Recent Baptisms in Tbilisi, Georgia -- Gela and Vakhtang were baptized in February. Their christenings were the result of the power of GOD and the faith of disciples ... Conversions in St. Petersburg -- the first church service in Novgorod will take place on the 18th of February, 2007
Editor's Note: The following stories were recently posted on the Eurasian Missions website.
Recent Baptisms in Tbilisi, Georgia
Gela and Vakhtang were baptized in February. Their christenings were the result of the power of GOD and the faith of disciples.
Baptism of Gela
"Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam???and also because he destroyed it." -- I Kings 16:7
Gela???s sister returned to the church several years ago. She prayed for her whole family and asked God to rescue her three brothers and her mother as well. All her brothers knew about the church. The two eldest were much closer to the church, but they haven???t yet been baptized. Gela is the youngest child in the family and had some doubts about the church; however, when Gela moved to the capital, he started visiting the services more frequently.
Our relationship started with a chess game and continued with deep study of the Bible. Gela's relatives were trying to turn him against the church and discipleship. One of his relatives is a servant of the Orthodox Church. However, the Word of God had more power. Once he understood the necessity of confessing and baptizing, he was baptized (pictured above right).
Nowadays he is firm in sharing his faith with his relatives and other people. His brothers did not attend his baptism and he was sad about the talks with them after the baptism. But nowadays we can see how God changes the hearts and calls upon his love. Gela is a student, but he is working at the same time and supporting his family in a very hard time. He is showing his Christianity. Amen.
Baptism of Vakhtang
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." -- Hebrews 4:12-13
I invited Vakhtang early in the morning as I was going to the beauty salon. He was hurrying to the service at Orthodox Church. Before that, his life did not speak much about Christianity. But something had changed and he started visiting churches.
He used to promise to come to our church for a long time. Time passed. Later, we met each other unexpectedly and had the opportunity to talk honestly. He started to come to the Bible talks. It was evident that he changed and started seeking for God, rather than carrying out ritualistic services. He said that he started reading the Bible and that gave him a lot more understanding. There were other things he communicated with me that made him change, but the biggest change happened in him when he started looking for the understanding of God and Christianity in the Bible. He confessed that he was serving idols and was never seeking for God and never knew Him.
Vakho is a student. He and his family are refugees from Abkhazia, the conflict zone. They lost everything they had. Nowadays he lives with his father and dreams about him becoming a Christian and finding God. They live in poverty, but he is studying at the theatre institute and dreams of making films in order to show others the Christ and the truth. Please pray for their growth and spiritual success.
-- Giorgi Khukhunashvili, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2007
Conversions in St. Petersburg
A letter from the disciples in St. Petersburg:
Dear brothers and sisters, we???d like to share good news with you. A year-and-a-half ago we received an e-mail to our church website from our Nigerian brother, Abraham Kuti (pictured at right). It turned out that he and another brother, Kingsley, had come to Russia the year before and were studying at Archangelsk State University???s preparatory faculty.
Unfortunately, there is no Church of Christ in Archangelsk yet. It was hard for the brothers to be far from church. We started praying and thinking about how we could help the brothers to be closer to church. Eventually, there was a possibility for Kuti to transfer to the Novgorod State University and continue studies there. Novgorod (city) is three hours away from St. Petersburg. That gave him the opportunity to see the church more often.
Now Kuti has been living and studying in Novgorod for more than a year. God has blessed him greatly. Kuti shared his faith in God and Jesus with his hostel friends. Now there are twelve students in Novgorod who regularly meet for Bible talks. Some of them have already been to Church services in St. Petersburg.
We, the disciples of St. Petersburg, understood the brother???s need for help in converting and discipling his friends. We also understood our role in converting nearby territories. Because of this, the first church service in Novgorod will take place on the 18th of February, 2007. That became possible because of the active participation and support from the disciples of St. Petersburg and other cities. We are very grateful to God for how He works in converting people. Please pray for the successful conversion of another city for God ??? Novgorod.
Good News from Omsk, Russia
The following note is from Sergei Lamekin of the church in Omsk, Russia:
At the beginning of the last (2006) year, we received a big package with letters from disciples of the Oklahoma Church of Christ. They were written at the special service where disciples had a special contribution for Russian Missions. There were also letters of kids from children's ministry. All disciples wrote how glad they are to sacrifice for God and wrote that they wish their money could help us to keep on spreading the word of God in Siberia. The letters and sacrifices touched all our hearts. More than that we had never met each other. Since then, our friendship and correspondence began.
In August, we were inspired by one letter from James Shults. He wrote that the kids from the Oklahoma City children's ministry saved their money and they sent it for our children's ministry. We got the opportunity to buy a big and nice boom-box for our kids and now they have much more fun at their Sunday school. The kids were happy to send back letters and pictures to their new friends.
Not only were our kids encouraged, but their parents, too, because we understand that the children's generosity is a fruit of their parent's faith.
We thank God for our new friends, for unity and love in God's Kingdom.