WHEATON, IL (ANS) -- As spring arrived in the Midwest, Russian Ministries' Sergey Rakhuba was in Russia and Ukraine, where snow was still piled high on the sidewalks.

School Without Walls coordinators are prepared to motivate, train and equip the Next Generation of young Christian leaders.

"Even though spring-like weather has not yet arrived in the former Soviet Union (FSU), a new season of activity has arrived in the evangelical church there, especially in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus where new, national church leadership is being elected," said Rakhuba in a ministry update to supporters.

New Leaders for a New Generation

Rakhuba reported: "At its 33rd Congress of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (Russian ECB) in Russia, the Congress took the bold step in choosing leaders who are part of the younger generation and want to move forward in progressive leadership -- unlike the Russian government, who last week marked Vladimir Putin's ten-year hold of power."

Sergey Rakhuba (front, left) gathered with ASR leaders Paul Tokarchouk (back, left), Michael Cherenkov (front right) and Next Generation leaders Feodor Mokan and Alexander Veligotsky in Ukraine.

Rakhuba said Alexei Smirnov, the new president of the Russian ECB, has a strong biblical heritage as a pastor and leader from an independent background.

Smirnov is also forward thinking in his outlook and in encouraging churches to look to the future and equip young people for ministry, Rakhuba said.

Rakhuba also said Evgeny Bakhmutsky was elected as senior vice president of the Russian ECB. Bakhmutsky is a gifted young leader who served as the director of the youth ministries department for several years.

Rakhuba added: "This election confirms that the Baptist Union, the largest evangelical denomination in Russia, wants to encourage young, progressive leaders, who can set a strategic agenda for leadership.

"There is a new hope that these newly elected leaders will focus on reaching, training, and mobilizing the Next Generation to become more active in the Russian ECB."

Strategic Training for the Next Generation
 

Russian Ministries provides training designed to equip and encourage.

Prior to this significant Congress, Russian Ministries/the Association for Spiritual Renewal held a School Without Walls (SWW) training seminar for all of the SWW coordinators from various countries in the former Soviet Union (FSU).

"The goal of this annual gathering was to sharpen the SWW focus, analyze ministry, measure results, pray, and encourage coordinators to share their successes and develop new trends for ministry," Rakhuba said.

He went on to say: "With its unique vision and non-formal approach, SWW is becoming a large movement throughout the FSU.

"I am pleased to see more leaders adopt this strategic and effective vision, apply it in their communities, mentor young people and get them involved in active outreach on behalf of their churches."

Useful Training for Remote Regions

During the training conference, Rakhuba said he realized again how helpful SWW is to young Next Generation leaders in remote areas such as Siberia and Central Asia.
 

Young Next Generation Christian leaders are motivated for a new season of ministry.

"Here young people from Krasnoyarsk, who completed their first year of training, developed their own strategy to mobilize their churches to move beyond their own community to the neighboring region of Buddhist Mongolia through our Christmas outreach, Project Hope and our evangelistic summer camps.

"Their goal is to eventually start several evangelical churches in this post-Soviet, Buddhist land.

"It was also exciting to hear that SWW is offering much-needed training resources for potential young leaders in difficult areas such as the countries of Central Asia.

"A few days after the SWW training in our Ukraine ministry center outside of Kiev, SWW coordinators in Central Asia met for training and encouragement."
 

New leaders for a new generation.

Rakhuba said the ministry is grateful to everyone who partners with Russian Ministries/Association for Spiritual Renewal to help train, equip and mobilize the Next Generation in the former Soviet Union.

"The SWW training events this spring will help many young people spend this summer in meaningful ministry opportunities at our evangelistic summer camps, puppet festivals, youth festivals and other creative evangelistic initiatives.

This week, young Next Generation Christians in Russia and Ukraine are gearing up for the Gift of Life project, Russian Ministries' Easter evangelistic outreach and gift distribution. You can help support these young leaders and the Gift of Life project today.

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To request more information:
Russian Ministries
P.O. Box 496
Wheaton, IL 60187
USA
website: http://russian-ministries.org   

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649,at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Chief Reporter