Finally Home!!

Well, the dust has settled somewhat. Hearts are still emotional remembering the precious brothers and sisters who have become dear friends. The strangeness of being in -10 C (5F) and arriving in San Fran to 18C (65F) is still a hard adjustment…it almos doesn’t seem right to not put on a down jacket let alone see green grass and flowers blooming. Yet, this was a great trip with many adventures and an eye opening experience for all.

First, let me say that our brothers and sisters in Bashkortostan went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. We ate well, were warm, had comfortable beds (for those of us who fit in a bed), enjoyed wonderful ministry and service, and built great relationships. They are to be commended for their work in making our visit comfortable and effective.

Next, the ministry to the street kids, orphans and the rehab center was exceptional. The hearts of the team members were burdened and torn for the plight of these children. There was especially a connection with the residents of the Rehab Center in Sterlatimak where we spent two days. Our hearts are still heavy for the friendships made there and for the small encouragement we could be to them.

Also, we encountered an area where we as a church and a coalition can be of help. For the most part, our Russian Brothers do not have a concept of “groups” outside of Sunday Morning, or adjusting their sermons to a particular group. We did find some having Sunday School for the small children, but their concept of Youth Group was ages 12-35, including married couples. Well, you can see that the teens would simply get lost in the shuffle. Matthew and the team did a great job of sharing philosophy and modeling what a youth ministry could look like and many were eager to see it develop in their churches.

On another note, I found myself spending much of my time in churches counseling people who were going through struggles and family issues. For the most part the pastors are not equipped for counseling and I see this as a void that our coalition can help to fill. Thankfully later this year Bud Haskel will be teaching that subject. He will be a great resource for these men and women to be faithful in helping others.

Finally, I can say with confidence that our purpose as a church and a coalition of churches to help the region is moving along very well. There is a great appreciation and trust for our partnership and they are eager to have us come and minister along side of them and to them in a teaching capacity. Praise God for the vision of Bob Provost at SGA. Praise God for the Coalition Churches. Praise God for CVFirst and their passion for missions. Praise God for who He is and that His church is precious.

I invite any and all to join us on February 25th at 6:00 for our Operation Ufa 2007 Team report and testimony time.

To all who have supported us in prayer and with their finances, we all want to say “thank you”. You have allowed us to be used by God and have joined us in ministry through your faithfulness.

God bless,

Rod & the Gang!!!

Bitter Sweet

It has been a hard day emotionally for us all. Everyone is tired from ministry and we are all holding on to the relationships we have built with our Russian friends. Today we did some needed shopping and seeing parts of Ufa. We also went to Peter Zhuk’s home for lunch and a great time of fellowship. It was kind of like being in Ufa but on the farm…Now we are back at the office and are anticipating our evening to be long. Both Marina and Emily are here and we are all enjoying our last few hours together. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits. God has been good and great ministry has taken place. All want to return at the next opportunity because they see the need and because they have fallen in love with the people and with particular believers.

So, on behalf of the team I want to thank you for your faithful prayers and support so that we could do what we have been doing. Our lives are changed because of it and God has imprinted Himself on us again. You a have partnered with us, and are therefore, also ministering through our efforts.

Do pray for us as we shed tears tomorrow. It will be gut wrenching for all. I am tearing as I type for the bitter sweet joy and sadness we all feel.

Untill then…

Signing off for now…

Rod and the Gang!!!

Went to a Hockey Rink and Evangelism Broke out…

Today was an extremely eventful day with both teams serving in two different churches in the southern part of Bashkortostan.  Matt and his team served at Victor’s church in Salavat while my (Rod’s) team served with Surgei Loshak.  Both services went exceptionally well and God used them to knit our hearts together as Russians and Americans.  We all met up at someone’s apartment from Surgei’s church, had lunch — a hearty one at that — so what’s new — and went off to an ice rink to go skating.  Most of us, except for Marcos Rudolfovich and Matty got skates and went out on the ice.  It was quite a warm day, a little above freezing, so the skating was pleasant.  I however started to cramp up in both my feet and couldn’t endure it to the point of tears — er, I mean — it hurt so bad that I had to go in and take the skates off.  That was extremely painful and Surgei was concerned that I was hurt.  For the record I scated well and did not fall, but my feet were in excruciating pain.  So, when Surgie and I returned outside we dodged a few snowballs and noticed Marcos doing a “Crazy Run” (flailing his arms and legs as he went) accross the rink (a frozen over Soccer field) and Matthew chasing down Jr. Highers on foot and looking quite funny and normal.  Then Kenney was skating like an olympian being chased by some young kids.  It was clear that God was about to orchestrate something.  The next thing I knew was that I was standing holding the video camera listening to Matthew tell about 15 unbelievers who happened to be at the rink the Gospel.  It was awesome to see these guys see the opportunity.  Surgei was with me and now in the huddle of listeners and Matthew shared the truth and told the teens about Surgei’s church and that it could be trusted.  It was great to model this for Surgei who later told us that he was inspired and will be looking to develop some outreach ministries to youth.

In the evening (a relative term here – could mean 2 or 7, but this time it was about 5) we all gathered at Surgei’s for a Youth Meeting where our gang worshipped and Matty spoke, talking about what youth ministry is.  He did a great job and 2 1/2 hours later we were saying our goodbyes for 45 minutes.  It is always hard to connect with people only to have to leave them so soon.  There were many tears – most held back, but definitely felt.

We have just arrived back at our “Hotel” in Ufa – (Hotel = the office building where we stay)

Tomorrow we will have breakfast, do some Ufa sightseeing and shopping, have lunch at Piotr’s home and then dinner at Emily’s house (she is our interpreter and her mom is an excellent cook — well, we just can’t say no!!!)

Please continue to pray for us.  The formal ministry is over, but we have much yet to consider and do.

We miss you all and are so thankful for your interest in our trip and for your prayerfull support.

Rod and the Gang

It’s late Saturday…um Sunday…

So, we are at Surgei Loshak’s home in Sterlatimak which is about 2 bumpy hours south of Ufa. Today we went back to the Rehab center where we fellowshipped, worshipped, played some games, Matthew shared the Word, and of course we drank tea (chai). It was a great vist and we struggled saying goodbye. Ilya mentioned that this has been a hard trip because we have been meeting people and building relationships only to say goodbye. It is good, but hard…

This afternoon and evening we went to the church in Salavat where Victor (goofy Victor) is a deacon. We led worship, shared testimonies, I spoke and of course we ended with some tea…

This evening we broke up into two groups:

Matty, Marina, Ilya, Marcos and Renee all stayed in Salavat and will serve in that church in the morning…

I, Emily, Kenny, Svetlana and Melissa all stayed at Sugei’s home with the rats… (Yes…real rats. A mommy and daddy and about 15 little ratettes, or whatever they are called.) Sometimes they wander around freely. Well, let’s just say that Svetlana has alerted the neighborhood that she is here with a few well pitched screaches…

We are all looking forward to meeting again for at the church for lunch and a youth fellowship.

God has been good and we are very thankful.

Please pray that we can continue to serve Him in our final days. We are all tired and have been working hard in ministry. Every team member is doing a great job.

In just a few days it will feel like it is all a dream…and we have been asked to come back on a number of occasions. Praise the Lord.

That’s all for now…

Rod and the Gang…

Sterlatimak Rehab Center

It’s Saturday Morning at about 8:00. Yesterday we headed south from Ufa to the next major city in Bashkortostan, Sterlatimak where we visited with the Rehab Center and then with some of the Youth of the “House of Prayer” church.

The Rehab Center is really incredible. There are about 15 young men and women enrolled in the program. Our team arrived at about 1:00 p.m. and began to fellowship with them. They sang songs together, learned new games together, shared lunch together and did a great job of connecting with them. When Matty and I arrived at about 7:00 we were ushered into what would be considered their living room. We all sang some more songs and then I (Rod) was asked to share the word with them. It was great to see them all listen attentively as I spoke about Abraham’s faith, my youthful struggle with drugs and how God can take you through trials, but ultimately is preparing us for His heavenly city that has no foundations… After I spoke two of the men in attendance asked me this question, “Ardak (the name of one of the men) is supposed to be going to jail in one week for drug related crimes. Should he run away or should he go to jail?” Now it’s not to often one is asked that question and I felt the weight of a man’s life hanging on the thread of my answer. Praise God that He led me to 1 Corinthians 10:13… “There is not temptation that has overtake you but such as is common to man…who will make a way out…He is faithful…etc. the men were greatly encouraged by this verse…

Then we ate a hearty potato based soup (what soup out here is not potato based?), had some tea and then left. We will return again today and Matty will be sharing God’s Word with them.

After the Rehab center we were taken to the House of prayer church where we were able to fellowship whith the Youth… It was a good time, but they were much more reserved that the other youth we have been with.

Well, breakfast becknons…

God bless…

Rod and the gang

A Video Update…

Here is a video to let you know we are all doing well…

We love you…

God bless…

Class Is Over…Now on to Sterlatimak and Salavat…

Hey Coalition…

The weather here is snowy — lots of it, but not too cold.  Maybe -10C.  Today we finished our class with the brothers taking a test and preaching.  We divided the group up into six groups and assigned them each a passage.  Each group was then given an audience that they were to be speaking to.  They did well, for the most part, but they have difficulty thinking outside the box of Sunday Morning Corporate services and preaching to a corporate gathering.  At the end, we had a time of testimony and I was hugged by Piotr Zhuk — always an exhilerating experience!!!

So, the gang have left already and Matty and I are waiting for our rides…

We will try to keep you updated.

God bless,

Rod & the Team

Picture from the Orphanage

Orphanage…

This is the first orphanage our team visited…

Thursday Night Report…

Well, as Matty and I completed our “lecture time” and summarized the material in 10 points/principles. That’s pretty much what Don and I did last year when we taught our class on Evangelistic preaching… This year our subject was Doctrinal preaching. They really have a hard time considering preaching outside the context of a corporate gathering, so preaching to youth, men or women, or any other group is something new. We spent a lot of time dealing with realting your message to your audience, etc., and they received it well, all things considered.

The rest of the team went to another orphanage today. This one was much more institutional, i.e. all heads shaved and much more of a hopless feel to it. The team was burdened but encouraged that they were able to be used, serve and represent Christ as best they could.

This evening we went to the local and main mosque where we toured the central prayer room, the rooms for washing ceremonies and a few of the class rooms. It was difficult for some, but most of us took it as a learning experience. It was eerie walking among the Shiite’s, hearing them pray, seeing them in class and watching them go through the cleansing ceremonies. For some reason my neck was a little pained…maybe it was the pastor in me feeling a little bit of the persecution that others have felt. It was a good experiennce for me to stand in a cetral location of the propagation of darkness and to pray with the rest of the group for their salvation.

The picture us of us after our Banya experience!!! What else are you supposed to do after you are baked like a turkey in the oven? Drink Tea of course!

Later in the evening we fellowshipped at Emilies home with her Mother, Father and Indira, her sister who happened to be on winter break from St. Petersburg.

Tomorrow we leave on a three day trip to visit a Rehab center and minister with the youth in Salavat…

God has been good to us, showing us our weaknesses and strengths through it all. He is using us all to help support and encourage the believers here and, as opportunity comes, to testify of His grace.

I hope to be able to update again soon…

Rod

Warming Up…

It is now 1:30 in the morning on Thursday, February 7^th and the weather has warmed up a bit. It was – 13C, but it has warmed up to about 0C…

Our team is doing better as they have now had opportunity to visit the Street Kids Ministry twice and an orphanage today. They are also planning on visiting an orphanage tomorrow. They are not allowed to teach the bible at the orphanages, but they did teach the children some Sunday School songs which taught the Gospel. I don’t know if the Holy Spirit will use that, but it was at least worth a try. They did play with the children, sing with them, teach them and have personal interaction and encouragement. All in all things are going well and the Lord is showing us all his goodness and grace.

Matty and I are still laboring in our teaching. It is interesting how our Russian brothers think. So much of their culture is brought into their church, mind you, we could say the same about our churches too…

Speaking of “warm”, I and the guys (Matty, Kenny, Marcos Rudolfovich and Ilya) went to a Banya at one of the brother’s homes. Now I have sat in a sauna before, but this is much worse. As we opened the door we entered the first chamber where we took off our clothes. It was already hot in there. Then we moved into another chamber which was significantly hotter and where the washing ceremony would eventually take place. After that, it was pack 8 sweaty men into a small, but extremely hot room. It was toasty, the thermometer showed over 100F Degrees until the host started to put cold water on the stove to generate more heat – and trust me, you felt it. Three of us sat on the highest tier – a big mistake, if only we would have remembered our Physical Science textbook that taught us that heat rises. Now imagine feeling like a Turkey being put in the oven for Thanksgiving… Imagine burning hot steam swirling around your head, imagine sweaty bodies huddled together and laughing and trying to suck air. Then, after 15 minutes you all leave for a break, but first outside into the snow we go and then return into the outer chamber. We all waited about 10 minutes and then each of us entered into the holy of holies where we laid down and our host began to put more water on the rocks. The heat was now extremely intense and you would feel the drippings of birch branches that had been dipped in cold water and shaken across your back and legs. Then, after one or two more heat blasts from the stove, and your toes losing their feeling, our host would begin to beat us on our back with the birch sticks. It was a delightful and painful experience that we would all do again. As we took turns we had a great time talking to Peter Zhuk who shared his testimony, some ways in which we had been helpful to the ministries in Ufa and the history of the church in Ufa. It was a rich time of interaction with him…even though I was dripping from head to toe and had the birch leaves still on my back to prove that I was now officially in the Banya club. I highly recommend it, it was worth it.

That’s all for now, God bless….

More pictures soon, I promise…

Rod