Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. – Revelation 1:3

God has granted us another blessed time – the Leadership Training Institute session in Cupcini on July 19-30. We spent two weeks of intensive training in Bible study and leadership that we offered our present and prospective leaders.

The training started with the testing of our faith – the public school principal, whose facility we usually rented for the Institute, refused us this time and we had to find another place for training classes. God opened the heart of another public school principal who let us use his school canteen for the training we needed.  It was exactly the same place we had our first meetings in Cupcini 15 years ago when there was not even one believer in town. And now, by the grace of God, after these years of revival and growth, we filled the same place, but this time with people from nine cities who were saved though Moldova for Christ Ministry and now are serving as leaders and church planters.

Our students traveled from all over Moldova and some traveled up to 400 kilometers one way to attend the training – pastors, missionaries and Bible study group leaders as well as people who came for the first time in order to join the Institute and become a leader. Fifty-seven men, women and young adults dedicated these two weeks to the Word of God, many using their summer vacation time for training. Also, it was a very special time for all our leaders when we all come together to share with each other and strengthen our relationships as a family that works together to bring the country of Moldova to Jesus Christ.

The study we did this time was on Revelation, part 1, by Precept Ministries International, which covers the first 3 chapters of this book of the Bible. God was really at work during the training and the students made many decisions for purity and dedication to the Lord’s call.

Here is what some of the students said at the end of the training:

Olga: During this Training Institute I understood that our God is both righteous and loving. He wants us to know Him and have a right attitude toward Him, living worthy of His calling.

Alexandra: I understood that my need is to spend more time one-on-one with God. Now, I want to study other chapters of Revelation and the book of Daniel inductively. God is looking for my live and faithfulness and I want to spend the rest of my life learning how to put Christ first in my day to day life.

Marin: At the Training Institute I learned how to tell others about Jesus with great joy, how to prepare and lead a Bible study lesson. I want to tell everybody about my Lord Jesus Christ and about the Holy Scripture.

Cristina: I truly understood what the church is about and what Jesus expects from a church. Also I studied about Lord’s discipline and His promises for the victors.

Denis: It was so impressive to find out about the blessing to those who read, listen and keep of all it is written in the book of Revelation. Now I want to be victorious in my life and I know the Lord wants it too for me.

Octavian: I discovered that Jesus is all I need to be victorious in my life. Also I formed the discipline of studying God’s Word inductively. Like never before I understood that the little strength that I have is to be used for the most important thing in my life – for keeping God’s Word.

Alex: Jesus is my first love and I need to keep Him first in my life. When suffering I need to be brave. When serving Jesus, my present deeds need to be bigger than previous, and these deeds need to be complete in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Irina: It is amazing how much attention Jesus pays to the local church! His view of church is so much different from how we often view church and it is a clear indication to what should we pay attention as well.

Vadim: I became braver in sharing God’s Word with others. Also I am most sure the God really knows all our deeds. Now I know that the victory is to keep God’s Word till the end.

Denis: It was a great joy for me to learn inductive approach in studying the Bible! So many things were clarified for me! The Lord opened my eyes to so many truths in His Word. This training changed my view of the book of Revelation.

Viorica: For the first time I studied the Bible Inductively and formed a general overview of this wonderful method. I decided to continue studying the Scriptures inductively.

Please pray as our students work toward starting their Bible study groups where they will teach the same study they took at the training. Pray that believers will be rooted in the Word of God and unbelievers will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and will be saved.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. – 1 Peter 4:10

Spiritual Gifts classes

God has blessed us with another training institute for leaders from all parts of Moldova that we held January 2-10 in Cupcini. The subject for this institute was Spiritual Gifts, a study by Kay Arthur from Precept Ministry International. We had 56 leaders from many places all across Moldova who studied tirelessly for nine days at the Institute.

The training took place at a local high school, just across the street from Cupcini Church. The outside temperature dropped to 30 below zero and with the heat turned on at the school, it was still very cold in the class. But this did not stop students from coming to the classes. It was a very special time of praying together, sharing meals at one big table at the school’s canteen and doing homework with roommates.

We are so thankful for our church members at Cupcini and Edinet Churches who hosted all the students who came to the Institute from other places. The dedication of these students was incredible as they studied in class for seven hours and did homework for four to five hours more. In the class we had to translate from Russian into Romanian language and back, since we had students who did not understand the other language.

Lesson plan presentation with translation from Romanian to Russian language

Here are some testimonies from students who attended the training:

-               Now, I can better understand the idea of church as Christ’s body and now I understand my role in the church. Also, I think I know what spiritual gift I have.  – Vladlena

-               I learned how to prepare a teaching plan for the lesson I am planning to teach to my students, and I learned how to conduct discussion lessons in the group. – Tatiana

-               This training equipped me with God’s truth to be able stand against false teachings concerning spiritual gifts. I found out how the gifts are given and how to minister to others in Christ’s body with your gift. – Ruslan

-               I learned the difference between spiritual gifts and natural abilities. At the same time all our gifts and talents are to be used in ministry to the church for the glory of the Lord. – Dmitrii

-               I have decided to get actively involved in ministering to the church in order to find where God wants me to serve Him. – Olga

Nicolai grew up in orphanage, now is studying to be Bible teacher

-               I learned how to fill out the lessons in the study book and how to prepare a teaching plan for group discussion. Now I am ready, with new joy and strength to continue studying the Scripture. – Dmitrii

-               During this Institute I learned that spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities given by the Holy Spirit to every believer. I learned that such gift as prophesy exists even today and are practiced in the church.  - Paul

After the training, many students decided to start their home Bible study groups and the number of projected groups was raised to 59 groups in 12 cities across of the country. We pray God will use these men and women of God who love God and His Word and are eager to serve Him in the church and communicate His message of Love to a generation that needs the Gospel so desperately.

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen – 1 Peter 4:11

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.                -  Ephesians 4:11-12

From July 27 until August 7, we had our 48th Precept Training Institute in Cupcini for pastors and leaders. Seventy-five leaders from Moldova and Ukraine attended. The training was on a Precept “Lord” study titled, “Lord, give me a heart for You,” based on the Second Epistle to Corinthians. We also studied the subject of Pastoral Work, taught by Dr. Brett Howell.

Precept Training Institute classes in Cupcini

Because we do not have facilities for classes at our church in Cupcini, we rented a local public school’s gymnasium where we moved chairs and desks from several classes to accommodate the room. It made a very large classroom for study with enough light and air. New people joined the training almost every day. Since we had people from different churches, countries and nationalities, you could hear students speak in several languages – Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian and English. But this did not hinder the communication; everybody was glad to be with their brothers and sisters and to spend time in God’s Word.

Dr. Brett Howell teaching

Here are some testimonies from our students:

Prascovia: “I understood that I need to pray regularly for my pastor and to start a correspondence counseling ministry.”

Dima shared that he does not have fear of starting a Bible study group any more.

Ruslan learned how to overcome trials and difficulties in life, and what it means to be adequate for ministry.

Vasile: “During this training I learned to work as a team with everybody that stayed at our place. I learned that I need to come first to God when I need comfort.”

Ecaterina decided to start serving God through giving and teaching.

Nelly wants to spend more time with God, studying His Word and share with other the comfort God gives her.

Dmitrii: “I got experience in preparing teaching plans for the lessons and got boldness to proclaim His Word to other people”.

During Institute classes

Olga can’t wait to put into practice what she has learned and to start teaching this course in the Bible study group she is planning to start in her home!

On the last day of the training, students took an exam and had to write a paper on courses they’ve studied: Second Corinthians and Pastoral ministry. God’s Word touched the hearts of students: When they came to the training, they were leading 22 home Bible study groups with 116 people in seven localities, and after the training they decided to start 50 Bible studies and teach 163 people in 10 cities and villages. Praise the Lord!

The training lasted two weeks, but time flew by very fast as we learned God’s eternal truths. The last day was a sad one when everybody had to leave and go back to his city or village. But the goal of the training was for every student to take God’s Word and proclaim it in his or her locality and to organize a Precept Bible study group to teach the course that was taught at the training. For the next training, in January 2010, we expect these students to return with their disciples!

From January 2-11, we had two Precept Leadership Training Institute sessions in Cupcini. God blessed us with 34 students from seven cities across the country. Young and older, men and women, Russian and Romanian speaking – all of these were united by a passion for the Word of God and the desire to tell everyone.

Lessons started early in the morning and went until late afternoon. They studied in class, and everybody was studying at home till late at night. The next morning everybody was in class, joyful and ready to start another day’s journey through the Bible in order to know his or her Savior in a more personal way.

We taught two different courses. The Russian speaking group studied the Gospel of John, Part Two, that covered chapters 12-21, and they also learned how to study a difficult subject in the Bible. The Romanian speaking group studied the book of James and Homiletics, and each student learned how to study a passage, prepare a sermon and then deliver a message. Two trainers taught in different groups: Pastor Vasile Sanduleac from Balti taught the Romanian speaking group and Pastor Vasile Rusnac from Chisinau taught the Russian speaking group.

Because our church building is not finished, we had to rent two classrooms at a local high school. We thank God for not just opening the door for classrooms for us but also for opening the school leaders’ hearts toward helping us in the ministry of training God’s people and establishing them in God’s Word so that they will know Him and will know how to live accordingly.

Since we do not have a dormitory facility, each student who was not from Cupcini stayed with local families, and we are so thankful to God for every family that received a student or two or even three for the period of training, giving them a place to stay, providing food for them and many times helping the students with their homework every evening. It is truly a blessing to see the unity of Christ’s body working toward the goal of knowing Him and getting the Gospel into every village and home in Moldova.

At the end of the training during the midweek church service in Cupcini, every student shared with the body of believers his or her personal testimony on how God was at work in his or her heart during the Training Institute. The church was filled with church members and guests eager to hear of God’s work in our days. It was a great time of building the faith and encouragement for the ones who had opened their home to students from other cities of Moldova.

Every Precept Training Institute involves a practical assignment when students go door-to-door and teach at least one lesson that they have studied in class. It helps them to catch the vision to do the same in their own cities and villages and to start home Bible studies when they will teach the whole course they studied at Training. As a result, many went home and started more than one study group, and people were saved and wanting to join our churches or form a church if there was none in their city, which was often the case. After this training, God put on the hearts of the students from both groups to start new Bible study groups in their cities where local people will come to study God’s Word right in their own neighborhoods.

Please pray that God will move in a powerful way through our students as they boldly proclaim the Gospel and start new home Precept Bible Studies, and pray that people will be saved and join the church.