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Russia Calling and Vision
God has given us a command to preach the gospel to the entire world (Mark 16:15) and to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19).
Our vision is to preach the gospel with the following of signs and wonders, to start local churches and to equip the believers with the Word of God and train the leaders to continue the work and take the responsibility for the churches so that we can go further on to new challenges. Today the churches that we have planted on the Kola Peninsula have their own pastors and they are carrying on the work God has commanded them to fulfill.
A brief history
1985 pastor Jan Zetterlund made the first trip to Murmansk in the Kola Peninsula to ”spy out the land”. For a long time he had sensed God’s calling to this part of the Soviet Union. The purpose of the trip was to try to come in contact with someone from the underground Church. During this trip he came in contact with a Baptist church. During the following years more trips were made and more contacts received. 1990 the time was ready to take more initiatives in the connection of the political happenings in the country when the Communism was on the upheaval. The first team from “Team in the North” was on its way! God was pointing on two cities; Apatity and Kandalaksja, some 200 kilometer south of Murmansk.
On September, 1991 a big team went on its way to these two cities; where they had concerts, school lessons and street meeting. Approximately 1000 people gave response to the invitations to salvation and we were surprised of the result. The dream to start churches became a reality sooner than we could ever hope. It was a tough, challenging but wonderful reality. During the winter of -91 we sent team every second week to Apatity and Kandalaksja to have following up meetings and lay a foundation for the churches. In the beginning of -92 we held a crusade in Kirovsk where hundreds of people got saved and healed. Later the same year we started to preach the Gospel in the city of Polyarniy Zory.
Crusade with Christoffer Alam in Apatity
In the fall of 1992 we held a big crusade with the evangelist Christoffer Alam in Apatity and a couple of thousand of people visited the meetings. The result made the church to grow to 500 members. At the same time one team moved to Apatity and another team to Kandalaksja. In the beginning of 1993 we also started a church in Kovdor.
To be able to fill the great spiritual needs of the people we started first a one year bible school in Apatity and later on a two year bible school. We also held Saturday bible schools in Kovdor and Kandalaksja for those who couldn’t attend the bible school in Apatity. Many bible teachers from different countries have been teaching in these bible schools and churches throughout the years. This have been very important for the stability in the churches and in the people’s life.
Our Missionaries
The most important thing we have done was to establish teams in the different cities where we have been working. Initially these teams were a mix of Swedish and Russian youngsters with a longing to serve God and at one time we had four teams working at the same time. As the work grew the churches could carry more and more responsibility and the needs changed. Until 1998 Andreas and Anneli Frankner lived in Apatity and had the responsibility for the whole work of Team in the North at Kola Peninsula. They have done a great job with leaders training and worked with the goal to give over everything to the local churches. Of course, they have had the support and help from many others which we can’t mention here. 7/01-2001 the Frankners moved back to Sweden and with them the last Swede. We count that as a victory as the goal was local churches with local Russian pastors who will carry on the work.
The Five Churches
Apatity
Apatity is a city with approximately 70 000 inhabitants. Here there is a church with a couple of hundred members that TiN have started. The church service is usually held in the Culture Palace. The pastor is Sergei Osokin and his wife Alla. Sergei was saved in his hometown, Kirovsk through the work of TiN and he has been studying at the bible school we held in Apatity. He has been working with the team since 1993. In the team he met his wife, Alla. They have three children.
“Today we make revolutionary steps on Kola Peninsula. Our dream is to see how God adds new saved people to the church every day, and how the number of disciples constantly multiplies in every village, city of our country, and far beyond its borders as well” (Pastor Sergei Osokin).
Kandalaksja
Kandalaksja lays at the coastline of the White Sea and has approximately 50 000 inhabitants. Here there is a church that have gone through a lot of different problems and for the moment the members are maybe 20 people. Many have received Jesus during the years but worldly worries have stopped many from living a life in victory. Every week they are meeting in the homes to study the Word of God and pray together. We believe that God has a plan for this church and for the city.
Kirovsk
Kirovsk is a city which is located at the foot of the mountain ”Hibiniy”. The city has 35 000 inhabitants and the main industry is the mine and tourism. Many rich Russians are visiting the city in the spring to ski in maybe the most beautiful slopes in northern Europe. The church in the city are meeting every Sunday at the Culture Palace and they have seen many people coming to the Lord through the ”Alpha” program. Olga Borisovna is responsible for the church.
Kovdor
Close to the Finnish border the city Kovdor is located, with its 25 000 inhabitants. In the city we’ll find the living church with maybe 100 members. In the beginning of the church planting we saw people coming to the Lord which had a background of occultism.
1996 the church bought an old cinema which has been repaired and is used for the different church project.
Poljarnye Zori
Poliarnye Zori has 20 000 inhabitants and the main industry is the power plant. It provides the Kola Peninsula with electricity. The church has 120 members and the pastor is Nadja Syssoeva and her husband Igor. The church is helping the poor in the city by giving out food and visits the homes.
They are also doing outreach in the village of Afrikanda. In this small village there is a group with 15 people that gathers weekly for prayer and Bible study. This group is led by a pensioner from the church. She has become like a pastor for this group.
If you want to read more about the churches you can visit the website: http://churchn.ru
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