Studying the Word at Novosibirsk Seminary

Strategic Bible Institute in Chita, Siberia

And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. (Matthew 13:8)

Photo: Students of Chita SBI in class
Photo: Students of Chita SBI in class

Jeff Mullins, pastor of Canaan Community Church in Oregon, recently spent four weeks in Chita (chee-TAH). His time was consumed with teaching a group of men, hungry for the training they need to better minister to the people of their region. His topic for the course was one very important to any pastoral ministry — how to preach.

Chita is nestled in the mountains of Siberia about 500 miles east of lake Baikal. Russians sometimes call it the "City of Exiles". It lies near the Chinese and Mongolian borders, rich in mineral resources — but poor in the knowledge of God. Chita is largely unreached with the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Mullins writes:

In 1990, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union there were fewer than ten believers that gathered in Chita. Today the church is perhaps 150 people and there have been many churches established in the region and over 5,000 believers where before there were none.
(emphasis added)

The city of Chita alone is over 300,000 people. We can hardly imagine what it is like to start with only one in thirty thousand people and grow five hundred fold in fifteen years! Truly, the Lord has marvelously worked in this corner of Siberia. In this place the Lord's servants were few, but dependent on Him, and God has given this tremendous increase.

The need to shepherd, disciple, and train these many new Christians would surely be a daunting task for anyone. But thanks to the grace of God, men have stepped up to the call of Christian service. And thanks to the support and involvement of faithful SGA partners, these leaders of tomorrow's Siberian churches are receiving biblical instruction and benefit from the experience of veteran pastors from churches in America.

Another teacher in Chita remarked on the caliber of the students. He was surprised to discover that several of them were ex-convicts or drug addicts. The power of the Gospel shines through in examples like these, where God has pulled people out of the mire and called them to full-time ministry. The SBI has become a critical component of that transformation for these faithful men who are given a second lease on life and strive to spend it for the Lord.

SGA has been privileged to play a part in many such Strategic Bible Institutes in the last decade. Teams of pastors cooperate to fill a year-long teaching schedule to help a growing church train leaders to reach their region for Christ. These faithful brothers, half the world away, are a zealous people, separated unto the work of the Gospel.

Having completed his course on Homiletics in Chita, Pastor Mullins has come home. The next visiting pastor will teach a survey course on the Old Testament. Looking forward to the future, he writes:

"It is my hope that at the end of this school there will be 16 men equipped to do the work of service as missionaries and pastors in a place where there is a desperate need. Please pray for the church hosting the school, for the other teachers who will come and for the men in the school".
 

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