I just had to share an exciting development with you—something I never expected, and which has really tugged at my heart strings. After reading my letter, you will be encouraged and amazed at how God works and how He is using AiG to do something way beyond what we could ever imagine—and way beyond America’s shores.
Some time ago, as a part of our mission to reach churches around the world with the message of biblical authority, we stepped out in faith to equip Christian leaders and churches in Russian-speaking countries that desperately need apologetics training.
Using money from our general fund, which the Lord provides through your donations (thank you!), we partnered with a missionary group, the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), to translate and produce my new Foundations DVD curriculum in Russian.
The result? The most professional DVD translation project I have ever seen regarding AiG resources!
Recently, we received some thrilling testimonies from Christian leaders who have been using our DVDs and the curriculum with great effectiveness. They have come from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
I think this testimony from a Christian leader in Belarus really sums it all up:
“Ken Ham talks about problems in Western churches. And though he speaks about churches in the USA, his thoughts seem to me very urgent for our churches as well. Firstly, atheistic thinking spreads out all over the world very quickly. And nowadays many of Europe’s problems come to us, such as: relativism, indifference to faith, biblical illiteracy, and the domination of evolution theory.
“Secondly, his lectures help me to understand what kind of problems are going to come to us in a few years—especially, if we are talking about the neglect of biblical authority.
Thirdly, thanks to his material, I see what I have to do in order to avoid threats. Ken shows where we are going to, and what we can do to keep the church strong and faithful. We have to trust implicitly the Bible, to pay attention to His Word and the authority of the Bible.
“I thank you for the serious, qualitative, well-reasoned, steadfastness in faith of these Bible lectures.”
Wow! After reading these comments, it really hit me. If the churches in these countries really become informed on the vital issue of biblical authority (so that they will have the right foundation for thinking), what a difference that could make for these nations’ future! What an awesome opportunity the Lord has given us!
But to understand this overseas situation further, I wanted you to read excerpts from a letter by the vice president of the SGA. I believe you will find this letter to provide some fascinating background, and it will remind you of how important the AiG ministry is in helping the church in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
In fact, I suggest you read this excerpt to your children—I think it is important they understand the spiritual battle raging in other parts of the world.
Eric Mock, VP of SGA, wrote:
“It is with great joy that I write to you regarding the Russian-language version of the Answers in Genesis Foundations DVD series.
“Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union are in flux, and it is no different for their churches. Liberal Western thinking and similar European ideology have collided with generations of Christian believers who have stood for their faith for many years under the years of communism.
“During those years, our Lord, by His grace and will, protected the believers from much of the European liberal influence. They fought daily for each page of God’s Word as if it was gold. They had no reason to believe that Genesis should be read in any other fashion than literally, and believed that God created the world in six literal days.
“At the same time, because evolution was taught in the schools, and they saw this teaching as false, they tended to push scientific practice away. Now, with the Internet, smartphones, and the assault on the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word, young Russian-speaking generations are growing up in a world where there is a need to equip them with the ability to view science and the world around them through a biblical lens.
“The Foundations DVD series provides the initial tools, and has been graciously placed in their hands.”
By the way, the freedoms they have gained in the former Soviet Union are now the very freedoms we are on the verge of losing here in the West—and that’s largely because of a massive attack on the authority of God’s Word!
Eric continues:
“. . . SGA was able to translate, edit, layout and produce 3,000 Russian-language copies of the Foundations DVD series. In addition, the leader’s guide and student workbook were translated and posted on sgamedia.org for electronic access. SGA works with indigenous Bible-teaching churches throughout the former Soviet Union, and seeks to equip these local churches as they reach their people with the life-saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
“An initial massive distribution occurred in fall 2011 during several conferences, where pastors and leaders from Russia and nine additional countries were provided with DVDs to carry back to their countries for duplication and distribution. Plans have been made to copy and distribute around 1,000 copies to youth at a conference this summer.
“Youth leaders in Russian are also making their own copies, and striving to put them in the hands of other youth leaders, who are ministering to more than 20,000 Russian-speaking youth. Distribution is ongoing as churches make more copies.
“In addition to distributions in Russia and Ukraine, we are very excited to tell you of the distribution of the Russian-language series within the limited and closed-access countries we serve. The Foundations DVD series has now made its way into the hands of believers in local churches in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Albania and now even in Israel.
“Believers in these countries are often stopped at the border if caught carrying Bibles, and they have limited resources. To now be encouraged and refreshed by the sound Bible teaching contained in the Foundations DVD series is a true blessing from God.”
Who would have ever thought that God would use this AiG series in such a wonderful way? Our burden was to produce a new video series that feature the core teachings of AiG that I give at my conferences and here at the Creation Museum. But we had no idea that the Lord would take this new video series and use it to impact churches in needy countries.
SGA also has been using the Foundations DVDs in Israel! Eric goes on:
“. . . Recently, SGA has begun serving the small and developing Russian-speaking churches in Israel. This is slow and difficult, but we are pleased to be serving them as they reach out to the Jewish community. With the fall of communism, a wave of Russian-speaking Jews returned to Israel, and among them believers who began planting churches.
“Advancing the gospel in Israel is quite difficult. Upon receiving the Foundations DVD series, they were so excited that they requested us to provide them a version in Hebrew as well! Imagine this: equipping Russian-speaking Jewish believers, who through various trials and tragic persecutions, have been placed in Israel for such a time as this to reach the nation.
“The potential impact of a Hebrew-language version of the Foundations DVDs for the sake of the gospel and for the Kingdom is great, and it is in our prayers.
“Additionally, it is our desire that this is only the beginning of providing Russian-language resources from Answers in Genesis to the Russian and Hebrew-speaking peoples. I cannot over emphasize how important it is to put these resources in the hands of Russian-speaking believers, as increasingly it is these Russian-speaking believers who can gain access and minister to people whom Western missionaries cannot reach.”
Wow! This is so thrilling to read!
I’m reminded of the verse of Scripture (one I’m sure you are familiar with):
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
There is no doubt: the Lord is using AiG in many ways to reach people, and it’s not just in the USA. The creation/gospel message is being heard in other parts of the world!
I’m sure you, like me, are rejoicing at what God is doing through AiG! What a privilege to serve Him in this international way!
When you pray for AiG and also support us financially (and in other ways), the Lord is multiplying your investment in ways that all of us never thought possible!
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2012/07/23/ken-letter-back-to-the-foundations