I am glad to write to you once again about how the Lord continues His work in our small church community. We began a study of the letter to the Philippians on Sunday mornings. God is addressing us through the Apostle Paul,
“Conduct yourselves in the manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
Phil. 1:27
He is teaching us that we must grow in love and that difficult circumstances are not an obstacle for the Gospel.
He is teaching us about the joy of proclaiming Christ and praising Him through life and death. Preaching through Philippians shows me that God’s Word is highly pertinent for our lives today. Sadly, we see how short we fall from being ‘worthy of the gospel’ at times, and so it is crucial for us to keep praying that God would further conform us to His image.
By God’s grace we continue with our Bible study group for the deaf people in our community. They are very grateful listeners. They gladly study the Scriptures and even testify about Christ to their deaf friends. Some of them are in church with us on Sundays. Throughout the week I teach them in their homes. I bring an interpreter with me and someone else from our church for more fellowship.
Although I really enjoy this opportunity to teach the deaf, I have been praying about passing this ministry onto one of the brothers in the church who is able to teach. The main reason for this is that I must manage my time well, and I get invited into people’s homes a lot. Throughout the week I spend a lot of my time counseling and helping the members of our church. I prayed about this with other brothers and decided to pass this study group (for the deaf) on to two brothers – Pasha and Sergei. At this point they come visit the study group together with me. They have started doing the teaching while I am there to provide support and help. Soon they will take it over completely. Please pray that God would help them in their new role, to be faithful and grow through this ministry.
Recently, sister Luba from our church asked me to come share the gospel with her friends. They are a middle-aged family (Katya and Pavel). Their lives were interrupted with a hardship. Their fourteen year old son is in the hospital in a coma. We met with these people to share the gospel with them. I wanted to prevent them from trying to bargain with God – promise to believe in exchange for the health of their son. We called them to follow Christ no matter what happens. The church is praying for them. The boys mother wants to attend church but her husband is opposed and doesn’t want to let her come. They also have relatives that are hostile toward us. Please, pray that they would come to believe and that the Lord would show his mercy to this family.
My wife and I also need our relationship with Christ to grow stronger. We are asking that the Lord would influence us and that we would depend on Him more. I am praise God for the people in our church who pray for me and my family regularly. I know that you pray for us as well, and we thank you for your hard work!
I just returned home with a heavy heart from visiting my mother. She is in a lot of pain, suffering severely. I don’t know how to help her and that is a heavy burden for me. Please pray for her, that the Lord would reveal himself to her.