Vladimir, Russia

This is Daniel and Anya.

Anya was our translator, and Daniel is her brother whom she has raised since he was seven.

This is Sasha, our other translator.

He translated for us last time I went also.

He speaks English so well that people have asked him, "How did you learn Russian so well?"

(My favorite time was when, after speaking to another American we met in Red Square, Sasha walked away imitating the man's "southern" accent. It was hilarious.)

Sasha has a beautiful wife named Sveta.

Two years ago when I met them, they were (nearly) engaged, and now they have been married for a little over year.

The picture below entitled "king and queen" is of them.

They met us at the airport this year, and we spent the whole time with them.

This is the concert that was held at the church.

A group from Murom came that day, and this is their band "The Tree".

You may have seen the video of them playing Jesus Lord of Heaven.

This is Volia and Volia, two ladies we shared the gospel with. Many women of their age want nothing to do with strangers and will not even speak to us, but these women were very open and excited to hear why we came to Russia.

There's something really neat about this time also. There is a law that will not allow us to share the gospel with children below the age of fourteen if a parent is not present and consenting. We were not even allowed to give them Bibles or tracts. I didn't much like this law and did not really have much regard for it since I believe that God's call for us to speak trumps all such laws, but I didn't want to get anyone from the church in trouble. Then again, there are ways to get around things like that. (As decievers and yet TRUE.)

So as I was speaking to these ladies, there were several young boys on a bench slightly in front of us and to the left. I could see them listening very intently, even though they pretended not to. It was very neat! In fact, they weren't the only ones listening in; there were several other benches of people nearby that heard the gospel too. Praise God!

Hanging out at the church before the prayer meeting

Here are some of the girls from the church having fun.

The girl on the right is from Murom. She is twelve and started coming to the church in Murom without her parents knowing. Now she is just part of the family, and a young woman from the church brings her every week. That was such a cool story to hear.


Here we are saying goodbye to the Murom girls. They had come for a day of evangelism, a ladies tea, and the concert.

At the ladies tea.

Moscow, Russia

Red Square
Red Square

Red Square

Here we are in the metro! I had never experienced such a place; it was insane! We had fun on the escalators. They were so steep and long. We had to have been on each one for about 4 minutes!

king and queen

Sasha and Sveta


The team at St. Basil's

The Hat Lady

Vorsha, Russia

Our day in Vorsha was 96 degrees and very humid. Nobody came outside, so we went and sought them out, in the shade of the trees, in their yards, even into the darkness of their appartments up broken stairs and creepy hallways with dead bugs and filth everywhere. I felt so vulnerable when Anya and I went in there, but God was with us. His soft whisper has never changed: "GO." If there is anywhere I would go back, it is there. Back to that dark building filled with people so in need of God's pure light. Back to that broken woman sitting in the dirt, in her eyes such death as I have never beheld. To once again hold her hand and tell her of the Savior who gave His blood for her. To see that new spark in her eyes, not just for an instant but for a lifetime. Here I am Lord, send me.

Bible story time after soccor.

Our little friends who followed us all day

Sveta, may you find Jesus who loves you, and find Life in His Word.

You said that you would treasure it always. God is faithful!

Sobinka, Russia

Russians get quite nervous if you grin at them. We had fun with Katya when she told us that.


We visited Grandma Tamara. She is so sweet, and her joy in the Lord is huge! She is radiant.

This was our last night. Here we are with the church in Sobinka as they prayed for us. I'm guessing Anya took this picture. How sweet of her.

The team!!!

Jesus Lord Of Heaven

Jesus Lord of Heaven

I do not deserve

The grace that You have given

Or the promise of Your Word

Lord I stand in wonder

Of the sacrifice You made

With mercy beyond measure

My debt You freely paid

Your love is deeper than any ocean

Higher than the heavens reaches

Beyond the stars in the sky

Jesus, Your love has no bounds

This is "The Tree" (the band from CC Murom) performing at CC Vladimir, Russia.

Many accepted the Lord at this concert; God is so good!!!

More Than Conquerors Through JESUS

I want share with you the following words that I read this morning. Corrie ten Boom wrote them in her book Not I, But Christ, which has been a big encouragement to me.

You may have read the "verse of the week" that I just put up. These words from Jeremiah have been chasing me night and day all this week, but I wasn't going to put it up because I always put up a verse from Proverbs. Well, when I read these words this morning, I understood why God was putting that verse on my heart.

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"I see a clear resemblance between the life of a child of God these days and a soldier, standing on the front line.

'Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:10-13)

An army has provision officers. Imagine a soldier coming to such an officer after a battle and saying: 'I could not fight; I had no guns. I was hungry, but there was nothing to eat. I saw my mate bleed to death, but I could not do anything to dress his wounds. All the time I did not know what the staff expected of me.'

And an officer who had seen to everything would answer him: 'But there were guns and food, which I provided. And you had the first-aid kit with the bandages.'

Imagine this soldier saying: 'Oh, yes, the bandages---I used them to polish my shoes.' And if he said: 'I never knew what I had to do,' the officer might say: 'I gave you a walkie-talkie, by which you could remain in constant touch with your staff.' That soldier would be punished severely.

But what are we doing, if we do not use the provision of the Holy Spirit in our battle? What are our riches; what is our background? What is our provision? We have a mighty High Priest and legions of angels on our side. We have the intercession of the Lord Jesus Himself and of the Holy Spirit. 'We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered....It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,...who also maketh intercession for us' (Rom. 8:26-34). And we have the presence of the Lord Jesus, who said: 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' (Matt. 28:20)

He is standing at our side, in us, with us. We stand on victory ground. We have a walkie-talkie, if the Holy Spirit fills us, making our prayer a talk, a wonderful fellowship with our King.

They that are with us are much stronger than they that are against us. One day when I had to go to a place that was dangerous, I was afraid. Then somebody said to me: 'When you enter, Jesus comes in.' That is true, for if Jesus is in us and we are in Him, He is always with us. God's provision is perfect.

We need food, and the Bible is the bread that never gets stale. Heaven and earth shall pass away but the Word of God remains in eternity. We have the instruments, the connection with our headquarters. The Holy Spirit gives it to us by His fullness. He makes our prayers a talk with the Leader. You know, a provision officer can do much, but if the soldier does not obey, loses courage, or gets afraid, and leaves the provisions without using them, then this officer cannot help him.

I fear that when, later on, we hear God's judgement regarding our lives, we shall be ashamed because we lived as beggars. 'Yes, but I was so heavy laden and I was so deeply impressed by my sins.' Then the answer will be: 'Heavy laden? But you had My Word: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). You were anxious, but I told you to cast all your care upon Me. But you did not do so.'

Imagine that we should say: 'I could not forgive. I was so full of bitterness. To love my enemies surpassed my strength.' Then the answer would be: 'But you had your Bible in which it says: 'The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us' (Rom. 5:5). God's ocean of love was there for you personally to use every minute of day and night.'

Imagine that you would say: 'My sins worried me so much.' Then you would hear: 'Have you no Bible? Did you not read in 1 John 1: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (v.9) and "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins' (vs. 7). And 2 Corinthians 5:21: "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"?'

All God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus. God was serious about the promises He gave us in the Bible. Take the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Because of this sword we are strong and God's Word shows us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, forgive us that so often we are discouraged because we look in the wrong direction. Teach us to accept all the riches, the strength, of Your Word, and to enjoy them that we may become Your strong, conquering soldiers. Thank You that we know that the best is yet to be. Cause us, by Your Holy Spirit, to be ashamed when we rely on ourselves and not on You. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we can never expect too much from You. Amen."

-Not I, But Christ, by Corrie ten Boom, chapter 25

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The defeated soldier that she described is exactly the state of the defeated Christians today. How is it that we can forget the One who bought us, and through the mystery hidden for ages bestowed on us his riches beyond measure: HIMSELF, His own Person, His Holy Spirit living through our surrendered lives what we never could do on our own? Have we forgotten for days without number the VICTORY that He has already won? Have we forgotten that we are "more than conquerors" because of Him living in us? He has clothed us, His Bride, with HIS righteousness, and do we forget? If a bride cannot forget her beautiful wedding dress, how can we forget ours!? Are we that blind to His promises?

If we have confessed our sins to Him, Jesus has washed them away, forgiven us, and cleansed us from all unrighteousness. He has clothed us with Himself, commanded us to follow Him, eat of His body and blood, abide in Him, and go and bear fruit in Him. What if when we got to heaven and He said, "Where is the fruit that you bore in Me?", and we said, "Lord, I could not bear fruit. It was way too hard just to get by, just to survive. I could barely make it by myself, let alone help anyone else. I did not have time to bear fruit. I tried very hard Lord; I wanted to serve You! But even though I willed to do it, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't! Somehow I always ended up doing the things that I didn't want to do...even the things I hate! I really wanted to do those things You talked about in Your Word, but I could not. I always ended up doing the things that I did not want to do. I don't understand; I tried Lord, really I did!"

Oh how wretched it would be to end that way! It breaks my heart now just to think that that is truly how some Christians live!

In all our hearing of God's Holy Word, can we miss so much? Can we miss the Solution?

"I thank God---through Christ Jesus our Lord!!!"

May God give you understanding this day into His mystery that was hidden for so long and even seems to be hidden so often today. May you not fall back in unbelief but through faith partake of all that He has purchased for you from His great storehouse of grace. May He show you that He is the Solution; not just once when you accepted Him, not just a few times when He "helped" you with something, but EVERYDAY, everyday that you abide in Him and walk in Him, you in Him, He in you. May He dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in Love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height---to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 17-21)

May He show you His "Sweetest Song".

Squeaky Fun

After so many serious ponderings, here's a peek into the lighthearted fun in my life.

Pause the music so you can hear our silliness.

Oh, what joy can be found in simple things...

I baby-sit these kiddos often, and what fun we have! The other day we had a blast squeaking matryoshkas, playing with playdough, coloring, changing dirty diapers, laughing a lot, snuggling, reading lots of books ("There's a Wocket in My Pocket"!), doing the same Pooh and Tigger puzzle at least six times straight, dancing around to Andrew Peterson's "Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies", making a mess, and all in all just having the time of our lives.

The end result was exhaustion for the whole trio, but we were happy.

:) :) :)Have a nice day! :) :) :)

Fortification

Therefore the LORD has said:

"Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But have removed their hearts far from Me,

And their fear toward Me is taught

by the commandment of men..."

Isaiah 29:13

The sinners in Zion are afraid;

Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:

"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?

Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,

He who despises the gain of oppressions,

Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,

Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,

And shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

He will dwell on high;

His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;

Bread will be given him,

His water will be sure.

Isaiah 33:14-16

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;

For how should My name be profaned?

I will not give My glory to another."

Isaiah 48:10-11

"For My sword shall be bathed in heaven;

Indeed it shall come down on Edom,

And the people of My curse, for judgement."

Isaiah 34:5

Who will bring me to the strong city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

Is it not You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?

Give us help from trouble,

For the help of man is useless.

Through God we will do valiantly,

For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

Psalm 60:9-12

You are my King, O God;

Command victories for Jacob.

Through You we will push down our enemies;

Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow,

Nor shall my sword save me.

But You have saved us from our enemies,

And have put to shame those who hated us.

In God we boast all day long,

And praise Your name forever.

Selah

Psalm 44:4-8

"For your Maker is your husband,

The LORD of hosts is His name;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel...

"O you afflicted one,

Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,

Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,

And lay your foundations with sapphires.

I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

Your gates of crystal,

And all your walls of precious stones.

All your children shall be taught by the LORD,

And great shall be the peace of your children.

In righteousness you shall be established;

You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;

And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.

Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake...

No weapon formed against you shall prosper...

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their righteousness is from Me."

Says the LORD.

Isaiah 54: 5,11-15, 17