The End of Ministry

Well as everyone can see I haven't had a chance to post in a little while but that is due to some certain circumstances. For the past week before leaving Russia I had experienced a little bit of trouble. Something I ate at our forest fun party gave me some kind of bacteria in my stomach and I had pain bowel movements and they were frequent. Driving me to the point of dehydration and eventually to a Russian hospital.

But not to worry everything turned out fine and was in the hospital for two days and became better after another day or two. Praise the Lord he is faithfully in always being here for us and never leaving our side. I learned some valuable things from my sickness. I learned that it was important to have a community of believers or a family as you will, praying for you and caring for you at all times. I also learned to not trust in my own strength but that the Lord is our ultimate strength and our reliance on Him will make us stronger than ever possible. Praise the Lord that he is capable to give us all things when we ask.

So needless to say my last week of ministry was not as productive as I had prayed for but although the Lord used me in a different way for my team. I would be in prayer for their meetings and appointments and just ministry all in all. We take for granted the power of prayer and how important it is for ministry. Also the fact that my sickness and getting better brought encouragement to my team and it was very encourage to hear how that was a blessing for everyone.

God's plans for our lives no matter what we do is always greater than our own. We may never understand why he changes our plans and our course for life but realizing that His way is always better. Pray for the rest of our time in Germany, that we can continue to unpack things that we learn and think about our experience. More will come after learning about what the Lord has taught me.

Trust Fall?

Hello Everyone!
So we have had alot of excitement lately here in Russia. Another student placed his faith in Christ this past week so that was super exciting!!!! We also had our Forest Fun party which went great and the students seemed to really enjoy themselves and some great conversations were had too.

The Lord is really teaching me alot about trusting Him. I am learning that even though I though I was fully trusting Him with everything, there are still things in my life that I try to control. This past week I met with a girl that I had met with last summer and it has been really hard to connect with her but I really felt like the Lord wanted me to meet with her again. I did not think that it would be possible to even get into a spiritual conversation, but the Lord is faithful and amazing and He allowed me to share the Gospel with her! Seeds were planted and I felt like I was really able to connect with her! It was amazing!

If you have read Bibb's post then you saw that I had a little accident. I was teaching my friend how to do the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance and I stepped on some uneven concrete and turned my ankel and it popped. Its not broken but it is swollen and blue-ish colored and I will be on crutches for the rest of the week. Please pray not only for my ankle but my attitude as well. I do not want to spend the rest of the week being frustrated with my current circumstance but thankful that I still have another week in Russia.

Thank you for your prayers, see you soon!

-Sarah

Forest Fun Party

This past weekend was the Forest Fun Party and it was outside a small town about 45 minutes away from Ekaterinburg and about 60 people went. It was a great time of community building and activities. The event started with putting everyone on five teams and having our own Olympic games. Then there was a talk about love and community and the discussion time started a lot of great conversation. Then when night broke we had a great game of capture the flag. Saturday night was the night Russia played the Netherlands in Soccer. So at 12:45 am Sunday morning a lot of the Russians and most of us crowded into this room and watched Russia win the upset and it was great because they were cheering and chanting and it was cool to see that.
But the next day we had another talk and more great conversation. Then the final events of the day and during free time Americans had the chance to talk individual with students and plan for meeting with other students during this up coming week. So pray that we can follow up with these students this week.

So it was a great weekend and hopefully we will finish strong this week and the Lord will leave a lasting impression.

And Sarah did have a little accident and her ankle was sprained pretty good and it is getting better but keep her in your prayers that the ankle will heal. Jordan is also having tough time today, just not feeling good, so keep us all in your prayers. Be home soon.

Hey, Read This Because Its Really Exciting!!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!!
So, I have some really exciting news! We had a girl accept Christ! We talked with her and think she really understands but we are going to have our Russian friends talk more with her because we can only communicate so much. I am very excited about this and it was really great to talk with her. We shared with her last week and this week she said she had read over the booklet we had given her and made the decision without us on her own. Please continue to pray for her as we talk more with her in the coming weeks!

This weekend is our Forest Fun Party where we will take students out of the city on an overnight trip. Please pray as we build relationships with them and hang out with them. I am very excited about this weekend and hope that it will be great!

We will be back in the states 2 weeks from today. I am looking forward to going home but please pray that we can be focused here and that we will glorify the Lord in all that we do! These next two weeks will go fast so please pray that we will be able to meet with students and connect with them!

Thank you so much for your prayers! I am excited to get home and see everyone!

-Sarah

Finishing the race!

Well our time is coming short here in Russia and we have so much still to do. But we know the Lord will complete a good work that He has started. It has been a busy week and we have no time to slow down. Our forest fun party is this weekend and we are praying that will go over really well for the Russian students. We are hoping to get them thinking about spiritual things and hopefully to engage in a gospel conversation. Continue to pray for that. Also pray that Russia guys will be willing to go to the forest fun party and become engaged in conversations.

I had a friend from last summer remind me that there is still time left and we seen the most fruit ministry happen in the last two weeks than any other time. Thank you all for reading!

Feeling Refreshed

June 11

Hey Everyone!!!!!!
Things are going well here and the weather is even supposed to get warmer tomorrow! We are still meeting with students and getting to know them and that has been very fun and exciting. There have definitely been times that I have felt discouraged but God is gracious and has continually picked me up and shown me love and how His plans are always, always better than mine.

Today I had two girls cancell meeting which was a little discouraging but Kerry and I had another girl that still wanted to meet with us. We knew her from last summer and Kerry had previously shared the Gospel with her. We talked alot about how life had been in the last year and began to talk about God. We were able to share the Gospel again and she understood and had alot of very good questions and shared her prespective as well. She said that she wanted to think about what we had talked about and we are going to meet with her again next week somtime. This was very encouraging because at times it is hard to communicate, but God is fluent in every language and somehow can use us to share His love with others. Praise God!

This time in the summer seems to be difficult for many members of the team. Just like last summer, people are beginning to get sick, homesick, and discouraged because students will canel meetings or it is difficult to dind students who want to meet. Please pray for our team and that we will encouraged and that the Lord will be moving and working in students hearts all over the city. Please also pray for the health of the team as well.

Thank you very much for your prayers. I love and miss you all and look forward to seeing you when we return home!

-Sarah

A Little Encouragement

June 9th

Hello everyone!

So recently I had been feeling discouraged because at times it can be very difficult to communicate the Gospel to students here. But the Lord is good and Kerry and I were able to share the Gospel with 3 girls and they understood!!! It was great and totally the Lord. Another girl Maggie was able to translate alot and it went so great. God is so good and I am just very encouraged by how He is working here! We have met alot of students and will continue to meet with them in the coming weeks.

Something we talked about before we left was choosing joy. Situtations can be very difficult or seem hard but we have so much joy in the Lord so why would I not choose joy?? God has been so good and has worked in little ways that maybe no one else would notice (such as our window being fixed and it only took 1 day! it has been very cold here!) and in big ways such as communicating the Gospel in a way that is clear and understandable! God has given us so much grace and there is so much to be joyful about!

We have 3ish more weeks to be here and to meet with students. Please continue to pray for us and the students we will meet. I thank you for your prayers because we are seeing the result of them here!