SPORTS GYMNASIUM
Year started
2004
volunteers
11
Staff
4
attendees
80-100
ABOUT THE GYM
Located in the city of Tokmak, next to School of Blessing, the Gymnasium (Gym) was established in 2004. The Gym provides a place for sports activities for the local community and an outreach platform to spread the Gospel and God's word. Our teams of volunteers organize various clubs, such as football, volleyball, dance, crafts, chess, English, etc. During the week. During the summer vacation, the Gym hosts gospel camps, which are held by short-term teams from foreign countries and spread the Good News to children and youth.
SPIRITUAL IMPACT
The aim of the GYM ministry is to share the Gospel with each person who attends GYM ministry. Now, about 100 people attend Sunday meetings and clubs. The main spiritual influence is through the study groups, where the faithful staff share the Word. There is also a mini-café where youth and teenagers get to hear the Word of God from the believers. The coffee is served for free. Every Sunday, there is a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with children, teens, and young adults, as well as their parents in the GYM. The youth worships God together at youth meetings. The staff is very grateful to God that Muslims can come to the meetings and hear the Good News. So far, some of the youth who attend the Sunday service have accepted The Lord and began to attend the local church. An interesting fact is that the GYM is located right next to a Muslim mosque. Members of this mosque told the people that Christians were spreading the Gospel in the GYM and told them not to attend the clubs and Sunday service. Despite this, children from Muslim families continue to attend our clubs.
SUMMER CAMP 2021
Due to the pandemic, we have less opportunity for quality fellowship with children and youth at the Gym. But we never stopped praying and looking for opportunities to build closer relationships with youth and share God’s Word. God showed us that we can organize summer camp by gathering with youth to talk about relevant topics. We spent four evenings discussing very important topics for youth people, such as the LGBT community, dating Relationships, magics, and spells, and the last discussion was about Life in God. All of our lectures were based on the Bible and we tried to show God’s perspective on a certain topic. We created a safe environment where everyone could feel comfortable and openly ask any questions. We believe that the meeting led young people to deep reflection and helped in their spiritual growth. We pray they will use what they learned in their lives.
PRAYER NEEDS
1. We have a desire in our hearts to engage as many youth and teens as possible. We are praying for new projects to work with public schools and influence children and teachers.
2. We also need wisdom to be even more influential with teenagers, of whom we currently have over 50 in our project. A larger percentage attend Sunday meetings, and we really want to influence them even more and bring them the Word of God.
Arina Starchikova (with her husband and their new born daughter), leader of the youth ministries in the GYM in Tokmok.
“My childhood was not easy. I had a bad relationship with my mother who was alcohol addicted. We barely saw and talked to each other. My father left us so I grew up with my grandmother. Because of my mother's lack of attention, I attempted suicide five times...
