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God always serves His creation - He gives life, He sends rain, He grows crops, He heals us from diseases, He gives us strength to earn money to acquire the things that we need. For the Creator, it is a joy to help us solve our everyday problems. But, the Creator also takes care of the spiritual state of each person, so that no one perishes in sins, but, believing in Jesus Christ, has eternal life. The Holy Spirit wisely guides the children of God in their daily ministry in word and deed and gives them a desire to share His gifts with those in need. Therefore, the Adventist community of Balakovo distributed over 11,000 newspapers and about 450 books in 76 villages in 2021.
When we experience the love of God, it is impossible to remain silent. The parishioners of the Adventist community decided to express their gratitude to God in a special service of thanksgiving, which took place on the first Saturday of January. All who wished, testified about the deeds of God - they shared their personal experiences of trusting the Lord and His answers to their prayers. The community united in a single desire - to glorify the Almighty and Loving God. Children also prepared their thanks to God in the form of letters to the Heavenly Father and to Jesus, as well as in poetry and singing.
A special program (quest) called “We are different, but we are together”, which took place in December 2021, helped the children to see more reasons for gratitude. Eight children from two clubs took part in it: “Adventure Seekers” and “Beaver”. For twenty-one days, the children received cognitive tasks, which helped them learn a lot of interesting things about animals. They meditated on verses from the Bible and memorized them, and they gained skills in manual work and in working with felt. As a result of completing all the tasks, everyone was given a patch on the topics of their clubs.
The most valuable thing in such events and thanksgiving service is the unity that Christians experience when doing something together in the family and in the community. This unity is another reason to praise God!
This article was originally published on the Euro-Asia Division’s news site.