A baptism in the Black Sea of a new member of the Odessa, Ukraine, congregation.

Goal Exceeded! How You Built
Places of Peace: From Russia to Ukraine

When the World Church Leadership Council launched the designated giving initiative, Places of Peace: Russia to Ukraine, in August 2008, little did we know how the world’s financial landscape would change just two months later. As the financial crisis unfolded in October, I confess that I began to worry about whether we could meet our goal. We needed $330,000 to provide sacred spaces for the Saints in Russia and Ukraine to worship, provide social ministry, and experience the peace of Jesus Christ.

As of this writing, you have given an astounding $356,880. Thank you!

Community of Christ members and friends in Russia and Ukraine are very pleased and thankful to the church for supporting the growth of their congregations. Your generous contributions already show results.

Moscow, Russia, church building/retreat center in the village of Mayesk (partly completed)

First, a new meeting place and retreat center for church members in Moscow, Russia, is being remodeled and should be completed by the end of this summer. Second, a new Friendship Club and church meeting facility in Voronezh, Russia, was bought, remodeled, and opened in March 2009. More than fifty young people share in the Friendship Club there. Third, a new church in Odessa, Ukraine, was bought in January and soon will undergo remodeling. The twenty-member congregation in Odessa already meets there. Finally, in coming months facilities will be bought in Kiev, Ukraine, and in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Elder Elena Bezgina, church planter in Voronezh, describes her new facility as “a special place where God’s Holy Spirit is felt by all who come there.” The meeting place is a large first–floor apartment in a newer part of Voronezh. Elena described what has happened in Voronezh because of Places of Peace. Since “walls were demolished and the rooms remodeled, there is now room for about fifty people to meet. We have a new congregation in Voronezh and baptized six in the last two years. The church sponsors an International Friendship Club in Voronezh.”

The friendship-club model works well in several parts of Russia, and the possibility of new openings comes regularly. Besides the two groups in the Voronezh region, the church is ready to open a congregation and a friendship club in the nearby city of Tambov. These clubs offer local congregations the opportunity to serve the community by helping young people learn about different cultures and how to be part of a peaceful world.

The new church outside Moscow will serve as a meeting place for two congregations and as a retreat center for leadership-development classes, youth activities, and cultural-education programs. Seventy Pavel Kabanov is responsible for the work of the church in the Moscow area. “We hope that the addition of this new meeting place will allow the church to grow faster than in the past as we reach out to city dwellers and offer programs that will help them find Christ and build peace in our city,” Pavel said.

Members of the Odessa, Ukraine, congregation gather in their new meeting place.

The Odessa, Ukraine, congregation began in the summer of 2007 when five new members were baptized in the Black Sea. Pastor Volodya Glushkovetskyi holds regular meetings and has baptized eight. “We hope to use the new church as a center for outreach to our community. People here are hungry to hear about the peace of Jesus Christ, and our new church building will aid us in reaching out to them,” he said.

Besides these three churches, in the next few months we hope to buy buildings in Central Siberia in Novosibirsk and in the capital of Ukraine in Kiev.

Siberia is a strong area for Community of Christ. Seventy Sergei Bogolepov is in charge of church work there. Four congregations sit in or near Novosibirsk. “We reach out to people in many different walks of life,” said Sergei. “We have groups that focus on music, physical training, arts, prayer, and spirituality. Each group is a ‘fishing pool’ that opens a connection between the church and their lives. In the years to come we believe that God will continue to bless us, especially as we are able to find a permanent place to meet.”

Kiev has two congregational groups. The addition of a church facility there will allow them to meet in a regular place. “Outreach to children and young people is especially important to us,” said Anatoliy Huralskyy, an elder and pastor. “We have a singing group called Oasis of Peace that goes from place to place proclaiming the peace of Jesus Christ. We hope that we can expand our outreach to children when we have a permanent place to gather and hold classes.”
The growth of the church in Russia and Ukraine will be enhanced greatly by new meeting places, thanks to the generosity of church members throughout the world. The Saints in Russia and Ukraine join me in saying, “Thank you!” Your response builds Community of Christ, where precious lives are held in God’s hands.

—Leonard M. Young, reporting