From the May-August 2011 Issue
Moving Forward Step by Step
Mihail and Albina Nikitov
At the end of 2010 we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the established evangelical church, “Resurrection”, in Ruba. Looking back, we recognize with admiration God’s mercy and His guidance. When we first came to this town after doing the course at the EMF Bible School, there was not a single church or evangelical Christian in Ruba. We started missionary work with lectures on Biblical subjects in a local civic centre and God began to call people; they repented, received forgiveness, and were baptised. So we started an evangelical church.
Up until Christmas 2009, we had held our church meetings in different facilities; for the first two years it was a room in the local civic centre. Then the attitude to evangelical Christians began to change in the way of oppression and we had to hold our services in a vacant house outside the town. After that, for about a year, we gathered in our apartment, and then God blessed us with a nice apartment, which the owner gave for our use for nearly ten years.
Our own building
During this time we began to erect a church building. Having overcome some difficulties and learned the bitterness of defeats and the joy and pleasure of victories, God allowed us to move into a church building where we could start to have our meetings and use it for the ministry. However, like the Israelites having entered the Promised Land had to conquer it, so we, having entered into the church facility, are just beginning to move forward. A lot of work, both spiritual and physical, has to be done. Nevertheless, we are glad to know that God does not leave us without his blessings, and step by step sends us everything we need, in His time.
Previously, at the main entrance to the church building there was a dilapidated building which belonged to the local hospital and was used for storing different things. This dilapidated structure obscured our church building from view. And recently, after some negotiations with local authorities, that building was demolished. We are very glad about this event, but now we have the next stage of work: to build a fence around the perimeter of the church territory and put the ground in order. This is our obligation in exchange for the demolition of the dilapidated building.
Ongoing witness
The past winter has seen a lot of snow and we had a lot of work to clear it up. Once the chief doctor of the local hospital met me and expressed his observation, comparing the territory of the church to the hospital territory: ‘One can see where it is cleared by conviction and where by compulsion’. Of course we did not pay great attention to this work, but I think it is also part of our reputation.
The believers in the church continue to take part in a duty rota to look after the church building. This is necessary first of all to protect the premises and thus save money to put towards paying bills. At the moment we cannot pay for the work of a watchman. Secondly, it is a good opportunity to invite unsaved friends and relatives to show them the facility and in a quiet atmosphere to talk about God. I have a very recent example. For a long time Aleksey had been inviting his sisters and other relatives to various church activities and meetings, but they always had reasons and excuses not to come. He was on his caretaking duty in March and unexpectedly, without an invitation, his two sisters and their families decided to visit him. They were very surprised by the style of the interior, the furnishings and the atmosphere in the church, and they started to wonder and be interested in his faith.
Youth work
Having the use of the church premises meant that we were able to re-open the work with teenagers and the Sunday school. Almost every Sunday at least one or two new children come. It is interesting that mostly they are boys. After the Bible lesson they are happy to stay on for table tennis and other board games. Unfortunately we are currently limited in finances and cannot afford to buy playground equipment, but we realised that these children are deprived of normal communication with adults because many families do not have fathers, and so we began to involve some men for conversation with the children. Also they play tennis, badminton, chequers and chess with them. Of course there are some occasions when the parents find out which church their children are coming to and forbid them to continue to attend the Sunday school, but we are praying about this situation.
I thank God for all those who have been with us in prayer and have supported our work all this time. I am grateful to our church committee for productive collaboration, for openness, honesty and courage in making decisions according to biblical requirements and doctrine. I believe that the best is yet to come and I hope with God’s help we will be able to work hard and be successful for His kingdom.