Blessings from USA

Our holiday season has come to an end and it is a very long one here in Russia. For two weeks the city fell to sleep, except us. We received a team of six young and energetic missionaries from the states who have done a lot of work during the holidays here. During this time two villages were visited, Yanranai and Pevek and Christmas programs were done at public concert halls in the villages and in the city of Pevek. Praise God for this opportunity and that he was opening doors for us in public places. Two of the teammates were able to visit a caribou herd brigade far out in tundra. They withstood 9 hours of driving in a sled in severe cold temperatures. Alex, the photographer, was able to take great pictures of the people there and print them out for them right in the middle of the yaranga (local teepee). Free photoshoot is something people still talk about in all the villages and here in the city. There isn’t an opportunity here to go and have professional pictures taken of you and printed for you for free. It was a great christmas present for many families, children and young folks. For a long time we wanted to hold a leadership seminar for the local leaders here in Chaun region. With our guests arrival we were able to hold a one day miniconference. Leaders from the church of Yanranai and Pevek were astounded at the amount of new information they received and got very encouraged in ther ministry here. Praise God for the work of those who give up their holiday vacations and go serve the Lord. They really did serve here. Pray for their renewed strength and for God to continue to use them. We are very blessed as one of the teammates decided to stay untill March. He’ll be a great help here. And another teammate has commited to come back and serve here long term in the near future. God is great and does great miracles! Praise be to HIM!

Праздники

Подходит время к Рождеству, необычному Рождеству потомучто привык встречать его в декабре а не Январе. Но понимаю что даже в таких мелочах надо менятся. Мы уже встретили Новый Год и видно что страна и люди больше ставят этот праздник на первое место и потом Рождество где то когда то отпразднуем когда еще не все отойдут от новогодних празднований. Здесь на служении и на севере приходится во многом не полагатся на обычаи и традиции к каким я привык. Отдаваясь и готовлясь к служениям и праздничным программам даже не чувствуется праздничного настроения иногда. Но есть настроение или его нету, надо не забывать главный смысл Рождества и что не важно в какой день мы встречаем этот день, а важно наше отношение сердца к этому празднику и самой главной причине этого праздника, нашего Спасителя Иисуса Христа. С Рождеством Христовым всех!

“First time in 10 years”

One recent Sunday service a man got up to share during our open share time. It’s the time when the church members have the opportunity to share or sing a song or somehow participate in the church service. Well, this time God moved and more people than usual got up to share. I started to worry that Slava, our pastor, won’t have time to give his main sermon. However, we let the people come up. It was already 20, 15 minutes till the end of the service. Then one man got up, a fire truck driver, a big man with a strong and powerful voice. When he speaks everybody is almost shaken and his voice puts a little fear into everyone. It’s impossible not to listen to this man. This was his first time in 10 years sharing in front of the church, a victory for him he shared. A time when he overcomes his fears of his failures and troubled past. He shared a two chorus poem about one legged people that live in the north, who can only walk and run and therefore live if they hold each other in their arms – that way they have both legs to walk on. It was his metaphor for the church – we can only truly live when we embrace each other and hold each other in our arms. I think it was the most powerful sermon that day that anyone has heard.