“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it…” Psalm 127 v1
This verse in carved into one of the living quarters at Smeaton’s lighthouse, Plymouth UK. Many Cornish Tin miners helped to build it, and in 1759 each received a medal for their hard work. Their work was only complete when the lighthouse was operating with its rays of light sweeping the ocean around.
The work of Gospel mission is similar.
It takes many, with various skills and experiences to complete the task so that the Gospel light can sweep the nations.
SGA Mission Schools are very much part of that, bringing together gifted men and women from various backgrounds, to train them for the work of ministry and the consolidation of the witness of the churches of Christ.
Like Smeaton’s lighthouse, these churches must withstand the storms of opposition which inevitably come, and they can only do so when strengthened and buttressed by the truth of God’s Word. Praise God that SGA Mission School training has been instrumental in equipping leaders to minister to and strengthen the churches’ witness.
Pastor Yuri Bostan, Moldova
Pastor Yuri Bostan, a graduate of the Balti Mission School, began Gospel work in a village called Kotiuzhany in Moldova where several people repented and turned to Christ. Under Yuri’s leadership the work grew to 35 members, with 30 children attending the Sunday school.
Then came a cry for help from another village where a small work had no one to minister and help.
Yuri, with support from his wife Inga, also a graduate of our Mission School, took on the care of these two growing churches. He faces many difficulties, especially during the Covid pandemic, but continues faithfully to preach and teach, and seeing God strengthening the lives and witness of the believers in his care.
Pastor Mark Sipos, Hungary
Mark Sipos is a graduate of one of our early Mission Schools in Hungary. He is now pastor of New Hope Church in Szeged, and thanks God for his training which helped him to plant a new church and then contribute to its growth and consolidation. Mark in turn has had several SGA Mission Schools in his church, convinced that the training given is a key element under God, in consolidating the work of the Gospel in his city and region.
He is now endeavouring to plant another church in his home village, praying for God to make the seed grow and develop into a strong witness in another needy community.
The consolidation of the church in Szeged has produced a missionary vision, which has led Mark and his fellow believers to reach out to Hungarian communities living in neighbouring countries Romania and Serbia.
They are actively involved in plans to organize an SGA Mission School in the Serbian town of Cantavir. The desire of Mark and his associates is to see churches of Christ strengthened and Gospel witness consolidated in spiritually needy regions of their own country and beyond. We are thrilled that God has used SGA to encourage and assist in this Christ-glorifying ministry.
Pastor George Cojocaru, Romania
A similar story has unfolded in the village of Bozovici in southern Romania. Pastor George requested that an SGA school be organized in his area, and training was offered to believers from several churches in the region.
One result of this was the calling of a believer, Iosif Goga, to Gospel ministry. He is a trained paramedic by day, but at weekends and in the evenings he is an assistant to Pastor George in the work of sustaining and strengthening several churches in the area, which have no leadership in place.
Iosif is passing on the teaching he received in order to encourage the believers in these small churches to grow spiritually and become mature, and also to develop a burden for mission in their region, one of the least evangelized in Romania.
Iosif believes that the SGA Mission School enabled him to understand the Bible more clearly, and helped him in his Gospel work. It has had a significant impact on his ministry and enabled him more effectively to minister in partnership with Pastor George.
It has brought these two servants together, and strengthened their efforts not only to reach the lost, but to teach and instruct believers, and lay a solid foundation for the future growth of the churches.
Similar outcomes are apparent wherever SGA Leadership Training has been established. Together students learn and grow, developing their knowledge of God’s Word and their ability to teach it to others.
Unlike Smeaton’s lighthouse, Gospel work and its consolidation and spread are never finished.
There remains much to be done and with the prayerful support and intercession of SGA’s partners, we believe that God will lead us on to see more churches planted, to see them grow and mature, and then from a firmly consolidated base, reach out further into God’s harvest field.