A far-reaching plan to train 300 new ministers, establish 300 new faith communities, and build 300 new church buildings before 2003 has been voted by Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Euro-Asia. The plan, called “300x300x300,” will involve all levels of church organization, from administration to church members, and will be implemented throughout the Euro-Asia region, which includes Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and several central Asian countries.
The cornerstone of the initiative is the goal to train 300 new pastors who will work to organize new congregations. Their study program will be geared to “active missionary work,” and will include “spiritual education and practical pastoral training,” says Valery Ivanov, communication director for the Adventist Church in Euro-Asia.
“At the beginning, some leaders were worried about the number of people who would express a desire participate,” reports Ivanov. “But, at this present moment, we already have 336 who want to receive training.”
The initiative will also concentrate on building or acquiring permanent places of worship, rather than relying on rented premises. “A huge sum of money is needed for this initiative—$4 million,” says Ivanov. “We do not have such an amount of money, but we know our God has more than that.”
In 2000, the Adventist Church in Russia reported that it had grown by some 14 percent in the past year, bringing total church membership in the region to 135,688.