News

With a population of over 80 million, the republics of Central Asia are largely unevangelised. Evangelicals are estimated to make up around 0.1% in this largely Islamic or pagan part of the world. For more than thirty years, SGA has partnered with local organisations and churches to provide vital support to families in need and share with them the message of the Bible.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. But as well as meeting their very real physical needs, this surely includes sharing with them the Gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ by which they are invited into the Kingdom of God where, robed in Christ’s righteousness, all that their Heavenly Father knows they need will forever be provided.

The war in Ukraine has left many as “strangers, fatherless, and widows.” In these times of suffering, Christians are called to reflect Christ’s love by serving the most vulnerable. While all are spiritually in need of a Saviour, God has a special heart for the weak, destitute and hopeless.

In his address to a group of students in Geneva, Switzerland, John Piper said the following, ‘There’s only one kind of Gospel-centred ministry that I’m interested in, namely the kind that is God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, and Bible-saturated’.

We are delighted to welcome Eric MacDonald as SGA’s new Regional Representative for Scotland. Eric has served on our council for several years, and his wife Kay continues her role as a Phoebe Representative.

In remote and challenging areas of Central Asia, TWR distributes radios preloaded with biblical content – offering vital Gospel access to those without churches or internet.

In May, four SGA Phoebe Reps had the opportunity to visit three Phoebe Ministries to witness first-hand some Gospel-centred women’s ministries in Romania and Hungary. It was a privilege for us to see the sacrificial love shown at Casa Filip, Emanuel Hospice and Mary’s House.

Children’s evangelist Marina Tapcova, a Balti Mission School graduate, shares the Gospel with children across 250 locations in Khakassia, Siberia, supported by SGA’s Phoebe ministries.

A historic meeting took place in London on 27th July 1950 when the decision was taken to form the UK arm of the Slavic Gospel Association. It did not ‘grab’ any headlines at that time, but by the grace of God the intervening 75 years have witnessed the growth and development of the Mission so that today tens of thousands of people can testify to SGA(UK)’s life-changing witness to Christ and His saving power.

We thank God for every encouraging response to our first 75th-anniversary project, Enabling Gospel Workers. Marking this milestone, our aim was to make a lasting Gospel impact by spotlighting our sponsorship programme—beginning at home, where we sought partners for pastors, church planters, and Christian workers faithfully serving the Lord.

This motto, displayed in homes around the country, underlines an essential truth: we live in an age of tremendous power—electric, atomic, nuclear, rocket, missile—yet the church has access to the greatest power of all, the power of prayer. Throughout the years, God’s power has been unleashed and blessings have flowed as His people prayed. This was true of SGA’s founder, Peter Deyneka, who called the nations to prayer—and God answered.

Coals to Newcastle? That’s what comes to mind when asked to write to SGA supporters about the place and importance of prayer in Gospel work. We all know Peter Deyneka’s watchword, still fresh and challenging in our hearts in this 75th Anniversary year: Much prayer, much power; little prayer, little power; no prayer, no power! It was true at SGA(UK)’s birth in July 1950, and it remains true today.