On Saturday, December 11, at 10:00 the church gathered for the celebration of the 30th Church Anniversary. The church was decorated for this event and on the wall it said “Unto this place helped us the Lord.” At that time, who could think that from a small group of Christians, 30 years ago, such a church would rise up. Without any exaggeration, you can say that thousands went through this church. Of course, there are churches in Kiev that are bigger than ours, but it is unlikely that there is another church in Kiev or its county that would cause such an influence on the spiritual growth of many ministers for the past 30 years.
It is always a pleasure to see guests, and this service was not an exception. Many guests visited their “mother” as some say with love. Many of them were past members of the church.
Viktor Shevchuk, a head principal at Bible College “St. Jacob,” called everybody to a prayer. He responded with great joy about his mentors in this church.

Then, pastor of a church in Boyarka in Kiev, Sergey Vladimirovich Ozeruga, son of a deceased pastor Vladimir Ivanivich Ozeruga, shared memories of the time when our church was coming out of secrecy.

Next, a guest from Great Britain, Bernard Cocker, shared the word of God.

Yuriy Savochka visited the church with his family. He preached about the trust and faith we have to have in our God; along with his family he sang a song. Right now Yuriy is a pastor in Vasilkov.

We were greeted by a short word from Victor Porfirovich Mozgovoy who is a veteran of evangelical service in Kiev. He ministers in a church located in Zavorichi. After him, Valentina Zagoruyko shared her memory and also shared with a word of encouragement. She was one of the first people who gave their hearts in the year of 1974 in the church located on 44 Karjerna. Valentina talked about the seed that was planted in this place and now it brought a big harvest. She reminded us about the blessing given to Joseph: “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob. (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.)” (Genesis 49:22-24). That’s the kind of a tree our church was.

Alexander Irsonovich Ozeruga (pastor of the church in Chervona Motovylivka) reminded us of some episodes from the life of the church, especially he emphasized the miracles witnessed by him at the local church.
Greetings from his church, “Filadelphia,” brought pastor Anatoliy Kozachok.

In the conclusion of the service a couple of words were said by pastor of church in Tampere, Yarmo Makkonen. He flew from Finland to participate in the celebration of the anniversary.

The quire and the singing group of our church as well as the singing group from the church in Fastov (Kyiv area) participated in the service.

After a break, all that wanted had a chance to listen to Vladimir Ivanovich Franchuk’s story about the history of Christian brotherhood.

December 12. The church continued celebrating the anniversary. The church was overcrowded. The youth was on the balcony, the first rows were for the veterans of the church, those who were part of the historical “twenty.” Unfortunately, not many are alive...

The veterans of the church had a chance to share their testimonies about their following after Jesus. Sister Oksana from Vilshanki shared how in youth they walked to church 15 kilometers and how once the Lord saved them from the wolves. Nadezhda Fedorovna Manoshenko testified that when she just came to church in the early 1960’s (then our church was in secrecy) she was stunned by the love and kindness of the Christian people. She learned from the older Sisters, who often had to lead services by themselves without preachers, faithfulness and love.

There were a lot of guests again. The head principal of Kyiv’s Theological Seminary, David Nelson, said the greeting word. Then, the word was given to a guest from Finland Marko.

A short greeting and a congratulation from his church brought Vladimir Savchuk. His young years went by in this church. Here he repented his sins, here he grew spiritually. Now he’s a pastor of evangelical church in Kyiv.

Those from the rehabilitation center of the church sang a song. After them, Yarmo Makkonen preached the Word of God; he’s a pastor in Tampere, Finland. He read the greeting and the prayer of Paul the Apostle from the Epistle to the Philippians, Chapter 1. Brother Yarmo compared the circumstances that our church experienced with those of Paul’s life. Novices, said Yarmo, resemble little birds that sing about God’s mercy to them. Those that lived a life of faith are like eagles, to whom wind is not a disturbance. On the contrary, the wind fills their wings and ascends them to the new heights.

Sunday School presented a short program and the service was concluded by Michkail Stepanovich Panochko, senior bishop of Christians of Evangelical Faith Union.

Youth, as a tradition, led the evening service.

Nickolay Sirodan called us to the first prayer. For many years, he was a member of our church, sang in the quire and the worship group. Presently, his service is in the rehabilitation center. A few greeting words were said by Peter Savochka.

Henry Madava, (pastor of the church “Pobeda”, Kyiv) also one of Karjerna’s past members preached on the text from Matthew 25:14–30. “The main question is not how many talents you received,” said Henry, “ but what you did with them.” He especially concentrated on the reasons why one “hides his talents in the ground.” This is accusation, fear of being used, fright of responsibility, slyness and laziness.

In the conclusion of the service David Nelson, director of Kiev’s Theological Seminary, preached. He talked about Christ’s greatness in comparison to Solomon. “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:42)