EP in Moscow
The ninth Evangelical Press Russian preachers’ conference was held near Moscow on 6-7 November. In this new location, we were pleased to welcome many who were new to the conference. There was a remarkable sense of unity and a consciousness of the Lord’s presence.
Most brethren were from different regions of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. One pastor drove 2000 km from Kazakhstan; another came from as far as Vladivostok!
The conference was organised by Slava Viazovski, with the rest of the EP team from Minsk working hard behind the scenes. After a welcome from EP director, Roger Fay, Georgi Viazovski gave the opening address. Georgi preached concerning our utter dependence on the Lord for salvation, and God’s sovereign grace in imparting to us Christ’s righteousness.
The main conference speakers were Stuart Olyott and Joel Beeke. Stuart preached messages on the sermons of Peter, Stephen and Paul in Acts chapters 2, 7 and 13. He led our thinking regarding the purpose and content of evangelistic preaching, as well as reactions to it.
Joel Beeke spoke on assurance of faith – its importance, basis and cultivation. He drew on puritan teaching, particularly from the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Both men were helpfully pastoral in their approach and gave detailed answers to the many questions from attendees after each session.
Another key feature was the opportunity given for fellowship, news reports, prayer and mutual encouragement. Among the reports was one from the sovereign grace seminary in Samara, represented by missionary Brad Klassen and seminary students.
There were opportunities to acquire reformed literature in Russian, and DVDs of John MacArthur preaching, dubbed in Russian. Please pray the Lord will bring lasting fruit from the conference and his church will grow throughout the Russian-speaking world.
John Norris
