Local Authorities Welcome Children’s Ministries

Artyom Zemlyanov
Far East Russia

I am joyful and thankful that the Lord Jesus has opened up villages in our region of Far East Russia for preaching the Gospel. It all began this past Christmas when Anastasia, the head of the local city council, came to the celebration with her children.

Later on, as I prayed about ways to reach the entire Amur region, the Lord led me to communicate with Anastasia again, as the council she leads actually oversees four villages. After much prayer, I made an appointment with her to talk about village life and its challenges. We had a long talk, and then I told her of our plans for Easter when we’d hold a celebration for families in Kuropatino, and our hopes to have future Sunday school classes for children. Anastasia’s response surprised me—she gladly agreed and called our plans a good idea!

Easter finally came, and we travelled to the village social club to hold our outreach. We found the hall filled with more than 50 people of different age groups. We had a discussion, sang the hymn In Christ Alone, and then I gave a message about the true meaning of Easter. Central to the message were the words of the Apostle Paul from Romans—Jesus died for our sins and He rose again for our justification.

And He has risen, He has victory over death! I finished with a call from John 3:16 and noticed complete silence in the room—people were listening.

The children’s program came next, with a drama adapted from the Chronicles of Narnia, but with our characters speaking words from Scripture. Children, teenagers, youth, mothers, fathers, and grandmothers were listening to the story of an ordinary sinner whose faith was credited to him for righteousness by the King of Kings. The Lord was near, His presence was evident.

I could see the Lord changing people’s attitudes toward our team. Suspicion and mistrust disappeared. The head of the village administration approvingly clapped my shoulder, thanked us for the event, and suggested future cooperation. We agreed to do summer day playgrounds for children and discussed once again the opportunity to use the social club building for Sunday school purposes. On the way home we rejoiced like little children at how the Lord opened doors for preaching the Gospel. Pray for future Gospel opportunities, and that our ministry in these villages will grow. Thank you for your help and partnership in the Lord’s work!