Our partners, Sasha and Natasha Tsutserov, have been raising new Christian leaders in Russia for over 30 years! Read about the purpose of the training seminary below.
“Due to 70 years of Communist Captivity (1917-1987), it is reckoned 200,000 Christian leaders were martyred and a further 500,000 imprisoned. There were 100,000 church - owned buildings in 1920. By 1940, only 1000 were in use by Christians, the rest being seized or destroyed. This means over 90% of Russians have no meaningful link with a church.” (Operation World Encyclopedia, the 21st Century Edition.)
In order to reach this 90%, we need to continue training ministers for Russia and the former Soviet Union. So how do we go about this?
In 1993, the Moscow Seminary was established. The seminary is an evangelical conservative school with an excellent history of training ministers. It trains students from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Russia (by itself – an eleven time zones country). The Moscow Seminary produces a fruit worthy of the Lord. Of 297 graduates: 15% are full time pastors, 43% are bi-vocational pastors, 24% are on staff at parachurch organizations, and 6% are missionaries!
Our prayer is to continue in this trend, training more and more servants for Christ. The cost of training a student-minister at the Moscow Seminary is NZ$1,950 per year. This sum (or any share of it– every little bit helps!) is a serious investment. If you feel God stirring in your heart to help, please consider the following:
It costs 7 times less to train a minister in Russia than abroad and 12 times less than sending a missionary to Russia.
Statistically, 9 out of 10 students sent abroad to study will not return to Russia.
When the student graduates and plants a church, hundreds of people come to Jesus Christ.
Not only do local student-ministers know the local language, customs, and culture but also they travel freely without the need to obtain passport and visa, giving them great advantage over foreign missionaries as locals will carry on with the Gospel even if the Iron Curtain comes back.
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.” - Matthew 9:37-38 NLT.
Sasha Tsutserov often sends out updates and testimonies of students who are studying at the Moscow Seminary. To hear of the amazing work God is doing in the lives of Russians and those studying at the Seminary, you are welcome to be included in Sasha’s support mailing list. Send us a message if you’d like to know more!
Originally written 17 July 2019.
Revised May 2024.
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