ACTS 29 / Visiting Moscow, Minsk and İstanbul

Acts 29 continues to grow as more people express an interest in becoming a part of the Acts 29 family of churches planting churches. Because of this interest, we have reached out to some churches and people around us. This has provided us with the opportunity to meet with those people and to explore and encourage their interest in pursuing church planting opportunities. I have been traveling to cities in Turkey as well as Russia and Belarus. I traveled to Russia with my friend Philip Moore, the Director of Acts 29 Europe, to assist in the assessment of a pastor and his church. They will become the first Acts 29 church in Russia. While in Russia, we participated in two different conferences to explain more about church planting. A few weeks later, I went to Minsk, Belarus to talk about church planting issues. We visited a few churches and met with pastors and held a conference. We met Godly brothers and sisters and were very encouraged by them and their interest. On my return to Antalya, I stopped in Istanbul to meet with some pastors as well. In Istanbul there are many churches but few of them are gospel centered. There is a lack of the foundational understanding of church planting needs and procedures. We held an Acts 29 conference two years ago in Istanbul and still maintain contact with people who have shown a proper understanding of the gospel and are interested in becoming part of a “churches planting churches” family. I pray that there will be more churches with a focus on gospel teaching and a desire and commitment to plant other churches.