We have scattered the seed

Friday night is the highpoint of our week. While we love making new friends and being with old friends, our joy comes from sharing how they can have a relationship with God. Last night we had class for about 90 minutes, a short break, then sharing. Fred shared from the Bible about Christ coming to earth (John 1) and also about the need to focus on God's Word and not 'silly stories' (my translation from the scripture he used in 1 Timothy). Then I shared my story and told about how God pursues us because of His great love for us and of our need for redemption. While no one accepted Christ last night, many came up to us afterward and told how they felt 'something' move inside them as we shared. They are very interested in hearing more and meeting with us again. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to draw them to Himself, and for protection from the evil one.

This leads me to our next prayer request. Our desire is to help these friends who attend our class come to a saving relationship with Jesus. It is hard to do that when we are not here, and we do not speak their heart language. I have told you about Peter and h0w he has been with us for a few days. Please pray for the Lord to lead him and his wife Sveta in deciding whether to come to Murmansk. It would be so wonderful to have someone here full time focused on following up with our friends, inviting them to their home, having small group discussions, and prayerfully to a relationship with Christ. Please join us in seeking God's will in this matter.

We will have some time today to follow up with friends. We leave for Moscow this afternoon, then back to the States on Sunday. It is so hard to leave. We love our friends here, and we know most of them do not yet know our Savior. Our prayer is for Murmansk to become a city of light, shining with the hope of Jesus. Thank you for praying with us for all that live in this area.

Spiritual warfare

Yesterday I told you about the lady we were meeting with who has such a large family. Yesterday Peter (our Russian seminary graduate) and I went to her home again for lessons, and she had a friend join us. We had a good lesson, and then after the lesson we were eating and talking in the kitchen. Before we ate I asked a blessing, and this started the conversation. As it turns out, her friend is a Jehovah's Witness, and we had a long conversation about that. She had all the typical jw response, Jehovah is the name we should worship, Jesus is not God, etc., etc. I was reminded again that our struggle is not against people but with the evil one, that we are in a spiritual war with him and that we must constantly be in prayer for the Lord to destroy these strongholds. Please pray that we would be able to clearly show these people that have been deceived by the lies of the jw the truth of who Jesus is. There are several in our class who were formerly in this cult and are still distrustful of anyone speaking to them of God.

While I don't think we made any progress with her, it did open the door for us to talk more with Irina. As it turns out, she believes in God and has been reading the Bible to her family. Her children have begun asking a blessing before meals. But the problem is that while she believes in God and reads the Bible, she does not know how to have a relationship with Him and what she must do to be saved. Honestly, I felt like Philip talking to the Ethiopian eunuch. I explained to her how to trust in God and be saved, and I feel like when we talk again tonight that she will accept Christ. Please pray RIGHT NOW for her heart to be open and for this to be the day of her salvation. As I said before, she can have a huge impact in her family and around this area.
I don't know why these things continue to amaze me, but they do. By now you would think that I would be accustomed to God bringing these people who are searching across my path. But each trip I am amazed at how He orchestrates these meetings and I am humbled that He would give me the opportunity to share His Gospel with them.

The highlight of our week will be tonight when we share with our class about Jesus. We build relationships all week through teaching English, and tonight we pray that this relationship will cause them to really hear us as we share about Christ and salvation. Please pray RIGHT NOW that many would come to our English class tonight and that nothing would hinder them. Pray that God would speak His truth through us, and especially through our interpreter. Pray for hearts to be changed and for people to be saved THIS DAY.

I know that we accomplish nothing on our own, but that God's Holy Spirit draws people to Himself. We love these people, and our hearts break when we think of them being without the relationship with Christ. Our prayer to God is to be used by Him to accomplish His will. But we also pray that ALL would accept Him as Lord. Thank you for joining us in lifting these prayers to our heavenly Father who is faithful and just to forgive all who seek Him.

The Lord provides

We had a good day yesterday. We started at the university, then lessons at one of our students home, then our normal classes in the evening. After our classes we met Peter, the seminary graduate I mentioned before, and then went our friends home for a birthday party for one of our friends from church. Our day was packed, but rewarding.

One of the issues we have been dealing with this week has been our conference rooms. Tonight the hotel did not have space for us, so I have been trying to find an alternative. Our friends at the university arranged for us to be able to use one of the rooms there for our class tonight. This is a huge blessing for us, and allows us to continue our meetings uninterrupted. It is great how God provides.

Our class yesterday afternoon allowed us to get to know a local business woman and her family. Please pray that the Lord would open her heart to the Gospel. We will meet there againg this afternoon. She has a large family (12 children!) and can have a big influence on others for Christ.

After class last night we celebrated a birthday for one of the ladies from church. It was a great time to sit around and talk, eat, and share fellowship with other believers. This is such a great family, and they have been such a blessing to us. Pray for God's blessing on them as we partner together to reach people with the Good News.

As we look toward Friday, please earnerstly pray that God would send many to hear about Jesus. Pray for us to have the right words, pray for the interpreter to be able to communicate clearly, and pray especially that the Holy Spirit would convict those there of their need for a Savior.

Expanding relationships

We have had a unique opportunity to build a relationship the past two days. One of our students, Nikolay, has stayed with us at our hotel because he lives a long way away. He loved it because he and Fred could stay up late practicing English. During this time Fred has been able to encourage this young man to seek God. This man was previously in the Jehovah's Witness cult, and have been very hurt by this experience. Please pray that he would be able to trust the real savior Jesus, and be released from the lies and hurt he experienced.

Our classes are going well. We have just the right amount for Fred and I to handle; our God has again answered our prayers and helped us when we did not know what we would do. Today we were at the university, and now on our way to one of our student's apartment for class for about 15 people. Then to our classes this evening at the hotel.

The man I mentioned yesterday from the seminary will be arriving here later tonight. Please pray for our time together and for the Lord's leading us as we discus potentially partnering here in Murmansk.

Off to a good start!

Our classes started last night, and as expected, we had many more come than had come to our registration night. We had around 50 students show, about half of which have not been to our classes before. Because there is only me and Frec, we divided in to two levels of advanced and beginner. It seemed to work well, and we will be adding an afternoon class beginning on Wednesday because there are a large number of who want to attend in the afternoon but can not come in the evening. Pray for wisdom for us each night as we seek to quickly build relationships so we can share Christ on Friday.



One other prayer concern is a place for us to have our meetings. The good thing about having a large response is that we have many opportunities to introduce people to Christ. The problem is having a space large enough to accomodate us. The hotel where we have been renting conferenece rooms has more than doubled their price since last May. It now costs us over $200 per night for the conference room and refreshments. Please pray for a more economical place for us to meet and one which people would feel comfortable coming to for the first time.

A graduate of the Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary and his wife are also feeling a call to minister in Murmansk. He is coming to meet us tomorrow evening so he can see Murmansk first hand, meet with us and other believers, and see how our English classes work. Please pray for the Lord to make clear to us His will concering this couple moving to Murmansk to work with us in building up His church.

We appreciate and need your prayers.

We are in Murmansk!

Sorry to be so long in posting to our blog, but we have not had time to get on a computer until now. Tim and Fred met in Washington for our flight to Moscow, good flight but unfortunately Tim's bags did not make the flight with him. Under Russian customs I had to go back to the airport in Moscow the next day to claim my bags. And of course, this was not the same airport as the one we were leaving for Murmansk.
When we arrived in Moscow we went straight to the seminary and met with the head of the seminary and some students and shared with them about our work in Murmansk. There is one couple from the seminary who are open to God's call to Murmansk, and the husband may join us here later this week! We are excited about the possibility of having someone here focused full time on mentoring and discipling those who come through the English courses.
Saturday was a whirlwind; we got up early and went to a local market, then took the metro to a stop close to the airport where we met our driver. He took us to the airport for Tim to collect his luggage, and after a long bureaucratic paperwork challenge we left for a different airport for our flight to Murmansk. We made a quick stop along the way to drop off a footlocker full of supplies for the seminary students, then made it just in time for our flight to Murmansk.
We were met at the airport by one of our friends from our earliest meetings here in Murmansk. He was kind enough to meet us and take us to the hotel. We are staying at a new hotel in Murmansk this time, as the prices have increased at our previous hotel due to new ownership. This place is a converted apartment, so it is much larger and very comfortable. However it is much less convenient to the bus stop and there are no places to eat which are close by.
On Sunday we worshiped with our friends at church, and celebrated the Lord's Supper. It was a great time of worship and celebration of what Jesus has done for us.
We had our registration last night, but had few show up. We think it was primarily due to the fact that yesterday was the celebration of the founding of the city, and practically the whole city was in the center for a concert and fireworks. Please pray that we will have a larger response for our first night of classes tonight.
Today we will go to the university to meet with those in the English department, then to our classes from 7 to 10. Pray for wisdom for us - it will be challenging due to the fact that it is only Fred and I teaching, and we will have to adjust our approach to our classes because of this.
Please pray for the Lord to guide those He wants to hear His Gospel to our classes.

Prayers Answered

We had an awesome day on Friday. After our afternoon session at the church Ben and I had a great opportunity to talk with two of our friends, Nikita and Dennis. They had so many questions about God, about what it means to be a Christian, about why there is only one way to God. I was praying like crazy for the wisdom to be able to answer their questions. They are so close to accepting Christ, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to draw them and for their hearts to be ready to change.

After our class at the hotel we had similar responses. Everyone was so attentive as we shared our story, and as we told them how to come to Christ. After we shared we had so many come up to us and want to know more. I had one lady who came and poured out her heart to me. She has been so hurt, and feels desperate. We prayed together and she agreed to come to the church today so I could connect her with a lady who could be a spirititual mentor.

Nancy will be presenting Love and Respect this afternoon at the church. There has been a lot of interest in this, and it gives us an opportunity to invite our friends to come to a church. Please pray for the seekers who will come and for opportunities to continue to share the Love of Christ.

We will be off to Moscow this evening, then back to the States on Sunday. Please pray for ease of travel and safety for us. But most of all, please continue to pray for Murmansk. Our God is an awesome God, and He loves us. Pray for the people of Murmansk to see this great love and accept Him.

Pointing to Jesus

We continue to have great turn out for our classes. When we are having our evening classes at the hotel we use every bit of space available, and then some. We fill two conference rooms, then spill out into the lobby areas. Please pray for us as the evil one has been sending one of the workers in the hotel to hassle us about being in the lobby. Pray that we can have the space we need to have our classes without interruption.

Today is the culmination of our week of teaching, where we point our friends to Jesus. Please pray for us as we share our hearts. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through us directly to to our friends hearts. Pray for the interpreter to be able to speak words clearly in the Russian language. Pray for our friends to accept the gift of Christ which we share.

As we share today, we appreciate your prayers. We pray that as we share today with our friends that you will have opportunities to share today with your friends, family, and coworkers. God uses us all, wherever we are, to tell His story.

Seekers

We can tell that the Lord is moving in the lives of some of our students. One of our friends, Dennis, who is one of our advanced students came early to our class at the church yesterday afternoon. He normally comes to the evening classes. It was a beautifull sunny afternoon, and as we were waiting for others to arrive he began to talk to Ben about the Bible and how difficult it was for him to understand. Ben was able to engage him in conversation, help him see that most of the Bible is very clear even to unbelievers about what it means, and then walk him through the need for Christ to die as our sacrifice. It was great to see both Dennis seeking and Ben laying out for him the path to Christ. Please pray for all of our students to have this same desire to know about our great God, and pray especially for Dennis.

The class picture is from our afternoon class at the church. We have a much smaller and intimate environment here. I love being able to teach in the worship room because as the students are looking at me they can also see a sign in the background that says ¨God is Love¨.

We continue to have about 100 come each night at the hotel for classes, and the Lord sends new people each night. Thank you for your prayers! Please begin praying today, if you have not already, for our Friday afternoon and evening classes. This is where we will each give a personal testimony and then in our large group share the need for salvation and how to come to Christ. Please especially pray for our interpreter, as it matters most what she says not what I say.

The other picture shows the view outside our hotel window. You can see in the background a little bit of snow which is still remaing on the hilltops. Our weather has been great. Very comfortable with just a light jacket, and yesterday it was very warm and sunny.

Thank you again for your prayers.

The Sun (and Son) is always with us!

Our pictures today show the team last night around midnight on our way home from class. As you can see, the sun is out 24 hours a day here in Murmansk at this time of year. The other pictures are the advanced students in Nancy´s class.

We had a great day yesterday. Becuase we have had so many coming at night, Ben and Tim taught a beginner and intermediate class at Golgotha Church in the afternoon. It is great to be able to have these classes there because it gives our students a chance to see the inside of a church. Most have never been inside a Protestant church, and it helps break down misconceptions.

Part of our strategy of reaching Murmansk includes covering the city in prayer. Linda, Nancy, and Rob were doing this by prayer walking yesterday. It gives those who are here for the first time an excellent opportunity to see up close the day to day life here in Murmansk, to see the people and where they live, to look for strongholds that need to be broken down.

Our classes in the evening continue to grow. We had a large number of new students come last night, so we were thankful that we were able to add an additional meeting room. We know our students appreciated being able to hear each of us as we teach and to better participate in the lessons.

After class the team was invited to a cafe for a late night snack. It was quite funny as the restaurant arrange the tables to accomodate us, handed out the menus, then informed us that the kitchen was closed and all that was available was ice cream! But we had a good time building our friendships with our Russian friends.

Please pray for our students. We quickly develop a love for them as we spend 3+ hours with them each day. They have such an enthusiasm for learning English, pray for them to have an entusiastic heart for the Lord as we share Christ for them. Pray for us to truly show them the love of Christ, and by our witness to prepare them to hear the Word. Our greatest desire is for them to come to the point of repentance. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give us the words so that they can understand their need of a Savior.

Great turnout!

WOW! I told you yesterday we had 57 sign up for our class on Sunday, and that we expected more for our first class on Monday. We had 94 come to class last night! This is both wonderful and a challenge at the same time. Our conference room can really not accomodate that many, so we were spilling out into the halls and lobby area. We have offered to have classes this afternoon at the church to help us with the capacity, but we have only 10 who can do that. So, we have rented an additional conference room on another floor of the hotel and will also use the lobby of that floor. Our desire is to be able to share with as many people as possible, but we also want to deliver a quality English course. Having 26 people being taught by one person in a room with 50 other people is a challenge. Please pray for each of us to know how to modify our plans so that all who have come will have a chance to experience not only a good, relevant, English experience but also an opporunity to hear the Word proclaimed.

It has been a real joy to see those who have come to our classes in the past eagerly come again. Please pray that we continue to show the love of Christ as we teach, and that the Holy Spirit will be preparing them to hear as we share on Friday. We believe that these relationships are key for us as we earn the right to share Christ with them. Pray that we daily remember our role as ambassadors, regardless of how tired we are or how we may need to modify what we have already worked so hard to prepare.

Please post comments as you read our updates. It is such an encouragement to know you are praying for us.

Thats all for now, we have an afternoon class to go to!

Off to a good start!

Sorry for the delay in posting to our blog, but travel plans have not allowed me to acces a computer until now. Nancy and Ben are safely in Murmansk after a visit in Petrosadask with a local church and missinary friends. They survived two overnight train rides, and Ben has had a quick immersion into Russian culture and travel! Tim and Linda met in Moscow on Friday evening, met Rob at the airport on Saturday, and arrived to bright sunny skies around midnight on Saturday. It is a little hard to get to sleep at night with a the light coming in the window, but other than that we have all adjusted.

Sunday morning we went to worship at Golgatha Baptist Church, and had a wonderful time. It is always good to see our friends that help us so much with our English classes. The worship experience was great, reminding us of how we will be in heaven worshiping our God in every language. The service was a mix of traditional Russian hymns and some contemporary songs which were sung by some of the younger members of the congregation. We had a time of tea and fellowship after the service.

The Lord is continuing to bring our team together and blessing us. Ben was ready for some guy time and Linda and Nancy were ready for some female companionship, so our first day together as a team has been a time of bonding.

Last night we had registration for our English classes. We had 57 come, but expect more to come to our first class on Monday night. Many of those who attended told us they had friends who will come, and many who have come before chose to skip the registration.

Please pray for the Lord to send those He desires to hear His Word to our classes. Pray for us as we teach to show the love of Christ, and to build new friendships and renew old ones. Pray for stamina as our bodies adjust to the time difference and different schedules. Pray for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit guiding us.

Today we start out at the university in the English department, working with first year students. This afternoon we will prepare for class tonight and also meet with a local pastor. Then we will teach from 7 until 10pm.

The first picutre is the outside of Golgotha Church in Murmansk. The others are of graduation ceremonies at the Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary. My Nashville friends may recognize two of the ladies that spent the summer in Murmansk and worked with us in the summer of 2007, Evgenia and Maria. They are so happy to have completed their degrees. Evgenia will also marry Artum this next Saturday. Pray for a wonderful day for them.

A team brought together by a love for Russian people

We will have another opportunity to use English classes as a way to bring people together in Murmansk and share the gospel with them. The Lord has put together a team from 3 states for this trip, and it has been amazing how he has brought us together.

I was a bit disappointed that only two came to our informational meeting at Carmel Baptist for this trip. Nancy Brown and her husband Steve came just to see what our plans were. I spoke with Nancy a few days later and she indicated she was feeling led to go, but that Steve was not. The good news was that her son, Ben, was interested in coming. But that would still leave us with only 3, and I like to have a team of at least 4. So, my friend Tim Wicker sent an email to his VSC teams and through friends of friends he connected us with Linda Hargett and Rob Greathouse. Linda lives in Summerville, SC and has been to Russia many times, and better yet has used the same English teaching material we use. Rob lives in Mishawaka, Indiana and will soon begin ministering in another city in Russia. Rob has lived in Russia, and his wife is Russian. I love how the Lord connected us all together, and how each one of us love Russia, the Russian people, and have a desire to see all of them come to a saving relationship with Christ. Our God is AWESOME!!!

The Word was shared

Sorry for the delay in telling how our Friday went. Let me tell you, it was awesome!! Friday afternoon we shared with the English class which had been meeting at Golgatha Church. Each of us shared our own testimony, then Tim shared the Gospel and how to have a relationship with Christ. We could tell by the looks on the faces and tears in the eyes that the Holy Sprit was moving in their hearts. We gave each of them a Bible and invited them to church. Three of these were especially interested in our 4 spiritual laws tracts, and what a relationship with Christ is about.

We had a similar response in our Friday evening course. After teaching for the first 90 minutes, we each shared a testimony and then came together as a large to group for our Gospel presentation. Our friends were all very attentive during the presentation, and were expecially excited about getting a Bible. Many wanted more than one Bible to share with a family member or friend. There were several questions about how this Bible differs from the Orthodox Bible. One man, Nikolai, was brought to tears when Bryan shared a testimony and tract with him.

We also gave an invitation to attend an 'Alpha' course which the members of Golgotha Church teach, which is a type of discovery class for those with questions about what it means to be a Christian. Four people will start this class next week. We invited them to attend a service at Golgotha Church, as well as to begin meeting together as an English club in between the times we come. Some English speakers from Golgotha Church will lead this club. Over 25 signed up for this club, giving the folks from Golgatha a chance to cotinue to build relationships with them.

A couple of students from the evening English classes came by to visit Golgotha Church while we were there. They stated that they were very curious about what the church was like on the inside, and that they had previously been afraid of this place. They were surprised to see that it was a 'normal' place, and indicated they would like to come to a service there. We had many instances of people sharing with us how surprised they were to learn about Christians, and how we were normal, fun, people.

Almost all of the students indicated that they would want to attend another class in the future. They inidcate that learning English was fun, but also they indicate that the message we bring about Christ is encouraging to them.

Thank you again for your prayers - don't stop now!! Please continute to pray for all those who attended and heard about how to have a realtionship with Christ. Pray that they will read their Bible, pray that they will remember what they heard about how God loves them and wants a relationship with them. Pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to convict them of their need for Him. Pray that we can maintain contact with them through email and through the members of Golgotha Church.

And now, what about you? Have you been touched by the response of our friends in Russia? Would you like to be a part of continuing to sow seeds of the Gospel, and hopefully a part of seeing the harvest? Please pray about joining us on an upcoming trip. Our next trip is planned for May, and we would love to have you as part of our ministry team. Please contact Tim Wishon if you are interested.

PRAY!!!!

We are starting our last full day here in Murmansk. We have had a wonderful time meeting new people, visiting universities, and teaching our conversational English classes. We have made many new friends, and reconnected with old friends. Now comes our most important day. Today in our English classes we will share our own stories of what Christ means to us, and we will share the Gospel and how they can have the same hope that we have. Please, wherever you are right now, pray for us. Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through us, pray for wisdom in knowing exactly what to share, pray that those who are listening will hear with their heart and mind, pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their need for a savior.

We know that we do nothing other than share. We know that God does the convicting, and calling, and changing. We trust Him, and know that He is faithful, and that He desires that none perish but that all come to a saving knowledge of Him. This is our great desire today. To be used by the Lord as His messengers, to share the greatest gift in the whole world. Pray for us to boldly tell this story.

Our pictures today are a combination of our classes in the afternoon at the church and the evening at the hotel. We are so thankful for the Golgotha Church. We had planned on having all our classes there, but the Lord brought us more than we could accomodate there. But it has been a blesssing to have the afternoon classes there, and it has freed up some space for our evening classes.

I am not sure if we will be able to have another post to our blog while we are in Russia. We will finish up our classes late tonight, then have a 7am flight to Moscow. We will have an afternoon there, then a 6am flight back to the states. I hope to be able to post from the dorm where we are staying in Moscow, we will see. If you do not see any updates, please pray for safe return travel.

Thank you again for your prayers. We have seen the Lord answer them while we have been here. We praise God for you, and we offer all the glory to Jesus our Lord.

A peculiar people

Most of those we meet at the university or who attend our English classes can still not quite understand why we are here. Even though we have answered the question 'why are you here' many times, it still doesn't connect. Why would someone travel all the way from the US to Russia to and have an English course which is free? You are peculiar!

But that is exactly what our Lord calls us to be, a peculiar people. We are to be different, and noticeably different as we let the love of Christ shine through us. As we are here in Murmansk we pray that what people will remember is that one difference, that we follow the Son.

Our classes were off just a little bit last night, we had about 70 attend in the evening. Our classes in the afternoon are relatively consistent with around 20 attending. We thank God for allowing us to continue to meet with our friends each day, and for the openess which He has allowed in our interactions. Please pray for wisdom each day as we seek to have the right words to teach and to share God's great love.

It has been a little colder the past couple of days, around minus 20 to minus 25 Celsius. But fortunately we are only outside for a little bit at a time, and it has not been a problem. No snow falling, just bright, brisk days.

Today is our last day at the university, and we have had several of the students come to our classes at the evening. We thank God for this opportunity to bring more people to our classes that will have the opportunity to hear us share.

They keep coming!

Our students are so faithful, they keep coming each day to our lessons. One lady makes a two hour drive in to the city, just for our lessons. God has given us a great gift to share with our friends here, the simple ability to speak English. Our hope is that many of you will see how grateful our students are for our coming here to help them learn or improve their English skills. You can have a huge impact by sharing your time with them, and you need no special training. If you speak English, you are qualified! As you read how the Lord uses this gift to allow us to share His Gospel, we pray that you will consider investing part of your life in spreading the Good News here in Murmansk.

Elizabeth has been such a great help on our trip. She makes friends very easily, and has been a big hit with all the ladies! The picture here shows her as our model for displaying parts of the body. The class got a big kick out of taping the names of the body on the appropriate place!

The other picture shows the city as we walk downhill from the church. Please pray for the great city of Murmansk. Pray that the entire city would be caught up in a great awakening to the Love of Christ. Pray for lives to be changed as people hear that God loves them.

Our schedule is packed!!

I must apologize for not updating the blog yesterday. We have so many opportunities that our schedule barely leaves time for sleep! Our days consist of sharing at a local university from 9 until 1, teaching our English course at the church from 2 to 5, then teaching the English course at the hotel from 7 until 10. We are blessed to have so many contacts with people and opportunities to build realtionships, but I think the team is considering mutiny.

Our time here has been so good, and we have already seen peoples perceptions of Christians change. One of our interpreters said that some young men came up to her after the English class and said they were surprised to find out she was a Christian. They said 'you look and act normal'! They were surprised to discover that as Christians we don't spend all our time dressed in black with a very somber mood and praying in front of icons. This type of change of perception is one of things we want to accomplish, so that the people here will be more open to hear us tell our story and to share the Gospel.

Please pray for us as we continue our teaching. The relationships we build this week will have a big impact on how our testimony is received. Pray for us to have a restfull sleep each night. Pray for protection from the evil one as we travel and share. Pray now for our Friday classes, that everyone will return, and that their hearts will be prepared to hear the Truth.

I am so thankful for our team here. Everyone is so committed and has a great attitude, even in the face of little sleep and no time to sit and eat a meal. They are a blessing to me, and I know to our friends here.

Exceeding, abundant, more than we ask or think...

We had an amazing response to our English course, with over 100 responding!!! This is an amazing number for us, but a true answer to prayer. The Lord has used this as a way to confirm to us and our friends here that He is in this work. This huge response is calling for changes in logistics, as we had planned on having the meetings at the church. However, the church can not accomodate this large number. You can see from our pictures that we will be challenged even having the meetings at the conference room. Our plan B is to now have two sessions of classes, a three hour session in the afternoon from 2 until 5, then another session in the evening from 7 to 10. We will have the afternoon session at the church and the evening session at the conference room at a local hotel.

Please pray for the following,

1. That all that came to our registration will come to our classes through the week.

2. For physical stamina for us as we teach and travel between locations.

3. For wisdom to know how to best arrange logistics for our classes in order to most effectively teach.

4. For us to be able to quickly build relationships with so many, and for the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and words.

We will have opportunities to work with students in a local university on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This will mean pretty full days, but more opportunities to share. We have been in this university many times over the last several years, and have developed good relationships with the faculty and students. We look forward to seeing new students and connecting with friends.

We are reminded once again that it is the Lord that is in control and that only through the Holy Spirit and His strength that any good work will be done. We are in awe of our God, and good He is. Pray for our spiritual strength and protection as we seek to tell about Him. We pray that all we do will honor Him and bring glory to His name.

Great Sunday at worship!

We made it in to Murmansk late last night, and got in our beds at the hotel a little after midnight. Met with the IMB guys at breakfast, then went to Golgotha Church for worship. It was great to be with this congregation of believers. They shared with the church the fact that we are having our English clubs, and many are coming and have invited friends. Please pray for the Lord to direct those He desires to come and be a part of our English classes.



The weather is actually pretty nice. More sunlight than we had anticipated, and temps in the high single digits, feels pretty warm! Please continue to pray for our bodies to adjust, and for us to be bold in our witness.



Our sign up for the classes is tonight, please be praying for us to make a good first impression and to make our students feel at ease. There is often a feeling of uncertainty = why are you here doing this for free? Pray that we can quickly build a mutual trust, pray for the Holy Spirit to quiet objections raised in their minds and hearts, and pray for us to quickly build relationships.

We have all connected in Moscow

We made it to Moscow, andd thankfully all the luggage made it with us! We brought several trunks with items we have collected for our friends at a local seminary which were donated by the Hancock/Lewis class at Carmel Batptist. Glad the trunks made it with us, glad we don't have to take them any further! We connected with Fred and Bryan at the place we are staying.

We are staying at a dorm operated by Calvary Chapel which is on the outskirts of Moscow. The hosts have been so gracious, and man can they cook! We had a wonderful supper last night, and outstanding breakfast this morning.

We will spend the day here is Moscow, then fly on to Murmansk this evening. We will arrive there late, around 11pm. Please pray for our travel and for a good nights sleep.

We praise God for this opportunity, and for the grace he has already shown us. Pray for us to have many opportunities to tell about our God how loves us so.

On our way!

We will be leaving today, with Fred and Bryan flying through New York and on to Moscow, and Frank, Tim, and Elizabeth flying through Munich then on to Moscow. Please pray for us as we begin our trip, especially that we would be aware even now of people that we can share the gospel with.



We will arrive in Moscow on Friday afternoon (Moscow time) and then meet at a dorm run by Calvary Chapel. It is used primarily to house teams like ours coming through on mission trips. Pray for a good rest for us on Friday night and that we can quickly adjust to the new time zone.



On Saturday we will have a brief time in Moscow, then fly up to Murmansk. Sunday morning we will worhsip at the Golgotha Church, then plan with them for the beginning of our English classes.



I probably won't have a chance to post any updates until Monday, it will depend on our access to a wireless network. Please note our prayer requests on the right. We are depending on your prayers to accomplish what the Lord has laid before us.

Pray as we prepare!

Our team will leave for Murmansk on February 12, stopping in Moscow for a day on the way, and arriving in Murmansk on Saturday February 14. Our team this time consists of Bryan Coffey from Sharon Baptist in Charlotte NC, Frank Boyd from First Baptist in Clover SC, Fred Linkenhoker from First Baptist in Nashville TN, and Tim Wishon and daughter Elizabeth from Carmel Baptist in Matthews NC.

Please pray for our physical and spiritual health as we prepare to go. Please pray especially for the hearts of those we will come in contact with in Murmansk, that the Holy Spirit would be preparing them to hear the Good News. Pray for them to see our advertisements in the newspaper and internet, and for them to decide to attend our English classes.

Please pray for the church we will partner with in Murmansk, Golgotha Church. Golgotha is a Baptist church which has offered us their building as we use English classes as a way to reach out in the community.