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Artem’s dream: How faith, SWW gave teen new purpose
Artem, 18, recalled the dream that led him to turn from sin and give his life to Christ. “One night I had a dream about a man dressed in white, and a bright light emanated from him,” Artem said. “He told me that if I didn’t change my ways, then I would face great suffering. When I woke up, I was afraid and I knew that I needed to fix my life.” Artem, who grew up in a Christian home in Russia but had fallen away from his faith, decided to turn his life over to Christ. He soon became involved in Mission Eurasia’s School Without Walls (SWW) Christian leadership training program. “God spoke to me through young Christians, who helped me understand why it is important to obey the Lord,” he said. “Thanks to their kindness, I realized that I didn’t want to live without God anymore, and He became the most important thing in my life. “As soon as I put…
From fearful Yazidi to child of God
“We are all going to hell!” Boris remembers his Yazidi grandmother in Armenia telling him this when he was a young man. These words frightened Boris, who turned to a Yazidi spiritual leader for hope. But he told Boris that only a select few would make it to paradise and that even spiritual leaders like himself couldn’t escape hell. Hopelessness and poverty surrounded Boris and led him to become an alcoholic. Despair among the Yazidi people is not surprising, says Don Parsons, Mission Eurasia’s ministry director for unreached people groups. “The Yazidis are a religious subgroup of the Kurdish people,” he says. “Most of them are animistic pagans who worship the sun and pay homage to Satan.” But someone shared the Light of the gospel with Boris. At first, when he heard about Jesus, Boris thought that Jesus was just the Armenian god. But he cried out to God and…
Her disability didn’t stop her from serving the Lord
Elnara was desperate for a new start – deaf, unable to speak, spiritually lost, and a single mom raising two children on her own in Kazakhstan. It’s a place where more than half the population is Muslim, Christians are persecuted for their faith, and churches have been closed. Mission Eurasia’s School Without Walls (SWW) program reached out to Elnara – and her life hasn’t been the same. She shared, “I am 27 years old, and Tatar by nationality. I am also deaf, so I can’t speak. About two and a half years ago, sin reigned in my life, and my family broke apart.” After Elnara and her husband divorced, she rembered feeling “very broken” inside. “I had always called myself a Christian, because my mom and I went to church on holidays, but I didn’t live a Christian life,” she said. “When I was older, I worked as a model, and my entire life…
‘Relevant’ skills: School Without Walls students thankful
Mission Eurasia’s School Without Walls (SWW) program is equipping and training Next Generation leaders for evangelism and discipleship – one young life at a time. In their own words, these young believers in the Eurasian country of Georgia share how the program has helped prepare them for ministry. Salome’s story When Salome – now 25 – was a child, her grandmother told her about God. “And even though I didn’t understand much of what she said, I was always impacted by the love she felt for the Lord and the kindness of her voice,” Salome shared. “As I got older, I never really thought about whether the things I did were right or wrong.” But Salome said her family told her that she needed to decide if she was going to pursue a “real relationship with God.” As she struggled with this decision, she realized, “I couldn’t find any evidence…
Grigorii’s Story: From Communist Party Leader to Follower of Christ
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. – Psalm 119:18 “I spent most of my adult life working as a local Communist Party leader,” shared Grigorii. “I ran meetings and kept lists of party members, including members who brought shame on our Party by doing things like attending church. My entire meaning in life was tied up in the Party. “When the Soviet Union fell, I lost my job and my life lost its meaning. I moved to a small town and struggled to make ends meet. I faced a lot of health problems, including difficulty walking and seeing. My old glasses were completely useless and I had no money for new ones. It got to the point where I could no longer watch TV or read a book, and instead I just listened to the radio. In the summer of 2014, I…
Irina’s Story: A Heart Transformed by Summer Bible Camp
God can transform even the hardest of hearts in an instant, and at our summer Bible camps each year, thousands of young people surrender their lives to Jesus. For the last four years, the village of Andreyevka, Ukraine has endured the violence, destruction, and despair of war. In order to share the eternal hope and peace of Christ with the children and youth living in these tragic circumstances, our School Without Walls (SWW) students from Berdyansk have been hosting summer Bible camps in war-torn Andreyevka since the war broke out. Last year, Irina, a young woman from Andreyevka, was invited to camp by one of her friends. At first, Irina and her group had no interest in Christianity and just wanted to hang out together, but then God started working in Irina’s heart. “I wanted to relax and get away from my everyday worries, but then I saw a completely…