The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2

From January 4-15, 2010 one of our pastors from Balti City Church of Hope, Vasile Sanduleac, visited Kharkiv, Ukraine to take a leaders training institute on evangelism and discipleship. More than two million people live in this city, with less than one percent of evangelical believers.

Kharkiv Students 2010

The Precept book of the Gospel of John study was used as curricula for the training. Brothers and sisters from many churches came for the training, and a number of them are serving the Lord as pastors and deacons in local churches. There were 24 students total. Everybody was on fire for the Lord, ready to start their home Bible study groups and teach the Word of God.

The study of the Gospel of John discussed evangelism approaches our Lord Jesus used in different situations with different people, with many times through fulfilling their physical needs first. He moved the discussion to the spiritual condition of sin, showing his listeners the solution. Students were trained to use these same approaches in bringing people to Christ, when they will understand their need of salvation and forgiveness that only our Lord Jesus can give.

It was very encouraging to see Brother Alexandr Lah who attended our training in 2007 when a Church Planting course was taught. That training had such an impact on Alexandr that during the training he asked everybody to pray for the calling he received from the Lord – to move with his wife to the Chernigov region and plant a new church in a city where not even one believer was. Now Alexandr has a church of 15 believers who study the Bible using Inductive study materials. This time he came for the next training to study the Gospel of John and to be prepared to teach it to his new brothers and sisters at home.

Vasile Sanduleac teaching

During this training, the Russian Orthodox Christmas was celebrated on January 7, but our classes were not cancelled even for Christmas day. Everybody was present at the training with all their homework done.

We thank God for a special couple, Victor and Zinaida who coordinate the work in this city and have sacrificed so much to keep this Institute going. They organize the training for us every time we come, and the training becomes a successful effort that brings good results in people’s hearts through the Word of God that is planted.

Please pray for the students as they start 14 home Bible study groups where they will teach 97 students in four cities.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.                                     1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Studying the book of 1 Corinthians

We believe that one of the characteristics that describe a healthy church is a church whose members know their spiritual gifts and serve one another with the gifts God has entrusted to them. This is why we believe it is vital for every church member to know all that God’s Word has to say about spiritual gifts.

October 22-24, we organized a training conference with “Spiritual Gifts” as the subject. We studied the Precept’s “Spiritual Gifts” study book written by Kay Arthur, with Bill Grubbs from Gainesville, GA and Neal Walls from Memphis, TN as speakers. The main Bible text we studied was the Apostle Paul’s First Epistle to Corinthians. Before we got to chapters 12, 13 and 14, we did an overview on the whole book to set the context these chapters.

Brothers and Sisters from different cities

As soon as the conference was announced, people from different cities from all over Moldova began to enlist. We had dozens of churches and cities represented at the Conference. Everybody got so excited studying about Spiritual Gifts! The most common request we received was to have a two-week study, not just 3 days! As we were studying chapter by chapter, God continued to speak into the hearts of participants, and as result, a young couple understood they were not using their gifts and decided to go into full-time mission ministry. Another young man decided to get involved in the Radio ministry and preach the Gospel through radio programs.

Another nice thing was that everyone received a work book that will continue the study for four months after the conference. Here is what some participants have said after the conference:

-          This conference was another opportunity to stop on the way and see the importance of using my spiritual gifts to the maximum and the importance of helping others discover their spiritual gifts. -Vasile

- During the study of First Corinthians, I understood how important it is for everyone in the church to accomplish his role, serving with his gift that the Holy Spirit gave him. My prayer is that every believer in our church will understand how we are depending on one another in one body of believers. -Nadejda

- It was like reading First Corinthians for the first time in my life! I decided to fill in the study book till the end after the conference. -Yurii

-          I was deeply impressed by the truths I learned at the conference! I have learned that there are many different gifts. The Holy Spirit distributes them and we cannot earn them. -Paul

-          I want this study to be taught in my church. It is very important. -Tatiana

-          It is such an encouragement to see how our brothers and sisters are applying the truths they just learned in respect to others around them! -Olga

-          The work of Spiritual gifts provides functionality of the church. It will provide a healthy growth for the church. It will save the church from many divisions and misunderstanding. Through the ministry with your gifts you are proving love for God and for brothers and sisters. When you are serving with your gifts it will bring joy, peace, and rest in the body of Christ. -Dmitriy

We thank God for the time we spent in studying His Word, and we thank Him for moving in the hearts of brothers and sisters who are hungry for the Word of God and ready to sacrifice their time and work for spiritual things and for strengthening their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

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!

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden                                                                                                                        (Matthew 5:14)

Pstor Trevin Wax teaching at the Conference

We had a very encouraging and refreshing time training our 70 leaders from all over Moldova at the “Church for the World” Conference in Cupcini, Northern Moldova, which was conducted on September 27th.

We had pastors with their families, as well as lay people, who traveled for several hours by public transportation to attend the conference. The main speakers were Trevin Wax from Tennessee and Brian Chocrane from Arkansas. The teaching was translated into Russian and Romanian languages because attendees spoke different languages. At the same time, we felt unity in Christ in spite of the language barriers. Many participants asked us to organize more events like this one in the future.