She was upset with the church because she had a friend who went to the local priest and instead of listening to her problems and giving counsel, he simply told her to go away and leave him alone, for he was an important man who needed to devote his time to prayer and other "important" issues. Or at least that was what I could make out of the conversation. Our conversation had been going on for over an hour and I hadn't uttered a word, but it was by no means one-sided.
It was entirely in the Russian language, and my friends Val Morozov and Yuri Gembitsky were sharing the message of Christ with a woman vacationing at Lake Narach in Northern Belarus. We were there for almost two weeks for a student mission project (which was the first of its kind in Belarus specifically for Belarussian students). During the project the students attended lectures, had small-group Bible studies and discussions, and had a daily evangelism time. It was in this evangelism time where the aforementioned conversation took place.
It was Val's first time sharing his faith with someone, and the conversation ended up lasting an hour and fifteen minutes. The woman didn't make a decision right then, but she was very interested in hearing about God's love for her. It still encourages me greatly to see relatively young believers like Val taking steps of faith like this. They don't share their faith because they're "expected to," but because they really want others to know what God has done in their lives.
The project was situated at a sanatorium (the closest Belarus comes to a resort) on Lake Narach, which is the largest lake in Belarus and is known for its clean, clear water. It was indeed a very beautiful place, which was a nice break from city life. The living conditions and food were far below that of a resort, but God works in rough places as well as the plush. And God did work during those two weeks.
One of those ways that He worked was to bring the students closer to each other. They had the opportunity (and took it) to connect with each other directly through their experiences. This was an answer to prayer for us, that they would have fellowship with each other through Christ alone and not just through some Americans with Christ thrown in somewhere along the line.
The project was not perfect, as most first-time efforts aren't, and it held many surprises. One was the showing of the film Jesus on the last day of the project. I majored in advertising in college, and the amount and style of advertising done to invite people to the film would have appalled my professors and assured me a failing grade had I turned in this "campaign" as an assignment. With only a few posters and a yelled announcement in the cafeteria, I thought we would do well to have one person come to the film. But I was amazed when almost 100 people showed up.
Throughout the project, twelve people accepted Jesus Christ into their lives, many more were introduced to the Gospel, and many students were able to trust God and make steps of faith. Thank you for your prayers regarding the Narach project. Praise Him for His work there!
Now is a pretty transitory time for our team. Most of the students are away from Minsk right now, and we are preparing for the next STINT team to arrive in September. But before the next team arrives and we prepare to leave, our team will be traveling to a project of our own. For the bulk of August and half of September, we will be in the Middle East exploring and participating in some ministry opportunities there.
Andrei "Chicago" Shliakhov, whom I wrote about last month, left last week for Kiev, Ukraine, to begin his training. It was sad to see my good friend leave, but I know that God has an exciting year for him where he will be prepared for ministry.
So as you can see, things are in quite the whirlwind for our team, and we need your prayers more than ever. So, pray with me in these areas: