In the Land of Ice and Snow!
For the past ten years the brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe have keenly anticipated Bible Schools. They have been held in the summer and winter since August 1993. Brothers and sisters would come from near and far (sometimes spending up to 5 days on the train!) This occasion was no exception with brothers and sisters from ten nations gathering to hear the word of God discussed and presented.
The winter Bible School for 2002/03 was held outside the small village of Chaika which is about 75km north of Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk is in south western Siberia, just east of the Ural mountains. Chaika is located on Lake Uvildi which is about twice the size of Lake St. Clair, the lake which forms part of the Detroit River between Michigan and Ontario. With temperatures between -10° and -20°C eighty-eight brothers and sisters and advanced students gathered in a very nice “sanatorium” to enjoy each other’s company and studies around the word of God.
The apartment of sister Elena Belyaeva was the assembly point of the early arrivals on Sunday December 15. Sister Elena is an assistant to the principal of a girl’s boarding school and as there were a number of unused rooms in the facility we were accommodated in these rooms.
During the morning of Monday December 16 the early arrivals travelled to Chaika on a bus and settled into their rooms, waiting for the remainder to arrive later in the day. By lunch time most had arrived and after settling in and exploring the grounds of the facility we commenced our Bible Studies with the readings at 4:30 p.m.
The daily pattern of activities for the next five days was as follows:
08:00 Bible Address by brother Sasha Solovyev (Russian only)
09:00 Breakfast
09:30 Daily Bible readings (read in Russian with many comments and vigorous discussion. Quite often excellent points are raised by the EE brothers and sisters. It is evident that they do their readings and think about the word of God)
11:45 Bible Address
1:00 Lunch
The afternoon was free time when many would visit together, go for a walk on Lake Uvildi. Sometimes it was too cold to go far out on to the lake. The wind chill would make the temperature feel like -30°C! On other days the weather was warmer and some rented skis and went out on to the snow covered lake for a couple of hours.
4:30 The group would reassemble for two addresses
7:00 Dinner
8:00 Bible Address
The theme of the addresses studies were varied.
Brother David Pearce (Cambridge, England) gave four addresses on Philippians and one on the relationship of the saints to the world and the “powers that be” and one on the vision of Revelation 4. One morning David gave an address on preparing a Bible address.
Brother Martin Webster (Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario) gave two addresses on the Atonement and then four on God Manifestation. The emphasis of these addresses was that our appreciation of the work of salvation initiated by God in the Garden of Eden and which focuses on the sacrifice of Christ should result in us manifesting the hope of Israel in our daily lives. An evening address based on the analogy of the marathon to “the race for life eternal”
Brother Duncan Hester (Vilnius, Lithuania) gave four addresses on Angels. Their role as presented in Scripture as “ministers for them who shall be heirs of salvation.”
Brother Sasha Solovev spoke on the “Fruit of the Spirit” the practical results of a life in Christ Jesus.
Brother Igor Podgaisky gave an evening address on prayer.
Baptisms are always a highlight of the Eastern Europe Bible Schools. On this occasion eleven students (two men and nine women) gave a good confession of their faith and were baptised into the saving name of the Lord Jesus. The tradition of receiving in on these occasions is delightful. First of all, the new brothers and sisters receive a package of books and pamphlets from the printing press of brother Igor Podgaisky. This was followed by readings of scripture including part of Romans 6 in the languages of all nationalities present, recitations of poems and hymn singing. It is truly a lovely time. This “receiving in” is followed by a memorial service. On this occasion brother David Pearce gave an exhortation based on Philippians 3.
All too soon the week came to an end and it was time to say good-bye. Individuals and little groups left to return to their homes (some had travelled for three days on the train to get to the School) in various parts of Russia, Kazakhstan, Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Riga (Latvia), Ukraine, Poznan (Poland), England and for us 10 time zones away we travelled for almost 32 hours back to Toronto.
After each Bible School we receive notes from some of those attending. Here is an appreciative note from two new sisters (a young sister and her mother) from the Ukraine.
“My mother and I came home safely, the angels of God were with us the whole way. We are still under the impression about a wonderful Bible school and a great time we spent together. We are very thankful to you for the opportunity to be there with you and our dear brothers and sisters. We are happy about our baptism - our second birth in Christ. It's a very special event in my mother's and my life, better to say, the most important event. May God bless you for all your efforts with us.”
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