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