Our Latest Newsletter

You can "click" on the photo to open it in a new screen in order to read it. When it opens, "click" it again to enlarge it.

The Story of Russia

Photo from the siege of Leningrad

Today the woman who owns our apartment came by to collect the rent. She is a friend and a believer so we sat, drank tea and chatted for a while, talking about her family.

During WWII when her parents were children her mother's family lived in Leningrad (St Petersburg). In 1941 her grandfather disappeared in one of Stalin's camps never to be seen again. That year, because of the war, the city administration sent many of the children out of the city to live in a refugee camp. Margarita's mother and aunt were in the group. Shortly thereafter the city was completely closed off by the Nazi siege making it impossible for those who stayed to leave and over 1 million citizens died from cold and starvation during the siege. Because of the danger children began to be evacuated from the camp further to the east. The children who were not evacuated from the camp all died when the Nazi's bombed the refugee camp. Today there is a memorial at the camp location dedicated to those children

Margarita's mother, then 11 years old, her aunt age 17 and their mother were evacuated to the small city of Bogorodsk where the three all lived in a one room apartment. The mother was ill and could only lie on the sofa all the time. The two daughters age 11 and 17 began to make hats and handbags to sell in the local market, earning just enough money to not completely starve to death. They were among the fortunate who survived the war. In 1945 they returned to Leningrad, but everything they owned was gone and all their friends were dead so they returned to the Nizhny Novgorod area. The two sisters entered college and went on to become school teachers.

An uncle served in the Soviet army. He fought during the siege of Leningrad as a machine gunner. He was wounded by an artillery barrage and spent months in the hospital. Later he marched with the Soviet army through eastern Europe, into Germany and he was part of a group of Russian soldiers who met the American army on the Elbe river in 1945. He with the average soldiers were happy to meet the Americans. Everyone hugged, drank and celebrated together. Quickly, however, the communist officers separated the two groups so as to not allow the Russians to be “contaminated” by the capitalists.

As we listened to this story I wondered about the great-grandparents. They would have been living in St. Petersburg during the revolution and the civil war. What did they live through? Why did one of their sons end up dying in a Stalinist labor camp? What was life like for them after 1919?

As Margarita said, “Our family story is the story of Russia. You can sit and talk with any family here today and hear the same story.” The story of Russia is the story of a strong, resilient people who have suffered much. We are always amazed when we get a glimpse into the lives of the average Russian family, and we hear some of the heartbreak, tragedy and triumph.

Here is an interesting link showing photos of modern St.Petersburg merged with photos from the war http://sergey-larenkov.livejournal.com/809.html

The Cross & The Switchblade

“The Cross and the Switchblade” was one of the first Christian books I read. I was 18 years old and searching for God. I was asking Him to reveal Himself to me when I stole a copy of this book! I can remember sitting on my bed reading the book and crying and I prayed, “God, if there are people anywhere like this in the world, I want to meet them." The book had a powerful impact upon me. It was several weeks after that I was invited to a revival meeting at First Assembly of God, Anderson, Indiana. That night I heard the Gospel preached and responded to the altar call. Since that day I have been trying to follow Christ as a disciple.

Over the years I have heard many similar stories about the impact of this book. People are touched by the power of God when they read it. I believe that this book crosses culture and that it continues to impact lives over 40 years after it's publication. Because of this Karen and I have been seeking to purchase a bulk amount of the book in the Russian language in order to distribute them in Russian prisons and rehab centers.


We received permission to reprint the book for free distribution from the Russian copyright holders! We then talked with a local publisher who said they could print a very simple version for about $.30 per copy! We were excited and in just two weeks we raised $600.00. This would allow us to print 2000 copies! So we were making plans when we received news that there was a big misunderstanding. The printing cost would be much higher, but still reasonable at about $1.40 per copy if we print 1000 copies. If we print only 500 copies the cost is almost $2.25 per copy, so it makes more sense to print 1000. With that said, we still need about $600.00 in order to be able to print this book.

We are asking everyone who reads this to prayerfully consider giving toward this project. We have the opportunity to impact thousands of lives. Books distributed in the Russian prison system are passed from hand to hand, and read over and over again. Each book will contain contact information for a local church, faith based rehab center and a center for those needing transitional housing as they leave the prison system. Thanks you for reading this. Pray with us for the completion of this project and the continuing impact of this book as people read it. Working together we can reach thousands of people with the life-changing message of the Gospel.