Evangelism Project in Udmurtia - "Art is near"

The journey took several days, during which time the team members stopped in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, where they were hospitably greeted by local believers, who organized meals and lodging for the night.

In Kazan, another sister joined the team, and the missionaries also took part in the service: they preached, testified, and glorified the Lord together. In the afternoon, they held a youth ministry, where they shared their experience of evangelism and evangelistic projects.

In Glazov, the team stayed at the local church. The Lord saw an opportunity to hold an exhibition of paintings in a shopping center, where a separate hall was allocated for the event.

The paintings were arranged in chronological order from the Old to the New Testament, so people could see the entire biblical story at one time: from the creation of the world to the resurrection of Christ.

Local youth actively helped in the ministry, organizing musical accompaniment, which created a pleasant spiritual atmosphere for the guests of the exhibition.

Many of those who visited the exhibition saw such paintings for the first time. But the main thing is that people who are not familiar with biblical stories got the opportunity to get in touch with the Good News and meet Christ for the first time through the gospel sermon.

Pictures have become a valuable tool for evangelism, because of this, people were open to spiritual dialogue. Many expressed their gratitude for this work. For many, the exhibition became spiritual enlightenment and cultural enrichment, and for the missionary team, it became another opportunity to serve and share the Good News.

In the vicinity of Glazov, a team of six people visited the village of Novoelovo. It was amazing how the locals greeted the guests. Udmurts - workers of the house of culture came out in their national costumes, and performed a folk song in their native language to the accordion. It was clear that they were preparing to meet their guests.

Local Christians, along with the villagers, came to listen to the Good News and see paintings based on biblical scenes. In the city, people have the opportunity to attend exhibitions this, but for the village, such an event was new and unusual. We can say that the art gallery itself came to them. At the end of the exhibition, the missionaries met with the brothers and sisters of the local church, who laid a rich table, and after the meal, together with the guests, glorified God with hymns.

On May 3, an exhibition of paintings was held in Izhevsk at the Talisman shopping center. The administration of the shopping center allocated two floors for the placement of paintings, so that more people could be reached. Isn’t God good!

Local Christian musicians, playing the synthesizer and violin, created a wondrous spiritual atmosphere, performing classical music and Christian hymns.

It was interesting to watch the people who came to see and listen to the Bible stories. Some changed their attitude to religion, some remembered that they had once read the children's Bible, and some found comfort and hope, noticing that they had not come by chance.

It was gratifying to see how the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of those who listened and how their faces changed.

In their feedback, visitors shared their impressions of what they saw, told the importance of the spiritual information received through the "Art is near" project.

On May 6, a meeting was held, which was attended by visitors to previous exhibitions. In an informal setting, Rembrandt's painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son" was considered. Then the parable of the same name from the gospel of Luke was read and a discussion took place, where everyone had the opportunity to speak out and share their opinion about what was read. Communication took place in a warm and trusting atmosphere. Wary at first, the guests of the meeting soon began to take an active part in the discussion, meditating on the Word of God.

On May 7th, the time of the trip came to an end, and the group of missionaries set off back to St. Petersburg, stopping at Kirov, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, and Cherepovets along the way. Throughout the journey, God took care of his servants through local Christians, who warmly welcomed the guests and served them with their homes.

The missionary team expresses its heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has made a valuable contribution to the common cause of the gospel.