Budding in October – Part 3

Saturday Night

Steve and I are waiting for Sergei Loshak to take us to Sterlitamak for dinner and an overnight stay. I am sitting by the window seeing the Bashkortostan White House and Ufa city lights. The hotel room we use is comfortable enough. It’s chilly outside at about 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I am going over in my mind the events that had taken place since my last report.

Teaching Cults and World Religions has been more than I expected. We were able to cover everything in the Antioch Initiative Notes and all the content of the three power point presentations I purchased from Rose Publishing. The pictures, symbols, and information helped to overcome the language barrier/translation difficulties. I was able to give them a chart made by Rose Publishing listing the main teachings of the Cults and World Religions. They were translated into Russian. These were well received. They wanted to know how to get more. There is a website they can explore to find the answer. Oops. Sergei has come. We are off for Sterlitamak for dinner and rest. It probably will be a late dinner.

Monday Afternoon

Yes, it was a late dinner but very good. Olya always cooks a good meal even though we were later than planned. We had a good rest to face a busy Sunday.

Our first stop Sunday, was to take pictures of their building inside and out. There was no heating in the building, so the service was moved to a member’s lovely log home. We were able to fit the congregation inside their front room. Some of the men transported the song sheets and the benches to this site. Sergei preached on prayer. I had wrestled with this idea but God had laid on my heart the sermon from II Corinthians 8:9 concerning Christ’s poverty. These two sermons fit very well with their situation. Even though this church is struggling with a building project, their hearts are filled with joy. They are concerned with the progress of the building in Uchali, their church plant. Can you imagine, a church plant with a church plant? That’s the case here.

Then, we went to lunch at a sister’s house. It was great food even the sardine sandwich. Next, Sergei had to show us a new mosque in Ishambai. It was obligatory. Then, I got a much needed nap. This virus was winning the battle in my body on Sunday morning, but by Sunday night it was gone. I preached in the Church of the Transfiguration at the Sterlitamak Rehab Center and Steve gave his testimony. Alexei gave me free reign on the sermon length. The congregation was very attentive even the unsaved ones. I spoke on II Cor. 5:21, Christ our Substitute. That was lot of fun. They fed us porridge, bread, and potatoes. All was grown or produced by them. Then we got back to the Office around 11 p.m.

I left out some events. I met with Pastor Zhuck on Wednesday. I will share the results of that meeting in my final report. Thursday night I spoke to the pastors and missionaries in their Brothers Meeting with my concerns, health of the coalition churches, our commitment to the partnership, and news of Jim’s situation. I will share more in my final report. Ivan translated for me. This was partly by Emiliya’s request. She has been criticized for being in Brother’s Meetings as a translator. They said it wasn’t a place for a woman. Ivan did a great job. He was confident enough to do it. God worked through both of us.

The trip to Uchali on Friday afternoon was spectacular. Nadir is a fast but careful driver, a lot like me. The road is not real smooth but we made great time over the Ural Mountains in about 4 ½ hours. The rain storm turned into snow in the higher elevations. It didn’t really stick much but was beautiful.

We went to the church before it got too dark. I have a lot of pictures trying to show the different improvements done by the brothers after the Napa team left. God has done so much there. When I first saw the garage, it was a bare field with no improvements. As they started the foundation, Nadir reports that the city brought asphalt and paved the road up to their driveway. Praise the Lord for making this happen. Nadir did not ask for it.

I spent the night with Nadir and Lena’s lovely family. Daniel, Dina, and Ruveem are great kids. They are disciplined by loving parents but are still kids. They are full of activity. I had a great time with them. Then, we traveled back to Ufa and stopped for shash leek. That is pork shish kabob. It was great.

Well, I must close. I trust this will help you know what has happened on the trip. I will send the final report when I return. Remember our meeting in Rio Vista, October 28^th at 10 a.m. See you there.

Bud Haskell

Budding in October – Part 3

I have finished the teaching and covered everything that was in the manual and what was on the three power point presentations. The brothers received the material very well. I allowed the Bible School to participate due to the cirriculum, but do not believe this should be allowed everytime.

I handed them the Comparison of Religions Chart by Rose Publishing translated in the Russian language. They were very happy about this gift. It is a tool they can use.

In a few minutes I am off to Uchali and Ishambai to report what is taking place in those churches. I will return on Tuesday night at LAX. Thanks for praying. FYI: The Coalition Newsletter will be published after I return.

It is wonderful to serve God in the uttermost part of the earth. On day we will stand in heaven with these brothers as written in Rev. 5. I praise God for the opportunity.

At our next meeting in Rio Vista, Tuesday, October 28th at 10 am we will discuss the items Pastor Zhuck and I discussed. Please have your churches pray for his health. He will be going to the hospital the week after next to have a procedure on his eye.

Bud Haskell,

N. Calif. Coalition Coordinator

Budding in October – Part 2

Written During a Break

More brothers have come and gone during our sessions today, but there is a faithful group that is always here. Some brothers missed yesterday for very good reasons. They are here now. They are faithful ones too.

The sessions are going very well. Just before lunch Marina gave Emiliya a break. It is wonderful to have two good translators. Marina had been spending all morning translating the Power point presentation on Islam that I had purchased from Rose Publishing.

While we were presenting the central teachings of Mormonism, I had to ask the three young ladies in class to leave. I was asked why Joseph Smith believed in polygamy. I tried to answer this question but had trouble being careful with my words. So, Ivan translated for me. He was great. I relaxed and had a very intense time discussing this outwardly moral man who allowed his sexual passions free reign.

Pastor Zhuck stayed home all morning resting. I am hoping to talk with him later about our Coalition desires. He really wanted to be part of the sessions, but his health is not permitting this.

Tuesday Evening after dinner

I am sitting in the room while the brothers have a meeting. Emiliya is translating one of the power point presentations that I bought from Rose Publishing. I have verbal permission to do so.

We had another successful day. We are covering a lot more material than I thought we would. That’s good. I preached an expository sermon to break up the monotony of the text as we discussed in our last Coalition Meeting. I think it was important to model our kind of preaching. I asked them to take notes and be able to answer questions after the sermon. I asked them to pick out the main elements of an expository message.

They did a great job as a group. I am finding that many have bought into this style. Praise the Lord or Sla-va bo-ga especially the Bible School students.

I hope to be able to talk to Piotr tomorrow night. We have a lot to discuss. Pray that he will feel well enough to do so.

Marina is a delight to work with. We have to great and effective translators. While one translates for me during the training session, the other translates those special power point presentations.

I must close for night. I am getting very sleepy to the point of dozing off during my typing of this report. That’s not good. I must look over my notes for tomorrow. Good night. I hope to give another report tomorrow.

Budding in October…Part 1

Steve Unzueta and I landed in Moscow on Friday afternoon and were driven to the Warsaw Hotel. We took a short nap and were met by Jake Schwarz (forgive my spelling Jake). We took the Metro to center of the city. We saw a lot of places that Steve desired to see even Red Square and the changing of the guard outside the Kremlin.

Steve minored in History and has enjoyed studying WWII. He knows a lot about what took place during the German advance on Moscow and the subsequent battles in which the Russians pushed the Germans out of their country. He thoroughly enjoyed seeing everything.

Finally, we were tired and dragged ourselves back to the Warsaw and had dinner at the Diner down the street. Then, we fell into bed and slept twelve hours.

After a shower and a large breakfast Jake and Olya took us to the Arbat. There are great souvenir shops there, street performers, and wonderful food.

Then we visited the best part of the sightseeing. We toured the Victory Park dedicated to honor Russia’s victory over the Germans. It is an awesome sight just to walk to the main building. It was a gorgeous Indian Summer day. At least a hundred wedding parties were everywhere taking pictures after their ceremony before the reception. This is a Russian tradition to take your wedding pictures at one of the many memorial parks.

The main building contains artifacts, artwork, a rotunda honored special heros, and tableaus of specific battles. Steve kept saying he could spend days there. I am not sure about days, but I would love to go back again. It was an eye opening experience.

That afternoon we went to the airport to fly to Ufa Saturday night. We fell into bed at the Office/hotel after 1 a.m.

Steve had a rough night and stayed in bed all day, but I went Pastor Zhuck’s church. What a wonderful reception I received. Due to Pastor Piotr’s partial loss of eyesight his son Benjamin shares the ministry with his father. In fact Benjamin pastors his own small church as well. Victor Slobodyan and I preached. He did a great job at expository preaching. I was pleased. Then Benjamin and Piotr led in Communion. This was my first time sharing with them. I enjoyed it very much. Both sermons were directed by the Holy Spirit to link with Communion. It is a privilege to be used by God in this way.

After lunch at the church and returning to the Office/Hotel for a much needed hour nap. I was driven to Benjamin’s church. We had communion there too. One of Pastor Piotr’s younger sons preached for the first time before me. That was great to hear. Then, I preached also before celebrating the Lord’s Table.

Then, I was treated for dinner at Benjamin and his new bride, Natasha’s apartment. We had a great time looking at wedding pictures. They explained to me their wedding traditions. Natasha is studying to be a cook and does a great job at home. Benjamin is going to have to exercise to deal with her wonderful cooking. I shared with them that I have been praying for Benjamin’s wife for five years. That was awesome for me to finally meet this young woman, Benjamin’s helpmeet.

Today, I begin teaching. I am looking forward to this opportunity. Due to the content of the material, Piotr has invited their Bible School students to be part of the class. They need to learn about apologetics and the cults too.

Now, I am at our lunch break writing again. Some of the brothers coming from a distance were late, but we started without them. Others have not come yet. Piotr insisted that they all come. We shall see. Victor Gribkov will come on Wednesday. His mother passed away, and he is dealing with the paperwork.

We had a great first session. It was much longer than normal without a break. They were actively listening to me. Marina is part of the Bible School and is an interpreter too. She sits in front of Emiliya and aids in the translation. She will translate for me later. I am glad that more people are learning to translate. Mark Slobodyan does well too. I saw him yesterday at Pastor Zhuck’s church

Thank you for your prayers. The antibiotics are working, but Valentin wants the brothers to pray for me anyway. My voice is raspy and lower than normal. God is sustaining me. I will write more later.

Signing off…

Bud Haskell