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

Iurii is teaching "How to have a real realationship with God" study

On Nov. 14-15, a team of seven people from several churches in Northern Moldova went on a short Mission trip to Cahul in Southern Moldova. These men and women joined Vladlena and Iurii Semeniuc, our missionaries in Cahul, and with God’s help, were able to conduct street evangelism, visitations, and teach home Bible studies to families who had previously invited us to come, as well as in families they visited for the first time. As we were praying for this project, God put together a wonderful team of people!

A total number of 30 families opened their homes for our people who also visited dozens of other addresses, but nobody was at home to answer. In each home, our missionaries presented the Gospel using the Evangelism Explosion program by Dr. D. James Kennedy. We presented the gospel to 12 families on the Gospel of John (8:31-47). Eleven families invited us to come back and continue to study the Word of God! One person was saved as a result of this project!

Here what our team members had to say about the trip:

Nadejda with her first disciple

“I have been praying to God to show me what ministry He prepared for me in the church. When I heard about the mission trip to Cahul, I immediately knew I need to go. And as I needed to go to work and sell vegetables at the market, otherwise it will jus go bad and I will lose money, I decided to leave my vegetables at home in God’s hands and go to Cahul to proclaim Gospel of Jesus Christ to people there. I am so glad I went to Cahul! God has answered my prayer and showed me the ministry He prepared for me – to be an evangelist and preach the Gospel to people that do not know Jesus yet!” – Nadejda

“It was such a blessing to see our people come and support us not just from a distance but to be in our home, to pray with us, to study the Word with us and to visit all these addresses walking many miles per day! It was such a help for us in our work!” – Vladlena

“As we were coming out of an apartment building and nobody responded at the address we were looking for, several ladies asked us at the door who are we and what are we looking for… We told them that we are Christians and we preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! All three ladies asked us to tell them what we are telling everybody and this way God gave us three more people that heard the Gospel! Praise the Lord!” – Silvia

“We were going to the family that asked us to continue Bible study at their home. On the way, we saw a group of ladies and decided the Lord wants them to hear the Gospel as well. We asked them if they would give us 5 minutes for true story to share. They agreed and we presented the Good News of Jesus Christ using Evangecube!” – Raisa

Vadim and Genadii are ready for new visits

“We went to visit an eleven-year-old boy who attended one of our Evangelistic meetings before. His grandmother met us at the gate and did not agree to let us into their house. She said that she can only believe Russian Orthodox priests and nobody else. God still used this meeting to further the Gospel, since for 30 minutes we were talking from the Word of God and two adults and two children heard a clear presentation of the Gospel in spite of the grandmother’s arguments!” – Genadii

“We went to visit a lady named Alla and presented our Bible study lesson to her. As we were finishing teaching, Alla’s husband came home. He had many questions from the Bible, so we gladly spent more time in their home answering those questions. At the end, both Alla and her husband decided to start a Bible study group in their home!” – Vadim

Please continue to pray for the city of Cahul where about 60,000 people live so that a church will be planted there. Pray for our missionaries, Vladlena and Iurii Semeniuc, who run a Christian radio station 24/7 and teach a dozen Bible study groups per week. Join us in praying for more missionaries to move to Cahul and assist them in accomplishing this task for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.   –  Matthew 28:19

Russian Orthodox Church building in the center of Comrat

We praise our Lord Jesus Christ for the opportunity He gave us to organize a mission trip in November 2009 to Comrat, South Moldova! It was an effort of several churches combined: a team of five went to Comrat from Northern Moldova churches and another team of five went from Chisinau, the capital of the country. They met with Ecaterina, our first convert from Comrat, that leads our visitation ministry in the area. The goal of the mission effort was to visit people that had previously visited our evangelistic meetings, those who had expressed the desire to learn more about God and start a home Bible study.

It was interesting to see how differently we were received from home to home. Some people were ready to start a Bible study right away, and others told us they did not have time. We were glad to see new converts from our churches joining the team with a great determination to tell others about Jesus Christ.

Lenin monument in the center of Comrat

Our teams, organized by two people, taught from the Gospel of John 3:1-21. People listened with great attention, and agreed with what they read, even forgetting that they had a limited time to spend with us. As a result, two ladies trusted Jesus and gave their lives to Him! Praise the Lord!

“One time, by mistake, we rang the bell at the wrong door. When the people answered we found that it was a family that also attended our programs in the past, but did not fill out the registration form at the end of the service. We began our discussion on the porch, but ended teaching an inductive Bible study in the kitchen. This lady graciously invited us into her home for a cup of tea. Her grandchildren also heard the Gospel. This lady had many questions from her previous contacts with different cults. She had many religious books on her shelf, but when I asked her to bring her Bible it took her a while to find it. When we were leaving, the lady invited us to come back and continue to study the Bible.” says Lidia, a missionary from Cupcini.

For Valentina, a new convert from Cupcini, it was her first mission trip. She worked many hours visiting families in Comrat. When someone would say that they do not have time for the Word of God, she mentioned that our team traveled 350 kilometers to tell them about Jesus! It usually changed people’s attitude and they agreed to do a Bible study lesson or listen to the Gospel presentation.

Vasile, our missionary and pastor in Chisinau went to the village of Feropontievka to do Church service with a Gypsy family.  He said, “When I arrived, seven adults and two children gathered to hear the Word of God. The words that I heard upon arrival were, “We were waiting for you!” We studied Ephesians 4 and as we were studying they were repeatedly saying, “It is exactly about us!”

Russian Orthodox Church Bell Tower

Rustam, our missionary from Briceni, shared with us about his experiences in Comrat as well. After looking for the address for several hours, he finally found right house. “After some time spent in a spiritual discussion, we learned that the lady we were talking to lost all of her family members in a short period of time. Our visit to this devastated soul was so important and timely, that only Our God could have orchestrated it all.”

As result of this mission effort, God blessed us with twenty meetings where the Gospel was presented and the Gospel of John was taught.  Two people were saved. Once again we saw how large a need there is for the Word of God to be taught and the Gospel to be presented to these people that are in great need of salvation. Please continue to pray for all of the people that received us into their homes so they will continue reading and studying the Bible, the true Word of God. Pray that they will come to a personal knowledge of the truth and be born again into God’s family.

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!