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A History of Barnaul

1/  The church in North Atlantic, among its other activities in starting the work in Barnaul, started a part-time school in 1994, using SIBI courses.  Later, the leadership was assumed by Frank Chappel who gained the support of the Watters Rd. church in Pasadena, TX.

2/  In the Fall 1997 Sunset was invited to consider taking the leadership in the school and signed an agreement with the Pasadena church on January 1998.

3/ There was an existing Russian faculty of two men, Andrey Sklerov and Vladic Romisov and a curriculum built on the SIBI model. The part-time school was meeting in rented quarters with less than ten students.
4/ Jerry Sisemore, serving in Barnaul as a missionary to follow up on evangelistic contacts was invited to be the fulltime Dean of the school.
5/ A clerical staff was assembled and two of the graduates of the school were recruited to work with the school. They subsequently were sent to Sunset for advanced studies and faculty orientation: Alex MaKrov (1999) and Sergei Besedin (2000-2001). In 2001-2002, Andrey Sklerov was sent to Sunset, with Vladic scheduled to come in the Fall 2002.
6/ Sammy Flanary was named the Mission Coordinator to the school in 1997 and moved to Lubbock.
7/ The school has changed location three times, usually because of rentals being doubled or contracts being canceled. This instability and difficulty of getting owners to either rent to a religious school or to maintain the facility as agreed prompted the decision to purchase property.
8/ After a long search an unfinished office building was purchased for $70,000 and about the same amount has been expended to complete the construction and to purchase an additional lot to satisfy the city building code.
9/ Sammy Flanary raised the full funding for the project, going periodically to Barnaul to teach and to evaluate the progress of the work. He also was working on behalf of Athens and Donetsk.
10/ Frank Chappel rejoined the Barnaul effort as a Mission Coordinator, spending most of his available time in publications, teaching trips to Russia and keeping Watters Rd. church connected to the work.
11/ The school was legally organized, with building use pending completion of the construction.
12/ Purchasing property in Russia, remodeling the facility, buying a private residence, obtaining use permits, providing staff benefits, etc. has required an endless amount of work, interpreting conflicting laws, maneuvering through incomprehensible legal requirements and visiting numberless offices. Over three years was dedicated to the project and frequent increases were incurred in the cost of the building. Jerry Sisemore has carried this load with incredible patience and purpose.
13/ A translation project was begun by Frank Chappel and further developed by SIBI. All Sunset courses begin to be translated by a select committee under the direction of Steve Lyautey in Lubbock. It has been funded largely by EEM and individual donations.
14/ The enrollment of the school increased each year from ten part-time students to eighteen, to twenty-five, to forty fully scholarshipped students.
15/ Other major contributors have joined Watters Rd.: West Ervin in Tyler, TX and the Snow family in Andrews, TX. to provide a stable operation base. Other churches and individuals have been faithful contributors.
16/ Supplementing the faculty have been visiting teachers: Gerald Paden, Ed Wharton, Sammy Flanary, Truman Scott, Frank Chappel, Bill Coffin, etc.
17/ Over fifty students have graduated to date with most of them engaged in church plantings and church development in many places in Russia.
18/ A leadership transition is being prepared with Jerry being succeeded by Andrey Sklerov and Alex MaKrov being appointed as the Administrative Dean and Sergei Besedin as the Dean of Students.
19/ Jerry Sisemore will become the stateside Mission Coordinator and Mentor of the administration and faculty.
20/ The school is to have its own facility, Russian faculty, a good student body, a proven curriculum and a stable financial base.
21/ While being further trained in Sunset a senior faculty member, Vladislaw Rosinov died from a stroke. New faculty members are being considered.