We are starting a new phase of ministry in Moscow, as we welcome our first Russian staff couple to our team. We are so excited to have Vova and Lilya join us, and I wanted you to have the chance to meet them and know them a bit better. Having Russian staff on our team is truly a game-changer. They are cultural insiders who are going to play a transformative role on our team as we seek to effectively reach the 1 million college students in Moscow with the Gospel. Vova shared his story with our Stint team recently after they arrived. As I sat there crying tears of joy at how God had changed his life, and brought him to Moscow, I thought, my partners have to hear this! This is Vova’s story:
I participated in a summer project with New Life when I was a student at the Trade and Economy University in Voronezh, Russia. The project really changed my life. Before that summer, the people and environment that surrounded me, really influenced me negatively, and led me away from God. But after that summer, I arrived back at the university and began to actively share my faith with my friends, fellow students at the university, and people at my work. I began to participate in the Christian student movement of New Life in Voronezh and became a student leader in the movement until I graduated.
When I was at the university, my goal was to obtain the skills that would help me to reach all of my personal goals in life. But the more that time passed, the more I saw the importance of investing in eternal things, and not to just waste my life on things that didn’t matter. God changed my views and values. And when I graduated, I decided to become a missionary with New Life, in order to continue to carry the Gospel to students. Our organization asked me and 2 girls, Lilya and Lena, who had also decided to join as missionaries with New Life, to move to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia to help lead the ministry there. Six months after moving to Krasnoyarsk, Lilya and I got married.
My wife and I served in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, for 4 years, and God took great care of us. We saw what HE was able to do through our labors for Him. But this year, we understood that God was preparing us to move on from Krasnoyarsk. In February, our ministry leaders challenged us to become a part of the student ministry team in Moscow. We prayed and considered this challenge. We wanted to understand if God was really leading us there. There are a number of difficulties associated with moving, living, and serving in Moscow, and one of the biggest, is the cost of rent and living expenses. So, considering this, we did not want to make our decision as a result of difficulty or fear. We really wanted to go where God was leading us. And the more we prayed about it, the more clearly we saw that God was calling us to respond to a need and the challenge there by moving to Moscow. We understood this from His Word, and this gave us great confidence.
Moscow is a very strategic city for our country. It is the capital. In Moscow are the largest and best universities in the country, where the future leaders of our country are currently studying. If a Christian student movement starts in Moscow, it will influence the rest of Russia.
I love history. There are 2 examples of evangelical movements in Russia in the past 100 years. The first was a movement of evangelical churches that was started in the 20th century in St. Petersburg by Ivan Prokhanov. The second was a Russian student Christian movement led by V. Martsinkovski at about the same time, starting in Moscow, and spreading all the way to Vladivostok. At this time in Moscow, there were more than 500 Christian students who were a part of this movement! Unfortunately, due to the religious politics of our country, the movement came to an end after many arrests, as well as students put into prison and driven into exile. I believe, that God has the power to do
something like this again! He has the power to do much more!
Praise God with me for Vova and Lilya joining our team and for the fresh wave of faith they bring with them!
-Kim
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