MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
President of the Association I.Mileyev congratulates everyone on the holidays:
«I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, 2023 New Year! During the time of celebration, may our hearts be filled with worship, just like when the fields of Bethlehem were full of the melody, harmony and rhythm that is out of this world! ... The true Light came into the world! We have a reason to be exceedingly joyful. Let our hearts be full of worship, adoration, and thanksgiving to God! »
Full text of the greeting can be read on the Association’s website – click this link.
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS BY THE LEADERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
On December 9, Second Slavic Baptist Church in Sacramento hosted an annual Christmas celebration of the ministry leaders and members of the Association’s Executive Committee. Similar holiday meetings are organized in order to grow closer together, strengthen the unity, and create a sense of belonging among the Association’s leaders. A majority of the members of the team are serving sacrificially and selflessly in the departments and the committee of the Association. For more about the meeting, read an article by I. Mileyev. Video recording can be viewed here (in Russian only.)
Members of the Committee and department leaders with their spouses
CHRISTMAS CHILDREN’S MUSICAL AT THE ROCKLAND CHURC
On December 10 and 11, The Rockland Baptist Church in Sacramento had a Christmas musical called, “The Christmas County Spelling Bee”. It was dedicated to the names of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is mentioned in Isaiah 9:6: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” About 80 children ages 3 to 14 participated in the program. For more about this, read an article by A. Petrov (in Russian only.)
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT THE LIVING STONES CHURCH
On December 10, The Living Stones Church had a women’s ministry meeting. Seventy women of various ages were able to come together. The main speaker was Yelena Mileyev, the leader of the women’s ministry of the Association.
Such meetings are usually happening just before the season of Christmas and New Year, and are somewhat of a conclusion to the ministry, as well as a time of thanksgiving for all the blessings that the year has brought, as well as a time of prayer for future plans. The program included Christmas songs, Bible trivia games, and the Christmas story. Read a full article here (in Russian only.)
Group photo
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT THE PACIFIC THRIFT STORE
On December 9, Second Slavic Baptist Church in Sacramento had a Christmas celebration for the staff of The Pacific Thrift Store. Second Slavic Church is located very close to the store, and many of the store’s staff, including the store’s manager, Pavel Tsvirinko, are members of this church. The president of the Association, Ivan Mileyev also was able to attend the event with his wife, as well as vice president Vasiliy Stupin. For more information, read an article by I. Mileyev (in Russian only.)
Greetings of the store’s manager Pavel Tsvirinko to the staff
WOMEN’S CHRISTMAS DINNER AT FRESNO
On December 9, The House of the Gospel Church in Fresno had a women’s Christmas dinner which was attended by over 120 people. The goal of the event was to gather together the women of different age groups for a time of fellowship, encouragement, and to prepare their hearts to enter into the Christmas season with a heart that is concentrated on Jesus, and not on the business of the season. The theme of the evening was, “Forgiveness”. The women were discussing what it means for them personally, and whether it is easy to forgive. Many shared their personal stories and testimonies. For more information, read an article by N. Gorban.
CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
On December 19, the West Sacramento Church had a special holiday evening for children with special needs, and their parents. Some of the youth from Bryte church also attended this event. For children, Christmas is always a special time, and special children are not an exception: so much excitements about Christmas theatrical performances in various costumes, the gifts, the meetings with friends…For more about this evening, read an article by N. Smolikova (in Russian only.)
PRE-CHRISTMAS EVANGELISM
On November 27, 2022, Rancho Cordova hosted the 23rd Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. This is a socially significant event that promotes the unity of people and demonstrates the commonality of the spiritual principles of the population of Rancho Cordova. The New Hope Church also took a part in this event. Details can be found in an article by K. Hoffman (in Russian only.)
BEGINNING OF PREPARATIONS FOR THE YOUTH FORUM
At the initiative of four chairman of the Baptist association of churches of the U.S., which have partnered with each other in the past in preparing and hosting a missionary forum, there was a zoom meeting on November 28 along with some of the youth leaders of the associations to begin preparations for the youth forum. The youth leaders were asked to have an additional meeting to discuss the suggestions and plans for this event. The details can be found in an article by I. Mileyev (in Russian only.)
WE HAVE NEW MASTERS OF THEOLOGY
On December 10, The Blagovest Institute of Ministry had a graduation ceremony awarding the Masters’ and Bachelors’ degrees. Sixteen students of the Masters’ degree, and 9 students of the Bachelor’s degree gathered at Bryte church for their graduation. The diplomas were given out by Ivan Mileyev, the President of the Association, Aleksandr Pronin, director of the Blagovest Institute, as well as the instructors: Igor Dronov, Vadim Yurchak, and Sergey Pronin. The graduation was attended by many relatives and friends of the graduates. After the ceremony, there was a commemoration dinner during which the graduates were congratulated and given encouragement for future ministry. The graduates, on their part, expressed their gratitude to those who organized the event, and to those who were involved in their education. The celebration was attended by about one hundred people. Click this link in order to access the full version of the article by A. Pronin (in Russian only.)
Graduates and instructors
IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD – BUT WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
That was the theme of the youth conference, “Getting Right with God”, which was hosted by Bryte Church on November 11-12, 2022. The event was attended by almost two hundred young men and women ages 14-25 from various churches and states. The organizers of the event were the United Youth Ministry of the Pacific Coast Association. The main speakers of the conference were Yevgeniy Gol, and Andrey Sava. For more about the conference, read an article by S. Iotko.
During the conference
THANKSGIVING FELLOWSHIP OF MOMS IN PRAYER GROUP
On November 19, Bryte Church had a thanksgiving fellowship of Mom’s in Prayer Group. The theme of the fellowship was “Jehovah Jireh; the Lord will provide”. For more details about the event, read an article by N. Yevseyenko on the Association’s website (in Russian only.)
Meeting participants
CALVINISM AND ARMINIANISM
On November 27, Second Slavic Baptist Church had a seminar about Calvinism and Arminianism. The main speakers were: Sergey Solonenko, who is the head pastor of the church, and Sergey Gunko, deacon, historian, and theologian. About three hundred people attended the event. The theme was very relevant. The subject is a reason of many arguments and disagreements amongst the churches today. That is why the speakers emphasized right away the importance of approaching the study being unbiased and to focus on the historical aspect of the issue. For more details about the seminar and to access the links with resources, visit the Association’s website – click this link (in Russian only.)
MISSIONARY REUNION – 2022
On Saturday, December 3, Bryte church hosted a Missionary reunion, which is a meeting of missionaries, as well as those who are interested in joining this ministry. There were about sixteen missionary teams from various churches of the Pacific Coast Association, as well as our friends from SOL Church, and a New Life Rehab Center. Read more details here.
THE LORD IS CLOSE TO THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING HIM
How often does each one of us ask a question, “Will the Lord answer my prayer? What does it mean to Him? Could it have gotten lost in the billions of other prayers which are being lifted up to the throne of God’s grace every minute, or even every second? Is it foolish to burden Him with such trivial request?”
Read the testimony of Fatima Avramenko, the sister from Bryte Church, about how God wonderfully responds to the prayers of His children, even on so many of the routine prayers.
ANOTHER TRIP TO UKRAINE
On November 7 through the 23, there was a third missionary trip of the missionary team from the Pacific Coast Association to Ukraine. The team consisted of Vitaliy Yasnitskiy - pastor of the House of the Gospel Church, Peter Babich - deacon and leader of the mission department at the House of the Gospel Church, and Anatoliy Oleynik. For more about this visit, and what has been accomplished, is given by Peter babich – click this link (in Russian only.)
One of many meetings…
MINISTRY IN MEXICO
In November of 2022, the youth from The New Hope Church went to an annual missionary visit to Mexico. This church has a very dedicated mission team which has been visiting Mexico in the past 18 years. In the last 7 years, this team was able to build 5 churches. During this last visit, the team was able to build 3 small churches in different cities. The group consisted of 13 people, including one pastor. For more details, read an article by K. Hoffman (in Russian only.)
The team of missionaries with local brothers and sisters
MINISTRY IN LEBANON CONTINUES!
 We wrote many times about missionary ministry in Lebanon, and about the involvement in this ministry of the Rockland Church. When Pastor Mohammed, who was the contact of the Rockland Church, suddenly died, it seemed that the ministry has come to an end there. However, God was already preparing someone for this ministry. Vyacheslav Kirnev, who is a son of a well-known missionary Sergey Kirnev, moved to Lebanon with his family and began to actively serve there. In December, The Rockland Church invited him to Sacramento to discuss further joint evangelistic projects. During his visit, he gave a radio interview for the Association. Visit this page to get access to the audio interview (in Russian only.)
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