Thirty Years of Joy and Tears!

Pray for your local church and the local churches in Slavic countries. Ask the Lord to increase the spiritual life of each member of the church. Ask Him to assist your church in the area where you live to seek souls with salvation from sin. And may this assistance extend throughout the whole world. Pray for your pastor and leadership, as well as the pastors and leadership in the Slavic world. Pray for peace in the world. Ask God to restrain evil through the Holy Spirit in order that His Word may have free course in every country.

“Guard what has been entrusted to your care” (1 Timothy 6:20). It has truly been a blessing and so very fulfilling to have the opportunity to remain involved in the outreach of Slavic Missionary Service. I’ve been a part of SMS for nearly 30 years! It was my father, Alex Leonovich’s passion and desire to reach the “whosoever” with the Good News of salvation and especially reach those people of Slavic descent. It’s hard to believe that it’s already five years since he went home to be with the Lord, shortly before we celebrated 80 years of ministry. Now, we are celebrating our 85th year!

God’s financial provision for Slavic Missionary Service never ceases to amaze me. I have memories of my dad tearing up, as he would open an unexpected gift that miraculously came just at the right time. And now I find myself reacting in just the same way. Since my father’s home going to heaven, SMS has lost a fair amount of its donor base. Many of those donors were my father’s contemporaries, and they have also departed this world. We are trusting that God will send new supporters our way.

SMS has very little overhead. The main office is run out of my home, free of charge. The overhead includes three staff members and the cost of office supplies. SMS has never been about big fund raising campaigns, yet the Lord consistently provides.

Slavic Missionary Service supports nearly 40 national workers in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. SMS also offers a plethora of “on-demand” sermons, Bible studies and broadcasts in the Russian language on the website. SMS is touching so many lives with outreaches to orphanages, children’s camps, sharing the Gospel through English classes and home Bible studies, working with addicts, street children and the homeless. I truly believe God will provide, because we are being careful to “guard what has been entrusted to our care.”

Thank you all for your continued support, as we celebrate 85 years of fruitful outreach. Pray with us that God would supply our needs to continue forward!

Dawn (Leonovich) Arthur
Office/Communications Manager

"But what about you?" Jesus asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

Mark 8:29

God’s strategy for world evangelism calls for two equally important elements: Co-missionaries and Go-missionaries, the senders and the sent, the supporters and the workers. A Christian church without missionary enthusiasm is a contradiction. God depends upon the faithful testimony of His people for the evangelization of the world. The Savior expects those who have tasted the sweetness of salvation to spread the news far and wide. He has commissioned His children to share His Word to the lost in every country.