Get on with the Christian Life

Pray daily for pastors in the Slavic countries (as well as your own) that they will have wisdom and power from God to preach the Word effectually and to care for all of the saints. Pray that the convicting power of the Holy Spirit will accompany the preaching of God’s Word throughout all lands. Ask God to stir up Christians to use their God-given freedom to the fullest advantage in making known everywhere the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

The major priorities of Slavic Missionary Service are to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to plant new churches when possible. And sandwiched between these two emphases are people. People need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, and people need to worship Jesus Christ and grow in their Christian life. Therefore, SMS encourages its workers to broaden their outreaches by utilizing their specific talents and gifts given by God to reach people.

SMS praises God that oversea outreaches extend into homes, hospitals, orphanages, prisons and specific communities. While visiting Western Ukraine, the interim director received news of an exciting event from one SMS missionary. Anton Nazarevich has been leading three to four teams to minister in the prisons of the Volyn region of Ukraine for at least six years. The outreach can be difficult at times, but the rewards are priceless.

Prisoners listen intently to truths from the Bible, accept New Testaments to read about those truths; and then, some allow those truths to change their lives. Alex, who has been incarcerated for dealing and possession of narcotics, heard the Word of God preached by one of the teams and repented of his sins. (His mother is a believer who has been praying for him for years.) Anton shared a message about baptism to Alex and others in the prison, and Alex desired to follow the Lord in this next step of his Christian life.

He did not want to wait until he was released from prison; therefore Alex asked Anton if he could be baptized at the prison for a witness to the other prisoners. At the end of June, Anton gladly baptized Alex while some of his fellow inmates and mother watch in amazement. What a great testimony was seen and heard that day by all officials and prisoners. Because of the behavioral changes that have happened in Alex, his sentence has been reduced to one more year (not three more years).

Truly, Christ can set the captive free. The Holy Spirit continues to “convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment” (John 16:8). Pray that all of the SMS missionaries will allow the Holy Spirit to guide them to those people who desire to know more about Jesus Christ and the power of the Gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

Psalm 119:10

The Lord will resume His dealing with the nations, as well as with the Chosen nation, when He has completed the church in this Age of Grace. God is working today “to take out” of the nations “a people for His name” (Acts 15:14). Ask God to empower every witness that is proclaiming this message of love to sinful men. Pray continually that the Holy Spirit will convict men of their need of Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).