Month: September 2021

Oleg Yakimenko came to Christ when he was a university student in 1993. Some Christians gave him a New Testament and encouraged him to read about Jesus in the gospels. The Word of God changed his life and incredibly he is now working to get God’s Word into the hands of others.

For twenty years he and his wife served as missionaries, planting a church in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is currently the National Director for Russia/Kazakhstan/Belarus in the Eastern European Mission (EEM).

EEM is an international ministry that, together with partners, focuses on providing free Bibles and other Bible-based resources across Eastern Europe.

Working in partnership with local churches and ministries, EEM has been distributing Biblica’s New Russian Translation (NRT) Bibles across Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.  Some of the Bibles are sent by mail to individuals who request a copy. Others are distributed to small local churches that would struggle to purchase copes, for their new members.

Many of the Bibles are provided to people through outreach projects ran by partners. This includes prison ministry, evangelism in rural areas, ministry to recovering addicts, visiting the poor and single-parent families and at special events.

We asked Oleg to tell us one thing about the distribution of these Bibles in each of the countries. This is what he told us:

RUSSIA
In Russia, many believers still use an older translation of the Bible from the 19^th Century. However, more and more requests are coming from conservative groups like Russian Orthodox churches for the NRT Bibles to use in their Bible-reading sessions, recognising that they need a quality contemporary translation so that people can understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 KAZAKHSTAN
Reflecting on the demand for NRT Bibles in Kazakhstan, Oleg said “The production/distribution of Christian literature is limited in this country. The level of poverty is also a big factor for the big need in free Bibles.”

 

BELARUS
Oleg said that “In Belarus, a lot of believers used the NRT Bibles as a sign of peace when they marched on the streets of Minsk and other big cities. The believers expressed their opposition to the violence during the political unrest in Belarus in 2020.”

 

In the spring of 2021, Oleg received this encouraging story out of difficult circumstances. A young man called Alexander had undergone spinal surgery and lost feeling in the lower part of his body. He was diagnosed with cancer and he was bedridden for about 2 months. He asked his mother for a Bible and requested that people pray for him. Local Christians brought Alexander a gift of the NRT Bible – he was so glad to have a Bible he could read and understand. Oleg said “The fear of an unknown future, with questions about whether he would survive or be able to walk in the future, made him run to learn more of the One who is our Hope!”

Oleg’s life was transformed because Christians shared God’s Word with him. Please pray for him as he now directs the work of sharing God’s Word in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus for EEM.

Can you help us get God’s Word into the hands of those who need it most in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? Please consider giving to support projects like this one with partners including EEM, working on the front line in the region.  To support our work, visit our giving page

Biblica serves ministries and churches on the frontline of the Gospel by creating Scripture outreach resources tailored toward those who desperately need God’s Word – the unreached, unengaged, unchurched, unwanted an unseen. Our work started by reaching out to immigrants arriving on Ellis Island, and an important aspect of our work today continues to be among refugees.

If you want to find out more about our work serving those on the frontline, visit our website

Helping Hands has been working among refugees in Greece since 2016. Ben* lives in Athens with his wife and two young children, and since 2020 he has had the role of Program Coordinator.

Ben said “We want to see lives transformed and we therefore plant gospel seeds in the lives of our refugee friends that, by God’s grace, will grow and bear fruit.”  He continued “We are always amazed how God uses his Word to touch people. For many refugees, it is the first time they have had access to God’s Word without needing to fear.”

In May 2021 Helping Hands were able to begin distributing 700 New Testaments in Farsi, provided by Biblica to help resource their work. Ben said that Easter each year is the best time for them to share their faith as it is a significant part of Greek culture and celebrated as a religious holiday. Helping Hands usually celebrate by proving meals to a large number of people, but due to COVID-19 they had to creatively adapt their plans in 2021.

Over four days, twelve families per day were invited to a park, in 30-minute intervals, to play games, and hear the gospel through storytelling and watch a 3-minute video from the book of Matthew.

One of the activities was a scavenger hunt through the park. At the end of this each person received traditional Easter sweet bread and red egg (which represents the blood of Christ), an Easter coloring book for the children, an SD card containing 2 videos from ‘The Bible Project’ on the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and a copy of the New Testament in Farsi. What a great gift pack!

Ben was able to share about a refugee family who were invited to the Easter in the Park celebration. On their journey as refugees they had heard the gospel and were intrigued by the teaching of the Bible. As a result of following Christ, the man had been transformed, and he no longer treats his wife badly. In the park, the woman was deeply affected when she heard that Mary, Jesus’ mother, had been a witness to His suffering. And as she has thought more about this, she is coming to better understand what her salvation means.

Ben said “Please pray for this family as they, along with their two young children settle, if only for a while in Athens and that we would be used by God as vessels of His hope, helping them grow on their journey with Him.”

*not his real name

Can you help us get God’s Word into the hands of more refugees? To support our work, visit our giving page