MTS Student brings the Gospel to the Russian Arctic

Demitry in his own words

Translated from Russian

I come from the Church of Evangelical Christian Baptists in the city of Novomoskovsk (population 122,306) in the Tula region. We have about 90-100 church members. I lead a small group of teenagers in the church and I am responsible for the musical ensemble. Music is a main focus in our church. We have several orchestras, ensembles, and a choir.

Demitri – Foreground

I grew up in a Christian family (10 children). At the age of 13, I responded to the invitation in the sermon and decided to become a disciple of Jesus. I began to read the Bible regularly.

Reading the 13th chapter of Luke at the age of 15, I realized my sinfulness and my lost state without God. No matter how good I might consider myself, without repentance I would be lost. That year I was baptized. I began to serve – helping to build a new church.

My heart burned to serve God and all people. In January 2020, God gave me a great opportunity – a mission trip to the Arctic region. I expressed my desire to go and thankfully, my pastor blessed me and our plan. It was difficult for me to make up my mind because of the risks, realizing that I just might not return. There were intense difficulties including severe frost that nearly disabled our car. But thanks to God, my brothers and I managed to arrive and then travel around the city. We distributed about 1,500 Gospels in the Yakut language.

It’s true. We were detained by the police and taken to the police station. But thank God, we shared our faith with the police, they let us go.

We reached Nizhneyamsk (the end of the Earth) and you can’t imagine our joy. The townspeople welcomed us, happy that we brought them the Gospel. They understood. It was for their sake that we came such a long distance and enduring the cold (minus -50 C).

Through it all, God worked on my heart and showed me that He controls everything. He takes care of me and taught me how to serve with humility.

Now, my team and I have traveled several times to organize children’s camps in Abkhazia (near Chenchnya), serving many large families there.

My brothers invited me to come and help in the construction of a church in Chechnya. God also directed me to serve the church in the city of Ostrov (Pskov region). The church is small. They needed help to develop both a music and youth ministry.

I try to seize every opportunity and respond to God’s call. Like Isaiah said, “Here am I – send me.”

Since childhood, I dreamed of serving God – perhaps even in another country. But as I read the Gospel of Matthew at the end of chapter 9, I realized that it starts with prayer. At the time, I was working in a nursing home – a good place to learn humility and how to share my faith. I prayed for my fellow workers, just as Jesus’ disciples prayed. God knows when it’s time to be sent. As I prayed, God began to open amazing doors for me.

I decided to study at the Moscow Theological Seminary. I really enjoy formal study of the Bible and Christian ministry. A good minister should be a competent student and skilled servant.

The tools and skills I have received in seminary from preparing a sermon to all aspects of pastoral care and service all have helped me a lot.  It has inspired me and given me direction in leading a congregation. I enjoy studying very much. My time at MTS has stimulated much development and serious growth.

Please pray for me that I will understand my calling and live according to it. We are considering a trip to Africa. Finances are needed and most of the travel is at my own expense.

Pray also for our church, so that the kingdom of God will expand in our city.

Dmitri

Children in Abkhazia

Literature Distributed in the Artic Region

Dimitri and his Orchestra