FERGUSON—Vladimir Lebedev ministers in a city of around 700,000 people in Far East Russia as both a Bible college instructor and a co-pastor of a Baptist church.
Traveling to seven states on a one-month tour to seek out gospel partnerships, the 40-year-old preacher from Khabarovsk began his journey on March 11 here at First Baptist Church, where he spoke about the call on his life.
“Our vision is to transform the society spiritually and morally,” he said. “It is a great task. It is a mission that would be considered impossible unless it was God’s will and commandment. Can we aim for less? And so we try to be bold and courageous, because we are on God’s side. God abides in us, and we try to abide in Jesus and do the task.”
He went on that day to speak in two separate Russian Baptist congregations—first at Ballwin Baptist Church, then at First Baptist Church of Affton. He then finished his productive first Sunday on his American tour with a word of testimony at Parkway Baptist Church.
For the Russian Baptists, Lebedev taught on Colossians 3:1-4, a passage where Paul directly proclaims that Christ is our life. Lebedev likes that.
“Christians should consider their life to be the person of Christ—not even the ministry,” said Lebedev, who is co-pastor of Transformation Baptist Church, Khabarovsk. “Churchgoing is good. Doing rituals is good. Christian habits are good. All of these aspects of our earthly existence are good. But Paul, having been a devout Jew, reconsidered his religious values after meeting Christ, and now he professes Christ to be his life.
“That is a little mystical, but that’s where the mystery is hidden, and that’s where we find resources for our Christian living, the motive for the ministry, and the strength to go through difficulties. We can be sober when life goes good, not to exchange the blessings of God for Christ Himself.”
Standing just outside First Affton, waiting for his turn to speak, he elaborated on his relationship with Christ.
“No matter what your personality is, no matter where you live, no matter whether you are rich or poor, man or woman, young or old, the one reality that is common for every Christian, if he is a genuine Christian, is Christ,” he said. “You can be a disabled person or you can be an athlete, in every single case, the common phenomenon that is shared is that Christ is our life, and it is a very practical thing.
“It is easier, and sometimes even I want Jesus to sit next to me and give me a list of things to do. People expect from preachers, and even from the Bible, to find rules for life. They are there, for sure, but what makes Christianity unique is not the Holy Book we have, not the great morality we have, not the great habits or wonderful knowledge or academic efforts or true dogma that we have. Jesus is the very essential, unique element that makes Christianity the true religion.”
Lebedev and his wife, Tatiana, were invited to America by Dwayne King, a former missionary to Khabarovsk, Russia, who was one of the first missionary pilots to fly from Alaska to Russia. St. Louis was chosen as the starting point for the tour because of Lebedev’s friendship with David Hendrick, St. Louis regional coordinator for the Missouri Baptist Convention student ministry team.
Hendrick is a former International Mission Board journeyman missionary who roomed with Lebedev and planted a church with him—the same one he helps lead today. The church came about after Hendrick organized a retreat for Russian students and saw 20 of them become believers. A key element of that success was Hendrick’s use of the Cooperative Program (CP). Blessed by CP dollars, he chose to let Lebedev, whose salary at the time was $100 a month, live with him for free.
Lebedev said his homeland is a remote area located east of East Siberia.
“We are closer to Japan and Korea and China, of course, and extending up north to where Alaska is,” he said. “It’s a huge area, like half of the United States almost, and maybe one-third is Far East Russia.”
His work as a Baptist pastor involves training pastors, ministers, and students, lecturing in academic settings, counseling, and providing leadership training. One of his gifts is his ability to relate well with young people. As such, he is a popular speaker in youth camps.
Hendrick called him “a genuine and authentic guy” who is “totally open to whatever God wants him to do.”
His tour continues through April 7 and will take him to South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Michigan, and Illinois. His goal is to find those who can come to Far East Russia and help with construction projects, camps, and summer programs. Short-term missionaries can be successful in Khabarovsk, he said, because Russians are generally open to the gospel.
“They come for Bible studies, they listen through an interpreter, they listen, they discuss, so we know how helpful and valuable international involvement can be,” he said. “So if anyone is interested, they should know about us and we can work together.”
Meanwhile, while he is here, he hopes that his message from Colossians 3:1-4 will hit home with all of his audiences, both American and Russian.
“It is not existence that is your life,” Lebedev said. “It is not your circumstances that are your life. It is not your daily habits that are your life. It is not even your religious habits that are your life, going to church. Your very life is Christ Himself. It is a reality that we grasp by faith, and if we do, we are really alive for God and for the world around us. So please cherish this very fact, this great revelation from Scripture.”