Igor Egirev
Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Igor and his wife, Natasha, live in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Igor serves as the minister at the only Church of Christ congregation in this city of over 1,000,000 people.
Igor was raised in the city of Susuman in the far north east Magadan region of Russia. Susuman is about 1200 miles from the American islands which form part of the coast of Alaska. In 1983, Igor was accepted in the Institute of Aviation Engineering in Kiev, Ukraine. Upon graduation in 1989, with a degree in electrical engineering, he moved to Rostov-on-Don to work at the Center of Automatic Air Traffic Control. “I was visiting different churches, looking for the Church described in the Bible. I was already a believer, learning about Jesus from my room mate while we were students. My room mate was from Madagascar. We didn’t have Bibles, but he told me the gospel. I believed it”.
In the summer of 1990, Igor met a group of Americans working with Eastern European Missions for the purpose of teaching the Bible, using English language classes. He was baptized along with several other Russians as a result of the classes. At the age of 26, Igor was older than most of the new Christians in Rostov and had also completed his university degree. Dr. John Sudbury with EEM, encouraged Igor to become the leader of the group of new Christians. Igor accepted the challenge and became the teacher and preacher of the new and growing group of Christians in Rostov.
While serving as the minister for the Church, Igor began praying to find a Christian woman to be his wife. On December 3, 1996, Natasha came into the public building the Church leased for a meeting place. She was looking for a dance class. A group of Christians was participating in singing practice. Natasha lingered to listen to the singing. Igor invited her to stay and attend the worship service. Natasha had found a Church and Igor had found a wife. Natasha was baptized in January and she and Igor were married on June 7, 1997. In November of 2001, they adopted a young boy, Maxim. In June 2002, another boy became part of the family when Natasha gave birth to Eliyah.
Today, the congregation counts 64 faithful members. It has been officially recognized by the Russian government since 1992, and now has its own building near the center of Rostov. The congregation has an active role among the Churches of Christ in Russia, such as hosting the annual Summer Singing Schools. At the local level, vacation Bible school, caring for children in the local orphanage and “The Search” class, aimed at ministering to young people in the community are team efforts. Igor also worked in his home region of Magadan for two months to plant a Church there. That Church celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2004. In 2007, Igor and Natasha plan to move to St. Petersburg to study at the Institute of Theology and Christian Ministry.