As in other countries with churches we serve, SGA-supported pastors in Belarus often share from their own pockets while often going without. Some walk on tired feet because they have no working car. Often in shoes that have worn out. And . . . growing numbers of them risk persecution, injury, jail, and rejection.
But when friends like you share generously each year through our Frontline Pastors Christmas Campaign, you help provide these sacrificial leaders with a $100 Christmas gift. It might seem small, but it can be a profound gift of love and care. Please read through these thank-you messages we recently received from pastors and their wives in Belarus.
Vladimir
Gomel Region
Merry Christmas! Dear brothers and sisters! We thank you for your Christmas gift, which we were happy to receive this year!
At the beginning of December, a little girl named Vasilisa (my spouse became a foster mom) came to our family. She is 5 years old. We now have 10 children at home besides those children who always live with us at our home. She began to call first my spouse a mom, and then me a dad.
And we want to dedicate this gift to her and to buy her necessary things: tights, socks, dress, blouses and other things. God gave the child, gave help, praise Him for that!
Friends, may you also have a special blessing these days through Jesus Christ! May the blessing touch your family: spouses, children and grandchildren. May the blessing touch your community!
Mikhail
Gomel Region
Dear friend, jewel of the Grace of Christ. Thank our Lord who has enlarged your heart for us. Thank you for your Christmas gift. Because of your gift, I will be able to buy a gift for my son, Leshka. He wants a guitar for a long time and now I will be able to give it to him.
You are an example not only for me and my wife, but also for our children, who, like us, are learning to love gratuitously. I will be able to tell my son that this is a gift from a man who has never seen you, but he does it because he loves God and people. It is a good example for my son.
Please accept our thanks and greetings on Christmas Day. We offer our prayers that He may strengthen your hands and knees, fill your heart with joy and love, and put His protection from every kind of evil. May His Light shine in you.
Pavel
Brest Region
Grace and peace to you, dear friends! Your concern means a lot to me. It has inspired me all these years of working [here]. If it were not for your care, I would not have been able to continue this ministry. For the first time, I wanted to leave everything. But God gave me people who encouraged and helped me. Now there are many people who spiritually support and encourage me. But only you are involved in physical needs. I know that you also pray for evangelization in our country. This has become a tangible source of joy and hope for me. I feel that God is near. He is not forsaken. What is valuable is that it helps me to help those who need help.
Yuri
Grodno Region
Greetings, dear friends. My family and I thank you and the Lord for your Christmas gift to our family. We see the grace of our Savior in this too. He has positioned your heart for us, and you have shown your love in action.
During these Christmas weeks, we see Christ’s care for our family through you. Your gift will serve to strengthen our daughter Sophia’s immunity after her illness.
We thank Christ in prayer for you.
Alexander
Minsk Region
Greetings, dear friends, brothers and sisters, hard workers in the field of the Lord. I want to thank you for all the time we have spent together in ministry. Maybe not visible, but real. I would like to say thank you for your prayers for us, for our ministry and pleasant surprises for Christmas. This year has not been easy, but we are alive by God’s grace and continue our work. Thank you so much for supporting us in every way possible.
Thanks to your gift we were able to purchase warm winter clothes and shoes for our growing teenagers. Praise God. May God bless you, keep your hearts, your loved ones and your families in His hands, and send His peace to those places where there is none.
Sergey
Minsk Region
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Beloved by the Lord, Jesus Christ! From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate you on the great feast of Christmas!
I thank you for your loving heart, your concern for my family and my ministry. Your gift that I received is simply a miracle from the Lord! Because of your gift, we will be able to make our children happy with gifts and a holiday table together. Thank you so much for caring for my home and accommodating us with our needs in your heart.
May God bless you! May He fill every need in His mercy through your prayers.
Pyotr
Vitebsk Region
Dear friends, I thank you cordially for the Christmas gift. It gave me the opportunity to improve my health and purchase vitamins for me and my wife.
We pray and thank you for your generosity! May the peace of God fill your hearts and your homes in this Glorious season of the Nativity of Jesus Christ!
Alexander
Minsk Region
Blessed is our Lord and His mercy is infinite, and it is new every morning, but as we approach the Christmas holiday, we can feel it even more through the special gifts from you. Thank you for the gift I received on the eve of the holiday. I bought candy and toys for my grandchildren as well as food for the holiday table.
Thank you for organizing such a holiday. The grandchildren and children will be immensely happy, and when they are happy, we are happy too. Friends, I know that you also have needs, but you share with us what you also need, we appreciate it and thank the Lord for you! Merry Christmas!
Viktor
Gomel Region
Peace be with you, beloved brothers and sisters of God!
Today I have the great honor to have fellowship with you on the eve of the Christmas holidays. Please accept from my family and from our entire local church heartfelt congratulations on the coming Christmas holidays. Peace and God’s abundant blessings to you and your families during these bright holidays.
My wife Jana and I appreciate your care and blessings. And we thank you for your Christmas gift to our family. I believe that for your generosity the Lord will repay you in due time with his God-given bounty. My wife and I wish you good health, success in life and much fruit in your labor in the field of the Lord.
Boris
Vitebsk Region
Dear friends, I want to thank you most sincerely for the Christmas gift for my family. It is a beautiful tradition of faith—the joy of our Savior coming into the world—to reflect in our gifts to one another.
I want you to know, that your gift of faith has brought much benefit and joy to our family.
My wife Marina has recently fallen ill. She needs a medical examination in a big city. Your sincere love for the Lord and for us made it possible to have some examination and treatment.
We thank our caring Heavenly Father for the Savior sent into the world . . . for the family of God, which He created out of all of us . . . for His eternal love and constant care for us!
Pavel
Grodno Region
Dear friends, brothers and sisters! Peace be with you! Thank you so much for your Christmas gift. I love giving gifts to my loved ones, especially my grandchildren. Birthdays and Christmas are a time to make them feel good and pray with them.
But I have noticed that I like to receive gifts myself. I appreciate what you do for me in your care, love, attention. Daily I pray for you.
I thank God that I can share my gift with my family because of you. You give the best for us, just as God the Father gave the best for us and our salvation—Jesus Christ.
Thank you and may God bless you all!
Nikolay
Brest Region
Dear friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Wishing you a life filled with great blessings from God.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your brotherly message of love received from you! Thank you for the Christmas gift. Your gift will help us with our gas heating costs during these cold months of winter. Your concern will warm our hearts and souls.
Nikolay
Minsk Region
My wife Tatiana and I would like to congratulate you on the coming holiday of Christmas! It is a great joy for me that Christ was born in my heart as well. May you have a joyful time during these festive days. Thank you for your abundant blessings this year, for your prayers and care.
My wife Tatiana had a broken tooth and was in severe pain. She went to the dentist, where she was able to get the necessary help and heal the tooth. Thank you for your help, which was needed so timely. May the Lord see your needs and send help for you in time!