OMSK (RUSSIA) – We continue to witness about Christ, pray for people, plant the seeds of God’s Word. Some people open their heart for Christ, agree to reconcile with Him. God Himself leads us to people who desperately need Him.

Among our new friends in the village of Yasnaya Polyana is Andrei. He has cerebral palsy. We talked with him about sin, about the importance of repentance. Read chapter 14 of Gospel of John, then suggested to pray the sinners’ prayer and Andrei agreed. He was deeply touched by our conversation and our care for him, he invited us to join him at fishing. Andrei is happy at the opportunity to communicate, because he lives a lonely life. But now he rejoices he has God beside him.

Olga lives at the same village. We shared the Gospel with her, she prayed for forgiveness of her sins, reconciled with God. But her relationships with her husband are still bad. She has no peace and obedience to him. On Bible foundation we counseled her about the love and respect she needs to have to her husband. After the prayer we blessed her and her family, agreed to keep in touch, headed her to the church in Kalachinsk, where missionaries Takhir and Marina serve.

And we met Vassily and Larissa. They never heard about God, so we gladly shared the Good News, and our testimonies. They reconciled with God. Vassily and Larissa live very poorly, we suggested help.

God knows what and whom we should say, and each one of us carrying the fire of His love feels his value for the Kingdom of God. Please, support in prayer all those who we preached the Word of God to..

Ivan Pavlov
“Nehemiah” church team, Omsk

KALUGA (RUSSIA) – We met Alexander two years ago in the town of Suvorov where we gave out homeless people hot meals. The first few times he came drunk, listened to our stories at the improvised services inattentively, chuckling. But he always was very accurate to repeat the words of the Lord’s prayer.

Now Alexander is 30, and the last 6 years of them he has been living in the street after his father’s death. During the two years Alexander realized that the Christians wish the best for him, but he didn’t want to hear a single word about a rehabilitation program, “I won’t make it, it won’t work for me”.

But recently he heard a testimony that touched his heart. One brother from the One Year for Jesus team (his name was also Alexander, he is on the right on the picture), who was homeless before, shared about changes in his life because of his faith in Jesus. After that Alexander said he wants to put an end to the life of a homeless man.

Let us keep him in prayer and believe that God will finish what He has started and the homeless man will find salvation and home!

Denis Nefyodkin

Team of the Grace Church, Kaluga

BARNAUL )RUSSIA) – In one of the towns in Altai region we have been teaching, talking and sharing, being led by the Holy Spirit, we were praying and fasting. We can see the changes. To one of the homes that used to be a nasty place, God’s order came. Here’s the story.

Mother Evgeniya, is disabled from childhood, receives two welfares from the government for herself and her son Maxim of 12 years old. Her sister Irina was taking almost all their money and would buy alcohol to then drink it at their house with her friends. Up to 10 people would come to the house every day. Because of that the boy is mentally disturbed and he needs private tuition. Another man, Dennis, 30 years old, an alcoholic too, his mother and step-father also lived at the same house.

We preached to them, many of them repented. Now Dennis is in a rehab center. His mother has repented and thanks God for answering her prayers and for her son having a desire to change his life. His step-father is still contemplating. Every time we come back we see the changes. They’re expecting us, it is clean in the house, they’re all sober.

Evgeniya took her credit cards back from her sister. Maxim is allowed to come to class for the lessons. We brought him clothes, footwear, school supplies, he was happy and his mother too. Irina, who used to live off her sister’s welfare, is looking for a full-time job and is now working part-time nursing some old lady.

We kept praying for Maxim that God would give him a chance to go to some health centre or a boarding school, because he still needs some special care. And God answered: now Maxim is at a boarding-school for three months and he really likes it there. His mother Evgeniya repented and gladly communicates with other Christians.

There’s a place at the town where new converts come for fellowship, prayer and Bible studies. Sergei and Galina’s family opened their home for the meetings. Sergei began to tell people he knew who drink alcohol, about God and that there’s a way out, his desire is to help them and introduce them to Christ. God answers our and their prayers.

Tatiana Ivanovna, one of the new converts has a son, Yura, he is confined to bed for four years, one side of his body is paralyzed. His wife Svetlana nurses him. It was God’s will that we went to see them. Svetlana welcomed us warmly. Yuri at first was very upset and said he didn’t believe in God. That didn’t stop us. We began to share about Jesus and a gift of salvation. The whole family repented and they invited us to come back.

Changes come to other homes too.

Team of the Light of Revival Church, Barnaul

BARNAUL (RUSSIA) – We met grandmother Tanya, as she introduced herself, in the village of Sokharevo in Kosikhinski district of Altai region. The village looked weird: it seemed there’re no streets and the houses were grouped in small groups in some distance from each another. They didn’t even have a food store, not to mention a hospital or a school – there’re no kids in the village anyway. Half of the houses were abandoned, and in the rest of them elderly lonely people lived.

Grandma Tanya is 85. She lives with her husband Alexei. He had a blood-stroke and hardly walks and talks. Grandma Tanya has to take care of the household, garden and also takes care for her husband. Sometimes a nurse from a nearby town comes to see them. Grandma Tanya has children, but unfortunately they do not help in any way. Grandma Tanya shared her hard life story for a long time. When she finished, she let us pray for her husband. Though at first she said no, she felt uncomfortable, but we insisted, and she agreed. Of course we were ready to see tough conditions of people sufferings from disease, but the reality was far worse than we expected. It was hard to imagine, how it was even possible to live in such conditions. What makes someone live like this – helplessness, hopelessness, despair, alcoholism?

Alexei could hardly talk, but he agreed with us in sinners’ prayer, and then grandmother Tanya invited Jesus into her heart as well. With tears in their eyes they listened to a story how Jesus died for their sins, and through their faith they received His gift of salvation.

We were leaving Sokharevo with mixed emotions: we didn’t feel the joy we usually have after the outreach. The village left an uneasy impression. But at the same time we felt that we were exactly where we were supposed to be – where people needed our words of support, comfort and encouragement. We plan to visit this family again, to find out how grandma Tanya and her husband are doing.

Elena Belyakova
New Life Church team, Barnaul

KALUGA (RUSSIA) – We met many people in the town of Peremyshl, and we stay in touch with them, with some of them we became friends. One of them is Elizaveta. Our team visits her every time we come to Peremyshl, invites her to church, however she always finds a reason not to come. But our last meeting was unusual. Elizaveta shared her trials with her son, who left his family and children.

It was a nice, sunny day. We sat on a bench near Elizaveta’s house and had a leisurely talk. We shared testimonies about how God changed us. Elizaveta asked us to pray for her son: “I believe that God is able to change the situation”, and then she made a decision to ask God to forgive her sins. Her words and intentions were so sincere she couldn’t help crying. The weather was sunny, and then suddenly a sunshower started. And the woman, all in tears, smiled: “Heaven rejoice with me!”

Our second meeting that day was with our old friend Vladislav and his son. He hadn’t been willing to talk in the past but this day became special for him as well. It was Vladislav’s birthday, and we had gifts that our church had prepared for people we met. It was evident that the man was happy with such an occasion. We believe that God prepares people’s hearts, and our meetings are not in vain!

Denis Nefedkin
Grace Church team, Kaluga

NOVOKUZNETSK (RUSSIA) – It’s a distant district of Novokuznetsk, the buses don’t go there, houses are run-down, desolation all around. Evangelists came here in winter, preached the Gospel to its residents. There they met a 94-year-old grandma Pana and realized how hard her life was. Huge drifts of snow almost cover her house. To get some water she has to walk far by a slippery slope. After this first meeting team members began to visit her with cans of water and food, trying to serve her with what they could. She would meet them with an open heart and always prayed with them. In August they met again.

Evgeny Gololobov, one of the ministers, shares: “I decided to ask grandma Pana about her almost century-long life. The first thing she told me was that life passed so fast. I immediately remembered a Bible verse which says that the time is short.

Grandma Pana was born near Novosibirsk, in the village of Bulatovo, in 1923. There were five girls and two boys in the family. There was a small church in the village and their mother would take them there. At home they always prayed together. What a blessing it was to meet God while she was still young, and what huge responsibility for parents it is to introduce kids to Christ, to teach them, to instruct them. “Train up a child in a way he should go” – says the Bible. And then times of repressions came, but God always lived in Pana’s heart. And here we are, in 2017, listening to grandma’s testimony about why she carried her faith through her whole life, never seized praying and asking God for help.

We had a chance to take a picture with grandma Pana, and prayed together. In her prayer she thanked God for His mercy, and her main words were: “The Word of God” and “serving God”.

Evgeny Gololobov
Church on the Rock team, Novokuznetsk

KALUGA (RUSSIA) – Our team evangelized in Peremyshlski district of Kaluga area. We have made friends whose hearts are open to God and they are searching for Him.

PERM (RUSSIA) – The day was windy. We were walking down the streets of a town passing out Christian literature. One of the members of our team noticed an old lady and ran to her, “Christian mail”. The lady turned and smiled, and then she came up and gladly received the Gospel. We met her. Her name is Martha, she is 78.

BOGORODSK (RUSSIA) – I’ve met an elderly woman named Nina during an outreach. She shared that in her life she often would respond to anger with anger, and would wish harm to the person hurting her. The Good News touched her heart and she decided to pray the sinners’ prayer.

EKATERINBURG (RUSSIA) – At her 80 years old Zinaida looks very well, she doesn’t look older than 60. She has a kind and sincere heart. When we began to talk to her, we realized that God was leading us to her, because she needed help. Her heart weeps for her loved ones. Though they all live together, in one apartment. But the housing problem separated the family.

NOVOKUZNETSK (RUSSIA) - The morning was wonderful: warm, fresh snow. We came to Plodopitomnik village in Prokopievsk district in Kemerovo region for an outreach. Our team of two was not welcomed by the villagers – they weren’t opened, some would even send us off. We were discouraged. But we stood firmly on the promise that God would answer our prayer, we stopped, prayed to meet the people who desperately needed God.

PERM (RUSSIA) - In May 2016, a team of three missionaries went to a village to plant a church. There they met a family of the Ivanovs¹. Here’s what the missionaries wrote: “The commission on juvenile affairs asked us to visit a dysfunctional family – meet them, talk to them, pray for them, because the children were likely to be taken away from their parents. We bought some food, took Christian books and went to see them.