HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Happy Thanksgiving!
This is a day of celebrating gratitude to the Lord who sends us everything for life and godliness! Out of a grateful heart flows contentment in everything! In his time, the Apostle Paul learned the key to contentment.
He wrote in a letter to the Philippians: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). He also says, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment” (1 Timothy 6:6). In addition, the Apostle Paul encourages us to be content in simple things: “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:8). There are many reasons that lead to discontentment, such as jealousy, wanting what others have, desire for more, and many others.
We live in an atmosphere of discontentment. The book of Jude indicates discontentment as one of the signs of rejection of God, and speaks about people who are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts (in unrighteousness and ungodliness) (Jude 1:16).
May we be likeminded with the first pilgrims on this Thanksgiving Day, who, when they came to America, thanked God for their daily bread, and for the country in which we are allowed to live by the Giver of all good things! May contentment be a natural state of our hearts!
PCSBA’s President, Ivan Mileyev.
ANALYZING THE RESULTS OF THE PCSBA’S 86TH CONVENTION
Another convention became part of the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association’s history! As we look back at such an important event in the life of the PCSBA’s churches, we would like to point out how well the convention’s program was organized, including the time management, as well as the quality of the seminars and sermons! They were all focused on the theme of the convention: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The overall theme was based on Isaiah 6. Each speaker focused on various aspects of the calling, as well as the readiness of followers of Jesus Christ in response to God’s call to active ministry. Read more in an article by I. Mileyev on the Association’s website.
Saturday’s evening service
NEW HEAD OF MOMS IN PRAYER MINISTRY
 Due to some health issues, Olga Drovorub, who has been leading the Moms in Prayer Ministry of the Association for many years, transferred this ministry to Tatyana V. Senin, a member of the Bryte Church. During the recent convention, the proposed candidate was approved.
We wish Tatyana God’s blessing in serving all the churches of the Association. May many more moms and grandmothers join this ministry in lifting up prayers for the children and all the educational organizations.
ONE MORE CHURCH IS ADDED TO THE ASSOCIATION
During the PCSBA’s 86th convention, one more church was added to our ranks: Bellevue Bible Church, with Ivan Shepel as the head pastor. Church address: 1221 148th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA, 98007. The church services take place on Sundays at 1:00 pm. For more information about this church, visit their website.
We welcome this new church and their members and believe that the Lord will bless our mutual service as we worship Him together.
MISSION REUNION
On November 9, Second Slavic Baptist Church hosted another annual mission reunion in Sacramento. More than 16 various ministries were able to share about the work that they are doing in God’s mission field. There were also special guests from other countries: Ksenya Gorina (Lebanon), Sergey Babich (France), and Aleksandr Volkov (Ukraine). More details… (in Russian only).
Reunion participants
CELEBRATION AT THE CHOOSE LIFE CHURCH
On November 10, 2024, the Choose Life church celebrated their fifteen-year anniversary. During the special service, there were many guests who were able to come from all over California. There were many words of encouragement, songs, poems, and testimonies about God’s love. After the end of the church service, they proceeded to a church lunch with rich fellowship that lasted until 6:00 in the evening. More details… (in Russian only).
LIFE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION CHURCH
Evangelistic trips, participation in the Ukrainian festival in order to preach the Gospel, and baptisms were all taking place in the life of the Transfiguration church in Minnetonka, MN. Member of this church, Elena Potapenko, shares about it in her article. Read more details here… (in Russian only)
Seven new members joined the church after being baptized
WONDERFUL ARE YOUR WORKS, LORD!
This was truly a great work of God, to have another camp for children with special needs which was organized by Bryte Church! The organizers of this camp developed a great program with every person in mind, both parents and children. In addition, they were able to have a designated volunteer for each disabled child who took care of the child during the entire camp. This allowed the parents an opportunity to rest and enjoy their time of fellowship with each other. For more information, read an article by L. Vashilin on the Association’s website (in Russian only).
It is not easy to organize a camp for so many campers, and even harder for those with special needs!
WHERE IS GOD WHEN I AM AT WORK?
A men’s breakfast at Good News Church took place on October 19. Radik Tsapkov, who is a new immigrant pastor from Ukraine, was the main speaker. He captivated the men by talking about, “Where is God when I am at work?” More details…
REFORMATION DAY CELEBRATION
Traditionally, October 31 is a day when the people in the U.S. are celebrating Halloween. However, many people forget that over 500 years ago, this was the day when something significantly more important took place. A monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. This marked the beginning of his pursuit to reform the church, which had fallen to degradation and corruption. Bethel Slavic Baptist Church celebrated Reformation Day on October 31 by telling the locals about the five principles which were the foundation of biblical teaching. More details… (in Russian only).
Every vehicle presented one of the Bible stories…
“GO TOGETHER” PARENTS’ CONFERENCE
On October 26, Good News Church in Tacoma, WA, had a parents’ conference with the theme of “Go Together.” This was a day of instruction, having master classes, and fellowshipping with the purpose to strengthen families in living out God’s design for marriage and raising children. The main speaker was Stanislav Gruntkovskiy, who is a pastor and is responsible for the Family Ministries of the Evangelical Association in Ukraine. More details…
FALL FESTIVAL AT THE CORNERSTONE CHURCH
On November 3, the Cornerstone Church had a Fall Fest in Sacramento. The event was named “Cornerstone Kingdom,” and its main purpose was to point to the kingdom of Jesus Christ and to attract new immigrants to join the church. More details… (in Russian only).
Even the worship band looked medieval!
GOOD NEWS CHURCH’S WOMEN’S RETREAT
On November 8 to 10, Good News Church had a women’s retreat at Miracle Ranch, Gig Harbor, WA. The theme of the retreat was “Relationships as Part of God’s Design.” The main purpose of the retreat was to gather women for spiritual growth, personal reflection, and to have fellowship away from the daily routine, to have an opportunity to grow in their relationship with the Lord and with each other, and to concentrate on specific areas of personal spiritual walk. More details…
CHURCH CELEBRATION AT GREENVILLE
On November 17, 2024, the Spring of Life Bible Church in Greenville, South Carolina had a twofold church celebration: the ordination of two men as deacons, and a Thanksgiving Day celebration. The celebration of the church had a very warm and joyful atmosphere and had many guests in attendance. After the end of the church service, they continued to have a reception as they thanked God for the wonderful harvest He gave them this year. More details… (in Russian only).
Thanks be to God for new ministers!!
MISSIONARY NEWS
IMB – INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD SUMMIT - 2024
On November 6 through 8, thanks to an initiative by the International Mission Board, the IMB was able to have their first-ever Slavic Leadership Summit for the Slavic Associations in the U.S. The Logistics Director, John Barnett, and a Catalyst of European Mobilization, Mick Stockwell, played a critical role in making this meeting a reality. Representatives from almost all the Evangelical Slavic church Associations were able to attend the summit. For more information, read an article by I. Mileyev – click this link.
Summit Participants
MINISTRY IN POLAND
The Sheremet family, who are our missionaries in Poland, have a very eventful life. They had opportunities to organize a children’s camp, missionary retreat, develop discipleship, form small groups, have baptism training, and much more. For more about these ministries, read Joseph Sheremet’s newsletter – click this link (in Russian only).
Missionary Retreat
USEFUL INFORMATION
I MAKE KNOWN TO YOU, BRETHREN, THE GOSPEL…
Over three evenings in October, a well-known pastor from Ukraine, Aleksandr Kalinskiy, addressed all the Christians who came to the conference at the Light of the World church and talked about the importance of understanding and applying the biblical Gospel to their lives. “I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel…” (1 Cor.15:1). He placed a special emphasis on the fact that many times Christians fall into self-deception and put their faith in what they came up with, and not in the actual Christ and God. One of the most common problems in churches is that a person may be attending the church for decades, and be engaged in various ministries, but does not have a relationship with Christ. Christianity without Christ… What is a person to do when he realizes this for the first time, and what he needs to change in his life? Find answers to these questions in the following sermons.
During the last evening of the conference, Aleksandr Kalinskiy shared his own songs and prayers and shared what inspired him to write them.
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