"Before, I Had No Life"

Sunday was another great day here in Nizhny Novgorod.

We went to church in the morning of course. Pastor Dima preached a really good and challenging message. The theme was "Social Responsibility". He asked the question, "What good is a church, and what good are we, if we ignore the needs of those around us?"

Wow, that's a good question! Cornerstone church has the right to ask, because they operate two drug rehab centers and a homeless shelter. The goal of each is to see people come to faith in Christ and then have that faith radically change their lives and reform them. We see it happen here every week.

Later in the day I took four people to the Rustai drug rehab center. While there I went to the banya with two of the brothers. As usual it is always interesting to be sitting in a log cabin steam house speaking with guys in my limited Russian. Uri, is only 3 weeks old in the Lord. He said "Ah, life is so beautiful now, everything smells better, the sky is blue, the air is clean. I love my new life". Ivan, the other brother, who is only 4 weeks old in Christ said "Before, I had no life, I was like a dead person".

It is a real joy to see these guys come to Christ and begin the path of discipleship. Karen and I brought them both to the rehab center last month. Uri was so high and sick he could hardly function. He had been an addict for over ten years. He is married and has one child. Ivan was also high and had an "I don't really need rehab" attitude. Today he will tell you how lost he really was and what being a new babe in Christ means to him.

Later that night, I brought another brother back into the city. On the ride we were talking and he told me that he remembers the day Karen and I drove him to the rehab. He said he was sick and high and really didn't want to go. As he got into our jeep another guy told him that we were Americans. He though the guy must be crazy. Now, 3 months later he is serving Christ, his life is restored. His mom is going to church and he has a new future before him.

We love being a part of the work here. Every day Karen and I tell the Lord how grateful we are to be here and to work with these young men and women. We would not trade our lives for anything. Thanks to everyone who helps us financially and who prays for us.

Another Body in the Street

Typical Russian Apartment Building

We were watching the nightly news last night and we saw another young person who had jumped from a balcony and killed themselves. The body was lying in the street with a blanket covering it, while people walked by indifferent to what they were seeing.

This is not unusual here in Russia. We see a drug overdose or suicide almost every week on TV. We often wonder how many never make it to the TV screen. A spirit of hopelessness grips so many people here. How hopeless they must be to stand on a balcony and jump to their death.

One of our friends tried this several years ago. She was a lucky one. She survived and later gave here life to Christ. Now, despite being crippled, in a wheelchair and jobless, she radiates peace and joy. Only faith in Christ can bring about this kind of change in a person's life.

When we see those who have killed themselves by suicide or the longer death of drug addiction an overdose we are reminded why we are here, living away from our family. Our calling is to preach the Gospel- the GOOD NEWS. Jesus said in John 10:10b "I came that they might have life , and might have it abundantly". The Gospel brings life. We see it every time we go to the rehab center or homeless shelter. Lives are being changed, people are receiving hope and families are being restored. We long for the day when we will stop seeing people killing themselves from despair and loss of hope. We covet your prayers as we minister here.

13 Years of Addiction - First Birthday in Christ

We just returned from a day at the Rustai rehab center. It was a wonderful day. We had a great time of worship. It was very moving to watch one young man fall on his knees, crying and worshiping God and singing that Jesus was his Lord. We took this kid who is about 20 years old to the center last week. He had a really bad attitude and obviously was only going to the center to make someone else happy. Eight days later and he is worshiping God with his whole heart! He has a long way to go, but he is off to a good start.

Michael taught for about 45 minutes and then we answered questions. After that we just hung out.

In the afternoon there was a birthday celebration for one of the guys. Valarie is a great guy who was addicted to drugs for 13 years. He was such a hard core user that he destroyed the veins in his legs through drug injections. Today was his 39th birthday, the first one he has celebrated since he became a believer. There was a small party and a meal for him. Each person gave him personal birthday wishes and he gave a small testimony afterwards during which he choked up several times and almost began to cry.

Valarie is in the red T shirt

It is so amazing to see all these tough guy, hard core drug addicts come to Christ and begin the process of re-making their lives. We feel so privileged to be a part of this work in Russia.

Her First Visit to a Mall - Eating at McDonald's

We just returned home after a busy day. It started with a church service at 11:00 AM. Karen played her flute with the worship team. It was nice to see and hear. She hasn't played in a long time.

Today is "Women's Day" in Russia. Pastor Dima preached about women and ministry. He generally encouraged women to be everything that God wants them to be and to minister in any capacity that they can.

One of the brothers graduated from the first 3 months of rehab today. His name is Roman and he is a really good guy. He is "on fire" for the Lord. We have seen some dramatic changes in his life over the last few months.

Roman Giving His Testimony

Later we took several people shopping for the weekly supplies of the Rustai rehab center. We actually shopped in a Super-supermarket which is located in the only true American style mall in our area. It was touching and interesting to have our friend Dinara with us. She is serving in the Rustai rehab. She is 30 years old and has never been in a mall before! It was a bit overwhelming for her. We had fun taking her for her first meal at McDonald's.

Dinara, Karen and Michael

After shopping we made the 2 hour drive to Rustai. We chatted for a while and then Karen and I went to the banya (a Russian steam bath in a log hut) together. After the banya, we shared a meal with everyone and then drove home. All in all this was a great day and we enjoyed it a lot.

Our New Granddaughter

Aislinn Rose Sweeney



Isn't she beautiful!