2021-01-06
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2021
With uneasy feelings we wave goodbye to the year 2020. All of us went through a year of turmoil and anxiety due to the pandemic. This year, many families lost their loved ones, and some churches were separated from their ministers, who the Lord called home.
Despite all the difficulties that we had to face in the past year, which was labeled the “year of ministry, God has been merciful and granted us many blessings by His grace. All the UECB churches continued their work in various directions of church ministry, and new types and forms of ministry were mastered. Churches responded to the Covid calamity millions faced, and were able to show their Christian love in good deeds for the surrounding communities and especially for people in need. The limitations of physical communication prompted us to master new types of communication to reach more people with mentoring and evangelism. We will not complain about any hardships, but follow the words of the Apostle Paul: "Give thanks for everything" (1 Thess.5: 18) because difficulties bring us closer to God.
We labeled 2021 the “year of evangelism.” Experiencing real life dangers and health awakened our world, and started people to thirst and search for spiritual values and the Word of God. The Church and our ministries have proven to be in great demand recently in modern society. So let us use our strength and prayers so that, with God's help, we guide many people to the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The birth of Christ brought this good news to our planet. The Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus, when beginning his ministry on earth, uttered the prophetic words about Himself: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to preach the gospel ..." (Luke 4:18). Having brought the good news to our dark world, He then passed his mission on to His disciples. Today's world is in great need of those declarations which the angels proclaimed over the Bethlehem fields: "... Peace on earth, good will in men!" (Luke 2:14).
Dear friends, we wish you blessings in the new year, peace to every home, God's favor to every heart, and his perfect Christmas joy!
Petr Mitskevich
Victor Ignatenkov
