By God’s grace we are alive and continue our ministry. I am phrasing it this way because two weeks ago a young girl named Nastya died. She was a drug addict. I wrote about her in my previous reports (for example October, 2012). Nastya failed to become a part of the church despite all our efforts and prayers. I know you prayed for her too and in this way participated in our ministry. We still do not know why after coming back from the rehab she began avoiding us. At first, she was very accepting and was talking about baptism but then something happened and she went back to her old way of life. According to her mother she did not start using drugs again but it was very hard to believe. God gave us a special opportunity to attend her funeral.
As we stood there by her grave many people came up to us. We did not know them. Nastya’s sister came up asking if we were the ones who helped her some time ago. She mentioned that when Nastya came back she seemed in a better place in her life, both physically and spiritually. Her neighbors came up to us, then her mother’s coworkers – all of them thanking us. We tried toexplain that what we did was because of Christ’s command but it was hard for them to comprehend that. Nastya’s mom allowed me to preach at the cemetery. I preached from Acts 17:24-34. I spoke about who God was and about his right to be the Lord of heaven and earth, about our need in him, the essence of repentance, the judgement and about Christ. Everyone listened and we gave them our contact information after the funeral. Unfortunately, people in our city are too busy to stop and think about God. It so happens that they find time for a long conversation only at the cemetery. We called Nastya’s mom to repentance and faith in God but for now with no result.
I began preaching through the gospel of Mark, will be covering chapter 3 this weekend. It is so exciting to be studying the gospel, to see the person of Christ, the events that surround him, his actions and words. One of my neighbors, a middle-aged lady named Tatyana began coming to our Sunday services. I have been talking to her about God and inviting her to come to church for awhile now. It is my greatest wish that she is there for the whole study of the gospel so that she may come to know the person of Christ. We are praying for her.
We decided to study all three letters of John in our small groups. We try to encourage each other to walk in the truth and love. I am also grateful to God and to you for manifesting the true love for me and our little church. This helps my family tremendously.
Unfortunately, my mother’s state is worsening. Doctors do not know how to help her. She is in constant pain and losing the feeling in her legs. She is terrified that she would become paralyzed. I decided to look for other doctors who might help, even if they are out of our country. Lord willing I would like to find a way to help her in this hardship.
Prayer needs:
- For the people who heard my sermon at the funeral.
- For me, that the character of Christ and his power would come through me more and more.
- For the teaching of the church and preaching through the gospel of Mark.
- For Tatyana, that the Lord would lead her to know the truth in Christ and come to salvation.
- For my mom, her repentance and the opportunity to get good medical help of miraculous help from the Lord.
