TRIP TO TERASPOL, MOLDOVA

“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” -- Luke 24:45

This verse we shared with our dear pastor friends in Tanzania. Alex Alexandroff did a great job teaching a Bible study from a portion of Luke’s Gospel generally called “The Road to Emmaus”. Being discouraged and defeated after Jesus’ crucifixion, two of Jesus’ disciples met the Teacher who they couldn't recognized, of course on the road of discouragement. Jesus causes their “hearts to burn” in them as He was sharing from God's Word! Like Jesus we travel from town to town doing missions work and we meet lots of discouraged disciples and oppressed people.

During this Inductive Bible Study Seminar Eugene Zharoff met with lots of spiritually starving people, some of them had been walking their road of discouragement for too long... the Lord blessed Eugene with the open door to come and minister to a church which was in desperate need of care and encouragement!

We thank all of you who are praying for us and supporting the ministry out of your own means! The spiritual oppression weighed heavy on Eugene as well as the seminar attendees, but the victory was inevitable and the glory belongs solely to Him, the Lord is glorified in our lives! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!.

MISSIONS TRIP TO USINSK

"More knowledge of God!" These are the words of a young man who attended the seminar that Alexey, Sveta, and Nate just led in Usinsk. This is what ICM is trying to give people around the world. The ICM Russia Crew left January 3rd and returned on the 12th. About thirty people showed up for the three day seminar. Among them was a young man, maybe in his twenties, with Cerebral Palsy. During the seminar Maxim diligently read and participated in every activity. It was beautiful to see a great joy in his face as he was learning how to study the Bible and discover boundless treasure for himself! On the last day everyone was asked to give their feedback. "ICM gives people more knowledge of God," was what Maxim gave as his feedback.
Many people hunger for the word like Maxim and are not getting fed. Unfortunately pastors are not taught how to teach the word in Russia, and many parts of the world. Pastors get up, say some encouraging words, usually related to the Bible, and then step down, not giving anything of real substance to the believers in their church to grow. This isn’t entirely the fault of their own, they themselves do not know how to study and get deep into God’s word. The effect of this is that many people, though physically ok, are in some ways just as handicapped as Maxim. The worst part is they don’t even know it.

There is a lot of ripe fruit in Russia. People want hope, a reason to live, a new life, and the freedom to live it. This hope and new life can only be given through the freedom that comes with the knowledge of Christ. People are hungry for the word, and don’t know it. Our mission in ICM is to give people that freedom of knowledge, and heal the spiritually starving people of the world. This is the reason for the name Intensive Care Ministries.

The seminar was a great success! Alex is now training Nate and Sveta by teaching them everything he learned in the ministry through the years! And I am very happy to see that happening in the ministry! Alex and Nate and Sveta were taking part in leading of the seminar. At ICM Russia we strongly believe this is the way to go if you are serious about training and equipping people of God for the work of service! Nate and Sveta told us they had learned a lot from Alex during this missions trip! Praise the Lord! People were blessed to learn how to break apart and study God’s rich word. Here are some of the comments of the people who attended the seminar:

More knowledge of God. – Maxim.

We express our deep gratitude to Alex, Nathan and Svetlana for leading this seminar. The seminar was very user-friendly and helpful. We learned very much about studying the Bible. Thank you very much. May God guide and protect you! – Larissa Volkova, Hope Misheneva.

Dear friends, our brothers and sisters! Thank you so much that you bring people this knowledge. Thank you came to our snowy edge of the world. Thank you for simple and easy to understand explanation. This is the first seminar that I have been to where they taught me how to study the Scriptures and draw closer to God. I also want to gain strength and power through knowledge of the Lord and through the knowledge of His Word. Everything was veryunderstandable and interesting. Be blessed! – V.N. Nitchenk

I learned many things. I really liked the life experiences. The process of observation, interpretation and application really allows you study the Scripture in a deeper way. – Alexander.

This is the second time I have been to your seminar and I can say that this is really informative. It really reveals the depth of God's word. Thank you very much. Thanks Nathan. We welcome you to visit again. Romman

This is a simple and understandable course on the study of the Bible and not very burdensome. Continue to not turn aside from the simplicity that is in Christ. Thank you. May God bless you. Anatoly.

I thank God for this opportunity that we have received. I have begun to pay more attention to details in the text which previously I had not paid much attention to. And because of this, I have begun to dig into the Word. Through these lessons the Lord has revealed more of Himself to me. Thank you very much. – Alexander Sadovaya.

Thank you for coming to Usinsk. Thank you for you doing seminars of this kind. This study method is very helpful to many people who have come to God. You guys explain the Bible very well. We liked it, and we listened with much care. Irina and Elena Shabelnikov.

Thank you for your service! What you are doing is very important for every believer who loves God's Word. Let the Lord bless you for your ministry and help you in your further work. Your work is not in vain! – Ivan.

Thanks so much for this seminar! I learned a lot from verses that it seemed I had known for a long time. I really like the practical involvement we had during the seminar. I really learned how to break down the word and pull out so much information from just one sentence. The Seminar was very helpful to me. Thank you! Come again! – Irina Melnikova.

Thanks so much for the understandable explanation of the method. At first it was difficult to grasp the material, but soon it became more and more interesting. This is a very useful seminar. May God bless your open hearts and give the spirit of wisdom to the knowledge of His Word and His glory! – Nataliya Andreychuk.

I thank the Lord that He brought you to us. For me this was a new step in the knowledge of God's Word, as well as the Lord himself. I have never thought so deep about the word like this before. The seminar is very understandable and easy to digest. I wish that the Lord will bless you in your ministry and your home. Hope to see you guys again soon. Be blessed! – Alex Camarin.

Thank you very much for this seminar. I really liked the whole thing, I learned many interesting things. I will definitely try to study the Word as you have taught us. Thank you. God bless you! – Ina Ctolyar

Thank you very much Alex, Nathan and Svetlana. This seminar was very interesting. It seems that in the three years I have been a believer, I have missed a lot. I thank God for this opportunity to be closer to the Lord. May God bless you in your ministry. Now I know how to effectively study the Bible. – Rustam Mansurov.

It is a blessing for us to be able to travel to these places and touch people with the word of God. Thank you, our dear partners for all that you do to make it possible to do this work of the Lord! Please continue to pray and support us at ICM Russia as the Lord leads!

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SHARING 2011 VISION

Earlier this week Olga and I had an opportunity to meet with dear friends in Cypress, CA and share our vision for 2011 with them. While God is working on our hearts and minds, we as followers of Christ want to refocus and get back on track with God's vision! If anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things! We have the power - vastly underrated in an upside-down world where self-serving values and passions reign supreme - to deliberately turn our thoughts aside and focus on things God has told us about. The Lord spoke to us about us getting busy and making more disciples in 2011, equipping them and sending them out to the mission field. God urged us saying the time is short! Jesus wants us to be around our Father's business even more so, building His Kingdom by planting new cell groups and new ministries in 2011. We will be focusing on traveling from city to city, town to town , village to village preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God to the lost! ( Luke 8:1,2) He blessed us with the vision to help street children and orphans get right with Jesus and follow His steps. And for that, we thank God! It is huge when we see lives change. It is a precious reward to see people growing in the Lord and taking responsibilities in the Kingdom.

Please join us in prayer so that we might be able to accomplish what Jesus has entrusted unto us! in 2011. Please pray and get involved too! We will receive you with arms wide open!

MISSIONS TRIP TO WILDOMAR

We simply enjoyed our time at Bundy Canyon Christian School and Church!!! We arrived safe and sound to the site and were received by our friends and partners with arms wide open!!! Not only did they accommodate us in a nice room but had a delicious breakfast waiting for us on the dining table! What a blessing it was to come and have a Family re-union in Wildomar! A bunch of people from the congregation gathered next day at Pastor Larry's hospitality house for potluck and Bible Study. I was asked to pray and share from the Word of God! It was awesome! I shared from the Book of Luke and chapter 16 and we had a great time of discussing things we are facing in our lives these days. Olga and I felt welcome back home! God is so gracious to our family! We are so thankful for His love! We did a Sunday service too. I preached John 21! It went rather smooth; the Lord blessed us with the outpouring of the Spirit! Thank you Jesus! Love you Lord!

MISSIONS CONFERENCE

We enjoyed our last week at Missions Conference in Murrieta, more than 600 missionaries came to the conference to listen to the Word of God and recharge their batteries. Olga and I had some great time of fellowship and encouragement as well as meeting with missionaries from Costa Rica, Tanzania, USA, Russia, Japan, China. Dan's wife Debbie Finfrock was present at the meetings too, she was such a blessing and encouragement to us as she has been struggling with health issues lately, please keep Dan and Debbie in your prayers.



We also made some wonderful connections and new friendships at the missions conference and the teaching got us excited to continue our service in the Lord in the former Soviet Union and the ends of the Earth, refreshed, renewed and revived for another year and decade of equipping the saints and sending them out to start new ministries and churches. We desire to grow the Kingdom! Please keep us in your prayers as we get into the new swing of life in the mission field in Russia, Ukraine, Belorus, America, and Israel. Thanks to all who have been and will be providing for us in any way! May God richly bless you for your sacrifice!

Yours in Christ,
Igor and Olga Prokopyev

USINSK IBS SEMINAR

Dear Partners, Family and Friends,

Thank you so very much for your prayers and support this month. January 3^rd Sveta and Nate are off to Usinsk with Alex to do a seminar. They will be back the 11^th. I will send a detailed update later this week. Olga and I are very excited since this will be Nate's first time traveling so far to do a seminar, and his first time traveling with Alex. It will be a day and a night on the train there and back, so they are bound to have lots of fun.

We pray that the Lord will anoint them, those we are going to teach, and the whole trip with the Holy Spirit. We pray that they would be effective in teaching Russian leaders and believers how to study God’s word and that they would have open hearts. And... that the Lord would watch over ICM Russia Crew in travels: nothing lost or stolen and no accidents.

In His joy,

Igor and Olga Prokopyev

PRAISE REPORT 2010!

Dear Friends, Partners and Family!!!!

Happy New Year!!!! May the Lord bless you this new year with His grace and mercy!!! A New Year is upon us and the Lord is still tarrying!!! It means that we shall keep serving and loving Him and people around us! Jesus is AWESOME and full of grace and mercy and He so loves us! Olga and I are approaching our 19th anniversary this year! We arrived in the Kingdom 18 years ago. What a journey and adventure it has been! WE AGAIN THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT! You have blessed the Lord with what you had done with your lives!

The year of 2010 has been another one in which we saw the Lord move in Russia and the Former Soviet Union in such powerful ways! First of all, young adults, youth and the children of Light of Hope Church and Shelter are growing in the Lord. And the cool thing is that the Lord Himself is growing them! Hallelujah! We see the change going on in Andrey and Svetlana's life since they moved to the small village of Anisimovo to start a new work there. Thank you Jesus! I remember clearly the word of the Lord Andrey shared with us, the Lord spoke to him that the true source of Peace could be found in the surrender of the will.

In 2010 He has used us to plant a church in Cherepovets and a small home Bible study in Anisimovo. For that, we thank Jesus! Abner Kalinkin and Andrey Sorokin gather people on Sundays and Thursdays to worship and get into the Word and prayer! The Lord used Olga and I to plant Light of Hope Shelter in Severodvinsk. Victor Elizarov, Konstantin Rogov and Andrew Kachan are doing a great job there helping street children get saved and become the children of God! Alex and Nate, Svetlana and Olga, Victor Kot and Yuri, Vitaly and Julia and all of us at ICM Russia take an active part in building the Kingdom in Russia! It brings such joy to our hearts to hear His people work hard in the missions field, singing praises unto Him with such love and enthusiasm! Abner shared with Olga recently that the people who attend church just love to listen to the Word of God and be in His presence. The adults and kids seem to be understanding what the Word says and the importance of reading the Scriptures verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book for themselves. So, what can we say but GLORY TO GOD!

Another blessing is Inductive Bible Study Seminar we are holding in different churches, theological seminaries, rehab centers, etc. We are so blessed to be able to go and make disciples in all the nations! We strongly believe Jesus called us to the nations! It is a great joy to see the open door for us to come in and equip pastors, church leaders and believers for the work of ministry. It is huge when we see God's people taking responsibilities and moving on and starting new ministries and churches. That's our vision to grow bigger people in Christ, we are tremendously blessed to see them following Jesus and building the Kingdom!!! The saints are growing in the Lord and starting to serve Him whole-heartily! What a year it has been! So much done, so much fruit, so many blessings that I cannot even start to mention them for there are not enough lines on this blog page. The door is still open to start building a House of Prayer in Anisimovo and we are just waiting on the Lord! Please keep praying that His will be done and we will meet in the place He has for us. Also, we are in no hurry to run ahead of the cart but simply wait on the Lord!

We pray that the Lord would move even more powerfully this New Year and that God would bless you, our dearest friends and partners and your families!

Love you dearly, Igor and Olga