Letter From Russia
Here is another update from Burke Lewis in Russia. Read on and pray!
Patsyll
Hi Everyone,
A lot of cool stuff has been happening in our ministry here lately, so I thought
I'd send a quick update. We met a girl named Ksusha who seems to already be a
believer, which, evidently is really rare. She was really excited about getting
plugged in with a group that would help her grow in her faith. Things are going
well with Arthur, Genia, and their friends, too. We're only in Moscow for a few
days more, so we'll be working really hard this weekend. We really appreciate
your prayers.
Prayer Requests
Pray for Ksusha and that God would increase her desire to follow him.
Pray for our time with Arthur, Genia, Leo, Daniel, and Dmitri.
Pray that we would finish our time in Russia strong.
Thank you all very much. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Love,
Burke
Subject: Update #2 from Moscow!
Hi Everyone,
We have now settled into a weekly routine of prayer, ministry training, going to
Russian college campuses in the afternoon, and meeting with Russian college
students in our free time. It really has been a wonderful last 2 weeks as we
have been able to go to many more college campuses and talk with Russian college
students about what they believe. Here are a few highlights from our last 2
weeks:
-We were able to have another spiritual discussion over the Bible with the
Moscow State
University students last weekend! We had them over
to the apartment that Mike and I live in, fixed them dinner, and talked about
the parable of the prodigal son. They all said they really enjoyed it. A few
of them made comments about how we all need to be forgiven. Some of our
students are having follow-up conversations with them as I type this tonight!
So, please pray for those. There are 5 different students that have been
involved in these discussions - Arthur, Jane, Daniel, Leo, and Dmitri. We are
really excited about how the Lord is moving in their hearts! We are having one
more discussion before we leave
Moscow - this
Sunday. Please pray for that time! We also got the chance to actually visit
Moscow State
University and it is
impressive! You can see this University from many parts of the city because it
is so large - at one time, it was the tallest building in
Russia!
-This week on campus, our students tried a new way of initiating with Russian
college students that the long-term team wanted us to try - we downloaded 4
different passages from the Bible in Russian that were a minute to 3 minutes
long on our Ipods. Then, we asked Russian college students if they would like
to listen to a passage from the Bible and then answer a few questions about it.
It was interesting to try out - most of the Russian college students didn't want
to listen to it, but the few that did really enjoyed talking with our students
about it. This is a new way of engaging Russian college students with the Bible
that the long-term team might try more in the future.
-We also had the opportunity to go and serve a school here in
Moscow that is specifically for the children of
missionaries. We took one morning and went to the school and helped clean and
shut down the school for the summer. The staff were all so nice and very
appreciative. We helped clean the entire cafeteria and kitchen and the lady we
helped called us "angels from heaven." She didn't speak English, but someone
translated for us. :) The school has kids from grades K-12 and has been in
existence for 16 years - 10 years of that 16 has been in their current building.
-Our students have been so excited and enthusiastic about going to campus each
day. Even on days when they can't find anyone who speaks English, they still
come away with such a great perspective of being lights that could just pray for
that campus that day. It really is amazing that there are practically no
Christians on any of these Universities. The University we visited last Friday
was 12,000 students - we asked them "So, are there any Christian organizations
on campus?" They laughed and said "No, of course not!" 2 of the Russian
believers that the long-term team knows are the ONLY believers on their campus.
Their names are Yana and Christina and when
asked if they could form a Bible study or prayer group on their campus, they
said "We can't because we don't know any other Christian believers."
-We have had some great times together as a team getting to one another better,
spending time reading the Bible together, and encouraging one another. One of
these times was this past Tuesday night as we did what is called an
"encouragement cradle." We had each student sit in a chair and everyone went
around and said a few things they appreciated about that person and/or something
that encouraged them about that person. It was a great time and lasted for 3
1/2 hours as we went through all 8 students. Another encouraging time was last
Saturday as the women gathered at the apartment of one of the long-term couples
and shared our life stories with one another to get to know each other at a
deeper level.
-As a team, we have so many Russian students we are trying to get back with
before we leave. There are probably about 10-15 students we are trying to meet
with, besides the
Moscow
State
University students, before we leave. Please pray
that our schedules would match up with the Russian students' schedules and that
we would be able to meet with them before we leave.
Thank you for your prayers and support! We appreciate you so much and will send
one more update before we leave Moscow.
All praise and glory to God!
Blessings,
Mike and Heather Beckham
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