The 2nd Pastoral Conference for Ministry to the Deaf

This event brought together 15 pastors and 2 deacons who are acting as pastors, and came from the following cities: Bratsk, Bryansk, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Irkutsk, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Ulan-Ude, and  Moscow.

The purpose of the conference was fellowship and exchange of pastors' experience, discussion of urgent issues and supporting one another in difficult situations. Maybe more importantly, a strategy and vision for the development of the ministry of the deaf in Russia was developed here.

One of the acute and topical issues that was raised at the conference: how to establish relationships between the hearing community and the deaf at the pastoral level? This is a serious problem in some regions.

The conference also provided an opportunity for a change of scenery and relaxation for pastors loaded with the worries of everyday ministry.

On one day, the UECB President, Peter Mitskevich visited and addressed the men in attendance. In doing so, Peter read the first chapter of Joshua and outlined four principles that God's servant should be guided by:

1. He must be firm and courageous in faith;
2. He must keep and fulfill the commandments of God;
3. The book of the law must not depart from his mouth;
4. He must always remember that the Lord is with him.

Mitskevich also answered many questions of the conference participants, after which a joint photo was taken as a remembrance of their time together.

Deaf Conferences are a useful and effective tool for helping and supporting pastors in congregations that are wholly or partly Deaf. Therefore, I hope such conferences will continue to be held regularly in the future.

D. Gostev