Great time in Udmurtia

God is at work . . .
Sunday saw even more evidence of His loving hand reaching down and touching the Udmurt with His love.

Sunday morning the Engage Russia team and the Udmurt VSC Team split up and spoke in three different churches. Relationships were built and/or developed, new contacts were made, the Gospel was preached and the church was strengthened.

Sunday evening the Jesus Film was shown in a small Udmurt village an hour or so outside of the capital. There was rejoicing in heaven as at least one person gave his life to Christ (man holding song book above).

The Lord has been working through the partnership between the White River Baptist Association in North Arkansas and the churches in Udmurtia for more than 3 years now.
Jack Gilliland, a retired high school art teacher, has been leading the partnership, organizing volunteer teams, strategizing with national partners, planning events, and personally sharing the Good News every step of the way.

Pray for Jack, and stateside partners like him, as he continues to respond to the call to Engage Russia.

If you would like to know more about how you can partner with us in reaching a new city or people group where we have no IMB personnel, contact us at tellmemore@engagerussia.org

S'Bogum
Tim for Engage Russia

Spiritual Gifts, Fruit of the Spirit, and a Banya

Today Mark McManus led a seminar on Spritual Gifts and the Fruits of the Spirit. There were about 50 people or so in attendance at the seminar. From 10am-4pm Mark led the group through several passages and conversations about Spiritual gifts (including a spiritual gifts assessment) and how the Holy Spirit uses them in our lives. He also talked about the difference between Spiritual Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit, and why it is important to know that they are different.

During the time we were able to meet with several different Russians from all over the region of Udmurtia, as people came in to attend. Over lunch I got to talk with Sasha and Alexander about the conference. They said that it was a great theme and one that is much needed here. Sasha asked many questions about spiritual gifts and I was able to share with him some thoughts, it was a great time.

After the seminar we went with two of the Russian Baptist brothers to the Banya. The Banya is a great place to unwind, discuss a variety of topics and get clean all at the same time. It was a great time to deepen the friendship with these brothers in Christ and to relax after a long day at the seminar.

We are leaving tomorrow afternoon on a train back to Moscow, but before we leave Marc and I will be speaking at a church in a small town about an hour outside of the city. We will be covering the Spiritual Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit with the group of believers. We were asked today to come and speak there because there were no members of that church at the conference yesterday or today. Please pray that God would speak through us tomorrow morning as we deliver His word.

This trip has been a great time to spend with friends here in Izhevsk and to praise God with them about the ministry that is going on.

Why Udmurtia? Why Now?

The ongoing adventures of Team Engage Russia continue this weekend with a visit to Izhevsk, the capital of the Republic of Udmurtia.  

Some of you might remember that almost two years ago the Udmurt people were featured by the IMB as part of an International Day of Prayer.  The Udmurt people were first engaged by Southern Baptists by our "Senior Missionary", Tim.  And today, there is a thriving partnership between Stateside churches and the Russian Baptist churches here in Udmurtia.  In fact, the efforts to engage the Udmurts have resulted not only in partnerships between churches, but this spring two new IMB missionary couples will arrive to begin their work among the Udmurt people.

So, why are we in Udmurtia?  And, why now?  For the next three weekends we will be traveling to different cities to profile different people who have become partners with our field missionaries and with local believers to engage the unreached of Russia.  And, while you would expect that these people would have a lot in common, the one thing we have found is there are very few things they have in common... except the desire to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, the Engage Russia team thought it would be a good idea to profile a couple of these partners, not to highlight their similarities but to call attention to their differences.

When trying to answer the question, "What kind of person does it take to become a missions partner in Russia?" the answer is simple. It takes all kinds.  It takes retired school teachers, businessmen, housewives, and pastors.  And, it is not just individuals that can be the partners.  It can be Sunday School classes, churches, associations.

The bottom line is this.  Russia is a huge country.  It spans nearly half the world -- 11 time zones, and has a population of 140 million people.  Today, we have around 80 missionary units in the country, which means that if the work were left solely to field missionaries, each would be responsible for reaching almost 2 million people.  

Partnerships are essential to engaging the unreached people of Russia.  Won't you begin to pray, even now, about how God wants you to respond to His call?  Won't you begin to think about how you can help Engage Russia?

Udmurtia

We arrived in Izhevsk today at 11:30am Moscow Time. We were met by an entourage of friends who took us to eat and then to our hotel. Jack and Mark (missions volunteers) are starting their seminar on Spiritual Gifts tonight at Resurrection Church. Please join us in prayer for those in attendance that they would hear God's voice through all of this, also for us as we capture this time in film and video.

Izhevsk

We are leaving today for Izhevsk and to document some of the ministry of volunteers from America. We will have more info posted throughout the trip as to what is going on.

We appreciate your prayers along the journey as they carry us through so much.

Thanks

pictures

I have posted some pictures.
Check them out on facebook

The Search Continues . . .

Last week I posted a blog entitled ‘In Search of the Khanti’. A week later I must admit that the search was more difficult than I thought it would be and that it did not result in what I thought it would.

This past week we learned much about the Khanti. We visited a Khanti ‘trading post’ type town north of Surgut. In the local museum we learned about the lifestyle and religion of the people that call this region there home. We attended a house church in the town with four Khanti ladies in attendance. We worshipped together in Russian but were blessed to hear praise songs in Khanti as well.

We travelled to the capital of the region, Khanti-Mansisk. There we visited an outdoor park dedicated to Khanti culture and lifestyle. We took a tour of another local museum and learned much more, thanks to the English speaking tour-guide.

But even after all we learned, all we saw and all we experienced, the search for the Khanti continues. Scattered throughout remote villages and camps, separated from civilization by oil fields, man made boundaries, and extreme weather conditions, ministry to the Khanti cannot be ‘come and listen’, it must be ‘go and tell.’

Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost. Today He continues to seek out the Khanti, and so do we.

Would you join us in the search? Would your join us in praying for the local outreach to the Khanti in the trading post town of Russinskaya? Would you consider coming and partnering with the local believers in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the Khanti people of Siberia?

S’Bogum from Siberia
Tim for Team Engage Russia