The topic of the two days was “The Church and Society: Social Work, Evangelism, Knowledge Outreach.”

 

On the first day, the young people visited the Saransk-based Humanitarian Aid Center for Pregnant Women in Crisis and met with the leaders of youth ministry and charity work from the Saransk Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church.

 

On the second day at Velmema Lutheran, they were joined by guests from Novaya Zhizn Baptist Church. Lutheran catechist Ivan Potyanov led a Bible study on sanctification. After that, Pastor Artur Semyonov from the Lutheran Church of Kazan, Tatarstan, facilitated a seminar on the mission strategy of The Church of Ingria and shared about the evangelism and teaching experience of our church body’s congregations.

 

The day continued with an excursion to Novaya Zhizn Baptist Church and prayer together, followed by a presentation about the children and youth program “Royal Rangers.” Back at Velmema Lutheran in the evening, there was a roundtable discussion to get feedback from the meeting participants and to talk about important matters.

 

On Sunday October 1, the young people attended the divine service where Pastor Semyonov preached a sermon about Christian freedom. The worship was followed by a concert program celebrating the 20th anniversary of the church dedication.

 

Praise God for all the arrangements and the good weather and many thanks to Velmema Church for the warm welcome!

 

Information courtesy of Rev. Artur Semyonov, interim dean, ELCIR Uralic Deanery.