What is your ministry?
I am one of the three church leaders. I create a vision for the church, teaching, preaching, and discipleship. I'm also involved in church social activities, such as food charity and fighting addictions.
When did you trust Christ?
I grew up in a Christian family. When I was 13, my church split, and I lost faith in the people who were supposed to be an example for me. For a few years after that, I didn't care about God and lived my life according to my thoughts instead of God's. Then, when I was 19, after a painful breakup with a girl, I began attending a Christian youth group where my thoughts about God woke up. I found people to whom I could ask questions, and I saw coherence in their lives. That drew me closer to Jesus, but I still wanted to be in charge of my own life. That summer, at a Christian camp where I volunteered just because of a girl I liked, I met a couple of missionaries who had a concrete joy in Christ that was higher than anything I had ever seen. At that camp, I made the life-changing decision to trust and follow Jesus.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
One defining moment in my Christian walk was my three years in Bible college. During that time, I shared ordinary life and ministry experiences with mature believers who taught me what it means to walk with God. Those three years profoundly shaped my comprehension of God and my faith on an intellectual and practical level. Then what profoundly shaped me was the last eight years I spent as a youth pastor. Through ministry, God taught me His faithfulness in my daily life.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
After attending last year, I have a better vision for the church and a clearer idea of where it should go. The Forum has profoundly helped me learn how to "do church" in practical and context-relevant ways. Also, it is a window to a bigger vision of Christianity in Europe, and the main training event I attend is deeply helping me shape my ministry.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I am one of three church elders. Our church structure has elders, deacons, and church members (ideally, all involved in church ministries). I am a bi-vocational minister (I work full-time as a family doctor), and the other leaders are part-time ministers.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
My passion is to help others grow in Christ and equip them to become men and women ready to take responsibility and disciple others. I am on the way to becoming a good leader, but I have little experience and still need to be equipped. I desperately want to make an everlasting difference in the lives of people around me and to see a revival in my country through equipped young people who take brave steps of faith.
