He Uses Your Generous Gifts to Change Lives for Eternity

Dr. Larry Duncan
SGA Director of Bible Training

We are so thankful for the prayers of SGA partners that undergird the fruitful Bible training ministries supported by SGA in the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. Earlier this year, I traveled to Moldova arriving on a Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday, I traveled to a village about 30 minutes away from the Bible school in Chisinau, which is Moldova’s capital. I worshipped at a church plant ministry in Criuleni located on the border with Transnistria, which is a region that broke away from Moldova shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. A brief military conflict took place, and since then, this has been considered a “frozen conflict” with no immediate resolution on the horizon.

New Birth in a Barren Land

I was picked up by Pastor Eduard and his wife Natalia, who then drove me to the church plant ministry in Criuleni. I was informed that 80 percent of those who attend the worship service at this church plant are not believers. SGA-supported Compassion Ministry is important in helping the church to reach people in this village. Andrei, an SGA-supported missionary pastor, preached a message first. After another song, I preached from Psalm 23 and tied it into the truth that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I emphasized that the only way to have God as our Shepherd is to know Him through Jesus Christ. There was then a special message for the ladies present. At the conclusion, two people came forward—one old and the other young—and Pastor Eduard prayed with them.

Eduard informed me later that they prayed the prayer of repentance and trusted Christ as their Savior! The older lady requested to be baptized soon since she did not think she should wait due to her age. It was a joy to realize that two from this village had come to repentance and faith in Christ! Anna was the name of the younger lady and Alexandria the elder. They asked that we do not publish their photographs, but it is a joy to share about their salvation. This is truly reaching into an area where there are no evangelical churches of any sort. Pastor Eduard is key to reaching the villages in this part of Moldova. Please continue to pray God’s blessing upon our still developing relationship with the evangelical churches there.

SGA-Supported Pastors Grow in Numbers and Strength

I need to mention another important event, which your prayers and support helped make possible. A year ago, I was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Dan Nave—one of the instructors at the SGA-supported Almaty Bible Institute. He was teaching the book of Ephesians. One of the students enrolled was named Shukhrat from another Central Asian nation. He engaged me in conversation about possibly coming to his country and SGA resuming training there, which had not been possible for some time. Afterward, SGA senior vice president of ministry operations Eric Mock and I traveled there together and met with the Baptist Union leadership, and they officially invited us to begin Antioch Initiative training there. I was able to go later on and was able to teach in the third session of four that was scheduled for this academic year. Shukhrat has been instrumental in organizing the beginning of these sessions. And now, the men are being equipped without having to travel outside of their country. This is a huge blessing for the brothers, and they express their deep gratitude. One of the students, Oleg, said this after the session concluded:

 I am grateful to Dr. Duncan for coming to us from far away and teaching us about God. I realized that I didn’t know much about God and I thought I knew enough not to take a theology course. God called me to repentance, which I did. I want to take this course again on my own, in a quiet environment and not only to realize, but also to be penetrated by the realization of the omnipresence and omnipotence, and the love of God for me, a sinner.

Please pray for God’s continued blessing on all of the seminaries and Bible institutes you help support through SGA. It is having an eternal impact for the Lord’s glory!