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.

During Liberty University’s Commencement on May 11, 2019, the Vice-President on the United States Mike Pence shared his testimony about becoming Christian, and then told the following:

“The truth is, we live in a time when the freedom of religion is under assault.  Yesterday, I was informed by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that today Christians suffer more persecution around the world than any other religion.  In fact, the United Kingdom released a report just last week that said persecution of Christians worldwide is “near genocide levels.””

On April 27, there was another session of the master’s level in Montebello. Sergey Pronin taught the course on Managing Christian Organizations. 

The church's bell tower

The Capm Fire did not stop either Easter or Christmas. 

On Sunday, December 23, 2018, after a two-month break forced by fire over the ashes of the burnt down Californian city of Paradise, the church's bell rang. This is Scotty, a ringer of the 1st Baptist Church, blow by blow twelve times he pulled a rope tied to the church bell-clapper. This ringing of the bell shortly before Christmas, which had awakened the emptiness of the city, deserted after a fire and located on a mountain plateau, was heard far around and proclaimed that the Church was alive and not burned.

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

One more young pastor was added to the team of shepherds at Grace Family Church. April 28 was the ordination ceremony of Yevgeniy Bardosh.

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

On Saturday, April 6, Bethel Church hosted a training with the involvement of brothers and sisters who are part of a short-term missionary trips to various countries. The meeting was organized by the PCSBA’s Missionary Ministry Department “Power in Truth”. The main speaker was Michael Cherenkov, the vice-president of the international Christian organization “Mission to Eurasia”. His presentation consisted of three parts: How to get ready for missions (conviction of the missionary call); clearance, difficulties, decisions, fruit of ministry.

On March 29-31, 2019, there was the Third Congress of Slavic Youth of North America in Minnesota with a theme of “More Prayer, More Power!” This theme was expounded in the sermons of youth leaders of the association: Anton Babarykin, Oleg Artemov, Ivan Volosyuk, Oleg Trukhlinskiy, and others. The chairmen of the Slavic associations of America also participated in preaching: Vladimir Sharikov, Andrey Chumakin, Nicolay Gorobinskiy, and Ivan Mileyev. I had the privilege of speaking on: “How does God Answer”. While I was preparing this sermon, I was so gripped by the breadth and depth of this theme that it was difficult to fit the content under the restraints of time.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 1 Cor.15:3-4.

Dear brothers and sisters! Congratulation on Eastern celebration!

On April 6, Slavic Baptist Church of West Sacramento hosted a prayer service for families with children with special needs. Nine pastors from seven different churches (Russian-speaking and one English-Speaking pastor) of our city took part in this service. Three of these pastors have children and relatives with special needs and have experienced all the difficulties that these families with special needs have.

PCSBA's March newsletter is availabale here: in Russian | in English.

House of the Gospel Church in Fresno elected Aleksandr Ivanov as the new senior pastor. We wish him blessings in this very difficult and great charge. May the words of Apostle Paul be fully manifested in the life of this minister.

«…do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in the spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality…Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Rom. 12:11-15.

On March 16, 2019, there was the first meeting for the preparation of the first ever International Slavic Missionary Congress for the Slavic diaspora in America.

The church of Christ exists since the Day of Pentecost. The church consists of believers of all ages and generations and has been in existence for all this time. However, as the time passes there also comes a time of a birth of new local churches. These churches have their own history and the first day of their official opening.

On February 20-23, a Christian camp not far from Florence hosted ninth Summit of Russian-Speaking churches of Europe.

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

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

God is doing some exciting things at the Pacific Thrift Store!  As most of you are aware, Pacific Thrift Store, a ministry of PCSBA, is the primary funding source for the missions department of PCSBA.  The store, under the leadership of Pavel Tsvirinko and with contribution of dedicated employees and volunteers, experienced a record-setting January, with sales exceeding all previous January sales.  Praise God!

On February 7th, there was a 67^th National Prayer Breakfast at a large Hilton hotel’s International Hall.  This event attracted many guests from 150 countries of the world, as well as representatives from the fifty U.S. states. Over three-and-a-half thousand participants united in prayer for the improvement of relationships based on the right relationship with Jesus. Unified prayer allows to tear down all barriers that divide people, countries, political parties, and much more.

On February 9, Grace Avenue Church hosted a meeting of PCSBA’s churches head pastors. The wives of pastors were also invited to this meeting, as well as the members of the Association’s committee. After a unified prayer and a word of exhortation given by the vice-president of the PCSBA Gennady Gavelovskiy, the women continued their fellowship in a different location where Vera Ivanovna Orlova who is a guest from Russia was one of the speakers.

Peace to you brothers and sisters beloved by God! It is my joy to inform you that with God’s help and after a lengthy preparation, the Sunday School Ministry was able to organize one more event for the directors and their spouses this year. On February 1-3, there was an annual winter retreat at Sierra Pines Camp.

On Saturday, March 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Second Slavic Church in Sacramento will host a conference organized by “Cornerstone” Church. The theme of the conference: “Condemned to Salvation”. During the conference, there will be a discussion of predestination, God’s sovereignty, and freewill of man.

V. Tsvirinko's January 2019 report is available here: in Russian  | in English.

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

Slavic Baptist Church of West Sacramento (pastor I. A. Verstak) hosted a fourth module of the International Institute of Biblical Counselors “Coram Deo”. Twenty-four people from different churches in Sacramento, including one brother from Pennsylvania studied the section of training in “Applying Scriptures in Counseling”. The goal of this module was to keep the counselor from misapplying the Scriptures, to instruct and model the right approach of application, to study and understand the application of moving from the Law to the Gospel in the process of sanctification, to help the counselor how to accurately handle the Scriptures and to rebuke or encourage the counselee.

ATTENTION! The Association has a vacancy for the leader of the youth ministry department. The requirements of the candidate, interview and acceptance can be found in a file published on the association’s website – click here.

We live in the age of technology, which develops so rapidly that we have to be always up-to-date in order to be familiar what is effective and is useful in many areas of society. Implementing of technology in everyday live can be both a blessing or a curse if we do not use it properly.

By now, we shared a few times about different ways of how our Russian-speaking churches responded to the needs of fire victims of Paradise and surrounding regions. What follows is one more story of a family from that region, and how the Lord led them to meet the Slavic relief workers.

December report of our missionary in Moldova V. Tsvirinko is available here:: in Russian  | in English. 

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