Students at SGA-Supported Seminaries and Bible Institutes Look Ahead!

There have been many rewarding moments and visits to the former Soviet Union in my personal history with SGA. Among them are the visits I’ve had the opportunity to make to SGA-supported seminaries and Bible institutes—especially graduation ceremonies.

Most of us can look back to the days when we graduated from either high school or college. Feelings were joyful in the main that our school days were over, but within the joy was also a bit of trepidation. Lord willing, a whole lifetime lay ahead, and what direction would we go? Maybe we planned one career but something diverted those plans into something else. Perhaps we went right into the career we had chosen while still in school. Sometimes those who did not know the Lord in their school days later on entered into a personal relationship with Christ, and that changed our vocation to ministry as God led.

Both the students who are graduating from the seminaries and Bible schools that SGA supports, and those still enrolled, come from a wide variety of backgrounds. And the Lord is directing them to diverse missions:

• Some have already served as pastors or in various church ministries, and wanted to strengthen their ministries with a deeper theological background.
• Others are young students who have the desire to be pastors, and the classes they attend will ground them more firmly in sound Bible doctrine.
• Many want to become teachers themselves and pass on the knowledge they have gained to other upcoming students.
• Still others are drawn to church ministries such as worship and music ministry. Music is very important to the culture across the former Soviet Union, and the students in this track take courses that will give them a sound foundation for biblical worship that glorifies God.

Undergirding all of this is the desire to obey the Lord’s Great Commission in proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples. Everything in ministry points to that overarching goal.

One thing that all the students have in common is deep thanksgiving to God, and to you because you help make their education possible through your support of SGA. Please know that you play a vital role in the future of the Lord’s church across Russia and her neighboring nations. I can’t thank you enough.

For our Savior,

Michael Johnson
President