 24, he was invited to join the KGB.  He worked there for 24 years until he retired in 2007 as a senior officer.  Serge said that despite success in life, “When I turned 30 I began drinking, swearing and was not a good example.”  During his time with the KGB, Serge said he helped to fight the drug problems in his country.  By 35 he said he did not see a purpose in life and began asking God what he was living for.  He said, “I had everything, but had nothing to live for.”  His wife began to look for ways to help her husband.  She started to attend a Russian Orthodox Church and he would sometimes go with her.  But he did not anything about that particular church.  Then in 1991, the couple began to attend a Baptist Church.  Serge said he could see something different on the faces of everyone there.  He said, “For the first time I began to see sincere faces.  The church gave him a new testament and he began to read it.  After reading about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, Serge said, “I came to accept Christ as Savior.”  A supervisor heard about his transformation and asked him about his service to Christ.  Serge did not deny his faith but did remain with the KGB.  There was no disciplinary action taken even though the KGB leaders in Moscow knew about his faith.  Serge did say he was passed over for a promotion to be head of the department.  He then said, “I will continue to serve regardless of any circumstances.”

There is now religious freedom in Russia, but a lot of work needs to be done.  Rev. Branson said that there are 20 million people in Moscow alone with over 500 universities.  Russia has 11 time zones, 88 states and there are just 1,600 churches associated with the Union of Evangelicals-Baptist.  Just 18 churches per state.  Branson said, during their trip this year they traveled long distances on gravel and country roads to visit many of these churches.  Some only have a small congregation with no indoor plumbing.  Most of these churches do not have the funds to support the education of their pastors.  One half of these churches have no ordained pastors while several do not have a building to hold their church services. 

Hanson Baptist Church and its members have given generously to help fund Branson's trip and  provide SGA the funds it needs to meet the goals of this initiative.  The pastor bragged on his congregation saying they “Have a heart to reach others with the gospel of Christ.”  The ultimate goal of the SGA is to open 100,000 new churches and provide trained pastors for each of them.  This will take a great deal of funding that must come in the form of  love offerings from churches here in America.

There were 15 Russian pastors who met every day with Branson and his team of educators.  The average age of each pastor is 30 years old.  Most are bi-vocational, meaning the work other jobs during the week in order to support themselves.  Only about 20 percent of these churches can support their pastors full-time.  “Each pastor will have obtained a complete seminary education by the time they finish the program.”  The SGA is conducting these classes in 11 different areas of Russia.  He said, “They are hungry for the gospel and want to learn all they can.”  The course curriculum and assignments are created by the SGA program.  This year they learned about the Holy Spirit.  Branson said, “Last year we taught them how to create and preach their sermons from a scripture text.”

He said each team requires an interpreter to help communicate with and teach the students.

Rev. Branson said he would like to see more area churches in Hopkins and surrounding counties get involved.  He invited any pastor or lay leader to contact him at the church for more information at 270-322-8706.

For more information about how you can help this ministry, the Slavic Gospel Association and the Antioch Initiative, you can log on at, www.sga.org. 

Tim Moore – iSurf News