The church in Novosibirsk, Siberia recently celebrated its 15th anniversary during a week long conference entitled, “Because of God’s Great Mercy.”
“When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” Acts 11:23
Planted on July 26, 1992 from the Moscow Church with a mission team of 8 young disciples, God increased their number to over 1,000 throughout Siberia and Eastern Russia. The church in Novosibirsk presently has 630 disciples, and is led by Victor and Axana Polovnikov, and Yuri and Lena Sokolkin. Over the past 15 years the church in Novosibirsk has planted churches in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (1995), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (1998), Omsk, Siberia (2001), and Krasnoyarsk, Siberia (2005).
The week long celebration included fellowship, prayer, preaching, laughter, and tears of joy. There was an inspiring lesson by the Evangelist of the Vladivostok Church , Sergei Glushonkov. John and Barri Lusk, from St. Louis, Missouri taught a class for the parents of preteens and teens, and held a workshop for all the full-time ministry staff for the Siberian and Eastern Russia region of churches.
One highlight of the conference was “Family Day.” Many of the original mission team members shared the amazing miracle stories of the planting. Andy and Tammy Fleming who planted and led the church in Moscow and led the planting to Novosibirsk, flew in from Birmingham, England. Original mission team members, Alexey and Fatima Lytkins, came from Moscow to join the celebration. They now serve as an Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader in the Moscow Church of Christ. Alexey preached a powerful lesson from the books of Ezra and Haggai, and gave an inspirational challenge to continue to build God’s church. This was followed by various groups offering birthday wishes to the church. A group of grateful children sang, a sister representing the older disciples read a beautiful poem, there were many encouraging songs, a funny play, and even a jam session on the drums. It was a time of great celebration and many tears of joy.
On Saturday, Tammy Fleming taught a lesson for all the women, calling the sisters to continue to give their lives to the Lord. The sisters then joined the brothers for a fun, fellowship picnic.
The fellowship throughout the week was electric as disciples came from many other cities to join in praising God for the work in Novosibirsk. Christians came from Tashkent, Ural Mountains, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Ulan Bator. Some of the most excited visitors were six disciples who traveled five days, one way, by train from the church in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. All the visitors were encouraged in love and built up in faith.
At the first Sunday service of the Novosibirsk Church of Christ, in July of 1992, Andy Fleming preached a sermon entitled, “The Church of the Bible.” On the 15th Anniversary worship service Andy preached once again. His sermon was entitled, “The Church of the Bible – Part II.” At one point, Andy said, “Eight people on the team and the Bible, and look at what God has done.” It was a time to stand in awe of all that God has done and will continue to do throughout Siberia. Truly, evidence of the grace of God can be seen in Novosibirsk.
For more informatoin please visit the Novosibirsk Christian Church website (you can view it in English or Russian).
Your brother,
Barri Lusk