The “I am YOUNG! 2019” tour has ended

The idea of ​​the Tour came up last year, when the new head of the Youth Department, Vitaly Zanin, took over this ministry from Vladislav Treskin and wanted to get to know more about the youth he was called to serve. So the idea was born to drive 7 cities in 7 days. And from May 2 to May 8, 2018, he and the musicians of the “Poklonnaya Gora” group drove from St. Petersburg to Krasnodar. This trip showed the relevance of this format of youth service and it was decided to make such Tours annually.

“Many young people really want to be at the All-Russian Generation for Christ conference, which we hold annually in Moscow, but they often don’t have enough time or money to attend it,” says Vitaly Zanin, head of the youth ministry of UECB, “Therefore, we decided annually organize such trips around the cities of Russia, so that youth and churches do not think that they are forgotten, and that interesting things take place somewhere far away from Moscow. We want to inspire and encourage youth to live a 100% dedicated life for Christ! And I am happy to see their burning eyes, I see inspired churches, and ministers of churches who are grateful that we brought them this event celebrating our common faith! Yes, even for one evening, but it was so worth it! ”

This year's tour has become especially relevant in view of the fact that 2019 has been declared the Year of Unity in the Russian Baptist Union, and perhaps this tour has become the best visible expression of this unity in practice!

The main tasks of the Tour were:

• To create unity among the youth of Russia, who are spread out over vast distances in our country
• Serve the local churches of the denomination, many of which need to be visited and encouraged
• Preach Christ to those who have not yet experienced a real encounter with Him

For 19 days, the Tour team traveled to 14 cities:

July 28 - Maykop

July 29 - Kropotkin

July 30 - Volgodonsk

July 31 - Volgograd - visit to the regional youth camp

August 1 - Saratov / Engels

August 2 - Penza

August 3 - Saransk

August 4-9 - Ulyanovsk - for almost a week, the team served in the Volga youth camp CHOOSE 2019

August 10 - Kazan

August 11 - Naberezhnye Chelny

August 12 - Ufa

August 13 - Zlatoust

August 14 - Chelyabinsk

August 15 - Yekaterinburg

The tour route consisted of three stages:

The first stage was from Maykop to Saransk. Together with the team of the Youth Department, represented by the head of the department, Vitaliy Zanin and his assistant Sergei Meleshko, added the music team “Krokus” from Transfiguration Church of Orel. In each of the cities, they held evening youth meetings in the local churches! And in Volgograd they even became part of the Oblast breakthrough youth camp, which took place at that time. After Saransk, these musicians went home, and the youth department team continued on their journey.

The second stage was the Volga youth camp CHOOSE 2019. About 250 young people and teenagers from Samara, Tolyatti, Ulyanovsk, Penza and other Volga regions gathered in the camp near Ulyanovsk. Every day during the week of the camp, Vitaly Zanin preached morning and evening on life of those who chose to live by faith, based out of Hebrews revealing the theme of the camp - CHOOSE to Live by Faith! The Tour team also conducted workshops on worship and media ministry.

The third stage was from Kazan to Yekaterinburg. After the camp near Ulyanovsk, the Youth team went to Kazan, where they met with the “InWorship” music group from Orenburg, and from there they continued on together to the final point of their route - Yekaterinburg.

Some statistics of the Tour:

Over 3200 kilometers (2,000 miles) travelled!

4 cars, 2 minibuses on the Maykop-Saransk route

1 bus on the route Kazan-Yekaterinburg

30 people in all team. Of them:

• 15 people - the Crocus group (Maykop-Saransk)
• 10 people- inWorship group (Kazan-Yekaterinburg)
• the rest are the youth department team and assistants!

More than 1,500 people took part in the meetings of the Tour!

26 sermons were given in these 19 days.

Several thousand copies of literature were produced:

• New Testaments and Gospels of John 4 points from the Mission Eurasia
• Bible Mission Evangelism Brochures

The route ran through 3 regions of Russia:

• SOUTH: Maykop, Kropotkin, Volgodonsk, Volgograd
• VOLGA REGION: Saratov / Engels, Penza, Saransk, Ulyanovsk, Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Ufa
• URAL: Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg

During the tour, in meetings and camps, many young people prayed and repented to the Lord in response to the preaching of the Word of God! And for us, this is the best evidence of the necessity and relevance of this work, to which God calls us!

Many thanks to all who donated, supported, and prayed for the Tour! It is our common work to build UNITY bridges, build a CHURCH, and preach CHRIST to a new generation of our country! We are already planning Tour 2020!

~Vitaliy Zanin