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!

Chilly days

I have seen warmer days here in the city but not in the past 5 days or so. Its been pretty cold here and with this morning have a few light snow showers. But no matter what the Lord is to be glorified for what he is doing and is providing us with.

Despite the cold weather students are still able to meet with us and get into good gospel conversations. Its been very encouraging to see these students wanting to hear the gospel. I have been in a couple of these meetings that I will tell you about.

Last summer we meet a guy name Koorney and he was involved with a lot of alcohol, smoking and playing his guitar! But before we left last summer he told us that he had stopped drinking and smoking because the americans didn't. But it wasn't because we were amercian that allowed him to stop, it was the work of the Holy Spirit. But we have meet with this guy again this summer and Sam, me, and a Russian believer Igor shared the gospel with him. The cool thing wasn't that we shared the gospel with him but that we got to see Igor share his faith with him. It was amazing to see the fruit left behind from last summer. God is good.

Also, I have meet with a guy named Sam, he is from Canada but lives here in Russia. We have had good spiritual conversations with him and share a little of my testimony with him and some of the gospel. But he is a very interesting case because is not a student but he has come to us in the strangest way. Pray that his heart will be open to the gospel and that he can make an impact in his work place in some way.

Pacca!! (good bye)

Still planting

The seeds are being broadly sown. The past two days have been very exciting because many people had in depth conversations about the Gospel. The students are extremely willing to have spiritual conversation. The project has seemed to have come together extremely well this past week. Today we took the short drive to the Europe Asia border and got to stand on two continents. Today and tomorrow we have off and will need the rest because we are working hard. I believe that I will have three appointments in the next two days, one with an extremely orthodox student, one with two guys that we have met with twice and have heard the Gospel both times and still want to talk with us, and one with a student who is a believer but wants to begin growing in his faith and join a Bible study. I think this is a good example of the students who are meeting with us, God is sending us all kinds of students and still they are hearing the Gospel.

I miss you all and am excited to see you all soon, once we are finished here. Love ya'll

Life and Ministry

June 5

Hello Everyone!
Well we made it to Russia safe and sound and have been adjusting to life in the city. We have met many students already and have been very encouraged by that. We started meeting with students to get to know them and see where they are spiritually so we can share the Gospel with them.

I have been able to meet with a few students so far. At time it has been difficult to share the Gospel because of the communication barrier and also many tell me they believe in God and think that is all they need. Last night my friend Kerry and one of our Russian friends met with three girls. Kerry and our friend were able to clearly share the Gospel with one girl and it was very encouraging she said that there are some things with her family that are holding her back. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will be moving in her heart. I was able to get into some spiritual conversations with the other two girls, but they changed the subject several times. Please pray that they will think about spiritual things and that the Lord will also touch their hearts.

We also went and cleaned at an orphange near by. We were not allowed to interact with the children but we were glad that we could serve in some way.

Overall, everthing is going well and I am very excited to be back. It has been especially good to see the Russian believers that we met last year. They are growing and it is so encouraging to see that in them.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers!!

-Sarah

And away we go!

We have been in Russia now for 6 days and its been an adventure already. We have encountered many students and began inviting them to many events and having appointments to meet with them. Some of our students have meet with their pen pals and have began sharing the gospel with them! Praise God for the seeds being sowed.
As for my ministry its been going well. I have gotten a few numbers to start meeting up with some students this week. Be praying that these meetings will go as the Lord has planned. Our Compass meeting last week went very well and have over 50 students to show up. But we pray that even more will come. Pray for opportunities to meet students and that we will have team unity and be encouraging to one another. Pray for the believers here in Russia and that they would begin to share their faith and that the church they attend would grow and be filled with the word.

Starting the MInistry

It is Sunday and we started meeting people on Friday. We passed out fliers at several places in the city and met a lot of Russians. We invited the to the Kompass meeting which was great. I met my pen pal, Nikita there. And a student named Vlad came that I met at the university. That night Nikita and his friend talked with me and Dayton for several hours. We are hoping to follow up with them this week. We played soccer with the Russians on Saturday for a few hours, it was a lot of fun.

American Cafe was last night and about 15 new students came and we broke into small groups and talked for a few hours. Our group had two Muslim girls and Kerry and I started to share the gospel with them and Kerry will meet with them this week. We are going to the Ural Bible Church today and will continue our ministry throughout the week.

I have done a good job of changing over to the new time and am feeling well. I think it has been a fairly easy transition for us.

Today is the day! We leave for Chicago, then to Frankfurt, and then the Motherland. We are all really excited to be leaving today. The months of anticipation has built up to this moment. We have joined with the rest of our team and have bonded quite well already. Just be praying that we arrive safely and that all luggage will get there as well.

Jordan

Hello Everyone!
We are in Lexington, KY and are leaving tomorrow for Russia! We spent some time with our team today and are very excited about getting to Russia! We went over our schedule and it is very packed so please pray for strength and energy for us this summer and also that the Lord will be moving in the hearts of Russians to be receptive to the Gospel. Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers. We will keep you posted!

By His Grace Alone,
Sarah