The Local Church is the answer, so we are prioritizing planting churches in strategic areas (such as large cities and county seats). Church planters that we trained with help from supporters like you have started 3 churches in the past 6 years, and by God's grace we are diligently working toward 1o more churches in our region within next 10 years.

As I mentioned above we need more local Baptist churches. However, before a church can be planted, there needs to be qualified and experienced church planters, pastors, Christian leaders, youth workers, etc. to do the work of the ministry. Thanks to you, these men and women are trained through godly biblical teaching and rigorous "hands on" internships in local churches. We aim to multiply our ministry expertise and the burden for Russian people in national leaders.

Of course, all of the above is not the end goal in and of itself. The heart of our ministry is evangelism. In a country, such as Russia, it is not difficult to find people who need the Lord. However, reaching them is not easy. At times, there are great distances to traverse, cultural and religious barriers to cross (there are 168 ethnic groups in Russia, and beliefs ranging from buddhism islam, judaism, animism and everything in between) as well as general reluctance to make a spiritual decision. Thanks to your fervent prayers, God opened many doors to public schools, orphanages, hospitals and other areas where people are open to the Gospel!

For the past 2 years we were laying groundwork in Kolosovka - a county seat and the home to over 10,000 people by faithfully holding services there every Sunday afternoon. There are several faithful believers and seekers who come with their children. We are getting ready to officially organize a church there, as well as start planting seeds in another county seat of Sedelnikovo.

We teach our members that each and every one of them is a witness and a representative for the Lord. As such, their jobs, neighborhoods and even hobbies and vacations are mission fields that God has called them to. Utilizing our members' unique gifts, personalities and connections allows our church to influence, serve and be a blessing to our community on a much deeper level.

It is estimated that there are 12 Million people with special needs in Russia. That's roughly 1 out every 12 people. But if you add relatives-caregivers, the number affected by disabilities swells much higher. By comparison, families with special needs are the largest and the most receptive "people group" in Russia and beyond. We've seen God honoring fruit from the ministry to people with special needs.