On March 25, 2023, the Gospel program "The Bible in the Events of Our Time" ended in Penza, Russia. The outcome of the meetings was the baptism of two people.
This week-long program, which began March 18, featured guest speaker Oleg Goncharov, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Euro-Asia Division (ESD). Every evening in the house of prayer of the local Adventist community, Bible stories sounded, taking listeners to distant times when an amazing book, the Bible, was being written. However, the real admiration is for how accurately this ancient book speaks about our days and the love God communicates to His people in order to prepare them for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That was the theme of the program.
Since the autumn of last year, the local community has been actively involved in a long-term effort organized by the ESD called the “School of the Bible.” The members of the church "sowed the seeds" of God's Word among relatives, friends, neighbors, and people around them. The result was not long in coming. Interested people appeared; teachers got involved in teaching Bible lessons; there was always someone present in the pastor's class.
The community invited Goncharov to help with inspiring spiritual reflections to encourage those who have already completed Bible courses to make a covenant with God, as well as those who are interested in starting to study the Bible. On Sabbath, the final day of the program, a baptism ceremony for two people took place in the house of prayer. Praise God!
Goncharov’s visit to Penza was filled with not only sermons but also meetings of various levels. Together with the local pastor, they were at a reception at the Penza Orthodox Diocese. From the Minister of Internal Policy of the Penza Region, P.S. Maslova spoke about the activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Penza region, presented an album with photographs of social service, met with pastors and leaders of Protestant denominations in Penza, and discussed the creation of a platform for joint projects.
The original version of this story was posted on the Euro-Asia Division Russian-language news site.
