Ready for the "real world"

Dear friends

Greetings from Budapest. I am spending a few days here with a friend before leaving for Ukraine.

My 3rd semester in Bible college is over and I am looking forward to what God has for me next. It is sad and at the same time not. Sad because the blessed time in a "spiritual bubble" :) is over and it's time to face the "real world", good because we finally can pour out what we were being filled with every day throughout the semester. It has been a wonderful time of studies, fellowship and ministry to the community but most of all -prayer. It was the semester of praying the impossible! God has been faithful and encouraged us with good news about people we prayed for during those 3.5 months and I know that many more good news are waiting for the students at home.

Well, now, equipped with all the knowledge and assured in His goodness we are ready to go and "tell all the nations". But where? Lack of plans for the nearest future is a typical plan for a Bible college student, a" CCBCE syndrome" if you will.

I must admit there are so many open doors and needs everywhere that I am at a loss. I wish I could go everywhere and serve in every country and city I ever prayed for this semester: Austria, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Cyprus.I genuanely desire to be in all of these countries.. But whatever future holds, I know Who holds my future and I am so filled with His promises and love that I can not doubt His good intentions for my life.

Praise report:

• finished homework - sometimes it seemed to be too much!
• kind people God sends on my way wherever I go

Prayer requests:

• Family of my Hungarian friend Krista - to be open to the Gospel at this time when they celebrate Jesus' birth

• Clear direction on my future step
• Provision for the travels
• Time with non Christian relatives and friends in Kiev, Moscow and Novosibirsk

Vajta, Hungary

Dear all

Grace and peace to you! ( studying Apostle Paul’s life and his letters suggested this greeting that really makes more sense than Hi, how are you!:) As many of you know we have a 10 day outreach every semester. Students from CCBCE went to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Check Republic, New Zealand and many other countries as well as to different cities here in Hungary. God led me to stay here in Vajta, a little town or rather a village where our college is situated. I did not regret a second that I obeyed God although I did hesitate for a while and saw the fruit of obedience on the very next day.

Those 10 day days was abusy and a truly blessed time and we saw God's goodness every day! I was blessed both with the team and the local people we met. God provided a wonderful evangelistic opportunity – a bus that could serve as a little cafe - we parked it in the center of Vajta and invited people in for tea and coffee with sweets. The bus came from Finland for a project Operation Mobilization is doing in Hungary but thanks to some "connections' of our team member we were able to use it here in Vajta. We showed Christian movies there every night and shared Jesus' love with people that came. For about 6 years that the college is here local people have had prejudice about it and were afraid to get closer to the students and staff. Of course there are a few people working for college and they know that it is not some "weird place filled with crazy smiling people" but the rest of the village has always been suspicious. Some pastor’s wives have been reaching out to the community continually but nevertheless there was a huge wall between "us" and "them" which, we hope ,was destryed last week.

On the last day of the outreach week 130 people from the village came for dinner that we prepared for them and watched a drama "Prodigal son". Many of the people stayed for the Passion of Christ movie that was shown later. Praise the Lord! It is not that there were no attempts to minister to the community but this week I believe the hearts were softened and prepared for what was done. Everybody is talking about it here both in college and in town and even when the students just pass by the houses, people get out to say "jo napot" ( good day). God is good and He has his timing. We continue to pray for the freedom in the village and for us, Bible college students and staff to be worthy of our loving and caring Father.

Praise the Lord for His good works!

Dear friends,

I was blessed with quite a busy summer and a lot of travels. Moscow, Budapest, Kiev, St.Pete, Karelia and now back to Siberia. Conference at Vajta, Hungary was a wonderful time of spiritual and physical refreshment and also a chance to meet missionaries from all over the world! In Kiev I had a chance to participate in preparation for a global outreach – Franklin Graham’s Festival of Hope (http://festival2007.info/en/)
The festival took place on 6-8 July and about 250 thousand people visited it, 11 thousand people made their first step towards God. It was a privilege to destribute flyers and invite people to this festival, some of them were very open and had a lot of questions about God. People in Kiev in general are more open than in Moscow or any other Russian city I’ve been to. Unfortunately I was not able to visit the Festival for I had to be in Karelia for our annual Children’s camp. This time we had over 400 kids and I was a leader of thirty-two 11-year-old girls. Every day we had a new topic to discuss : sin, temptation, love and etc. It was wonderful to see how interested they were in hearing God’s Word although most of them live in non-Christian families( about half of my girls live with one parent and many parents are alcoholics which is an urgent problem in Karelia) and their only chance to learn more about God is that one week in summer. Please join me in prayer for these girls( see picture).
I also had a chance to visit my friends in St.Pete and prayed with CC pastor Boris about a possible ministry there. I feel God is calling me to that city, every time I leave St.Petersburg I feel like I could stay there longer. Maybe because I was born there?
My arrival in Novosibirsk was just in time for a Bible story based ESL that we did in Akadem town. It was a good week long outreach about half of the students went to church but others heard the Gospel message for the first time. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to use English language to witness about Him.

At the moment I am trying to complete my correspondence courses in Bible College. I have only 3 weeks till my departure and so-o much to do. Please pray for wisdom in managing my time for I will also need to work for 4 days next week. Praise the Lord!

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Please pray for:

- children in Karelia, the seed that was sown this summer to grow

- Russian people and especialy in Siberia to be more open to the Word

- My studies as I am trying to study Hebrews and Revelation this month

- My health and more strength in the Lord as I am heading towards my last semester in Bible College.

Summer update

my dear friend Lena in St.Petersburg,
island Valaam,

friends in Kiev,

Karelia camp

May in Novo

Novo is short for Novosibirsk, a nickname given to this city by the first American missionaries back in the 90s

Greetings dear friends! Besides being the most beautiful month here in Siberia, May was also a very busy month for some people in this area.
We had a Free Business Seminar in the beginning of this month and made some very good contacts with local business people.I personally enjoyed working with the team who came all the way from Nashville, TN to conduct 5 free seminars for Russian small business owners and those who wish to know more about some areas of business. There was no evangelism during the seminars but the speakers were free to share their views on life and faith in personal discussions.They sowed good seeds and by God's grace we shall see them grow.

Shortly after the seminars a 2-week ESL course started - the 3rd one this year. Some Christians are prejudiced about such projects but in this part of the world it proved to be a very good way to bring people's attention to Christ. I personally know a number of people who came to Christ through their interest in languages. There were 12o students enrolled in this ESl and only about 10% of them were Christians! It means that more than 100 unbelievers got to sing worship songs( we use them for English practice) in a Baptist church ( that graciously let us use their rooms) for the first time in their lives! Most of them heard the Gospel message and their teacher's testimony too. Praise the Lord!

On Saturday we had a good-bye party for all the ESL teachers and students of a 2 week course and it was also a big Birthday party for one of the teachers and myself:)I believe there were more than 60 people singing Happy Birthday to us - it was pretty unusual.

Last Sunday I joined a team of C C Novo missionaries on their trip to an orphanage where they have been going for the last 4 years. It is one of a few orphanages where Bible studies are allowed; moreover kids are encouraged to attend! Last time there was a huge group of teenagers and we had a good study but no time to develop relationships; this time it was only 8 girls and we had a good talk. They have heard Bible stories many times but never applied them to their lives. We had a good talk about God and love and life. Those 8 girls are leaving the orphanage to go to a kind of vocational school to learn a profession, so being 15-16 they are about to start an independent life with all its problems and choices. In Russia, only 5% of orphanage kids have normal life when they grow up, most of them end as criminals, alcoholics and prostitutes. In the end of our talk my prayer was for wise decisions and God's ultimate protection on those girls, they have to face the real world very soon. Please join me in this prayer for the girls you see on the picture.
In June I am planning to travel a lot - Moscow, Kiev and Budapest to get to my final destination CC Conference Center in Vajta, after that I will go to Karelia to do a VBS for about 400 local kids. Please pray for safe travels and divine appointments.

Praise the Lord for:

-busy May

- clear directions for this summer

-opportunity to attend CC conference in Hungary

-my supportive Mom

Please pray for:

- all the ESl students and business seminar participants may they seek Christ

- more open doors for evangelism in Russian orphanages

- orphanage girls on the picture

- my travels in June and July ( provision and safety)
- spiritual refreshment during the conference in Hungary

"The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes"

Psalm19:8

Leadership conference in Komi

In April I had a chance to enjoy Komi weather and see my wonderful Komi friends in Syktyvkar! Adam Davis and Equip held another conference in the main city of Komi Republic and I didn’t hesitate a minute to take a 48 hour train ( and another 20 hour one) to go there and help to organize the conference – I know such conferences are a felt need there as well as everywhere in Russia. For those of you who have never heard of Million Leaders Mandate it’s a global initiative to train millions of Christians around the world with the necessary leadership skills to effectively pursue the Great Commission in their communities, workplaces, and churches.
The third leadership Equip conference took place on 6-7 of April and leaders from Syktyvkar, as well as from other towns and villages of Komi Republik were encouraged and taught and fed ( both spiritually and phisycally)
It was both a busy time for me and a time of refreshment. I was encouraged to see my friends from different protestant churches participating at the conference and the fruit in their lives. I am always thankful to God when I hear that the materials they get at the Equip conferences are used and some small or large groups of people are being trained here or there. It means that one day I will take another couple of trains to get there and do what I can to help the 4th conference in Syktyvkar happen.

If not we, than who?

About 30 kilometres away from Syktyvkar, the capital of Komi, there is a rehab center for homeless kids that I had a chance to serve at. I visited the center last November with 2 American missionaries and a local missionary Sergey who coordinates Jesus Film in Komi Republic. This time I had so little time and so much to do but, praise the Lord!, He made it possible for me to go there and this time, in April, I barely saw 3 familiar faces. It is not always a bad sign– sometimes it means that kids are back with their parents, whose parental rights were restored after some time or perhaps their parent are back from prison. Most of the kids do have at least one parent theoretically, but in fact they are orphans. Their parent are either alcoholics or in prison or have family problems. One good evangelical church comes there regularly to do Sunday school and play with the kids but still.. kids have very sad eyes. They all have repeated the salvation prayer several times in their little lives already but have trouble believing that they are loved and they do have a Friend who cares..
Vitalik, 7(a little boy next to me on the first picture) is the one I really enjoy talking to and I believe he is saved. At the end of the visit I asked him how I could pray for him and he said he wants his mom to take him back (she is an alcoholic and was deprived of the parental rights by the court). Let us pray that his mother becomes a new person before she gains a right to take him back.
And please pray for all the kids on the picture* you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it) – they need to understand how real God is and open their little hearts to His unfailing love. And we, enjoying His love and mercy need to share it with those kids, as the Lord leads us, if we, Christians won’t do it, than who will?