Greetings from a pastor who is very enthusiastic about the ministry of the Slavic Reformation Society and reaching the former USSR with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.Our congregation has been supporting SRS since 2004, and in June I had the privilege of attending the SRS board meeting at Quail Ridge in Mississippi, and realized anew what a wonderful door for the gospel is open in the former Soviet Union!

The first thing that encouraged me was the clarity of their vision. The purpose of SRS is to enable men to minister from their intimacy with Christ and the example of their lives as in Ezra 7:9-10: "For Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach His statues and His ordinances in Israel."

SRS now has two pastors they are training in predominately Muslim countries, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.  Even though these churches face the possibility of real persecution, they share the distinctives that we cherish in our own churches, such as a Christ-centered family life and the authority of the Word of God.

Secondly, during our meeting I saw the potential for growth as we discussed the 300 million Russian speakers and the number of pastors wanting to plant solid Biblical churches. Eurasia represents the largest frontier currently open for the Gospel. Over the years I have been able to meet and interact with Russian-speaking men that SRS is training and influencing. The harvest could indeed be plentiful!

I recently preached on the text: Matt. 10:41 - "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward." The sermon is available online here: http://www.wordmp3.com/details.aspx?id=12670

One important application of this text is that we may genuinely share in the ministry of  organizations like SRS by simple acts of giving out of our abundance. Many individuals are not aware of how significant their personal and regulars gifts can be for the ministry of SRS. Just  60 new donors giving $50 dollars a month would raise $3,000 a month-the amount SRS needs to support the three essential elements of its ministry which are:

1. To bring Russian speaking pastors from across the Eurasia twice a year for intensive study of the Scriptures, systematic theology and pastoral ministry skills.

2. To have online classes year-round with these pastors.

3. To have Blake Purcell and Oleg Volkov visit and mentor these pastors in  European Russia, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Latvia.

Please make your gifts to:

Slavic Reformation Society (SRS)Box 794Louisville, MS 39339

Or via PayPal at  www.slavicreformationsociety.com.

Drop me an email if you decide to be one of the 60 new donors to SRS.

In His Service,

Rev. Gregg Strawbridge, Ph.D.

Pastor of All Saints Church - A Reformational and Covenantal Congregation

Lancaster, PA

717-682-7052