Capitol Ministries

36 International Ministries Slavik Rimski Europe Director Ukraine "T he Word of God has the power to transform nations from ashes and ruins into blooming economies and from spiritual blindness and obliviousness to revival and transformation." ose are the words of Slavik Rimski who was named Capitol Ministries' full-time global director for Eastern and Western Europe. Slavik is charged with growing CapMin by working with his vast contacts in the political and faith communities. He will also be helping to recruit biblically re- liant Bible teachers to lead discipleship ministries to political leaders at all levels from local governments to parliaments in nations across Europe. In this formidable mission, he will be working closely with Valeriu Ghiletchi, a gied evangelist, a former member of the Moldovia Parliament, and a dear friend of his who was named CapMin's full-time ministry leader to the Parliament of the European Union. Slavik is passionate about ministering to public servants. He grew up in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union and witnessed religious discrimination firsthand. "I was raised in a family of persecuted Christians," he said. "My grandfather was sentenced to ten years in prison for preach- ing the Word. My father passed on the baton of faith to me, and I value the preciousness and beauty of the Bible. I feel ex- tremely privileged that I am tasked to reestablish 'sola scrip- tura' as one the pillars for Europe's transformation." Slavik earned a degree in philolog y—the study of literary texts and oral and written historical sources—from Mech- nikov University in Odessa. He earned a secondary degree at the President's Academy for Public Administration in Ukraine. Aer foreign exchange internships, Slavik began a career with Social Services in the Odessa region, becoming the assistant to a member of parliament. He successfully ran for the office of councilman in the Odessa region and served for five years. He has served as foreign affairs director for the Ukraine Conservative Movement. Slavik is excited about working with his friend Pastor Valeriu to employ the top- down missions strateg y that is found in many places in the Bi- ble—making it a priority to teach the Scriptures to the affin- ity sphere of political leaders. "It is known to all that Europe is in a spiritual decline," Slavik said. "Churches and cathedrals are being turned into pubs, g yms, and beauty salons." And, as in the U.S., there is a great misunderstanding of what is meant by separation of Church and State. "Very few churches have the vision to reach out to those in power. Some ten years ago, people who ran for political office in Ukraine could easily get excommunicated from the church. e Church does not un- derstand that State and Church are to be separate institution- ally speaking, but that does not mean the Church should not influence the State. e Scriptures—the pure and undefiled Word of God—will change Europe. Public servants need to hear what the Bible says, and we intend to teach them God's Word while leading them into a relationship with Jesus." Slavik and Pastor Valeriu have their first CapMin Recruitment and Training Conference set for early 2023. EASTERN & WESTERN EUROPE Eastern and Western Europe Training Conference Brussels, Belgium June 26–29, 2023 Coming up Aerial view of the City of Brussels with Palace of Justice by twilight

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