A Visitor From America

On Sunday 5th, my good friend Nate came and visited us in Cherepovets. He recently moved to St. Petersburg from the US to stay for at least a year. He has come to help with our IBS seminars and to minister to the orphans and shelter kids in Cherepovets and surrounding villages. We are excited to have him here in Russia, and pray that the Lord will open doors for him to minister with us in Cherepovets.

During his short trip here we were able speak with the children at our church and spend some time fellowshipping with the orphans at Krevets. This is what he has to say about his trip to Cherepovets:

Hello,

As Igor said, I recently moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition to working with Igor and Olga I am teaching English to gain entrance into Russia and to support myself. I first met Olga and Igor in Gardnerville, Nevada, when they came and spoke at our church. I immediately fell in love with the two of them, they are so on-fire for the Lord and such and encouragement to me. Igor’s energy, wisdom and persistence in serving the Lord is an example to me. Their example is a large part of what first gave me the desire to come to Russia. So when God closed doors, and opened the ones to Russia, I jumped on it. But it has been a long prosses getting to Russia, and then getting to Cherepovets, so I was extremely exited to finaly get to come and minister in Cherepovets.

That Sunday Igor was asked to talk to the children about what it means to be a missionary, so Igor brought me along, since I am a missionary. It was such a blessing to share with the kids. Igor explained who I was, where I came from, and what a missionary was; then I told how God laid it on my heart to come to Russa and how I ended up here. After wards the kids wanted to pray for me, this was such a blessing! I was reminded of the verse, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” I know that the faith of these children is precious before God; they have the ability to simply believe in a way that is near impossible for us adults. I was especially blessed when one of the boys had the, I believe, inspired intuition to pray that I might learn Russian, which is something I really need. We spent the next few minutes playing missionary, running from corner to corner, pretending they were in different countries, and praying for them. I was encouraged by these children’s desire to pray for these nations, and their heart for the lost.

Then we went home for lunch before we went to Krevets. I had been to this orphanage twice already on previous short-term mission-trips and was excited to see the kids I had come to know. When we got there I saw some new and familiar faces. We sat down to fellowship, which again made me realize how much I need to learn Russian. I had to say everything through Olga and Igor, but it was still fun. They had me eat some fresh picked cranberries, and they thought it was funny that I liked them so much. They later told me that they expected me to make a funny face. The kids were shy, and I was a little to, but I could tell that there is a connection. They are curious about me, and I want to get to know them too. I only hope that as they get to know me I will be able to show them Jesus, as he uses me to reach these kids.

I left there with a strong desire to come back. I was so encouraged and motivated. Even though it seems awkward now and I sometimes feel I am doing no good, I know that this is where the Lord has me. There is so much opportunity here, and the Lord is capable doing amazing things. I am sure that I am going to witness amazing things here in Russia. All I have to do is follow where he leads and be attentive to his leading and he will do the hard parts. I am looking forward to working more with the ICM teams, teaching IBS and spending time with the kids. It is my prayer, and I hope you would join me , that the Lord would take all the obstacles out of the way and give me the ability to do all I can for him. Obviously I could use some help in learning Russian, but also there are visas, and work that I have to worry about too, so please pray that the Lord would provide in awesome ways.