December 2001 Archives
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 |
I ran around all afternoon on the 31st buying last minute New Year's gifts. (remember they do the gifts on New Years here?) Then it was off to rehersal for the special New Year's Eve service at the church. We actually had two services. The first one from 6pm - 8pm and the second from 10 pm to 1 am. Both were a great time of worship, testimony (folks took turns testifying how the Lord had worked in their life during 2001), Bible teaching, corporate prayer, and then more worship and praise. I was flying high! I felt so thankful for so much God has done in my life this year - for both the trials and victories He has used to increase my faith and trust in Him.
I decided to leave the second service early since I needed to drive pastor down to the airport the next morning at 5:30 am! I didn't realize I still had many cards and gifts to prepare to send back home with pastor and so I ended up not getting to bed until 2:30 am. Ugh. Even then, I never fell asleep because the neighbors were partying LOUD. And I mean REALLY LOUD. Imagine trying to fall asleep on the dance floor of a discoteque and I think you'll get the idea. So the 31st of December and the 1st of January really became like one very long day to me. Allow me to combine two days of entries here since it's already evening on the 1st. Basically I spent New Year's day driving to Moscow and back. (eight hours round trip plus two hours at the airport.) But don't feel sorry for me! It was a blessing. I had great fellowship with pastor and the Lord gave me strength and kept me awake (thankfully, since I was driving!) the whole way. On the way home I was able to listen to a teaching tape from our home church in California and some music tapes too. The snow in the countryside was beautiful! There were hardly any cars on the road so the whole trip was quite peaceful. I'm so thankful for my little car and the time I can spend with the Lord while driving.
Well, I'm gonna have a little dinner and then I'm sure I'll collapse into bed. I hope you had a blessed New Year. No matter what you do, when you belong to Jesus He makes it all fun!
Today was Sunday church service. I went to the second service (we have three on Sunday mornings) because during the third service I had a rehersal for the upcoming Christmas drama. I was asked to fill in for one of the guys who had to leave town for the holidays. I play the role of the a bad angel who has come to take a dying grandma to hell. It's all camp and fun with a serious message about being ready for death and obtaining salvation. I must say I had a ball playing this evil character!
After church I went out to lunch with pastor and his family and then over to their place for some tea and cookies. We couldn't stay long though as it was soon time to leave for the evening prayer meeting. Their were 38 there tonight! I had to hurry home afterwards because tonight my guest from America arrived.
Brian is marrying one of the russian sisters from our fellowship and is in town to spend New Year's with she and her family. He'll be staying with me for a few days. He's a real neat guy. He brought me a gift of a new youth worship CD. I told you he's a neat guy!
Well, I better hit the sack. It seems I'm getting to bed later and later these days. I developed a bad pain in my shoulder muscle, either from my workout or from sitting at the computer too long. I've been searching the net for information on digital cameras. I think I almost have one picked out! I'm so excited to be able to soon add photos to this site to go along with the entries.
Have a safe New Year's. I hope you have a chance to meditate on the things God has taught you in 2001 and on what things He may have in store for you in 2002. Maybe this is the year Jesus will take us home!
One of the interesting sights in Russia at this time of year is seeing all the women walking on their way home from work with a bag of groceries in one hand and a Christmas tree in the other! These trees are the scrawniest little things you ever saw. (Good thing since the ladies are walking home!) Here they start selling the trees AFTER Christmas. Why? Because russians don't call them Christmas trees but rather New Year's trees. They also decorate stores and homes, exchange gifts, and visit with Santa all in honor of New Years instead of Christmas. Christmas overall is a much smaller holiday here that is lost among the hub bub on the New Year celebrations and not celebrated until January 7th. (When everyone has a hang over!) Part of the reason for all this is no doubt that the old soviet system didn't want too much attention given to a religious holiday. Well, let me get to the day...
Today at the helps ministry I got to lead the worship time! The regular worship leader was absent today, so the leader asked me if I'd be willing to do it. These folks love to worship Jesus! I was so blessed to be able to help them. We are praying that the Lord would replenish our helps fund so we can continue to help feed the needy in the coming year. Personally, I'm really enjoying getting to know some of the grandmas that regularly come. Four of them decided they wanted to give something in return for the help they've been receiving - they want to help clean the church building! Bless their hearts. Tomorrow will be their first day.
After helps I did some extra shopping as I have a guest from America coming tomorrow night to stay with me for a week. As soon as I got home I began cleaning the apartment, new sheets on the bed, and all that stuff. Tomorrow I'll make something for him to eat for when he arrives. It's fun having a guest - at least the apartment gets cleaned! :)
Dima came over to help clean too. I give him a little money whenever he helps me cuz he doesn't have a job and I know what it's like to be 15 and without money. He really is a good worker and always so willing to help. Plus we got to have peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate milk together!
Tonight I'm gonna experiment sleeping in my office instead of my room. I figure I better get use to it before my guest arrives. Who knows, maybe it will even be more comfortable. Spokonaya noche! (Good night)
Hello everyone! Little Dima came by this morning to wish me a belated happy birthday. He gifted me a beaded flower arrangement in a little pot that his mom made. She's a crafter and very talented. I was thankful to receive a piece of her art!
Can you believe I forgot about the church staff Christmas party today!? I guess I've had too many things on my mind! Someone from the office called about 45 minutes into the party to see if I was just late, or sick. I felt so terrible! I raced down there in time for worship and dessert. I definitely had to eat humble pie when everyone asked where I'd been. It was a great party - all decorated with candles and Christmas colors. As pastor is leaving for the states on Tuesday to attend a missions conference, it was an especially tender moment as he thanked the staff for their hard work and expressed his gratitude to be able to serve with them.
After the party I went and picked up my license photos, paid my internet bill, and then picked up a package from the post office that was sent from my home church in California. What a surprize! I haven't opened it yet, but I'm sure I'm gonna love whatever's in there. I'm so thankful for my home church and their support they show us all through the year.
Oh, I wanted to let you know that I've been pricing out the digital cameras on the net and think I am about ready to make a purchase. I will ask pastor to bring it back with him from the states as they are nearly double the cost here. Please pray I'd get the right one so that I can begin putting some photos along with the entries on this site.
We had our staff meetings today since we skipped on Tuesday to celebrate Christmas. We worked out the details for the New Year's celebration coming up as well as the second Christmas outreach on January 6th. I'm in charge of evangelism on the 5th, which will mainly involve passing out invitations to the service and hanging posters.
After the meetings I had time to race over to the photography studio to get my picture taken. I need to renew my international driver's license and need a few photos for that. (post script - when I went to pick them up tonight the lady searched and searched only to find out the girl had missed my negative by mistake and didn't develop the photo. So, I go back tomorrow to pick them up.)
In the afternoon a group of us from the church drove out to the prison to visit the guys for Christmas. God provided a new guitar and two big boxes of apples which we were able to present to them. I led in a couple of worship songs and then some of the other brothers shared testimonies and from the word. We broke into small groups toward the end. My group was pretty non-conversational and had trouble asking and answering questions, so I ended up just talking to them about following the Lord and why they can be sure the Bible is truth. I pray the Lord continues to show us the key to reaching their hearts.
Wow! What a great Christmas. Let me catch you up...
Monday I spent all day battling a snow storm as I walked from store to store to get all my Christmas shopping done. I can't think of one year I haven't put this off till the last possible minute. Thankfully, I was home in time for a quick workout and shower before heading over to my friends in the evening.
Us adults spent Christmas Eve having dinner, sitting and chatting about this and that, relaxing, and listening to Christmas music CD's. When the kids got home from youth group we watched Veggie Tales Christmas on video, ate some goodies, opened a few presents, and then watched Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carrera sing Christmas songs on the TV before hitting the sack.
Christmas morning we slept in, had the traditional reading of the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke, opened presents, and then0 had a wonderful brunch. My gift to each member of the family was a different photo of someone dear to them which I had taken during the summer. I put each one in a frame and had them individually wrapped. They were so thrilled and had great fun remembering the circumstances surrounding each photo. Later, our american missionary team came over for a big Christmas dinner in the afternoon. I ate too much! Good thing we decided to take a walk through the snow after the meal. We walked to the city square where the city had erected a huge Christmas tree. There we had snowball fights, played king of the (snow) mountain, had races, and went sledding. Great fun! Afterwards we returned home for some dessert (more food! - yikes!), a time of worship and Christmas songs, a gift exchange, and again watched the Veggie tales video. I am so thankful for my family in Christ here. What a blessing to celebrate with them. The evening was capped off with all us guys trying to jump start our friend's huge van. We were laughing so hard at our feeble attempts to push it. Kinda hard to jump start a vehicle when you're loaded down with food and slipping on ice! Miraculously, the van eventually started.
Needless to say, today, I slept in again and was a slug all day (though I did get in a half hearted devotion time and workout). I'm glad I didn't have to be at worship rehersal till late afternoon. Tonight was our monthly communion service, which was an extra special time for me as I felt I had so much to thank the Lord for, especially for His body and blood He sacrificed for us on the cross to pay for our sins and give us eternal life. I am overwhelmed this month by God's goodness and love toward me.
Today our church celebrated Christmas. We rented a large facility for this event so we could have just one service. It was packed! Probably around 300 people in attendance. About 75 were there for the first time. God brought them in! About 35 went forward at the altar call to receive Christ. Some of them were crying, which made me cry too! There's nothing like seeing souls ushered into the kingdom of God.
After the service we had the new believers over to our church building for tea and cookies, a "what do I do now that I believe" talk, and then presented them with a gift of a hardback new testament and Psalms, short explanation of what Christmas is and isn't, and a short summary of what we believe and do at our church. It was so neat to see many of our servant leaders present and reaching out to these new believers, sitting and chatting with them, and encouraging them one on one in the ways of the Lord. We pray the Lord would keep bringing them back. Oh, one of my neighbors came to the service! Please pray for her. Her name is Julia.
I spent the rest of the day resting at home and doing some nutrition and fitness research on the web. I want to improve in these areas but need some knowlege first on how to go about it properly. Ultimately, I know only the Lord can empower me and guide me in this endeavor. Maybe in the future we might even have a fitness seminar and aerobics ministry at the church!
Tomorrow I'll be spending the night over at my friends to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them. On Christmas Day we're going to have a team dinner, gift exchange, worship, Bible study, and fellowship. I'm in charge of bringing a dessert, bread, and butter. So, tonight I made a white cake....which I just realized I left in the oven, yikes!!!...whew, not burnt, thank you, Lord. If I don't get a chance to update tomorrow, have a wonderful Christ-filled Christmas and may He fill you with the knowledge of His love for you! Merry Christmas, Ron
Ever have one of those mornings when you know you should get out of bed but stay and sleep another hour anyway? Yeah, me too. This morning was one of those kind. Of course, it doesn't help that it's still dark outside at 8:00 am!
I was so glad I didn't have to be anywhere until 11 am. That gave me time to be in God's word. It had been two days since my last devotion and I was starving! Going into it my thoughts were so disjointed and mixed up, coming out of it I was filled with peace and clarity. God is so good to have provided a way for us to be anchored in the midst of a crazy world.
Yuri was at the helps ministry again today. Actually he was the only male apart from those who work in the ministry. He is still sleeping nights at the train station and didn't get the job he'd been hoping for. I don't know what to do to help him. Invite him to live with me? I don't know how wise it would be to take in a homeless man, but to leave him homeless doesn't seem right either. I need God's wisdom.
This afternoon we had a special time of street evangelism for our big Christmas service tomorrow. About 16 people from the fellowship turned out to pass out fliers and hang posters. We'll see tomorrow how many will respond and come out. Sasha and I went door to door in the neighborhood surrounding our church building. Most people had at least heard of us already and were thankful for the invitation. Only a few refused to take an invitation. After the service tomorrow we have planned a special tea time for first timers so we can get aquainted.
When I got home I decided to go to all the apartments in my stairwell to invite my neighbors to come tomorrow. I was kinda scared. It's harder for me to invite someone I already know. It was great to see that everyone reacted positively and were thankful for the invite. One neighbor in particular really wants to come. I so much want to see God work among my neighbors. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Well, just a few days till Christmas. Are you ready? Personally, I'm feeling a little stress with all the extra activities that go along with the season. May the Lord help me to focus on Him.
As I'm writing this I'm listening to a recording of a Christmas program I participated in nineteen years ago! This holds extra special memories for me because it was also the year I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior!
This morning was the graduation ceremony for our Bible College. Pastor encouraged those in attendance to not forget the essentials of living the christian life - studying God's word, praying, partaking in communion, and fellowshiping with believers. A good reminder for us all at a time when the busyness of the season can distract us from what is vital.
In the afternoon I took a walk to pay the bills and do some grocery shopping. I've been feeling a little run down the last few days, so I decided to stay home tonight so that I'd be fresh for a full day of ministry tomorrow.
Well, I'm gonna wrap this up. I want to spend some time with the Lord. God bless! Ron
This morning I left the house at 7 am to drive to a city two and a half hours from home to bring home one of our russian missionaries who has completed her time there. We had six inches of snow last night so the roads were pretty sloshy and I had to drive extra careful. On the trip back Lena, the returning missionary, and I had a great time talking about all the things the Lord has taught her and changed in her during the year and a half on the missionfield. I believe the Lord encouraged her through me as I was able to share with her some of my experiences after returning to America the first time. She is full of joy and expectation for what the Lord has for her in this new season of life. I am really beginning to like this new ministry to the missionaries.
When we got back to Vladimir her new roomate was waiting for us with pizza right out of the oven, fresh vegetables, and hot tea. It felt so great to have good meal after all that travelling.
Next stop was the local department store to pick out a gift a good friend's birthday today. I had no idea what to get as I pulled up and prayed, "Holy Spirit, please guide me to the right purchase." When I walked into the store the first thing my eye fell on was a big pineapple sitting atop the fresh fruit display. I immediately imagined it sitting in a pretty bowl surrounded with other fresh fruits, wrapped in clear gift wrap, with a bow on top. After a half hour of looking around, that's exactly what I ended up getting! It turned out to be a beautiful gift! As I carried it through the store to the gift wrapping department every eye was on this huge platter of fresh fruits - I even heard a few "ooh's and ah's"! You have to remember that here it's in the middle of the dead of winter. Everything is white and cold. Pineapples are rarely seen, so the sight of this fruit platter looked like the Hawaiian tropics walking through Siberia! I drove it over to my friend's flat and left it as a surprize.
Then it was off to the hospital ministry. Tonight we invited some of the worship group singers to join us to present a small concert in the hospital's meeting room. We went to every room and invited folks to come listen and watch a program about Christmas. Many can't leave their beds, but those who could came and filled the small room. We sang a few worship songs, Christmas carols, and then Anton, the ministry leader, shared the gospel and led the room in a prayer to receive Christ. We also prayed for those who were ill, that the Lord would do a healing in their bodies. What an encouraging time of reaching out. We can only pray that God's Spirit will continue to draw these folks to Jesus.
Last stop was the car wash and then to the pay garage to park the car. What a great day! My body is warn out but my spirit is flying. God is so good.
This afternoon one of my fellow missionary brothers took me out to lunch for my birthday. (day three of the celebrations!) Since he gave me the choice of where I wanted to eat, I chose the korean cafe. When we got there we were surprized to find out that the cafe no longer was there! So, instead we went to a lebanese restaurant called "Biblios". (words? books?) It was fantastic! The fellowship with my buddy was even better as we got to catch up on what the Lord is doing in each of our lives. He surprized me with a great birthday present - a new cartridge for my printer! He knew I needed a new one. Friends are so great.
Worship rehersal was at 3:30 and went well. The hall at church has been beautifully decorated for Christmas and the atmosphere helped us to rejoice in the Lord as we rehearsed. The service itself was milestone in the life of the church, for tonight we finished studying the book of Joshua. I suppose one of the main things I felt the Lord speaking to me was to get rid of any little "gods" I might be keeping in my life and worship God alone. A little god can be any habit, pet sin, or some small thing you know is not pleasing to God but you keep hanging onto it anyway. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can I let it go. The life lived with an undivided heart toward Christ is the most satisfying life of all.
I'm pretty beat tonight. I know you'll understand if I keep this short.
It was a long day, but a blessed day. The office staff threw a little birthday party for me in the morning. Again I am speechless to describe my thankfulness for all the loving people God has put into my life. I pray I can return even a small part of what I have been given in love, grace, and care.
We had our regular string of Tuesday meetings, actually a longer string than normal since we won't be meeting next Tuesday (Christmas) and had to plan for two weeks as well as the general calendar for January. Things really began to heat up though around noon as the outlying church pastors began to show up for their bi-monthly meeting with pastor. Today was the day we gave them all the Christmas gifts and cards we've been gathering from the church body for the missionaries. It was a time of joy.
In the evening we had a men's leadership meeting. Pastor exhorted us to take the example of Jesus as a servant leader. That we would be low minded and esteem others as higher than ourselves. I was convicted because I can be so full of pride at times and act and think more like a worldly boss than a humble servant leader. I know the Holy Spirit will transform me though as I abide in Christ, His word, and prayer, and make choices to serve others.
Again, I thank the Lord for all of you, the birthday greetings and gifts. I am overwhelmed by the love poured out on me. Praise God!
All my love, Ron
Today was my birthday! And blessing seems too pale of a word to describe what this day was for me.
From the moment I woke this morning I was in a fabulous mood. I just couldn't stop thinking about how much God loves me. I know this was His way of making my day extra special. I had a great time with Jesus, reading the word and praying. I was challenged to love more. This has been my hearts cry for some time now - I want to love as Christ loves. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) my devotion time kept getting interrupted by friends calling to wish me a happy birthday. Two of them wished that I'd live to be a hundred! Is that a prophecy? ha!ha!
When I checked my e-mail I had several birthday wishes waiting for me there too. Thank you to all my family and friends back in the states!
In the evening Pastor and his family had a special party for me at their home with a few of my closest buddies. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries...oh! I just checked my e-mail again after the party and another 13 letters came in! This is wonderful! I am the most blessed man today. Anyway, back to the party... there was also hot bread and butter, cranberry soda, and one of my favorites - creamed corn! After dinner we relaxed a while talking and laughing. Then we decided to have a time of worship singing. Before that though I wanted to share with my friends what God has been doing in my life in the last few months and of the new season He's brought me into. I shared with them about how I have a strong desire to be doing the things that Jesus would do if He were here and also to grow in loving all people more. I so often fall short on this.
After the worship time, they all laid hands on me and prayed for me. Words can't express the gratitude in my heart for my friends in Christ. Then it was time for a game - we decided to play charades! I was the MC. We had two teams - "The Best of The Best" and "Balony". Don't ask me how they picked those names! It was a fun time of laughing, shouting, and just having plain ole fun. By the way, "Balony" won. After the game we had cake - spice with green frosting! - with ice cream and tea. I was stuffed! A couple more games, opening presents, and it was time to head home.
As I walked home I couldn't help but notice what a beautiful night it was and somehow felt it was just for me. There had been a fresh snowfall and everything was blanketed in white. The air was crisp and clean. Thank you, Lord, for all my family and friends, their love for me, and most of all, for Your love. Where would I be without You? I can't wait to get to heaven!
Tonight was the big drama night down at the church. Everything went great! It was a full hall for the first showing and nearly full at the second. The highlight of the evening was definitely the talents of Dima, the leader of the drama team. He enriched every drama with his quick wit and nack for comedy. The overall purpose of the evening was to encourage the church to love eachother and treat one another as Christ asks us to. There were six spoken dramas, a break for tea and cookies, and then six pantomimes. I got to share a few words with the congregation at the end of each showing. I chose the message from Zechariah 4:6 - "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord." The only way we can put into practice the love Christ asks us to share with eachother as believers is by having a constant supply of God's Holy Spirit flowing into our vessels, just as those olive trees fed a never ending supply of oil into the lampstand. I could tell by the faces throughout the evening that people were being filled and blessed. With so many serious issues going on in the world, it felt so good just to laugh for an evening!
Do you feel run down and a lack of love for others? Pray, "Jesus, give me a new filling of Your Spirit, keep me plugged in to the power source through prayer and the word, and help me to remember that it's not by might, nor by power, but by Your Spirit." And try to laugh!
Zechariah is such a difficult book to understand. The Lord has still been faithful though to speak to me by His word every morning. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." has really encouraged me to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit in all areas of my life right now. Especially with the chaos of the Holiday season upon us, this is a very timely lesson for me.
Little Dima came over again this morning and he and I knocked out the rest of the windows. I can tell there is a difference and the flat is much warmer. We sat down for a meal of raviolies before he left.
I used the rest of the afternoon to clean up around the flat, wash some clothes, sweep the outside stairwell, and get in a workout with the dumbells. After a shower I left for the church. Dima (another Dima who leads the drama group) asked me to come at the end of their rehersal to share some encouraging words. This was their final rehersal in preparation for the big drama night down at the church tomorrow night. Guess what I shared with them? "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord"! (Zechariah 4:6)
Then it was time for the helps ministry. The lice man came again tonight but he was so drunk that we had to ask him to leave. Otherwise the evening was great. It was really encouraging to hear how those who come are picking up on the worship songs and really singing them out. I still sense my lack of humility and love with these folks and pray that God would keep changing my heart. Some of the grandmas like to hug me and don't let go! They also continually heap praise on me. It's uncomfortable and I don't know how to react. I wonder if I'm drawing too much attention to myself.
Well, that's all for today. God bless you! Ron
I bent down to pick something up last night and when I came up I hit my head on the bottom of a wall shelf. Ouch! Then this morning I slammed my finger in the bathroom door. What's up with that? Sometimes I'm just plain ole clumsy.
After a morning of knocking out some e-mails, Dima came over to continue helping with taping up the windows. What a great kid. While he worked on that, I spent the afternoon sorting through clothes and things I want to give away to the helps ministry. I'd wanted to do it for so long but kept putting it off. Now I just gotta get it down there. Boy, it's so easy to gather so much stuff!
I decided to not visit the home group I was planning to attend this evening. I've been out five nights in a row this week and was starting to feel kinda run down. Maybe that's why I bumped my head and slammed my finger? Anyway, I just took it easy, watched some old videos of past furloughs to America, and now am going to listen to a Chuck Smith teaching. I also want to try and get to sleep a little earlier tonight.
I ask that you would pray that I would have discipline with my russian language lessons. I am getting discouraged with my inability to sit down and do them. Maybe I need to go about it some other way. Studying solo is hard! Anyway, thanks for your prayers.
In devotions this morning, I saw how God has delivered me from Satan's power, cleansed me of my sin, and given me a new identity in Christ Jesus. He has also placed a calling on my life to bring the love of God to others through my prayers,good deeds,and by sharing with them the Gospel that can bring new life to them as well. I'm so glad that God has given my life a purpose!
At the boy's prison this afternoon I was asked by the leader to lead a couple of worship songs on the guitar. It was SO cold in the hall that I couldn't even feel the strings as I played. I got all mixed up in the chording and barely made it through the first song. How embarassing! The second song went much better. God has His ways of humbling me. I had then been asked to share about what worship is. In a nutshell, I told the 30 or so guys present that worship is more than singing songs or playing an instrument. Worship is bowing the heart before God in humble submission, giving him the praise He desreves. After that I shared my testimony of how I came to faith in Jesus. I remembered how it all boiled down to me humbly asking God to reveal Himself to me and to take over the life I had so nicely messed up. Really, God has made knowing Him very simple. It's people that have a way of complicating it and making it so hard. After the general session, I encouraged the three new believers in my group to read God's word, pray, and tell others about their faith in Christ. This is the only way that our faith will grow and remain strong.
After I got home, had a cup of tea, and thawed my feet in the oven, I headed for the hospital for our weekly ministry there. Anton, the leader, and I were the only ones tonight, but what a great time we had. God answered our prayers and softened the hearts of the patients (and some of their visitors!) to listen and consider our words about Jesus. It's always interesting to see how poeple respond to a public call to confess faith in Christ. Most stay silent out of fear and embarassment. But one man tonight expressed his desire to believe in Jesus. We prayed for him and the others that God would bring healing to their bodies as well as open their hearts to His love and lordship in their lives. Anton is a gifted brother in sharing the Gospel and it's a privaledge for me to listen and learn from his example. We are praying the hospital staff would allow us to have a special Christmas program next week for the patients.
P.S. I just read the transcripts of the video of Osama bin Laden. I'm angry,saddened, and encouraged. Angry at the prince of this world, Satan, and all his demons who have so deceived bin Laden and his people to think that they did something that pleases God. Saddened that so many people in this world live under the deception of Islam. And encouraged because I sense that this video will help to unmask Islam for what it really is and cause people all around the world to rethink who they follow and, prayerfully, draw them to the one true God and Jesus Christ.
Dima came over this afternoon and helped me tape up my windows. Hopefully this will keep the flat a little warmer and cut out some of the drafts. We didn't get all the windows done because I had to leave early for church. I had a meeting to discuss what direction we're going to go in designing our new kitchen at the church. After that meeting I helped to set in motion a project we're doing this week as part of the ministry to missionaries. We're writing Christmas cards to the missionaries. That involved setting up a display table, organizing those who could man the table, making a list of the missionaries, updating their photo stands, and making an announcement at the service to inform the body on how it all works. Most of this I delegated, or else it would never have been done in time. I'm so thankful for all those in our church office and church body that help in so many small but vital ways. It was neat to see so many gathered at the table between services to write notes of encouragement to the missionaries. I think they will be so blessed.
Then it was time for worship rehersal. My head was spinning by this point and it was hard to concentrate on worshipping the Lord, even once the service started. I feel this is where the rubber hits the road as far as trusting the Lord goes. Can I entrust all my activities and ministries to Him, stop my racing mind, and set my heart and mind on worshipping Jesus? Well, it doesn't always turn out so, and today was one of those days. But this is when I stand on the Lord's grace. I know that He is still creating in me the ability to trust Him for all things big and small, even when I get so busy running here and there.
After I got home, I threw some dinner in the oven, finished the meeting about the kitchen design over the phone with our church administrator, and then got a visit from Dima who was looking for something to do this weekend. Whew! Again I am reminded how important it is for me to keep my daily devotions with the Lord so that I might maintain perspective, balance, and have wisdom in all things.
A very full day today! It began at 7 am with elder's prayer at the church and ended about midnite when I finally returned home. Here's the highlights:
The morning meetings went great, though we hit a snag with the helps ministry. The problem is what to do with the homeless guys who come and are infected with lice or other illnesses. If we allow them in the church building to minister to them there is the risk of infecting others. If we don't allow them in then they continue to live on the street and can't hear the word of God. It would be so wonderful to have another building, like a half way house, in our city where we could properly minister to these folks. We don't have any such place in our city of 1/2 million people! Most of the homeless sleep at the train station, abandoned buildings, or a other nook or cranny they can find. We pray.
In the afternoon we had our american missionary meeting at pastor's house. We watched a video called "Transformations" which is a documentary about cities around the world that have been transformed by the power of prayer. It was so inspiring to see cities that were racked with suicide, drugs, and pornography become transformed as people gave their hearts to Jesus. I was crying thinking of how I long to see that happen in our city here. It gave me new motivation to keep praying at our weekly meeting for revival in our city.
After the meeting pastor invited to stay for dinner with his family and then to help decorate the family Christmas tree. I am so thankful for this family and the love of God that I receive through them. As a single man, it means so much to have a family that I can be a part of, to take part in holiday traditions, and with whom I share my needs and concerns. I couldn't make it here without them! I don't know if it's the Lord's will for me to have a family of my own one day, but if so, I want it to be filled with as much love as this family has for God and eachother.
On my day off today I did some research on exercise and nutrition. For me, being on the mission field in Russia poses it's own challenges to staying in good health, especially in the long winters. Fresh fruits and vegetables are available, but in small variety. As a result you tend to get tired of the same things and eat less of them. My challenge is to keep a fresh supply on hand and think up new ways to prepare them. Also, because of the snow and cold, there is a tendancy to stay indoors more - translates SIT indoors - and also to walk less and ride public transport more. I've taken to doing exercises at home every morning to keep in shape. Again, variety seems to be the key so that it doesn't get mundane and lead to slacking off.
In the evening we had a special vocal rehersal for the worship singers to prepare for our Christmas program. This year we will celebrate Christmas on the 23rd as a church (traditional western Christmas) and again on the 6th of January to celebrate traditional eastern Christmas which is on the 7th. In between we'll celebrate New Year's on the 31st, so it really adds up to quite a full season of celebrations. Tonight we prayed after rehersal that God would make the Christmas season new and fresh for us as we continue in God's word, prayer, and fellowship. By the way, this year we will sing five traditional Christmas songs translated into the russian language: Emmanuel (Michael W. Smith version), O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, What Child Is This, Joy To The World, and O Holy Night.
At the church service this morning Pastor taught about death. Maybe not everyone's favorite topic, but nonetheless necessary. Do you know how many people will die out of 100? That's right, it's the one thing we can all be sure of. And as pastor said, "Though death is inevitable, our destination is critical." For the christian, death is the door through which we pass into eternal bliss with Jesus. For the non-christian death is the door to eternal separation from God - literally a living hell. We don't like to talk or think about these things, but we must! With the recent tragedies involving civilians in the states, more than ever death is on the mind of the average person. What do we do with those thoughts? We can either surpress or drive them out by distracting ourselves with anything and everything, or, we can seriously consider our own eternal destination and make a decision that guarantees our reservation in heaven. Have you made your reservation? Are you %100 sure that if you died today that you would go to heaven? You can be! It's as easy as praying to Jesus and asking Him to forgive you of your sins, come into your heart to live, and to be the Lord of your life. Will you take that step now?
I was excited tonight for the prayer meeting. How would God answer our prayers that more people would come - particularly our church leaders? Well, I decided before I even left home that I wouldn't focus on that, but just go in the joy of the Lord and pray. And that's what I did! What a great night. It was such a release to bring all our needs before the Lord and entrust them to Him. I was extra motivated to pray for my family and friends as I had heard reports of others who prayed for their loved ones at recent meetings and then saw them come to the Lord. And yes, I did count and there was exactly one more person there tonight then last week. That's growth! Please keep praying for our church to be a praying church. Sometimes we might think we don't have time to attend a prayer meeting or that it won't make any difference. But what will we wish we had done when we meet Jesus face to face? Prayed! What miraculous things could Jesus have done in our lives had we attended that meeting? What soul may have been saved through a prayer prayed that night?
The weather has been cold. Freezing would be a better adjective. I walk very fast everywhere I go to stay warm (but try not to slip on the ice!). I'm so thankful that God has given me good health for this time, a warm apartment, warm blankets, and hot meals everyday. Our God is a loving God that takes care of His own. Praise to Him!
After taking care of some e-mails this morning, I vacumed and dusted the apartment, washed the floors, and swept the outside stairs. I had to cut my cleaning day short as I had a meeting at the church at 2 pm with the leader of the drama ministry.
The meeting went well. Dima is getting the drama team ready for a night of drama which will take place a week from Sunday in place of the regular evening prayer meeting. Dima and I needed to go over the schedule and list of things to be done as I am helping him put this evening together.
After that it was time for the helps ministry. There are still many problems that need solving connected to this ministry. For instance, tonight a homeless man came whose clothes stunk up the whole room and made it hard for everyone to concentrate on the Bible study. During the study he began combing his hair. As he combed, lice would fall out of his hair and onto his lap where he would try to pinch them dead and then brush them onto the carpet. Oh my!! We already bought twenty plastic chairs for this ministry because we once found lice in the fabric covered chairs. But now we have to disinfect the carpet every week as well. You don't want to turn these people away from the church, but at the same time we have to think of the whole congregation and not start a lice epidemic. I have to admit this is the hardest ministry for me because I struggle to love these folks. Part of me feels sorry for them and part of me detests their filthiness. I pray God would give me His heart and mind for this work.
One neat thing tonight was that for the first time the leader had everyone break into small groups to pray for eachother after the study ended. My group turned out to have three homeless men, including the "lice" guy. I asked them to share their prayer requests with the group. Their requests included freedom from lice, food for each day, new clothes, and health. I encouraged them to pray for the person on their left and then we bowed heads and began praying. It was so wonderful that every one of them prayed for the guy on his left. Their prayers were simple, sincere, and heartfelt. I was so encouraged that they took the step to pray outloud! There is still much that needs changing in their lives, but they are taking first steps to relying on Jesus for the power to make those changes. At the end I prayed that God would provide a place in our city where these kind of people could come and have a warm bed, a warm meal, a bath, and a place to wash their clothes. I believe that God will answer this prayer! I know His heart goes out to these unfortunate men. Will you pray for this too?
Today I slept in till 10:30!! I was so exhausted from yesterday's trip and from only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before. Anyway, all day I've been in a bubble.
In the afternoon I went to buy another birthday present for a friend whose birthday is this Sunday. So many of my close friends have birthdays in December so I always end up spending a lot of time hunting for gifts during this month. I found what I think will be just the right present. I hunted for over an hour before I found it. Boy was I glad that I didn't have to put off the purchase another day.
I am kinda missing my family right now. I guess it's the holidays. I just want to be with them. However, I am so thankful for all the friends I have here and the love of Christ we share. Anyway, please pray for me as I'm just kinda feeling down in the dumps.
My friend Dima stopped by tonight to pay a visit, which was an encouragement. He misses the home group and wishes I'd start a new one on Friday nights for the youth. I'm praying about maybe doing that after the New Year.
The trip to Alexandrov was very fruitful today. We believe the Lord gave us wisdom in our conversations with the team there. As we departed there seemed to be renewed joy among the group and general agreement that the decisions made today regarding the ministry were the Lord's will.
Though we had to discuss some uncomfortable issues, it was so wonderful to see that the Lord was working in everyone to humbly find a solution to the problem. I was reminded how in the world these problems would be solved harshly and without consideration of people's feelings. In God's family we love eachother, respect eachother, and look for the good of others before our own good. This is not some pie in the sky theory! Today I saw it in action. I was so impressed with how the Lord enabled pastor to handle this delicate situation with love, patience, and care. The proof was in the joyous countenances of each person at the end of the day. Thank you, Lord, for the lesson you gave me today in counseling and problem solving.
Well, I'm very tired, so I'll say good night. Be filled with the love of the Lord. Ron
I ask for your prayers today regarding a personal issue I need to make a decision about. I know the Lord has the answer and I want to be sensitive to hear His voice.
Today I spent a few hours catching up on some ministry related e-mails. I take letter writing very seriously and am keenly aware of how a sloppily composed letter can lead to misunderstandings, confusion, and offence. So, I try to take my time writing and rewriting until I feel that what I want to communicate has been expressed simply and to the point. I enjoy doing this too. The reward is in the replies when I see that my letter was understood and received gladly. I guess you could call it my letter writing ministry. :)
This morning in devotions I was reading in Ezra again. Today's passage was about how Israel's adversaries tried to discourage Israel from rebuilding God's temple and the city of Jerusalem. It doesn't say why they were against this, but it probably had to do with them being afraid that Israel would grow strong again and perhaps end up being a threat to them. So many conflicts in life have a root of fear and of being afraid that someone else is going to hurt you in some way. Conflicts also arise when there is jealousy over the blessings that one receives and another doesn't. In any case, these guys tried first tried to foil Israel's plans by trying to become part of the building committee. When Israel rejected that idea ("we will build God's house ourselves") they tried discouraging them (ie. "you can't do that, it's impossible!") and, finally, they resorted to hiring lawyers to try and legally stop them. But you know what? Throughout all this Israel just kept right on building. It was such an example to me of how important it is to keep on building and laboring for God's kingdom despite the efforts of adversaries to stop you. If God has called you to do something, go somewhere, or say something, you must just do it. If you begin to reason or analyze things you're apt to throw in the towel or become paralized with fear over what others will think or do in reaction. I want to overcome the fear I experience sometimes that keeps me from doing or saying what to God is telling me. "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy
Our staff meetings went great this morning and I was on time! Hooray!
This afternoon was my friend's birthday party. He turned seventeen. We had a great time of worshipping the Lord, eating (burritos!), remembering what we were doing in our seventeenth year (I don't want to remember!), playing games, and having dessert. At the end of the evening we laid hands on the birthday boy and took turns praying for him. An overall great day of being with friends and enjoying eachother's company. It's so great to be in the family of Christ.
The carefreeness of this afternoon's party was also balanced out by discussions of some other more serious concerns regarding some members of the church. There are some things that we need to confront this week and this is always hard and we really need the Lord's wisdom. It's just like life as a soldier. There are of course times to relax and let our hair down, but then it's back to the reality of warfare. Our enemy is the devil and the battle is for the souls of men. We can't let our guard down or else the enemy will trip us up. However, we have the best captain, Jesus, who always knows where and how to lead us best.
I'm thankful for my friends tonight. Thankful for the love and care they shower on me. I know this is the love of Christ flowing through them. It's amazing, unexplainable, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. :)
Oh brother, here it is Monday night and I'm still up at 11pm. Tomorrow is the 7 am prayer meeting and I MUST be on time. Lord have mercy!
Today was my day off so I had an extra long time of devotion in the morning. Ezra chapter three. The recently returned Israelites decide to rebuild the Lord's altar and begin worshipping Him again. I was encouraged that they had their priorities in line. God first and all the rest second. I noted that it said that fear fell upon them because of the people that lived in that area. No doubt as the new kids on the block they had some fear that their neighbors might not take kindly to their moving in. However, in spite of their fear, it says they built the altar and began worshipping. I experience fear in my life too. Fear of what people think of me, fear of being rejected, fear of being misunderstood. Regardless, I desires that I worship Him first and foremost.
In the afternoon I had another workout. This one was, thankfully, without incident. Later, I went shopping for a gift for my friend who's having a birthday party tomorrow. I was so glad to find something and be able to have it gift-wrapped. If I wrapped it myself it would be a very scary present.
Well, I better hit the hay. I pray that you are able to find time to rest and be quiet with the Lord.
Praise the Lord, I woke up this morning and the pain in my back was almost completely gone. The Lord gave me mercy and a valuable lesson about safety.
In church this morning the message was from John 11 which is the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. The thing that most stood out to me was the verse that says, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." Pastor shared how this verse reveals three things to us. First, that God allows those whom He loves to get sick. Not because He's punishing us, but because He has a purpose in our sickness - ultimately that He would receive glory through it. Second, we see that Lazarus' sisters simply told Jesus the situation. They didn't demand that Jesus heal their brother. We are to have this same kind of attitude in our prayers to God - "Lord, YOUR will be done, not mine." Third, we see that Jesus loves us. The love mentioned here is a brotherly love, or love as a friend. Jesus is our best and closest friend who knows all about us and is always faithful to be there for us.
Praise the Lord! After church my friend and I worked out our conflict. The Lord was so faithful and brought understanding and forgiveness to both of us. I see now more clearly what things I need to change in my behavior and attitude. I'm so thankful to the Lord for helping us to work this all out.
After lunch I headed back to the church for the evening prayer meeting. I feel very strongly that until we become a church that prays together, we won't see God moving among us as powerfully as He desires. I was discouraged again at a low turn out - 18. That's 18 out of about 300 who go to our church. And again their were few of the church staff and leaders. But I know the enemy wants me to throw in the towel on the prayer meeting. God wants me to press forward and keep praying. He also wants me to not judge or criticize those who don't come, but to encourage and love them.
This morning I was working out at home and I fell off a chair and hurt my back. Don't worry, it's not serious. Just a skin abraison and a little soreness. What was I doing on a chair you might be wondering? Well, I thought up this exercise where I put two chairs face to face and use them as a bench. I lie down on my back and do chest flies using dumbells. Guess I turned out to be the dumbell. When I was pulling myself up after completing a set somehow the chairs fell over and down I went. My lower back hit the edge of the seat of the rear chair. Ouch! I'm so glad it's not a serious injury and I definately will be more careful in the future. God also used this mishap to humble me. I was thinkin I was so buff and full of pride about my workouts. Not anymore!
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the rearranging of furniture the guys and I started last night. Now my office is much more functional as well as having a pull out couch in it so that it can double as a guest room.
The helps ministry was kinda difficult tonight. I realized later that the first reason was because I was kinda in a funk. I think the accident I had in the morning set it off and then I spent time surfing the net when I had wanted to use the time cleaning the apartment. Needless to say, I didn't get much cleaning done and felt kinda like I slug. Anyway, the ministry itself went great. There was about 12 adults and four children. This week we took the children to a separate room so they could be taught more according to their level. That also helped keep a better atmosphere for the adults.
Tomorrow I hope to get a chance to talk with a friend I had a conflict with on Wednesday night. Please pray that I would be humble and admit my wrong and that the Lord would patch things up between us. Good night! Ron