Twain Harte Bible Church
(209)586-3835
Missions
Russia
Trinity Bible College - Russia
Twain Harte EFC has been involved in the Trinity Bible College in Central Russia since at least 2000 when our former pastor, Chuck Westgate, traveled there to teach a course. Since that time, we have maintained contact and support for several missionaries.
Jim and Lois McNeill started the college there in 1995. Jim taught and served as President of the college until health and visa issues forced him to return to the US in 2007. His wife, Lois, also taught at the college, focusing on her passion for evangelism. She has trained an entire team of people who now run outreach ministries, including the only Christian bookstore in the region, nursing home ministries, hospital ministries, orphanages, children’s camps, you name it! Lois also developed a passion for the gypsies and other immigrants and there are now graduates of the school who pastor churches specifically focused on those oppressed people groups.
Through the vision of Vitaliy and Igor Petrov, brothers who now run the college, the focus has changed from a residential program (where they could only teach 20-30 students per year) to a Distance Learning program. In 2008 they had over 300 people enrolled as students in the Distance Learning program – a 10 fold increase! We are very excited about this program as it allows pastors and teachers from all over Russia and the former Soviet republics to take advantage of the high quality teaching available from the college.
The door to religious freedom in Russia and the former Soviet republics is closing. Time is of the essence. Please pray for these workers as they continue to record strong Bible/Seminary courses and distribute them via DVD and the Internet. How exciting it is that “the Word of the Lord does not return void”!
Our church still financially supports Lois McNeill as she continues to guide, direct, encourage and train those running the college in Central Russia. We also financially support Igor Petrov in his role as Director of Graduate Studies for the college.
Excited by seeing what God is doing in Russia, two members of our congregation, Kevin & Sharon Koskela have now partnered with the college as well (see their story below). While they do not require personal financial support at this time, they would covet your prayers as they serve as US-based ambassadors for the college, meeting with various churches and individuals, seeking both prayer and financial support for this vital ministry.
For more information, please visit our website at: russiadistancelearning.com
Kevin and Sharon Koskela
After praying early this summer that God would direct us in how to spend our “free time” as we anticipated our empty nest, we received a call from Jim and Lois McNeill, inviting us to participate in a vision trip to Central Russia, to determine whether or not God might be asking us to join Him in the work He is doing through the EFCA Reach Global Trinity Video Seminary, and in particular, their Distance Learning Program.
It was with both great joy and no small amount of apprehension that we embarked alone to Moscow! Jim’s health had suddenly deteriorated just three weeks prior to our departure, leaving the two of us the sole “vision team”. But through your prayers and those of other saints committed to the program that we continued and the trip went off as close to “without a hitch” as possible.
We were privileged with the opportunity to meet with various members of the TVS staff, hear about their roles, and how God is using them and the Distance Learning courses to train pastors and lay leaders – and equip and multiply them as they spread the news of Jesus Christ throughout the Russian speaking world. We learned that God is doing a mighty work and hundreds of pastors and other church leaders are literally clamoring for additional teaching materials. After nearly three generations of communism and teaching that God does not exist, Russians are hungry to fill the “God-sized hole” in each of their hearts.
We truly saw God at work and after much prayer and many conversations with our own church supported missionary, Lois McNeill, have started the steps to joining them in their work. It is our desire to partner with them bi-vocationally (meaning we will keep our day jobs at Thoroughbred) and assist them in their ministry in four distinct ways:
1) Become U.S. based advocates of Distance Learning – traveling to churches and meeting with individuals and encouraging their prayer and financial support of the program; 2) Creating and maintaining a U.S. based website where people can go to learn more about the Distance Learning program, be able to review and download materials, and make donations; 3) Assist with the Russian website, particularly in the area of showing them how to setup a payment website so users can purchase and download the Distance Learning courses; 4) Encourage both Lois McNeill as well as Vitaliy Petrov (the college director located in Russia) in their ministries and assist them in new ways as needed.
Thank you so much for your prayers – both as we traveled and now as we embark on this new ministry opportunity. We would covet your prayers as we learn to balance our personal lives, our secular work, our ministry at THEFC and our new ministry with TVS.
For more information, contact:
Kevin or Sharon Koskela at info@russiadistancelearning.com