The village of Priiskovoye is located in a remote area, approximately 850 meters (2788 feet) above sea level, and is home to about 300 people. There is a school, but the classes consist of only 2-3 students. In this village, during the winter season, there is a ski resort for extreme sports enthusiasts. The majority of the population works in the service industry on the slopes and at the foot of the mountains. In the summer, the residents mainly go to the taiga to gather natural resources, which they use for food and sell to supplement their family budget.
The main beliefs in this area are shamanism, naturism, and neo-paganism. It is very difficult to find work in the village, which may be why many people suffer from alcohol addiction. Currently, there is no church in the village, but for the past eight years, the Abakan Church has been organizing various events for the residents of the settlement at least twice a year. During this time, some residents have started studying in Abakan and constantly seek opportunities to connect with believers.
Even during the pandemic, Christians came to the village for Christmas and distributed gifts with biblical literature to households. Over time, the church team has developed warm and trusting relationships with the village administration. The church team is always welcomed and given the opportunity to conduct lessons on biblical and moral education.
At the end of spring, after the quarantine was lifted, the administration of Priiskovoye invited the believers to organize a celebration for the children. This is another opportunity to introduce children and their parents to the Gospel!
Please pray for the residents of the settlement, that God will bring people to Christ!
Life keeps changing and we continue to serve God. We preach the Gospel, raise children, taking care of old people, and help people in need. We keep finding new opportunities to testify of the Savior. For a long time during the “first wave of Covid” our Church “Word of Truth” was forced to perform services online. After resuming meetings in August, inside the church, many elders continued to join worship through the Internet in order to avoid infections.
This winter will be remembered as unprecedented cold. On Christmas, it was cold as well, but we gathered more than 70 people. Most of the children and adults are our friends who very rarely attend a church service, and for some of them, it was the first time. We have become witnesses of God’s actions. And the resurrection of people to life, transformed destinies, restoration of destroyed families, and the return of children to the family. People turn to God for salvation and receive, in Christ Jesus, a new life.
Our community received the opportunity to gather in more spacious building where it became possible to organize parallel services at the same time. Today, our prayer to the Lord is that He fills the new home with saved people.
To achieve this we made an effort and developed various ministries and referrals for evangelism. Brothers and sisters who and did not know about their talents, today jointly glorify God and inspire the community to sing praises to God!
Despite the restrictions, one young brother from church went to study to become a missionary
in Novosibirsk. We opened an office to provide assistance to people who find themselves in difficult life situations. Some of us worked as volunteers, transported food and medicine to homes with lonely, old people who were sick and in need.
This allowed us to make new contacts, chat and build relationships with people who didn’t know God. We continue in the same way pray for the insulation facade of the house of prayer winter cold. Warming will allow us significantly save finances on heating. Without your support, we would not all be able to maintain these projects and ministry. We are grateful for it. May God’s rich mercy bless you.
At the “Word of Truth” church, we decided to take part in
the needs of people and show concern for those around us. During the month, we
have delivered over 50 food packages. Some greeted us with joy and others cried
from happiness, for receiving help from us. Nobody remained indifferent,
everyone thanked us and God for the care and participation.
We brought a food package to a woman who is raising her
teenage son, Danil, all alone. Her name is Evgenia. The boy has been disabled
since the age of five due to a medical error. Evgenia has been trying to suppress
pain and resentment by regularly drinking. We have known each other for a long
time since they were visiting the Church more than once.
A few months ago, Evgenia turned to the Lord with a prayer of repentance during our meetings. After that, she began to attend the fellowship of believers and started to read the Bible.
But with the start of quarantine, and the inability to have constant support, she returned into her old and sinful life. When we brought her food, she burst into tears. She said that she was tired and could no longer live like this. We invited her to go to rehab. She hesitated in the beginning but after praying with us she agreed. Danil stayed with his grandmother, and Evgenia is recovering in the rehab now. We continue to pray for their repentance.
We not only had blessings but also difficulties. Our car began to fail and at the most unfortunate moment. It stopped driving forward and only could go backward, then the ignition system fails, and the car stalled in the middle of the road.
You are part of the team and we ask you to pray from the
bottom of our hearts for our ministry!
Throughout 2019, our community prayed daily for the opportunity to enter the new House of Prayer and start holding meetings in a spacious hall that can accommodate everyone who wants to join the worship of the living God.
Many doubted it because, in order to realize our aspiration, it was necessary to carry out a number of complex and expensive works. But I remembered the book of Psalms 144: 8-9, we did not get tired of crying out to our almighty God. His mercy was revealed once again. On December 25, the church gathered, for the first time, on Christmas Eve in the new building, without any interior design, but already in a spacious and warm room.
On December 28th we had a Christmas program for children, with prizes and giveaways and on December 29th, our first Sunday worship of the Church “Word of Truth” took place in the new building.
Now all church meetings are taking place here like the Christian children’s club “Joy”, counseling for addicted people and for premarital and married couples, any other kinds of meetings and of course – our usual Sunday services.
Many thanks to the Lord and all who participate in God’s plan for the development of the “Word of Truth” young community! We believe that the transition to the new, more spacious building will become crucial in the development of the church.
We organized the first meeting for people with disabilities, which was attended by about 30 people. We offered refreshments at the tables. A few shared their testimonies, how in Jesus Christ, they can worthily overcome all obstacles, even with a disability. We had visitors who heard the first time about Christ. They heard not only about the possibilities of “limited” people, but also about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The other day, a sister approached me, who seemed to be far from the problems of people with disabilities. She shared her feelings about women who care for their disabled children but are often in hopeless despair. She offered to start praying for a ministry with them. This touched my heart deeply. Indeed, when building the House of Prayer, even at the design stage, we took into account all the necessary building requirements so that our new building would meet all conditions necessary and be convenient and accessible to any person who wants to be in fellowship with other Christians!
But today we are again in dire need. We want start using our new building. To do this, we need to insert the front door, insulate the ceiling and roof and purchase pipes and radiators for a total of $4900.
