"For God so loved the world..." - this verse is very familiar to any believer. Sometimes we read what is written in the Word and we don't get the full meaning. In this case we may read about God's love and not reflect on the fact that:

 

Reflecting on God's Word from that point of view, we come to the conclusion that what Jesus Christ said is not just a recitation of facts, but a call to action for those who are his followers! Thus arises the mission - the movement to transform the Lord's words into real-life action. And those who answer the Lord's call to go and teach all peoples experience in fact the life of Christ in full measure!

And therefore, in order to fulfill the Great Commission, from July 9 to July 16 this summer we organized a missionary trip to Georgia. The team of 10 traveled to central Georgia to help the local missionary, Aneri Giunashvili conduct a youth camp. Currently, Georgia is going through a difficult time economically, and as a result, the people, particularly those living in villages, are completely dependent on agriculture for their income. They support their families as best they can by raising and selling vegetables. Spring and summer for young people is the time they work in the fields from dawn until they are completely exhausted. It took some effort for the eleven Georgian young people to break free of their agricultural routine for a week. Some people may think that eleven is a small number for a camp, but in the Georgian context it is significant! The dominant religion in Georgia is Orthodox Christianity, and in fact a rather strikingly aggressive form of Orthodoxy. Orthodox priests exert personal pressure on anyone who starts to attend evangelical services. There are no more than two dozen evangelical churches in Georgia, with an average attendance of 20 believers each. The difficulties were compounded by the recent split in the Baptist Church of Georgia in which better than half of the churches, lead by the central church in Tblisi, went over to Orthodoxy, and started to practise Orthodox rituals during their services. It is difficult for young people in Georgia to remain faithful followers of Christ, and for those who are close to faith, it is even more difficult to overcome the moral opposition and pressure from those around them, inspired by Orthodox religiosity. As, for example, priests telling high schoolers not to be friends under any circumstances with "evangelical cultists".

The youth camp was a blessing for both sides. For the Ukrainian team it was a good experience in service in a different culture, in overcoming the language barrier, in adaptation to different food, in being pliable in God's hands as He used them as His own instruments. For the Georgian youth it was a rare opportunity to meet their peers from another country - two of the Georgians were strengthened in their decision to be baptized, and one young man accepted Christ as Savior! One of the young women said that although she still considered herself Orthodox, during this camp she had started to read the Bible on her own for the first time! We pray that God will show Salvation Church what our continuing strategy should be for international missions in general, and for Georgia in particular. May God be glorified through this in the future!

Andrey Khudyakov, Missionary Service Coordinator