Baptism in Winter
April 7, 2006

The Lord saved Vladimir out of a life of addiction — alcoholism had put a stress on his family that few could bear. But through the grace of our great God, he and his wife were rescued from the bondage of sin. Now they labor in the Lord's harvest field, planting a small church in Siberia. There were about ten people in the church last fall.

Recently, Pastor Vladimir sent this wonderful testimony of dedication and obedience. This winter two young men repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ, trusting Him to save them from their sins. These two young brothers, fervent to demonstrate obedience to their new Master, couldn't wait until summer to be baptized.

It was 5° Fahrenheit, but that was no obstacle to these hardy Siberian Christians. They shoveled down through a foot of snow to cut a hole in the ice. Braving the cold and the wind (and the long walk home), these two faithful young Christians were baptized by Pastor Vladimir in early April.

Vladimir's priority in this city of about 50,000 people is evangelism. With this sort of enthusiasm to publicly identify with Christ, surely these two new evangelists will be used mightily to proclaim the life-changing Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Interested in more stories about church planting in Russia?
Visit our Reports from the Field section, where we post weekly selections from church planter reports.