Working with the established Christian organizations in each country, SMS began to support national workers who would organize and officiate over these outstanding projects. Approximately thirty-five missionaries are now supported through Slavic Missionary Service primarily as church planters in their respective cities and communities.

Expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving overflow from each of our missionaries to those individuals and churches from America who faithfully give so that God may be glorified in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

All must truly agree that a place recognized as a “House of Worship” is vital in each community for the fellowship of believers, as well as the furtherance of the Gospel. The ability to obtain property and build new churches in certain areas of the former Soviet Union has become increasingly difficult; therefore, it is extremely crucial to finish the construction of projects which already have been started.

Certain national missionaries of SMS are eager to complete their efforts, such as the project in Minsk, Belarus. Stanislav Bokun, SMS director of Belarus, has experienced pressure from the government to finish the church building within a year or the progress may be stopped. Slowly, missionaries in Rozhiche and Gomel, Belarus, as well as Lvov, Ukraine, also seek to complete their structures in order to serve the Lord more effectively in each area.

Opportunities to assist these endeavors abound. In order to complete some of these monumental tasks, sacrificial giving from others is crucial. No one can foresee how long these opportunities will linger; therefore, the national workers of SMS are aggressively seeking ways to complete the work that is set before them. Because of the uncertain political climate and rising costs of living, now is the time (if possible) for our workers to purchase ideal locations for new churches. Two of our missionaries in Orel, Russia face these obstacles, as they seek to establish a third evangelical church in the city.

Please pray for SMS and its national workers, as they continue to seek the Lord’s guidance concerning church planting in the CIS.

Page 1, 2