Students use their summers to serve the Lord

Summer is a time for students to rest from their studies and visit relatives and friends, but it is also a time when they can participate in ministries and actively apply the knowledge that they received during the academic year. Here are some ministry testimonies from students at the Odessa Theological Seminary (OTS) in Ukraine:

• Andrey and his brother shared the Good News in villages with no churches. “Because of these trips, we have been able to preach the Gospel in 70% of the region,” he said. They also led volleyball and soccer tournaments that attracted non-Christian youth and were able to build a foundation for relationships. The Gospel was shared at these tournaments, and two people accepted Christ.
  
  
• Ludmila attended the Youth Christian Congress of Odessa and helped lead an evangelistic event at the nearby beach. The youth gathered trash and cleaned up the beach in order to draw people’s attention and demonstrate their faith.
  
  
• Ruslan regularly visited and encouraged church members who could not attend services because of age or sickness.
  
  
• Roman was a member of a preaching team that led an evangelistic tent ministry in five villages. “We made every effort to bring the Good News of salvation to those who had not heard it and in places where there are no churches,” he said.
  
  
• Alina participated in a village’s weekly camp ministry. More than 60 young women visited the camp from different churches in the region. She also participated in a children’s camp ministry at her home church. Some of the 130 children heard about Jesus for the first time there.
  
  
• Vitaly stepped into the position of interim pastor at a new church plant. He said evangelism at funerals is a special area of ministry for the church. “Ukrainians have a funeral custom in which all the inhabitants of a village come to say goodbye to the deceased. At that time, we can reach people who usually do not want to visit a church service.” The church also visits neighboring villages to invite children to their Sunday school.
  
  
• Valery was a leader at her church’s summer Christian camp where many children from non-Christian families attended. She also visited neighboring villages to evangelize.
  

Andrey (left) and his brother	Roman's tent ministry
Alina (left) with two young women

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