Rev. Alexey Shepelev, pastor of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church (ELCIR) in Simferopol, The Crimea, and evangelistic missionary to Russian and Slavic speaking Jews, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about how he came to know the Good News of Jesus, the nature of his mission work today, challenges he faces in his outreach, and how the Lord has provided for him. Learn more about outreach in Russian and other Slavic languages at WORDrus.org.
Rev. Alexey Shepelev’s major outreach is through internet radio work in Russian and Slovak languages: mashiah.info (the first messianic online radio broadcast in Russian, operating since 2007), slradio.net (Slavic Lutheran Radio, featuring educational and catechetical projects), and cslovo.com (online Crimean Christian newspaper, also provided in print as Slovo). His focus is primarily on outreach to Russian speaking Jews (his own background), wherever they are but also in Israel, where WordRus has contacts and is working to establish connections of support to the Caspari Center.
Rev. Shepelev is also pastor in the Ingrian Lutheran Church in Russia, serving a small congregation (St Andrews) in Simferopol, the capital city of the Crimea.
He is supported in his outreach work by WORDrus, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization mission society. WORDrus has also sponsored some translation projects, such as a new publication of Luther’s Small Catechism in Russian, working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) and Latvian Churches, along with Lutheran Heritage Foundation and Lutheran Hour Ministries, and some Bible study materials. In Israel, WORDrus has a recording studio for evangelistic music for the internet radio and have recorded a CD of messianic songs for Shabbat School for the Caspari Center’s materials.
Have a topic you’d like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact Andy Bates at andrew.bates@kfuo.org or call 314-996-1519.
