Hard, Sacred Ministry Leads Recipients to Repentance

In this issue of the Good News Report, I was excited and moved to read the account about events at the SGA-supported Little Pearl Camp in Belarus and the way God is powerfully moving in the lives of children there. It is a wonderful reminder that when God moves, nothing can stand in His way when it comes to changing lives and bringing men, women, and children to Himself in faith. It is also a reminder of how we as believers bathe our ministries and outreaches in fervent prayer, trusting in God to do what only He can. Our founder Peter Deyneka’s motto, Much Prayer, Much Power, continues to ring loud and clear through the decades and generations. 

One of the statements the missionary pastor made in the article was to comment on how comparatively rarely we see what could be called “mass repentances” in everyday church ministry. That might be something that gives us pause at first glance, but that pause can come from our media-driven culture. Here in North America and other Western nations, we may remember seeing huge numbers of people coming forward at televised evangelistic crusades in decades past. We might also read accounts like that in the book of Acts, as God called vast numbers of people to Himself as the Apostles proclaimed the Gospel after the Lord’s resurrection. But even then, there was the hard work of day-to-day witnessing and sharing as God gave opportunity. Responses were not always en masse. And there was much opposition!

Such mass conversions are indeed not the norm as churches carry out their calling where God has planted them. Nor do we typically see it as individuals when we share the Gospel with people. More often than not, it is a lengthy journey and loving labor of weeks, months, and even years before we see the fruit of our ministry. We must always remember that God moves sovereignly, in His time and in His way. He calls us to be faithful. He calls us to be always ready, in season and out of season as the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy. At Camp Pearl, Pavel and his team discerned that God was about to move as there was much spiritual opposition to their ministry. Then God indeed moved, and the aftermath continues to bring great joy. May we always be faithful, hardworking, and ready when God is ready to move in our midst. 

For our Savior,

Michael Johnson
President