Zhanibek Batenov is 21 years old and single. He is from Astana and there (in August of this year) finished the full 3-year course of studies at the Lutheran educational center. He anticipates returning to Kazakhstan to serve in the church there after finishing his studies at Novosaratovka.

I was born on October 18th, 1984 in the city of Poltava (Ukraine). I finished school there, having received a baker’s certificate. I have been attending Poltava Lutheran Church since I was nine years old. I have been the Children’s Church and Youth Group leader there since I was 17. I believe that the Lord has called me to service in order to bring people to Christ. Right now I am studying at the ELCROS Theological Seminary and believe that God will bless my studies so that in the future I might be a good servant in God’s fields.

Natalia went through her internship in Ukraine, where she is also working for the church now.

Dmitrii Drygin is from the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. He was born in 1984 and is not married. Before coming to our seminary, Dmitrii attained a technical education (cable specialist) and studied at the Lutheran educational center in Kazakhstan for one year. He has been a member of the congregation in Bishkek since 2000.

Ludmilla Golubnichaja is from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia. She is from the village of Staraja Poltavka in the Volgograd region. She is 28 years old and single. Like many of our other students, she has had a lot of varied work experience, from postal worker to accountant. She has also served in various capacities in her congregation in the village of Verkhnij Eruslan, where she has been a member since 2000.

Julia Gomzikova is from the city of Feodosija in Crimea (Ukraine). She is 34 years old. She was trained as an accountant, which was her work for many years. However, even before beginning to attend Lutheran church services with her mother, she felt that something was missing in her life. She became heavily involved in her small and aging congregation, and was confirmed in early 2002. While the Ukrainian Lutheran Church does not ordain women, Julia is willing to continue her education to whatever it may lead.

I had a great desire to be admitted into our seminary, and with God’s help this dream came true. I live in St. Petersburg and am a member of St. Peter and Paul’s Lutheran. I have learned a lot during my studies thus far. For me it is important not only to receive theoretical theological knowledge in the areas of Dogmatics and Church History, but also learn how to be able to practically apply the knowledge that we students receive here. The most important thing, I think, is to understand that all our knowledge and practical skill should be directed toward the service of people since in the future as servants of the church we will be responsible for their care.

Larisa Kriger is a 28-year old single woman from the village of Krasnaja Poljana in northern Kazakhstan. She has served in her congregation for 7 years, first as a youth and children’s ministries leader and then as the congregation’s preacher. Larisa took the courses for Sunday School teachers and the courses for preachers offered at the Lutheran educational center in Astana, Kazakhstan. She plans to return to her home country to serve the church there after finishing her studies in Novosaratovka.

I was born in 1968 in the city of Sverdlovsk, now named Yekaterinburg. When I was six years old I moved with my family to the Ukrainian city of Krivoy Rog in the Dnepretrovskaya oblast. I studied, worked and had a family there, as normal people do, but I also was on a quest to find myself. In 1999 I started attending a congregation of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine, was confirmed in April of 2003 and began to serve as a liturgical assistant (lector, prayer leader, etc.). It took a long time for my decision to study to mature, but when it happened, it happened quickly, and I see God’s guidance in this. I think that serving as a pastor is very important for people who seek themselves and God, because it is necessary to lead them to salvation – that priceless gift, given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

I came here from the Belarusian city of Vitebsk. I was born in 1986 and have been attending church since 1995. I help with children and youth work there. Already as I child I had the desire to study at the seminary; now the day has arrived when I can proudly say that I am a student of the ELCROS Theological Seminary. Lutheranism in Belarus is only just being reborn and in the future I want to facilitate the development of Lutheranism in my country, since I feel that Belarus needs this.