I Skype chatted with John Neese (team leader) and spoke with Becca on the phone for few minutes today. I am very happy to report that her phone is working now in Russia. It made a world of difference in the hour that she was up before I left to pick up the boys from school in just sending each other emails and pictures of what we have been up to on each side of the world. We keep our phone call short because I'm getting a good deal at $3.99 per minute to talk on the phone from Russia. Germany is a much better rate for those of you who may take your phones overseas. Data is free, so we are emailing fools.This first picture was taken in a cab on the drive from St. Petersburg to Lomosov,
where they are staying. Yep, it's blurry, even the camera was tired. lol!The second picture is a paper she took a picture of over there...I just like the name of it. :)
The next picture is a view from her bedroom window. What you can see are all the buildings filled with the flats that the Russian people live in. Becca told me that most of the flats are about 300 sq. ft, give or take, usually take. There are some homes in the country that the richer people live in, and she may send a picture of that tomorrow.
I will include some prayer requests that I received from the team leader at the bottom of this post. Remember the team and all that they come into contact with in your prayers. Particularly pray for their health and safety as they minister to young people in Russia.(From John Neese)
Wednesday (10/14), a 12 year old girl arrived at Child in Danger (CID). We all recognized her. She was at Children’s Hospital #15 on Monday when we got to visit there. She recognized us and was glad to see us. It made her arrival at CID a little more gentle. Please pray for her.
Thursday (10/15) evening at Child in Danger we ran into one of the Social Workers changing metro trains on our way home. He thanked us for coming and said he really liked our Bible lessons with the kids and said it was a shame that the Orthodox church didn’t do the same. This opened the door for me to share more about our faith with him. On the wet rainy streets of St. Petersburg near our hotel, we talked. He is 21 years old, Orthodox, and has not accepted Christ yet as his savior, but I gave him a lot to think about. Please pray for this young man to accept Christ.
On Friday (10/16) we had the tea with 4 of the 5 older kids. We brought a cake and cookies and sat in the small dining room so we could talk and share. In Russia, having tea is the social cultural norm. It’s how adults, teens and churches socialize. IN the USA, it would be comparable to saying “potluck”! We chatted and about an hour into the meeting, I asked if they wanted to hear why we were here. They agreed and I shared why, then I asked if they would like to hear what God has to say about entering into heaven. They agreed to this too, so using a simple Gospel Bead presentation I presented the Gospel. I invited them to pray with me to ask Christ into their lives. All said they prayed! Four kids accepted Christ that night that included a boy and three girls!
Saturday evening, (10/17), Team 2 arrived safely with all luggage and on time. Susan and Becca were tired but excited to be in Russia!
Sunday, (10/18), our group went to church right here on the campus of the Christian University.
Monday, (10/19), our group’s first day in Lomonosov. At 10am we met with the 6 guys from the drug rehab center at the Lomonosov Baptist Church. They were very open and some began sharing their personal struggles. It will be a great week with them! Tonight I encouraged them to begin thinking about sharing their personal testimonies with us. It will help them grow. Please pray for them as they start this. I thought this will be needed for their future as they will be able to share with others that have drug problems if they have practice now. At 12pm we went to the Children’s Hospital. There were 5 kids there to work with, and everyone was very open. We were given until 1:30pm. This site will be fun and easy. At 2pm we had lunch and 3pm went to the Petrohof Boys Home. These are at-risk kids that are very hard to handle. We had a rough time today, but we have a plan for tomorrow that should work better now that we’ve seen the kids and what we can and can’t do. We have the kids from 3:30pm to 5:00pm each day. Please pray that this will work and all things will work out. This site is going to be a challenge. Everything else is going fine.
Please send me your blog web link. I’m glad her phone is working now!
Blessings,
John
Thursday (10/15) evening at Child in Danger we ran into one of the Social Workers changing metro trains on our way home. He thanked us for coming and said he really liked our Bible lessons with the kids and said it was a shame that the Orthodox church didn’t do the same. This opened the door for me to share more about our faith with him. On the wet rainy streets of St. Petersburg near our hotel, we talked. He is 21 years old, Orthodox, and has not accepted Christ yet as his savior, but I gave him a lot to think about. Please pray for this young man to accept Christ.
On Friday (10/16) we had the tea with 4 of the 5 older kids. We brought a cake and cookies and sat in the small dining room so we could talk and share. In Russia, having tea is the social cultural norm. It’s how adults, teens and churches socialize. IN the USA, it would be comparable to saying “potluck”! We chatted and about an hour into the meeting, I asked if they wanted to hear why we were here. They agreed and I shared why, then I asked if they would like to hear what God has to say about entering into heaven. They agreed to this too, so using a simple Gospel Bead presentation I presented the Gospel. I invited them to pray with me to ask Christ into their lives. All said they prayed! Four kids accepted Christ that night that included a boy and three girls!
Saturday evening, (10/17), Team 2 arrived safely with all luggage and on time. Susan and Becca were tired but excited to be in Russia!
Sunday, (10/18), our group went to church right here on the campus of the Christian University.
Monday, (10/19), our group’s first day in Lomonosov. At 10am we met with the 6 guys from the drug rehab center at the Lomonosov Baptist Church. They were very open and some began sharing their personal struggles. It will be a great week with them! Tonight I encouraged them to begin thinking about sharing their personal testimonies with us. It will help them grow. Please pray for them as they start this. I thought this will be needed for their future as they will be able to share with others that have drug problems if they have practice now. At 12pm we went to the Children’s Hospital. There were 5 kids there to work with, and everyone was very open. We were given until 1:30pm. This site will be fun and easy. At 2pm we had lunch and 3pm went to the Petrohof Boys Home. These are at-risk kids that are very hard to handle. We had a rough time today, but we have a plan for tomorrow that should work better now that we’ve seen the kids and what we can and can’t do. We have the kids from 3:30pm to 5:00pm each day. Please pray that this will work and all things will work out. This site is going to be a challenge. Everything else is going fine.
Please send me your blog web link. I’m glad her phone is working now!
Blessings,
John
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2 comments:
Thank you for keeping us up to date. I'm praying and am excited to see how God is working in and through you all.
Adrienne
Praying for your whole team....oour thoughts are with you all!
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