Russian Church Gives in Thanks to India

This story is a great example of how one church community can support another community, even if it is in another country.





Enjoy, Dave



By Dwayne & Kara Goldman

Chelyabinsk, Russia—Although Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday, there is a Thanksgiving or harvest celebration that the church in Russia celebrates each year. Usually held the last week of September, everyone is invited to bring a representation of the bountiful harvest from their gardens. Apples, potatoes, carrots, beets, greens, gourds, and flowers decorate the front of the auditorium. With such a representation of the bounty God provides from nature, the day is very festive and full of rejoicing and praise.



This year, the Chelyabinsk church held a unity service with another church to celebrate Thanksgiving together. The Open Heaven Church is a small church of about thirty, full of many young people and families, and very solid in faith. The two groups planned the service together, and both brought from their harvests and shared in leading parts of the service. It was a wonderful day of worship, enriched by not just celebrating a harvest but experiencing the bounty of fellowship as the body of Christ with other believers.



Because of the joint service, the pastors made a decision that the offerings for that day should also be part of the Thanksgiving. The churches in Russia, as many around the world, have been praying for the believers in India who have been martyred, displaced, and persecuted. The Russian pastors and leadership chose to take the combined tithes and offerings from the Thanksgiving unity service and send it to the church in India, where lives, homes, and churches have been lost.



At the conclusion of the service, the ladies gathered to pray over the offering box, for the funds to be useful and multiplied, for the believers in persecution to remain strong, for God to uphold, bless, and keep them. The ladies pray every week over the offering box, but this week was very special because these funds will literally carry the prayers and blessing to those persecuted believers. The amazing part is that the offering totaled $800! People gave sacrificially because they knew the offering was going to India.



Is there a better way to celebrate Thanksgiving? Celebrate the blessings of provision and of fellowship with the body of Christ and then giving generously to those who are in need. These churches have need of that weekly offering, but they chose to sacrifice in praise to God. There are very real needs present at these two Russian churches, but they also have learned that God is faithful. Giving with willing and cheerful hearts, in view of God’s blessings, they fully trust him to provide for their needs. What a wonderful economy we have in the family of God!



As we now prepare for the American celebration of Thanksgiving, we are so thankful to be part of this church and witness such events. May our perspectives deepen and thanksgiving be enriched because of the difficulties surrounding us. The worship of the Russian believers was enhanced as they gave thanks for their freedoms even while remembering the sufferings of others. May it be for us all that as we give thanks, we are also challenged to do something practical to help those all around us in need. There are some very real difficulties in all our towns, states, and countries, but allow those to deepen your praise this Thanksgiving. The Lord is good; he will supply our every need, freeing us to give to those in need around us. In the current climate of fluctuating economies and political uncertainties, may such difficulties and instabilities only point our attention more to our never changing God. As this is done, our faith will deepen and our praise will be more joyous. Give thanks!



Learn more about the Goldmans, career missionaries to Russia, by clicking here.