The Shepherd's Desk

A Man Named Andronicus

2011-05-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a year since I learned about a man from Georgia (the nation, not the state) whose name was Adronicus. I am convinced with all of my being that you need to hear about him too. There are considerations under way right now as to the best way to do this, but I think a good place to start is right here on my blog. You see, in all of our knowledge and access to instant data, we've missed a familiarity with great men like Andronicus. This trip furthered my knowledge and understanding of his life and influence. I was privileged to be in the home of his daughter, and then later his wife on my recent trip. I felt like I had been given the greatest gift ever just meeting them and hearing them reflect, even if briefly, on the man who was a godly husband and father, unstoppable preacher, and survivor of one of the most horrific persecutions in recent history. That may sound like an exaggeration, but as his story unfolds, you will not think so. He is giant on whose shoulders we should all climb in order to be closer to our Savior. His legacy is clearly seen in the lives of his family and the men who are following his ministry that I had the privilege of teaching and learning from this past week.

Andronicus was born like many giants in Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in unlikely circumstances. His father was a Russian revolutionary during the days of Czar Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin. His father was a bloodthirsty radical who did not hesitate to kill anyone who did not embrace the communist ideology of the Russian revolution of the early 1900's. But his father was not alone in this endeavor, for his mother was every bit the revolutionary that her husband was. Because of their activities they fled all over Russia until Czar Nicholas II finally caught up with them. Andronicus' father was promptly executed for his role in the revolution, and his mother pregnant with Andronicus, was exiled to Georgia. It was here that she would give birth to the man who would become a revolutionary giant for the Gospel in the Soviet Union. A man who with his blood and his life would sound the Truth that represented the opposite of everything she and her husband labored for. After his birth, she left him in Georgia to return illegally to Russia to continue the work of the revolution. In that part of the world there is a custom involving the leaving of children in such cases. If the parent lays the child on the ground and the other family picks the child up, the birth mother in doing so has relinquished her rights to the child and thus gives him to the other family permanently. If instead however, the mother simply hands the child to the other family, it means that she will be back to claim her child. In the case of Andronicus, the family asked her to lay him on the ground, but his mother refused. Instead she simply handed him over with the promise to return, which she would later do. Meanwhile, Andronicus began growing up in the atheistic culture of the Bolshevik revolution. While earthly adoption had been refused by his mother in order that she would raise him to follow in the radical ideology of his father, little could anyone have imagined the radical adoption he would experience during his teenage years. A radical adoption that would bring him from the darkness of atheism to the light of Jesus Christ and a radical life of discipleship and persecution for His sake.

A few years later his mother would return to claim him for the radical indoctrination into the communism and atheism that now ruled the Soviet Union thanks to the work of his deceased father and her. At the age of 12 or 13, Andronicus “happened” to have visited a Russian Orthodox church for the first time. God was about to continue His sovereign work through the mere curiosity of a young boy, for it was the first time that Andronicus would interact with the idea of God and religion. Upon entering the church, he asked inquisitively, "who is the man in the picture?". It must have taken the priest by surprise. "That is Jesus", the priest replied. And there, even in the midst of all the error and spiritual carnage that is the Orthodox church, Andronicus heard for the first time in his life the name of Jesus. As he continued to grow God in His providence had another meeting arranged for this young man. This time the meeting would be for the purpose of meeting Jesus Christ personally, not just historically, in a painting. In the area where he was living some years later, Andronicus met a group of Gospel believing Mennonites. He quickly joined himself to their community and was soon after converted through their witness to the Gospel of a resurrected Savior. In a most unlikely conversion, Andronicus became a follower of Jesus. Herein is the challenge to us. For in following Jesus in that culture, it meant not only giving lip service, but every part of your being. It was no trifling decision that he had made, but one that would literally be tested in a baptism of suffering and persecution that would last for the rest of his life. He grew in his young faith and before long sensed the call of God upon his life to become a preacher of the Gospel.

The next chapter of Andronicus' life finds him at the age of twenty, faithfully preaching the Gospel as a Baptist preacher during the time of Joseph Stalin. Andronicus had turned completely from the revolutionary ideals that his parents embraced that put into power the man who would cause the next chapter in his life to be so horrific. Funny how God uses little details like that isn't it? By age twenty Andronicus had married and fathered three children. But during the middle of the night as he and his family slept the black cars and agents of the KGB came for him. They took him away from his family and life as he had known it for the next 20 years. Like many faithful pastors Andronicus was taken away to the gulags of Siberia to die. How wrong they were to think that through the death of Its heralds that the Gospel could be silenced. Who knows how many of them actually died in those camps. It is however a number so astounding that truly only God knows. Their lives however are not lost, for their memories live on as a testament to the unconquerable nature of the Kingdom of God and Its advancement. Even in the face of death. It was in this camp that Andronicus met and lived with the great Russian philosopher and historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn. His hut was full of pastors, intellectuals, leaders, and anyone else the regime felt threatened by. They were forced to live in sub-human conditions every day. As most men who have come through such an ordeal, Andronicus never spoke much of the hardships that he endured. Partly out of humility, and partly out of courtesy to his family so as not to upset them unnecessarily. Some things are known however, and with the families permission I will share what they have told me.

Each of his twenty years during his imprisonment, Andronicus was placed on a list of prisoners to be executed. Many of those around him were. But God had a plan for this man, for in twenty years, with twenty sentences of death passed upon him, Andronicus was never executed. Instead, he faithfully endured the worst that they could throw at him. He told of times that they were taken deep into the forests to cut timber and left there without food or provisions during the harsh Siberian winters. In short, it was a means of execution. But he said that God would always provide. Natives who lived in the area (people I would imagine as something like American Eskimos) would watch from the forest and after the soldiers were gone, would bring them food and clothing to survive. When the guards returned days or weeks later, they would find their prisoners alive and well. But when such passive means of death did not work they tried more aggressive forms. Andronicus was overheard telling someone at one point with laughter, "you think that's tough! Try being submerged in freezing water for 24 hours." At which point he realized his wife was listening and so ended the account. And on and on the stories go.

He was eventually released through a series of events that can only be described as Providential, only to return home to the pain of loss as his wife and two of his children had died from hunger and neglect, and the pain of a child who had grown up without him and did not know him or follow the God that he had loved so dearly. And yet even then, the persecution did not stop as the KGB. Andronicus would go on to continue preaching, remarry, have four more children. Even after his death in 1979 his new family would continue to feel the oppression and persecution of the Soviet regime.

One of his son-in-laws has become one of my dearest friends. Several years ago he traveled to Moscow to review the official records regarding Andronicus. As he was handed the official indictment, he was amazed as he read the simple but pointed indictment for which Andronicus was imprisoned for so many years. The charge: “Baptist Preacher”. I wonder, what has your faith cost you? Have you ever sacrificed anything because of what you claim to believe? Most of us have seldom even sacrificed convenience to serve and worship Jesus. We live in a nation where almost everyone is a “Christian” and a member of this church or that church. Yet why are our churches so often half full? Why are we lukewarm when it comes to sharing our faith? Why are we complacent toward things of God? Are such things even worthy to be called sacrifice in the light of men’s testimony like Andronicus?

Friends, we need to hear the story of men like Andronicus. We need to be rebuked, encouraged, and changed by the hearing of such stories. God has given them as a gift to us. The character forged by the gulags and persecution is something that we all need to have in our lives. Since we in America have not suffered in such a way it is imperative that we learn as best we can from the heroes of the faith like Andronicus.

My prayer is to continue more of his story as time goes on. If you are touched by his story and would like to continue hearing more would you do this? Please respond by commenting on this post or reply to Facebook via comment or message. It would be a great encouragement to his family and to the persecuted church to know that you have heard and that you would like to hear more. Thank you, and may God continue to mold us more into the image of His Son through the testimonies of men like Andronicus.

With Joy and Tears

2011-05-10T03:51:00.000-07:00

With Joy and Tears

Let me begin by apologizing for the lack of daily consistency in updating this blog. Even as I begin to write this we are in a small agricultural village near the Polish and Lithuanian borders. I am writing early in the morning and hope to post this later tonight when we arrive back in the capital city where there will be a good internet connection (again, I say hopefully). The last week has been far busier than I could have imagined. And yet with that business has been great fruit in our own souls. Fruit born through the testimony to the Word of God as it is lived out in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ here. Let me briefly explain some of what has transpired.

On Friday I concluded my teaching in the seminary with a dear group of precious believers who left that very afternoon to go back to their towns and villages to shepherd their flocks. I wonder if we really understand what faithfulness even is. One of the students Vladimir (who those of you in our church will remember well), left the class, got on a train, rode five hours into the Chernobyl zone to his church. His level of financial support is negligible in proportion to his need. He and his wife have 7 children, with the eighth child due in September. He lives in a house that would probably be considered unlivable and unsafe in the United States. He delivers groceries to more remote villages without a market for extra money. For ten years he has faithfully labored to share the Gospel in an area many have abandoned due the dangers of the radiation fallout from the Chernobyl accident many years ago. And yet, a more joyful man you will not and cannot find. He is unquestionably a great leader of men. The sense of respect in the class for him was obvious. The hunger for God's Word and to be a more faithful Shepherd radiate from him. All the while, doing it with a charm, heir of grace, and refreshing humor. You are probably experiencing two emotions right now. First, you are filled with admiration for a brother in Christ who courageously lives such a sacrificial life for the cause of Christ's Kingdom. This is a correct response. Second, you are probably feeling a sense of sorrow for him because of the conditions that he endures. I join you in such thoughts. How I wish I could change the external conditions of these men to reflect the blessings God has bestowed on all of us, and yet change my own internal heart attitudes to reflect the character that God has blessed them with. But the thing with Vladimir that is truly a rebuke of gigantic proportion is this. After ten years of such faithful labor, in some of the most difficult conditions, his church has only seventeen members. Now honestly, what would we have done? Don't flatter yourself with thoughts of grandeur. You, like me, would have quit long ago from discouragement, disillusion, and maybe even bitterness. But what of the seventeen souls? Do they not need a shepherd? Are they less important because others have refused the message of the Gospel? You see, this is faithfulness.

Another of my experiences this week came from another brother in the class named Sasha (short for Alexander). When the week began I mistakenly made a mental note about Sasha that he was disinterested, somewhat calloused, and even contrary. He challenged me more than anyone else throughout the week. At first, giving no indication that my answers either satisfied or further frustrated him. But as the week progressed on I found that he was not disinterested, but serious in a way that few if any others were. He was deeply contemplative. At some points conflicted over grief for people in his own church that were struggling and with a proper response on his part to them. Toward the end of the week, he would approach me at the end of a session and apologize explaining he wasn't trying to be difficult. I already knew that and had come to admire and appreciate him. The week ended with an invitation to visit him on my next trip. An invitation I will gladly accept! I came to appreciate genuine, gentle toughness about this man. But it wasn't until the end of the week that this took on its full context. We were driving with our host (the dean of the school in which I was teaching in the seminary) one afternoon and he calmly says, "do you know what Sasha used to do before he became a Christian?". I did not know but what I would shortly found out made Sasha an even more remarkable man in my eyes. My host said, "he used to be an enforcer for the Russian Mafia". That needed no explanation, I knew what they did and still do. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union many of the KGB and other government thugs turned to organized crime and brought other into their "business opportunities". He explained that Sasha was in charge of torturing people until they paid or complied with the area bosses. But through the testimony of a faithful Christian who loved Sasha in spite of his "job", he finally came to accept the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and renounced what was no doubt a lucrative lifestyle. Two thoughts about this struck me. First, is the way in which he came to Christ. Over time as this faithful missionary shared the Gospel the Holy Spirit began working in Sasha's heart drawing him to Christ. The final straw according to Sasha was a point in which the missionary, knowing Sasha was a thief, decided to show him extraordinary love by allowing Sasha to watch his personal money one night. The man claimed he had no where else to keep it, and that he would like for Sasha to take care of it for him. Sasha said at that point the love and trust of this man convinced him that he too should become a follower of Jesus Christ! He surrendered completely to Jesus that day and never looked back! This brings me to the second remarkable thing. When you are that deeply involved in the Russian Mafia, you don't just walk away. But Sasha did. In spite of the potential dangers to his own life, he gladly followed Jesus and renounced his former lifestyle. I ask myself two questions: 1) Am I loving anyone like that missionary did in loving Sasha? 2) Do I have the courage to walk off from anything, or everything, to follow the lead of Jesus my Savior?

These brothers I have just mentioned are not the exception here, they are the rule! I feel unworthy to even be in the same room, but I know I need to be in the room with them because these are the men I want to imitate. Sure, I may have had more formal education, I may have more access to Christian literature and material. But I need the character they have that runs to the very core of their being. Character that causes a young man like Vitaly in his early twenties to go to a rural farming village where the young people are leaving the others and the aging to fend for themselves. There are nine believers there who need a preacher and pastor so Vitaly answers the call. Character that causes a young woman like Violette, my translator in the class, a skilled linguistic expert par excellent, and classically trained musician to endure harassment from the KGB and continue serving the Lord. Her father an atheist, her mother suffering from a mental illness, no one to really encourage her, yet she plods on in incredible servant minded determination. Time forbids me here, but I promise you will hear more about these dear brothers and sisters in the days ahead as I return home and reflect on all that God did in my heart.

So as I conclude this update I am sitting comfortably at 36,000 feet somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean thrilled to return to my wife, my sons, my family, and my church. But something deep inside of me stayed in Belarus. A longing to return someday to learn more, and to encourage these brothers however I can. From what I have heard the week was profitable for the students. I was given several things by them to take home to remember them by. Gestures that mean more to me than I could say. I was hoisted into the air with approval at the conclusion. A sign that I took as a bond of brotherhood with them. But what I came to do for them seems to have faded into darkness behind me as I travel west with the sun. Unwittingly, they taught me, when I had come to be the teacher. I gave them grids for thinking theologically and Biblically about things like preaching, counseling, and decision making areas important in church planting. They gave me a love for the Lord and passion for ministry I didn't know existed.

So after reading this, who wants to join me on the next trip over? I thought so!

Fresh Starts, New Horizons

2011-05-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight brings a conclusion to the third day of classes in the seminary. My assigned topic has been, "The Theology and Practice of Church Planting". Over the past two days we have laid the Biblical and theological foundations that flesh out in practical theology in church planting. It has been a joy to see these men interact with the Scripture, and to find answers and convictions to their questions. It is one thing to say that we are impressed by someone's hunger for the Truth. It is something else altogether when we see someone's willingness to accept the Truth. Unfortunately we often hear the language of "seeking" and "hungering" but often fail to see it come to fruition in "accepting" the Truth even when it is difficult. These brothers have embodied godly submission to the Authority of Scripture and for that I am deeply grateful, rebuked, and encouraged all at the same time.

Tonight we had the privilege of spending time in the home of Sergei and his family. Sergei embodies everything I would have imagined a 1st Century pastor to be: passionate, determined, undeterred, Scripture saturated, and visionary. I have known Sergei for 5 years now, but only tonight did I have the opportunity to meet his gracious wife. His wife comes from a legacy of Gospel faithfulness that few of us can even imagine. Her father, a man named Adronicus, was imprisoned for 20 years of his life in the gulags of Siberia under the Stalin regime. His crime: Baptist Preacher. Tonight I saw his prison release photo, held the "pardon" from the communist party finally granted 20 years after his release finally allowing him the privilege of working again. I heard the stories once again of hardships beyond my imagination, saw the emotion in the eyes of his daughter as she tried to grapple with the horrors suffered by her father, and was personally drawn into the awe of God's grace that not only sustains a man who should have died, but emboldens him to continue the thing that put him there to begin with. To such men, the rewards of Heaven belong. I hope to be able to write more about him in the days and months ahead. We need to hear the stories of men like Adronicus to strengthen our resolve. Thank you to Sergei and his family for sharing such personal stories with us tonight. One thing they made clear, was that there were many like their father. But for me, he is the only one that I feel like I personally knew.

A couple of random observations from the class to conclude tonight:

1) As we talked about questioning our philosophies of ministry today the translator turned to me and said, "we have no word for this in our language". I thought she was joking with me, but I suddenly realized that she was not. This is a culture where you do not question anything. Due to the oppression that they have lived under for literally centuries they have developed a mentality that shares only what is necessary, and does not question unnecessarily. How different than my own experience.

2) Yesterday I asked the men how many in their families are the first to become followers of Jesus Christ. Answer: 100%. To the man, each is an outcast from their culture, having chosen instead the difficult path of following Jesus in spite of the cost. Then this afternoon, I was wondering why they did not understand some things that I have taken for granted having grown up in church and in a Christian family. A sense of awe swept over me, I am standing in the midst of a group of modern day reformers. Much like Luther, Hus, Wycliffe, Calvin, and Tyndale before them, these men have rejected the system to plod a road not travelled in almost 500 years in their country. They are pursuing an evangelical heritage that is totally foreign. They have few older men to mentor them, they have few books in their language. What they do have is an unwavering conviction about the God they love, a dependence of the Holy Spirit to guide them, a tender and tenacious prayer life, and courage. The kind that caused Stephen to preach and die in Acts, the kind that sung hymns in the midst of Smithfield's fires, the kind that in all honesty, I have realized I do not have but want to cultivate.

I love this place. But more than that I love these men. I can already tell that leaving will be sweet sorrow.

A Band of Brothers Who are Unashamed

2011-05-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

What an exhilarating morning! Shortly I will begin a week of fellowship with a band of brothers who define for me what it is to live without fear and without shame for the cause of Jesus Christ. Men, who in spite of oppression and persecution, do not wince to proclaim the Gospel. Men who live in the fear of God rather than the fear of man. I am rebuked for the fearful man that I am. I was thinking this morning of Hebrews 13:6, "so that we may confidently say, "the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?" I am learning so much from their boldness and passion to make Christ known in a place that is far darker and despondent that many of you back in America will ever realize unless you come to this place. It is a place of darkness, but praise God, how the light pierces that darkness through the Truth lived out in their lives.

As I sit here this morning waiting for them to arrive at the appointed place and time my heart is full of gratitude for the journey God has led us down to arrive at this place after two years of planning and envisioning how God might work through us here.

I covet your prayers as we work and talk together through the Word of God this week. I have no doubt that many friendships will be made that will endure for all eternity this week. What a joy! I look forward to trying to communicate more of the realities we are experiencing.

Thank you again for stopping by the blog. Keep praying! God is at work (if no place else, at the very least in my own heart)!

Slavaboga! (Praise the Lord!)

Brian

Hit the Ground Running!

2011-05-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

The past two days have been somewhat of a blur. Three countries. 24 hours. 8 time zones. New language. New friends. Old friends. Speaking with a translator. And many other first time experiences to numerous to count. But I wouldn't trade any of it! Jay and I have arrived safely to our destination on this our first full day in country. I think our bodies have adjusted well to the time change, and that is a blessing as we began this morning visiting a church about an hour away bright and early. I cannot explain the joy in my heart to travel to the other side of the world and find such instant and deep connection to fellow believers instantly, to share communion together, and enjoy rich fellowship. To see One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism fleshed out in spite of absolutely nothing else in common, is a powerful testament to the power of the Gospel and the breadth of the body of Christ. Tonight in our meeting I was the only planned guest and yet we had a German (a Gideon) and Nigerian show up to speak as well. It was spontaneous and unusual for me, but a demonstration of God's plan.

The people have been warm and receptive to our words of encouragement, but I believe it is we who have been encouraged. Time would fail me to tell of every event that blessed our day, but the fellowship of the saints was a redemptive time to our souls as we had been very tired and somewhat discouraged over the past two days. We were filled to overflowing.

More than anything we saw the redeeming power of the Gospel and the difference that It makes in a world of absolute desperation and darkness. How vast the difference in the general population and the body of Christ. O that every local body of Christ reflected that joyous reality.

Tomorrow begins a long and exciting adventure in our class. We continue to plead with you to pray for us and for those whom we work with. Pray for our health, stamina, protection, and effectiveness of our ministry.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update! Lord willing there will be another tomorrow about the same time!

Blessings to You All

Brian

T-Minus 6 Days: The Law and Missions

2011-04-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Six days out and this is my meditation on missions as it reflects God's heart. It appears to me, that as God is unfolding the saga of redemption, he has at every point had a heart to reach all the nations. Again, we may be tempted to view missions (whether at home or abroad) as a New Testament reality due to the compartmentalized thinking about Scripture that seems to be so prevalent. But I find in the Old Testament as well a strong emphasis on God's idea of missions. Yesterday I very briefly introduced the idea of missions in the

covenants of God. Today however it comes up yet again in a place that perhaps few would think of finding it: the Law of God.

In Deuteronomy 4:5-8 we hear these words from God:

“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it.

“So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

“For awhat great nation is there that has a god bso near to it as is the LORD our God cwhenever we call on Him?

“Or what great nation is there that has astatutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?"

So we understand that even during the time that the Mosaic Covenant and the Law were issued that God had an evangelistic and mission-focused agenda. Not only would the Law serve to guide the nation of Israel it would something that attracted the attention of the pagan nations around them. Here I might just stop for a moment and add this caveat. That the attraction would be in a most winsome way. They are noticing a God Who was withdrawn and cold. No, the God of Israel Who gave the Law, was a God Who was near. Amazing! The Law has a missions heart behind it that sweeps the nations! Let that sink in!

So as we are preparing for the mission that God has called us to in order to reflect His glory, let us understand the history of God's work in missions once again. And as a theological side note, let us be careful to preach and teach the whole counsel of God. Not despising any part because we feel it is irrelevant or passe. Such is the problem of antinomianism that is sweeping the church today.

Thank God He has a plan for the nations!

T-Minus 7 Days: The Motivation for Missions

2011-04-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

In seven days I will begin the task of working with my brothers in Christ in the nation of Belarus to encourage and equip them as they plant and pastor churches there. I am excited and filled with joyful anticipation about this special time! If you know me, which many of you do, you understand that this is not normal. In point of fact, I am a home-body, I really do not enjoy traveling all that much, I am not particularly fond of trying new things, I am an anxious person, and I certainly do not consider hours on end in airports and planes to be my ideal of fun. Yes, I am a terrible bore! But there is something stirring inside of me that is overriding all of my natural fears and tendencies. It is a passion for the Gospel, the Savior, and the Church. Typically I am quick to ask questions in my life that are all to prone to fleshly fear like, "what if it fails?", or "what if something happens?". But this is something far different, something that elicits confidence, and an expectation of victory in the deepest part of my soul. Why? This is a calling that cannot fail. Over the next few days as we prepare to leave to minister abroad I want to share some thoughts with you that are behind my certain optimism about missions of any type. Whether they are across the street or around the globe. The cause of the Gospel cannot fail!

And here dear readers is the reason why: missions is rooted in the person of God as a covenant making God, and missions is the goal of God which He has purposed to fulfill. And may I remind you, the God of Scripture does not and cannot fail in His purposes. I do not say this in a vacuum, but with the weight of the entirety of revealed Truth on my side. It begins here in Genesis 12:1-3.

"Now the LORD said to Abram, Go forth from your country...and I will make you a great nation...and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

It can be accurately said that Abram was the first man called to foreign missions, for through Abram's seed the Messiah would come with His offer of salvation to all the nations and families of the earth. To be sure, missions reaches its apex in the Great Commission (Mt. 28:19) in the New Testament, but it is birthed, ordained, and guaranteed all the way back to Abram in Genesis.

I don't know about you, but that gives me great hope and great confidence in the cause of investing in the Gospel and the Church around the globe. It has been God's idea and unfailing purpose from the beginning.

I hope this thought will challenge you to pray for not only myself in these next few weeks, but also for your own call to serve Christ wherever you are. And most of all to glory in a cause that God inaugurated so very long ago, and gave us the first hint of His power to fulfill His mission.

The nations WILL be blessed!

Feel free to send this blog to others who will follow it and pray for us in the days to come!

To God be the Glory Alone!

Preparing for an Acts Adventure

2011-04-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

During the next few days I will have the privilege of serving, along with my friend Jay Baker, the churches in an Eastern European country still under the thumb of a communist system of government. We covet your prayers as we seek to encourage and equip our brothers there for the work of the ministry that God has called them too. Please check in daily to see our updates!

More will follow soon.