Russia
Samara Center for Biblical Training
MEMBER SCHOOL
Number of Graduates: 750 | Churches Impacted: 200
MISSION
To glorify the Triune God by equipping pastors, trainers of pastors, disciplers, and missionaries for the strengthening of Christ’s Church.
KEY DETAILS ON SAMARA CENTER FOR BIBLICAL TRAINING
About
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The main goal of our training is to teach men how to study the Bible and how to explain its meaning to people. We believe expository preaching is the best instrument in achieving that goal. For this reason we prepare men to be faithful expositors of the Word of God.
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The main audience of our ministry is preachers. We believe that we can effectively serve larger Church if we help preachers to grow in their knowledge of the Bible and train them in areas of hermeneutics, homiletics, theology, church history and other disciplines. We believe that a trained and godly minister is a powerful instrument in the hand of the Lord.
We don't train everybody. We want to help men of a good character and those who already have a good reputation to sharpen their skills and obtain instruments that will enable them for a more effective implementation of their calling.
We want to provide sound resources through our publishing and media ministries that will help all categories of believers in their walk with the Lord and their respective ministries.
We organize conferences in order to help wider audiences to be encouraged and get acquainted with our resources and training opportunities.
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We have three formats.
Level 1: This program is designed for preachers who want to learn how to prepare an expository sermon. The training is offered in modular format and it takes two years to finish. During that program men learn the basics of hermeneutics, homiletics and theology. They also learn how to make observations, study context and how to transition from exegesis to exposition.
Level 2 Full-Time: This program is offered in residential format. This program is similar to traditional master of divinity programs in its content. During three years of training men learn the basics of Biblical languages and exegetical study of the Bible. Also, they study theology and Church History and essentials of pastoral ministry.
Level 2 Part-Time: This program is offered in modular format. This program is designed primarily for men who are full-time in ministry and who don't have opportunity to be in the full-time program. During four years of training men receive condensed version of a full-time program.
Training
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Our ministry is not an accredited school, so we don't grant degrees. Our graduates receives letters that testify that they went through the program and obtained respective quality of training.
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Our training center was founded in 2000 when pastor of Transfiguration Baptist Church extended an invitation to Grace Community Church to help with training Russian pastors and preachers.
The first group started their Level 1 training in October 2000. Then seminars in Level 2 program began in the Fall 2002.
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We want to continue to train pastor and preachers. We see that ministry opportunities outnumber our abilities. There are many churches without pastors and many pastors without training. We want to fill that need while the Lord grants such opportunities.
We would like to have advanced training for those who have finished our program but have a potential to become teachers in extension training centers and teach men in their regions.
We would like to translate and publish more theological resources.
One of the most important current projects is a new Bible translation. Lord willing, we would like to contribute to production of a new evangelical Bible translation that would serve future generations of believers in Russian-speaking world.
Context
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Population: 140,820,810 (2024 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9% (2010 est.)
Note: Nearly 200 national and/or ethnic groups are represented in Russia's 2010 census
Languages: Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1% (2010 est.)
Note: Data represent native language spoken
Religions: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.)
Note: Estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of official atheism under Soviet rule; Russia officially recognizes Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's traditional religions.
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
Refugees (Country of Origin): 1,212,585 (Ukraine) (as of 30 June 2023)
Internally Displaced Persons: 7,500 (2022)
Stateless Persons: 56,960 (mid-year 2021)
Note: Russia's stateless population consists of Roma, Meskhetian Turks, and ex-Soviet citizens from the former republics; between 2003 and 2010 more than 600,000 stateless people were naturalized; most Meskhetian Turks, followers of Islam with origins in Georgia, fled or were evacuated from Uzbekistan after a 1989 pogrom and have lived in Russia for more than the required five-year residency period; they continue to be denied registration for citizenship and basic rights by local Krasnodar Krai authorities on the grounds that they are temporary illegal migrants.
Stats from CIA.gov
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During the 13-15th centuries, the area now known as Russia grew and expanded under Mongol domination. The Romanov dynasty continued this expansion from Siberia to the Pacific in the early 17th century. By the time of Peter I, it had reached the shores of the Baltic and was renamed the Russian Empire. In 1917, as the effects of World War I began to wreak havoc in the nation, public unrest and violence led to the overthrow of the Romanov Dynasty. In the chaos that ensued, Vladimir Lenin and his communist followers seized power. The control of the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was strengthened under the brutal rule of Joseph Stalin (1928-53). After defeating Germany in World War II alongside the Allied Powers, the USSR’s position in Eastern Europe was considerably strengthened as a global power. In the decades following Stalin’s rule, the Soviet economy and society suffered a decline. The USSR acted as the primary adversary of the U.S. during the Cold War of 1947-1991. Towards the end of this period (1985-1991) General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev’s attempts to modernize communism inadvertently led to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
Russia began to move towards a centralized state under President Vladimir Putin (2000-2008, 2012-present). Despite seven decades of official atheism under Soviet Rule, Russian Orthodoxy remains the largest traditional religious presence in the nation.
Compiled from CIA.gov, Operation World, and Joshua Project
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