Image Credit: Heidi Baumgartner

Parousia Completes House of Prayer

Parousia Russian-Ukrainian Church is humbly in awe of what God orchestrated with the construction of their new church home in Federal Way, Wash.

This congregation began in 2001 as a small group of four core families at Auburn City Church and officially became a church in 2006. Today, the Parousia congregation has 179 members and 78 children — and now they have their own house of prayer.

Throughout their project of faith, Parousia leaders partnered with local Adventist leaders and businessmen. Mike Van Steenwyk, a real estate agent, helped them find a piece of property five years ago. Don Kirkman, an architect, helped the congregation design a worship space, and Peter Vukshich, a contractor, led the building project.

“God has a beautiful new home in Federal Way,” says Jerry Russell, Washington Conference vice president for finance, whose team partnered with the congregation in managing the project budget.

The Parousia Church also received a lot of Adventist community support in its fundraising process. The church family regularly held benefit concerts and dinners featuring Russian cuisine.

In the midst of the construction project, the pastoral leadership changed in early 2015 with the retirement of Victor Krushenitskyi and the introduction of Sergei Kuzman. Both leaders acknowledge this was a project of faith to build a house of prayer. The high level of member involvement helped bond the church family and led to balanced decisions.

“I want to praise God for how He’s led in this church and this project,” says Krushenitskyi.

In the grand opening on April 23, the Parousia members honored God for their project of faith through prayers of dedication and performances by a children’s choir, youth choir, combined choir and church orchestra. In addition, the congregation hosted an evening concert of thanksgiving. “We’ve always praised God through music,” Kuzman says.

“This church wouldn’t be without the blessings of God and the dedication of His people,” says John Freedman, Washington Conference president, during the church’s grand opening sermon. “My prayer is that this church will breathe the gospel, share the gospel and live the gospel.”

You are welcome to visit the Parousia Russian-Ukrainian Church located at 1860 S 336th St., Federal Way, WA 98003.

Featured in: June 2016

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