West Russia has been greatly impacted by the School of Christ and the revival fire of the Holy Spirit. Last December we preached the first week of the School of Christ in Smolensk, Russia. The local pastor, Andrey Vladimervich, graduated in 1997 from a School of Christ in Kemerovo, Russia, which was taught by Pastor B.H. Clendennen. His roommate at that School was Andrey Sekhin, our Field Director. Pastor Vladimervich was baptized in the Holy Spirit during the School in 1997. He testified that the School literally changed his life and ministry. His wife testified that after attending the School he came home a completely different person.
Andrey Sekhin went on to work with the School of Christ in Siberia and Asia, but recently contacted his old friend about having a School in the West Russia region. We have had two sessions: the first in December, 2015, and the second in April, 2016. There is no doubt that God has changed lives in the Smolensk Region. Many churches came together to participate in the School. There were 50 plus students every day in the prayer meetings and preaching sessions. In the evening the meetings were focused upon the teaching on the Holy Spirit, and they were open to the entire community. The church was filled with people eager to learn about the Holy Spirit and His work in their lives. Some 30-40 people were baptized in the Holy Spirit during these two weeks of the School of Christ.
Many people were healed. A large number of people made first-time commitments to Christ! Two men brought an unbelieving woman from their community to the School. God saved her and filled her with the Holy Spirit. She was a completely new person. We saw revival come to West Russia.
The excitement of the revival in Smolensk spread to other areas as well. In April we had a session in the city of Bryansk, just 200 miles south of Smolensk. The churches in this area have struggled in the past, but God rained down a refreshing of His Spirit. Many people were baptized in the Holy Spirit for the first time. One woman who had been in the church for years, received the Holy Spirit and could not stop speaking in tongues for days! She wasn’t sure what was happening in her life, but the pastor assured her it was the Holy Spirit of God working in her life. Another woman was under doctor’s care for problems with her kidneys. When she went back to the doctors after the meetings, she testified that the doctors could find nothing wrong. All of her tests were normal. She was praising God for a healing. Each night the altars were filed with people who were seeking God. Oh, that we all would hunger and thirst for God’s presence. He will draw nigh to us if we will only draw nigh to Him.
Please continue to pray and give to the School of Christ. God is making a difference in the lives of people everywhere through this ministry. One woman wrote that 300 lives would never be the same because of the ministry of the School of Christ. I believe that these 300 will affect many more lives as they minister and pray in the power of the Spirit!