Russian Baptist Church of Bryte celebrated a great event. Eleven deacons and one pastor were ordained for ministry.

Dear brothers and sisters! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Thankfulness is what sets a genuine Christian apart. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and it is possible to experience only if the person has an attitude of contentment. Apostle Paul who experienced the greatest difficulties of life could write the following words: “Rejoice always; Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:16–18).

It is beneficial to share the impressions of the event that took place in our association on November 16, 2019. With the help of Bryte Church, there was a wonderful gathering of youth for worship night called United to praise our God through singing and united prayer. The youth from over 12 churches of our and other associations came to this event. We had an opportunity to host this event for about 350 people, for which we are very grateful for God.

The organizers of the “Jesus on Trial” conference announced two more new speakers to participate.

V. Tsvirinko's October report is available here: in Russian | in English.

The search for the Association’s youth leader took almost two years, and finally we have found him! Peter Makletsov who is a member of New Hope Church in Rancho Cordova, CA is that person. Get to know him by reading his short biography below.

Pray for him and his ministry and bless him in the name of God!

Women’s Ministry at House of the Gospel took a turn in the summer of 2007 after a group of ladies gathered together to go through a program called The Wisdom for Mothers by Denise Glenn.  For the first time women began to feel connected to one another, but soon after the program ended and with that, all the meetings ended.

October newsletter is available here: in Russian  | in English.

On October 26th, the annual missionary reunion, a meeting of the missionaries of our churches and representatives of some missions, took place at the Grace Family Church.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 ESV.

Since 2013, Pacific Thrift Store has been providing a valuable community service, creating jobs, volunteer opportunities and, most importantly, funding the missionaries of the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association (PCSBA). 

Another convention of the Pacific Coast ECB has passed. How will it be remembered in the history of the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association? Perhaps it is a question for the historians to give an evaluation many years later, that is if Jesus will not come back for His church.

The Master’s level instruction of a teaching session in Montebello, took place on September 28 by Aleksandr Pronin. The students continued the study of the “Greek Grammar”.

Jesus On Trial is an apologetic conference focused on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This conference will bring together the world’s top New Testament scholars and Christian apologists to make the case for the resurrection of Jesus.

Dear sisters! We invite you to celebrate with us the 10th anniversary of the “Moms in Prayer” ministry in the Bright Church.

You are invited you to the 12th Annual Missionary Reunion! The event will be held on Saturday October 26th, 2019 at Grace Family Church. More details and registration is on the mission department's website - http://ptmissions.org/reunion.

PCSBA's September Newsletter is available here: in Russian | in English.

This year on Labor Day weekend, PCSBA organized United Camp on August 30th through September 2nd. It all happened at Tannery Gulch Campground located in Trinity Center in Northern California. Churches all around Sacramento came together and nearly 800 people came to the camp.

While my primary ministry is being a lead pastor at Good News Takoma Church, I also have a privilege of serving at the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association (PCSBA) as one of its Vice-Presidents. One of my responsibilities there is to lead an awesome team at the Pacific Thrift Store and Logistics.

In today’s society, if you have a disability whether it be physical or mental, you are viewed as a burden to society or labeled as fragile or mentally incompetent to make responsible decisions. Discrimination against people with disabilities occurs frequently in the workforce, educational institutions, and, sadly, even in churches. Due to a common stereotype, that people with disabilities are completely different from those who are “normal,” most Slavic people, in churches, tend to shun away from those who look and act differently from the set standards of normal behavior and physical appearance.

82nd spiritually edifying convention of the Association will take place on October 17-19 at Second Slavic Baptist Church. The theme: “The Power of the Gospel and the Challenges of our Time”, based on Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation”. Everyone is welcome to this spiritually edifying convention.

The opening of the convention will be on October 17 at 7:00pm. The main speaker of the evening service will be a guest, Valeriy Stepanovich Antonyuk who is the chairman of the Intra-Ukrainian Union of ECB. As usual, there will be many seminars on the theme of the convention. For more about the convention’s schedule and more information about the convention, visit  the convention’s website – click here.

REGISTRATION

Evening attendance is open to all and does not require registration.  Registration is only required for the church delegates, for everyone who wishes to attend the daily seminars and take advantage of the reception during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The cost of online registration is $37. Online registration is open from September 15 (click here), and will be available until October 16.

BROADCASTING - see details here.

Dear brothers and sisters who are obedient to the Great Commission! I wish to build you up and encourage you in the upcoming prayer ministry.

On Saturday, September 7, there was a Zoom conference dedicated to the preparation for the International Mission Congress, “Church and Missions”, which is planned for May 14-16, 2020 in Sacramento.

PCSBA's August newsletter is available here: in Russian | in English.

On May 29 through 31, in Warsaw, in the central office of the Polish Baptist Union, there was the first missionary prayer retreat of the Gospel ministers of the Russian-speaking people of Europe. This event was initiated and organized by the missionary department of the Association. Twelve ministers from Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Ukraine, and the United States gathered together for the retreat to study the Scriptures and for fellowship. During these three days, there was a wonderful opportunity to study together the key qualities of effective ministry of the Gospel by studying the life of Apostle Paul. The basis of the study was 1 and 2 chapters of 1 Thessalonians. 

On August 24, the Russian Baptist Church of Bryte hosted a semi-annual meeting of church pastors of the Association. Close to forty church pastors gathered for this event, including seven head pastors.

Every year the churches of our Association host kids’ camps. From August 5 through 9, Second Slavic Baptist Church in Sacramento hosted such a camp called Vacation Bible School with a theme “ROAR”.  This is a wonderful blessing for children since they can get to know God better during these camps, pray together, have a good time, be entertained, and sing many new songs.

On June 27, there was a teaching session in the Master’s program in Montebello taught by Gennady Gavelovskiy.  The students continued the “Shepherding” course and will be studying the Greek grammar in August and September.

August 3rd, 2019 Living Stones Baptist church had their baptism at the American River. The whole church gathered to celebrate a young man's decision to follow Jesus.

Teen girls and their moms are invited to meet with Molly Sunburn - see flyer below.

PCSBA's July newsletter is available here: in Russian | in English.

Good News Church is experiencing one of its’ busiest summers. We would love to share some of the blessings that we have experienced with our brothers and sisters from the PCSBA.

The Association continues to support many missionaries who sacrificially labor in many countries of the world. This month we also received updates from the missionaries who serve in:

With the invitation of the Dushanbe church in Tajikistan, and the blessing of Bryte Church  (supported by the Moms in Prayer ministry which has been focusing on praying for Tajikistan), a team of three, Valeriy and Fatima Avramenko, and Olga Drovorub, visited Tajikistan this spring with a goal of hosting a women’s conference “Moms in Prayer” and visit many churches as the opportunity would present itself. This was a very successful trip full of meeting new people, fellowship, and various kinds of ministries. 

At the beginning of the year during the meeting of head pastors of the Association’s churches, I. Mileyev introduced a plan of spiritual growth. After much deliberation, all of the association’s pastors unanimously supported the plan in attendance. Half of the year has passed since then, so it is fitting to remind the pastors and inform the church members of the content of the plan.

On June 28 through 30, in the picturesque state of Connecticut, Ashford Campground, which is well known to the American Slavic population, hosted a historical event – 100-year anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian Union of ECB in the U.S. One hundred years is a significant event, which is connected to a rich history of ministry of many generations of immigrants in America.

V.Tsvirinko's June report about his ministry in Moldova is available here: in Russian | in English.

Grace Family Church will host a conference on August 3-4 for fathers and young men who wish to join the men’s ministry. The conference’s schedule:

The women retreat "Salon of imperishable beauty" will be held on August 23-25. The retreat’s theme is “From heart to heart” (Gal. 6: 2). Speaker is Victoria Hripunova. The camp will be held at the Zephyr Point Conference Center at 660 Highway 50 Zephyr Cove, NV 89448. Registration costs is $ 155.00 dollars until July 14, from July 15 to August 3 - $ 175.00. The deadline for registration is August 4, and the registration fee is $ 195.00. 

PCSBA's June newsletter is available here: in Russian | in English.

V.Tsvirinko's May report about his ministry in Moldova is available here: in Russian | in English.

On May 25-26, there was a Convention of the Northwestern Association of the Slavic ECB churches in the U.S. In response to the invitation of this association’s committee, the Pacific Coast Association was represented by Gennadiy Borisovich Gavelovskiy.

In May, New Hope Church in Rancho Cordova, CA had a members’ meeting during which a new head pastor was chosen. Gennadiy Borisovich Gavelovskiy, who was the head pastor of the church for the previous four years, asked to be released from ministry due to family reasons.

On May 24, in Montebello, there was a teaching session (Master’s level) with the participation of Sergey Sannikov. Sergey Viktorovich taught a course on the “Creation of the World”.

On June 16th, Living Stones Church in Rancho Cordova, CA celebrated its twentieth anniversary. There were performances by choirs and various vocal groups, poems, and wishes addressed to the church during this celebratory service. The recording of this celebration can be viewed on the church’s YouTube channel. Read about the history of the church here. And below, you may see photos taken during the celebration.

Grace Family Church will host a conference on August 3-4 for fathers and young men who wish to join the men’s ministry. The conference’s schedule:

• August 3 – 10:00am-3:00pm
• August 4 – morning service, dedicated to the calling of fatherhood – “Way of fear and love”; the conference will resume from 2:00pm-5:00pm.

On May 24 and 25, in the Ukraine’s Capitol, Kiev there was a 28^th convention of All-Ukrainian Union of ECB. This convention was dedicated to the theme of “You Know the Times” and is based on Romans 13:11-14.

We received an email from Dr. Bob Utley who kindly suggested to use his commentaries on the whole Bible free of charge. Please read his letter below:

PCSBA's May newsletter is available here: in Russian | in English.

“We, being many, are one body in Christ” (Romans 12:5a) – one church. Church is not limited by geography; it transcends borders and vast distances. The youth choir from the Second Slavic Baptist Church of Sacramento have demonstrated that principle by driving through the night over 700 miles to visit us the youth of Good News Church in Tacoma, Washington over Memorial Day weekend.

Along with 250+ Christian leaders, I am asking followers of Christ across our nation to set aside next Sunday, June 2, as a special day of prayer for the President, Donald J. Trump.

President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. In the history of our country, no president has been attacked as he has. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God.

This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask God to protect, strengthen, encourage, and guide the President.