Ministry Vision

SEND’s Vision for Far East Russia

SEND FER will serve the Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist churches in Far East Russia by partnering with them to plant and develop healthy, self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches. SEND missionaries will work on multi-national teams and focus on the following:

1. The planting and establishing of strong, strategically located, resource-sharing churches, with the intention that these churches will serve as area training centers and will develop the vision, personnel, and financial resources to plant other churches in their area;

2. Church leadership training at all levels, by demonstrating Christ-like character and service and by teaching Biblical truth, so that newly trained leaders will have an ability to accurately teach God’s Word, as well as a vision and an ability to plant and develop healthy churches.

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Goals

Our short-term goals for ministry in FER include:

• Developing two church plants to become resource-sharing churches;
• Providing extension leadership training seminars in at least three cities;
• Assisting the central Baptist churches in four cities to obtain adequate meeting places allowing for growth.

By God’s grace, in the next five years we would like to:

• Send a team of people to live and work in the Vladivostok area;
• Plant at least three more resource-sharing churches;
• Set up two more leadership training centres in two major cities of FER, with resident part-time or full-time faculty.

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Matters for Prayer

You can partner with SEND right now, without leaving home, by praying with us about these strategic needs:

• Pray that the Lord would send us more missionaries. Many more cities and towns need more churches, and many more leaders need to be trained.
• Pray that we would continue to have a good relationship of trust and partnership with the Baptist churches in FER.
• Pray that the graduates of Far East Russia Bible College would become effective and godly church planters and pastors.
• Pray for funds to support Russian missionaries.
• Pray for funds for church building projects. The Russian churches have given sacrificially of their resources and time, but SEND would like to provide help. The ongoing building projects in Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Blagoveshchensk are particularly in need.
• Pray that our Russian church leaders would be blessed with good health, strong faith, and a clear vision for church planting.
• Pray for wisdom to know how best to use SEND’s limited resources in light of the many needs.
• Pray that our missionaries will become increasingly fluent in the Russian language.

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Ministry Strategy

SEND International’s ministry strategy in Far East Russia has been developed in close partnership with the local churches and their leaders. SEND historically has served the local church where it exists, and FER is a classic example. The strategy has four primary components: leadership training, evangelism and church planting, church construction and Chinese ministry.

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Leadership Training

In response to the great need for church planters and church leaders, SEND and the FER Baptist Union started Far East Russia Bible College in Khabarovsk. Since 1995, over 140 have graduated from one of its programs. A large percentage of the senior leaders, pastors and missionaries of the Baptist churches of FER have graduated from FERBC or are currently enrolled in one of its programs. The campus facilities have been expanded and now house both the SEND office as well as the Baptist Union office. A second building is currently under construction, and this will allow the school to increase its enrollment. Forty-six students are presently enrolled at FERBC. SEND missionaries teach on the faculty of FERBC on both a part-time and full-time basis.

SEND also seeks to strengthen local churches by training leaders for Sunday schools and youth ministry. SEND missionaries and short-term workers provide training seminars for local churches and regional church associations

If this area of ministry interests you, simply click here and indicate in the Response Form that you are interested in Leadership Training in FER.

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Evangelism/Church Planting

The Russian Baptist Church puts great emphasis on evangelism -- both in worship services, outreaches, and church plants. Camps, street meetings, lending libraries, and evangelistic crusades are some of the methods used regularly to proclaim the Gospel. SEND FER trains national missionaries at Far East Russia Bible College, assigns SEND missionaries to work side-by-side with Russian church planters, and recruits short-term missionaries to work with Russian believers in summer evangelistic programs.

If these areas of ministry interest you, simply click here and indicate in the Response Form that you are interested in Church Planting in FER.

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Church Construction

In the Russian culture, a church earns legitimacy by the location and stature of its building. An ornate, beautiful church located downtown proclaims the significance and permanence of the faith the congregation professes. Some churches rent business space but even unbelievers feel that this type of building is not "holy." In the Russian mind, it is simply irreverent to hold worship services in a secular meeting hall.

Thus, one of the best ways for American churches to minister to the Russian church is to help them build adequate churches, “Houses of Prayer” as they are called, where believers can legitimately gather to worship. SEND has helped the Russian church with new building technology, greatly decreasing the cost of churches and speeding the building process. Construction teams, often from churches, work through SEND's short-term department.

If this area of ministry interests you, simply click here and indicate in the Response Form that you are interested in Short Term Trips—Construction in FER.

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Chinese Ministry

It is still illegal to send missionaries to China, but China is coming to FER! SEND’s work among the Chinese people within Russia, a relatively new ministry opportunity, has borne great fruit. SEND is involved in evangelism, leadership training and literature for new Chinese churches in Russia. The Chinese people in Far East Russia are Mandarin speaking and are by in large itinerant traders working in the market places of most major cities in FER.

If this area of ministry interests you, simply click here and indicate in the comments section of the Response Form that you are interested in Chinese Ministries in FER.

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