Alexey and Tatiana serves as leaders in their church in Moscow as well as directors of a key evangelical Seminary and Bible School serving the Eurasia region. In the past years they have already been moving most of their courses to an online format in addition to visiting the various regions periodically with in-person training (a challenge in a country that covers nine time zones!).

So even with the restrictions due to the pandemic, they have been positioned to be able to continue training leaders. They also continue to present the ICM “discipleship for believers” and “mentoring for leaders” courses as an on-line program. Our strategy of leadership training is based on a relational model so it is not dependent upon a large gathering of leaders, the benefit of which is really significant in a pandemic. Our model continues to be one where leaders are equipped to train and mentor others in a one-on-one relationship or small group context.

Recently, Alexei also provided a Zoom workshop for our team regarding some of the innovations that they have used which can be replicated in other regions. They are currently working on making an APP for our Discipling thru Intentional Relationships program. These two Guides are designed to help a new believer grow in their faith through a one-on-one relationship.

In these days new approaches are needed, particularly when spanning great distances, and so Alexey’s team is putting the material in an interactive APP that Russian speakers can go through with others on their smart phone and interact with others going through the same materials. This pilot project in Russian will then be evaluated by our team and hopefully implemented in other languages and potentially with some of our other materials.

These innovations have meant that even in the midst of lockdowns and restrictions each one of our Network Coaches have been able to continue training leaders, who are then equipped to serve others during these challenging times. Thank you for being part of the team that enables us to continue to provide materials and encourage these leaders, even though for a time we will not be able to do that face to face due to restrictions on international travel.