“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2 Cor. 5:17-18)

Dear friends and partners of the Eurasian student ministry!

Spring, with its fresh wind and bright sun, melting icicles and swelling buds, brings the Nature to life, witnessing in a wonderful way about the reality of the Resurrection. Visible creation leaves no doubt: everything is new now. We are all looking forward to the day of God’s triumph – the Easter – when our hearts again and again will miss a beat as the sounds of “Christ is risen!” will remind of the amazing love and grace and hope and glory.

Being thankful for all who have committed to the ministry of bringing the Gospel to the students across Eurasia, we would love to share what is ringing in our prayers.

God is Great!
He has shown his power and majesty among the family of missionaries in Moldova – Kevin and Tanya Van Horne and their two children - who spent several months not knowing whether they would be allowed to stay in the country or not. Having made several vain attempts to gain visas and having faced distrust, indifference and open antipathy on the part of officials, they finally succeeded in getting the permission to stay in Moldova when it already looked like there was no chance.

We are glad that all the troubles are left behind and pray that the Lord will help this family to regain strength and live and serve with His peace at their hearts.

Please join us in prayer for God’s power and majesty in various situations across Eurasia where movements face distrust and sometimes even animosity on the part of authorities.

“Where two or three come together in my name…”
January-February has always been a season of the staff and student conferences. This year we are deeply grateful as ever for all our partners who helped us to organize these conferences, including – “Church History & Great Commission” in Belarus, “Cross of Christ” in Russia, “Bible & Life-1: Lordship of Christ” in Georgia and “Student Movement Vision” in Ukraine. This was as always a great time of worship and learning together, encouraging each other and renewing the vision of our mission.

Recent Highlights
On Feb 15-19 the Training Cohort met in Kiev to discuss future strategies of staff and student leaders training across Eurasia. On March 1-5 we had the second session of the Theologian Cohort held in Kiev. We are grateful to God for the opportunity to move forward in reaching one of our key goals – staff training & development. Also the June session of IFES Eurasia Institute is close at hand and this is where we need your prayers! Please pray that God would guide us every step of the planning and preparation.

“Love is Tender, Love is Sweet”
Anna Runasova (from Russia) was married to Azer Gurbanov March 25 – Congratulations!! We pray that Christ’s love will blossom in this family and bless everyone around with its beauty. Please join us also in prayer for Anya’s adaptation to a new country and new culture and for the ministry of this new family to the students in Azerbaijan.

So this is some of the news of the Eurasian spring. Thank you for your time, prayers, support and input into the IFES movement in Eurasia. May God bless you with His peace and joy in the ministry of reconciliation that you do for the world around.

Grace to you,

IFES Eurasia team
Barrett Horne
Carol Horne
Vladimir Kostyorny
Werner Baderschneider
Christy Jutare
Bob Grahmann
Alyona Bondar
Anya Puzan
Nadia Mikhailenko