Mom's illness

For a couple of years I have been watching and helping my mom fight that terrible cancer... we have been praying a lot believing Jesus for healing... the way she handles the sickness encourages many people who had known her for some time, she has set an example to all of us in the family, and yes, the illness changes us... it requires us to confront our mortality, illness requires us to confront lack of control of our lives, it requires for us to change the conditions in which we live, illness brings forth other issues to the forefront, including relationships, finances, and hope. Our spirituality is fully awake when we fight the sickness. SPIRITUALITY is that part of people that seeks meanings, connection, and love. Spirituality is the part of a person that yearns for hope in the midst of despair, for forgiveness in the midst of anger and hurt, and for a sense of connection and love in the midst of isolation. It seeks to answer the question of who we really are...

Astrakhan Training in Pictures

Equipping Saints in Astrakhan...

Dear partners, friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord,

It seems as though I just wrote you a praise letter - how time flies!!! This month has gone fast probably because we had so much to do as we celebrated our Lord's Resurrection. Olga and I would like to thank you all for your love gift and prayers in the month of April! We appreciate you and all you are doing to help us fulfill the task that the Lord entrusted unto us. Your support this month enabled us to continue in the ministry! Thank you again for your obedience!

As you may remember Olga and I have a strong desire to train and equip saints all over Russia and to the ends of the Earth for the work of ministry! Because you believed in us, prayed and sent your support we were able to go and fulfill the vision! At the beginning of the month we sent missionaries to Astrakhan which is about 1000km away from Cherepovets. We were invited to share in worship and teaching the Inductive Bible Study seminar at Christ the Savior Church. It was great to see more than 60 church leaders coming to the services each and every day. They were truly hungry for the Word of God! Praise the Lord! Our hearts rejoice when we know that we walk in the will of the Father, doing the things of the Kingdom! More than sixty people from Christ the Savior Church attended our program and learned how to study and teach the Scriptures inductively: verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book. The Lord ministered to our hearts in a very special way at the seminar. The prophetic Word sounded as we were digging deep into the Word of God! Many were convicted, restored, and renewed in the presence of God. His Word helped many continue running with the vision. Here’s some feedback we have got from the participants:

"I thank God for this well prepared seminar. As I was doing my assignments I realized that the Bible always explains and confirms itself. I was tremendously blessed to know how to study parables and understand the prophetic texts! Thank you for coming! Instead of just reading the Bible I learned how to sit down and meditate on the Word. It was so cool when I understood in my heart that the Lord had given me both the Spirit AND brains to hear the Word, meditate on it, and understand what He has to say to me; I was surprised to see so many details in the familiar texts I had not seen before. It was eye opening to me! Thanks a lot for your ministry, folks! You are a gift from God. On top of that you came to serve us and didn't charge us a dime! Thank you for the gift and come back soon!" - Olga Kravchuk

"I would like to thank you for your services! At the seminar I have learned how to study the Word and live it in a totally different manner! Now I understand what it means to be a Christian of the Kingdom. I had lots of question and at the seminar the Lord has been answering my questions. Thank you Lord! Today I strongly believe that if I study and live the Word on a daily basis I can overcome all the strongholds in my life. Hallelujah!" - Lena Shiryaeva

"I have been tremendously blessed by the seminar. Great to have you guys in our church! I have to say this, before I came to this seminar, I had been reading the Bible as an ordinary book, like I would read any book I buy from a book store. This course helped me realize that God has the Word for me! He has the plan for my life! Isn’t that awesome! I got the message, guys! I wish I could pass this program on to others in my home Bible study. Thank you all!” - Denis Frolov

"I am very grateful for the training! Your seminars helped me realize that I want to study the Word on a regular basis, and I want to study and teach it verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. I have learned to break the Word into smaller pieces and meditate on them using the context and understanding the spirit of the passage. Thanks a lot for coming to equip us with IBS tools! It was great! I know that the application column will help me change my life and my ministry. I am a children’s minister and I am going to pass the IBS principles on to the kids so that they might know how to study the Bible and apply it into their everyday life! This year we go thru the Old Testament with the older kids, I will be using all I learned at the seminar as I prepare my Bible lessons. Please pray for me as I give our children the tools that help them go thru their lives victoriously!" - Julia Kalinina

"We have been watching people at the seminar... it was awesome to see the joy of the Lord in this room... all of us are very blessed to be here! Some of us are ministers here who have been teaching the Word for some time but we were learning something new: the new approach and IBS principles. Thanks for coming!" - Alexey Kruglov and Sasha Minaicheva

"Thank God for ICM-Russia, you guys come as a breeze from heaven and help people of God understand the calling! The Lord spoke to me during the seminar! He spoke thru you prophetically. I won’t give up, I will use my gifting to serve the Lord. I have decided to follow Jesus and His commandments all the days of my life." - Artem Pavlov