Update from Moscow - from a different perspective

Below is the report from my close associate in Moscow, Ilya Okhotnikov. As many of our supporters might remember, Ilya serves as our provost. I spent the last 9 days in Moscow, working closely with Ilya. So his report resembles what I would write. So...this is his report. Please also feel free to visit his blog by clicking here. And please note his prayer request for his daughter, Daniella.

Greetings! It has been a tense Fall! The Lord God is good in any circumstance! 2 months ago ETSM enrolled 11 new students. They are from all over Russia: from Kaliningrad region – the most Western point of Russia all the way to Siberian Russian territory of Tuva. Tuva is on the border with Mongolia. Excellent students! Dedicated and eager to learn and study for ministry!

1. Just last Friday – Oct. 26, 07 – students have completed a block session on Synoptic Gospels (Mt., Mk., Lk). A Russian teacher, Pastor Leonid Vasilkov, taught the class. ETSM’s extension program students arrived to study all together. A teaching, which is given by a pastor, is always different from that of a Bible school teacher. For good. It was some 50 students in the class. As always, coming together to ETSM form different places of Russia pastors not just hear the Word and study material, but also celebrate some free of pastoral ministry time together in sharing and talking, laughing and enjoying pastoral community setting.

2. Another major even at ETSM was a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Seminary. Members of the Board have arrived from Latvia, Ukraine, Moscow, Germany, Siberian part of Russia. They have approved the work of ETSM’s administration and set up some goals for the future growth of training. As the time goes by more and more national pastors and Bishops receive their education. They become teachers of the Bible Schools. They share knowledge, skills and experience with the learners of the schools of ministry. Praise God for His ways and plans, which are above ours!

3. Licensing process continues: the goal is to pray for the process of registration of Seminary’s documents in appropriate Governmental offices before applying for the license. Please pray these changes will be processed quickly: not for 4 weeks, not for 3 weeks and not for 2, but sooner, so that ETSM could file the licensing paper work in the first part of November, so that expert committee would come before the end of the calendar year. We have all the papers ready and well, with exception of 3 items. We all in Moscow need your prayers for licensing. Please, keep on praying: educational license is the governmental permission to train ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the official way. I hope we don’t need to go underground again to equip laborers for the Harvest, like it used to be some 20 years ago (1987 was a beginning year of warming: PERESTROIKA did start, but I went to the military service: officer candidate traning, rturned in Dec. 1990 and in August 1991 have been gloriously saved!).

4. Seminary students left for their Missionary Week to different churches in Russia and Ukraine. Usually they go with 3 purposes for the mission work: One is to give and to receive from a pastor or a church. They can minister or receive from experienced pastor. Goal number 2 is to get to know the family of Church of God: students have a unique opportunity to make friends with other churches of Church of God in Russia and Ukraine (Armenia, *….stan, Moldova, Mongolia etc.). And the 3^rd goal is to give a word of a testimony: HOW did the Lord God helped them to live up to this day? Why did they come to ETSM? What and how does the Seminary help them in their formation\preparation for ministry? Some have been in the ministry already. We expect to hear many exciting stories of this week of ministry.

5. Please, pray for Daniella, our daughter: she can not get over a cough for 4 weeks. A pediatrician we have (socialized medicine assigns us only 1 pediatrician, only 1 option) has been not quite attentive in the process of analyzing Daniella’s case, which turned to be from a cold all the way down to suspected pneumonia\bronchitis. Thank you for your care for prayer for us. We need it. Please, keep requesting God on our behalf so that Daniella would get healed quicker with no negative consequences.

THANK YOU MUCH!