– Zhenya, please, share your Christmas time thoughts from Buddhist Kalmikija…
«The holidays in sunny Kalmikija were full of worries and anxiety, which gradually transferred to joyful fatigue. Why is that? The main load of work in preparation of the Christmas celebration fell on our family and a few other sisters from our church. We were understanding that Christmas is not just some special day in our calendar, but a unique opportunity to share the saving Gospel to church members and invited guests. (Romans 1:15-16).
Unfortunately, not many people understand the real meaning of Christmas. They don’t see God’s mercy, which He showed during the last year and is going to show in the current one. His mercy allows people to find God and come closer to knowing Him through Christ, but not to improve our comfort. (Acts.17:26-28; 2 Peter. 3:9).
Sometimes, Christians share God’s passages with people who are not in church and don’t accept Christ as Savior. They forget that these truths relate to us, who love Jesus. We need to seek our Lord everyday, not only to help others to find Him.
He is our King and God, Who became flesh to become our Savior and Lord. He was obedient to the Father to praise His name and show Him to people. This is our Lord Jesus Christ! This is our big joy, joy in Jesus Christ. The heavens are favorable toward our world because of Jesus Christ. Because of His sacrifice, this world lives (Acts 4:12). Through Him, we have everything to live in joy and get purified for His glory (2 Peter 1:3-9).
– We heard that you had daytime camp these days. Please share about some big moments from it…
We had a daytime camp. It took place in our church “Communion of Christ the Savior”.
On the last day of camp, we talked about repentance. First, we asked if everybody thinks that they are believers. Everybody answered: “Yes, of course”. The next question was: what kinds of sins do you know? Children were actively naming different sins. The third question was about them personally sinning with any of the sins mentioned before. Children knew that they sinned before. The fourth question: when you started believing God, did it help you to change, sin less and hate sin? Almost everybody said that they have no changes even after they started visiting church. Then I said: “If we stay sinners, what is then waiting on us?” Everybody said hell. I had to share my testimony, about how I became Christian, and the Gospel. Surprisingly, there was a full silence and all children were listening to the Gospel attentively. They prayed afterwards.
