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Rapp Crook |
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2007 Alushta Convention
From October 2-7, 2007, Believers from across the vast expanse of the former Soviet Union gathered in Alushta, Ukraine, for their annual convention. Believers traveled as many as five or six days by train to attend the meetings. Before the opening service, Bro. Pavel Stepanenko of Vilnius, Lithuania, compared the convention to one held in I Chronicles 11, when all of Israel gathered for the express purpose of anointing David king over Israel.
As brothers from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Holland, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States participated in the meetings, it was clear that Believers had gathered around no single personality, but around the Word of God. Two meetings were held daily, and every evening brothers and sisters continued their fellowship late into the night. For many believers who worship in very small churches, the yearly convention is the only time of year they have to meet and fellowship with other Believers. They highly value this time of seeing their part of the world-wide Body of Christ.
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Believers collect new message books |
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During the convention, Bro. Vladimir Ryabov, a pastor in Donetsk, Ukraine, shared with other churches the newly translated and published books The Revelation of the Seven Seals and Israel and the Church, as well as many other Message books and tracts. Believers eagerly snatched up the material to take back to their homes and churches.
As is the case with conventions, the 2007 Alushta Convention passed too quickly. It blessed all with a taste of the glorious heavenly reunion awaiting us, and with a greater hunger for that day to come. The convention cannot be a thing of the past, for the preaching of the Word brought forth fruit that will last eternally. People were transformed as the heard the Truth, and at the end of the week fourteen people were baptized in the Black Sea, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please remember in prayer our brothers and sisters across the former Soviet Union, as they labor for the Kingdom in their respective nations. The region is vast, stretching across twelve time zones, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and there are many cities and villages where the light of this Gospel has not yet shined. Brothers currently travel to evangelize and support newly born groups, and it is a great blessing for us to be able to labor with them by supporting their work. Continue to “pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into the harvest.”
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