NEWSLETTER.

March/April 1999

A Galilean Carpenter once said, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed." His words ring truer than ever in our world today, and sometimes it’s hard to believe that part about not being alarmed—especially when you’re a little "closer to the action" than ever before. But the Carpenter was right in that if we are too concerned with these wars and rumors we’ll be too preoccupied to carry on with life that is quickly ticking away. In my case, it’s a STINT year that has rapidly become a mere five months of ministry left here.

And life has indeed carried on here—in full swing in the last two months since I have written. (Here is probably the appropriate point to insert an apology for not writing last month. I was a little late and then my e-mail was down for about two weeks and to make a long story short, I just didn’t get the job done, and for this I do apologize.) Spring has finally arrived in Minsk and the melting of the snow seems to have taken some of the dreariness of the people with it. People seem more alive, and they are more willing to talk than ever, which makes things a lot easier for me.

Last weekend saw the culmination of a lot of work in our spring discipleship conference. This was a conference for Christian students in Minsk that was held just outside of Minsk in a little town called Zhdonovichi. The students heard talks on The Balanced Life, Commitment, Fishing for Men, and True Success. They were challenged by the talks and got to discuss each of them at length in small discussion groups. Equally important, they got to know each other better and strengthened their fellowship with each other, something that is hard to accomplish in Minsk.

The unique thing about this conference is that a Belarussian student directed it. One of our key student leaders, Andrei "Chicago," oversaw most aspects of the conference. This was a great step of faith for him that allowed him to develop his leadership skills. Small steps such as these encourage us Americans greatly because they give us a glimpse of our long-term goal of the Belarussians making this ministry their own.

In other news, the Bible-study group that I lead continues to move in the right direction. These three guys are making steps of faith that inspire even me, and Andrei Chicago’s heading up the discipleship conference is only one of them. Yuri Gembitsky, who has only been a Christian for nine or ten months, has exhibited the extraordinary faith that only God can produce.

A few weeks ago, Yuri and I went to his dormitory to talk with students about Easter and hopefully to share the gospel with them in our conversations. Yuri was more than a little apprehensive, but he went with me anyway because he knew the importance things like this had in his own life. Most rooms that we went to were empty, but we finally found a room with four guys living in it. I introduced Yuri and myself and quickly found out that none of them spoke English.

My knowledge of the Russian language right now could be described as conversational (depending on how simple the conversation), but you’d better be ready for a long conversation. But I thought, "just because these guys don’t speak English doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t hear about Jesus Christ," so we went in and began talking with them. All four guys were very cordial and interested in what we were talking about, so we asked them if they would like to hear more about Jesus Christ. They said "Why not?" and Yuri looked at me and said what should we do? I told him, "You know what to say, and you can say it to them faster than I ever could." He agreed and began to share with them the message of Christ using the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. This was the first time these students had ever heard anything about God and they told us later that they were glad we came to their room, else they would have never even thought about him.

These four guys; Andrei, Kostia, Edic, and Misha, didn’t receive Christ that night. But that night was not without fruit. Yuri and I have met with these guys several times since and discussed spiritual issues and it is evident that God is working in their lives. Please be in prayer for them.

But just as fruitful is seeing a nine-month old Christian being obedient to the Great Commission and sharing the love of Christ with others. I barely have the faith to do that now, much less when I had been a Christian for only nine months. Yuri is truly a testimony to Someone greater who can take faith as small as a mustard seed and move mountains.

So speaking of moving mountains, there are many more mountains left here in Minsk, and I need your continued prayers to help move them. God is blessing this ministry in so many ways, but many tough roads still lie ahead. I am convinced that our prayers help to pave those roads. Once paved, we can allow God to drive us on to the next edge of faith. So, pray with me in these areas: