We have a variety of guests, and one Friday a graduate of SPbCU, Denis Surkov, visited us. When he finished at the university in 2002, he was staggered by the way the building had been transformed. In their time, the students had to bring order to everything, helping in the construction that was needed at the time, and at graduation he could see the results of their work in full bloom.

Denis came from Omsk but has a ministry in Pavlovsk. He ended up in Pavlosvsk not by chance. You see, the university had given him the charge to visit 40 churches in 2 months time. This seemed unrealistic to him and he asked the Lord, "What am I to do?" He prayed and asked God for help, and on Sunday a brother came to him and asked, "Where are you going this Sunday?" He answered, "I don't know." This brother invited Denis to Pavlovsk, where a new church had just been opened and needed workers. When he arrived there, the pastor came to him. After a period of talking together, the pastor said that the next time Denis was to give the sermon and lead a youth group. This occurrence decided the future for Denis, and he did not go on to visit other churches; he stayed to help in the ministry in Pavlovsk. So, in this way God helped him determine the place for his ministry for the next 4 years. But this was not the end of the amazing things God did in his life.

Here is an example. During the time of his studies, "Evangelism" was one of the subjects taken, and the professor set a condition that the students would not receive credit until they led several unbelievers from the streets to repentance. For Denis, this was a shock. He knew that it is not a person who leads someone to Christ; it is God who prompts people's heart. How then is it possible for a simple person to make someone a Christian? Again he turned to prayer. Then he began to act in his own strength, but this didn't bring any results. Later young people began to come to his youth group. In the beginning there were only a few, but later the group grew larger and larger. Denis led discussions with them in a sports hall at the university. And, it happened that someone stole a university student's driver's license. It was thought that this was done by one of the youth group members. Later the wallet was found in the bathroom, but the youth group meetings were still canceled. Notwithstanding all of this, Denis still fulfilled his homework assignment and brought these young men and women to God.

Denis talked about the fact that each of us seeks happiness. But are we seeking it in the right place? The author of Ecclesiastes writes that he, too, searched for happiness in various amusements and women, but happiness was to be found only in the Lord. We may finish university and then work for money, seek amusement, throw out our knowledge of what is deep inside, but will our life be happy? Will we make our choice correctly... and for whose use?

Everyone who finishes university has many paths, but not all who finish at SPbCU have gone on to serrve in the church. One person goes to work in a mission, another in business, a third simply gets married and doesn't serve in church. There are people, who had been excellent in their studies, who later bury themselves in the world. Sometimes beautiful fancies of life cause us to deviate from the true path; we must put all our strength into not being drawn from the right road.

After his studies, Denis returned to his church, but the people there had partially forgotten him and he couldn't find a ministry there. He settled down into a job, and it seemed like everything was fine, but something didn't give him peace. He again started to pray, asking God, "How is it that I finished university but now sit with nothing to do?" And, like Isaiah, he said to God, "Here am I; send me!" After some time, a letter came from Pavlovsk and he was invited to carry on youth ministry there. For him, this was an answer from God to his prayer. He went to Pavlovsk and God led him in his ministry. All that was given to him in the university has come in very useful in his ministry, and in the course of his work with teenagers he has remembered more than once something that the professors taught him.

But how is one to serve God? We must serve the Body of Christ. We must serve the grandmothers, who are unhappy about something, or the youth who can't always understand what we are saying or doing, but we need to serve with love. If we want to learn something, then hear this: without love, nothing turns out right. People always sense how we relate to them. If children grow up in love, then they develop normally. If we love the Body of Christ, then that Body also will develop normally.

Denis serves God, giving himself away, and God has not once let him down. He had work during his time in university, and even though the trip home cost a lot, he always found the needed money. He was able to go home once a year all four years of his study. If we don't let God down and are faithful to Him, He will not leave us; He will be faithful.

Our guest's story is very interesting; it gives food for thought and encourages us to action. We need to walk with God and to serve Him. Follow after Him and everything will work out in the future. God gives amazing answers to prayer, and the life of Denis is an example of this. It's wonderful that there are such people, who share with us their experience and give advice about the future.

 

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