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Dear Friends,
From Manufacturing to Missions
My name is Brian O'Leary. Having joined the Board of SRS about a year ago, following careers in manufacturing and consulting, I was appointed director of strategic planning for SRS earlier this year.
From Missions to Beautiful St. Petersburg, Russia
I'm delighted to say I have just returned from my second trip to St. Petersburg, Russia where I traveled and visited with the Purcells, saw the sights, and got to know the wonderful Russian pastors attending the fall 2017 Intensive Course at the SRS Biblical Theological Seminary.
This Journey Can Be Yours Too
Between attending class with the pastors in the mornings, visiting the famous museums and cathedrals in the afternoons and attending concerts and enjoying fellowship in the evenings, I had such a great time, and decided to suggest to the SRS staff that we invite all of our donors to attend the 2018 spring Intensive Course at St. Petersburg, beginning March 5, preceded by a guided tour of Moscow, beginning March 1. And they agreed! So now...
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Moscow, March 1-4
With whom can you walk Moscow's Red Square (and wave as Vladimir Putin drives past),
Visit St. Basil's Cathedral, the famous GUM department store, monuments to Dostoevsky, Rachmaninov, Tolstoy
And worship with and meet the saints of Reflection Presbyterian Church of Dmitrov, Moscow region?
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St. Petersburg, March 4-10
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With whom can you spend the evening at the ballet theatre made famous by Tchaikovsky,
Stand in awe of St. Isaac's Cathedral,
Dine on Georgian shashliki and wine,
Fellowship with 25 Russian speaking pastors from churches across 9 time zones
And be inspired by lectures from Pastor Mike Rasmussen (PhD) of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Plano, on the History of Redemption?
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Only with the Slavic Reformation Society!
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17 Russian ministers with teachers who came to St. Petersburg to participate in the intensive course in October, 2017
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Seminary President Evgeniy Kruzhkov writes:
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27 years after Russia declared religious freedom and the Gospel got into almost every town and village in the former USSR, many of the men who became pastors since then have never been trained how to study the Bible, nor mentored by an older brother in Christ. And since the 2016 anti-freedom of religion laws were passed, more Russian pastors than ever before have been enrolling in the SRS seminary in St. Petersburg with 25-30 students anticipated at the 2018 March Intensive!
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The word has gotten out: if you want to grow in Christ and be helped to enjoy a fruitful life-long ministry, enroll in SRS’s extension course seminary!
Russian pastors and churches are not able at this time to afford travel expenses to the seminary. But if we can continue to fund their training, Lord willing, someday there will be more than 20 churches in the Presbyterian Church of Russia-- one in every major Russian city-- the first Russia-wide mature evangelical movement of churches in the 1,000 years of Russian history.
This incredible opportunity has caused the Russian leaders of this movement and the board of SRS to feel led to ask of the Lord to provide $400,000 by March, 2018.
This will include:
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$200,000 for a year's support for our 5 church plants
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$50,000 for a down payment for purchasing an SRS facility in St. Petersburg
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$100,000 for the seminary for the year
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$50,000 for seminary and support staff in Russia and America
Pray with us for the Lord to move hearts to see this $400,000 be given by March 1, 2018 so that the 250 million unreached souls in the Russian speaking world have a Gospel preaching church planted and rooted near them in the next 3 years.
Brian O’Leary explains below how we are trusting God to do that:
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We are asking God for $400,000 to be donated by individuals or churches each giving
$5000 - $20,000+
Brian's presentation at the 2017 Fall Intensive
Each person or church (representative) that contributes this amount or more will be invited by SRS on a round trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg and back to the USA. You will be hosted on the ground by SRS leaders Evgeni Kruzhkov and myself in Moscow, and Blake and Cathy Purcell in St. Petersburg.
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To sign up for this Russian experience or receive more details, please write to me at oleary.brianf@gmail.com, by January 5, 2018.
To thank you for your gift to continue the work of SRS in Russia and beyond, we extend to you the following rewards:
Gifts of $5,000 and above: An invitation to join SRS in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the Spring Intensive, with guided tours of the city and culture
Gifts of $10,000 and above: One roundtrip plane ticket to Russia + An invitation to join SRS in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the Spring Intensive, with guided tours of the city and culture
Gifts of $20,000 and above: Two roundtrip tickets to Russia + Fast train tickets from Moscow to St. Petersburg + An invitation to join SRS in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the Spring Intensive, with guided tours of the city and culture
For all other gifts to the ministry of SRS, please click here.
With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. (Matt 19:26)
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The Madonna Litta is a late 15th-century painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
Do you want to see this and other famous works of art with your own eyes? Then come to Russia in March 2018!
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