Winter is here!

It is finally winter here. After some unusually warm weather in the high 30s and 40s it has at last turned to real winter weather. We are experiencing temperatures in the high teens and twenties. The ground is frozen and covered in snow. The Volga and Oka rivers have still not frozen over which is unusual.

The nights are really long here now. On December 22 daylight was at 8:30 AM and it was dark by 4:00 PM

Yesterday we took a 30 minute bus ride outside of town to the new MegaMall. It’s true, we now have a large western style shopping mall right outside of town. There is a food court, an IKEA furniture store, an OBI which is similar to a Home Depot, and a supermarket called Ashan, which is similar to a Super Wal-Mart. Along with this there are the usual clothing, and shoes stores, etc. The mall even has a small indoor ice skating rink!

Russia is changing rapidly. New malls and other western conveniences are popping up around the country. Yet within ½ a mile of this new mall with it’s several thousand parking spaces, you will find small Russian villages with no indoor bathrooms, and perhaps being heated by wood. We are amazed that Russians can afford to shop at the mall as the prices in general were higher than prices for the same type items in America. We have been shocked at the continuing high prices for clothing and other consumer goods here. In general here we pay less rent and utilities but almost everything else is more expensive than in America. This obviously leaves many families scraping to make ends meet.

We hope to get a few photos of the mall soon to post on this blog.

Fall Foursquare Russia Conference

While Karen and I were in America the Fall Foursquare Leadership Conference was held near Sochi, Russia. Nick Tsaryov and his wife Ira, our church planters in Nizhny Novgorod were able to attend. Here is a report from Jeff Roper:

At the annual Foursquare Russia conference, held at the end of October in the city of Sochi on the Black Sea, leaders from across Russia gathered representing the 15 Foursquare Churches in Russia.

Key note speakers at this conference were Ap and Anita Verwayen of Holland, Jeff and Debbie Roper, Regional Coordinators for Eastern Europe, and Slava Naniyants, national leader of Foursquare Russia.

The three day event was marked by powerful ministry times and wonderful fellowship. Even though Russia is a vast country comprising 9 time zones, the unity and fellowship of the Foursquare church is vibrant and growing.

The Foursquare Church of Russia is now developing resources and strategies to further equip local pastors and leaders, effectively evangelize and disciple converts, plant churches, reach out to those in bondage to drugs and alcohol through rehabilitation centers, and starting a training center for the purpose of equipping future leaders.

Back to Russia

Hello from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia!

We are now back online as it took a week to get our internet connection up and running again.

We arrived back in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday night December 1 at 11:30 PM. It was a long trip of nearly 30 hours and we were really relieved to finally arrive. One really cool thing was that due to our new residency status we were able to go through the "citizens" line at the airport. This made getting through customs a bit easier and we also did not need to fill out the usual customs forms required by foreigners. We also did not need to register with the city officials and get the stamp on our visas! This is pretty neat and certainly is a time saver. Registering and getting the stamp in the past could takes several trips to multiple offices over several days. One last thing, we also did not need to get a new aids test, another benefit of being a resident.

We are still dealing with a bit of jet lag. We find that the jet lag is much worse coming from America to Russia rather than Russia to America. We both also picked up colds on the plane ride. Despite the jet lag and colds we have plunged back into language study, having had three lessons so far. The lessons have mostly been review of previous material and our tired brains have been stretched to the maximum.

Tomorrow (Sunday the 10th of December) we will be meeting with our church planters from Zavolzha, Eduard and Vadim. We have a planning session to prepare for our concert outreach next month. We will be hosting a small team from the First Nations Bible Institute, a Foursquare Bible school in Los Angeles. Randy and Cheryl Barnetson will be leading the team and Cheryl will be doing several concerts in this area. The team will also be speaking in churches and schools. Please pray with us for this team. It is illegal to evangelize in either schools or public theaters. We will need both wisdom and favor to use the gifts of the team in creative ways as we and they seek to share the Gospel with the Russian people and work toward establishing a new church in Zavolzha.

It is unusually warm in Russia right now. The temperature has been in the low 40s most of the week. The snow has melted and everything is muddy, grey and drab. This is kind of depressing and we are looking forward to some snow to cover over the mud and trash.

Here are a couple of views from our living room window

Prayer Request!

Mike broke a tooth this week and will need to visit a dentist soon. Pray that we will find a competent dentist that can take care of the problem without a lot of hassle, pain or cost.

Thanks

Heading Home Soon

Today is Monday November 27.

We are heading back to Russia Thursday afternoon. We will be spending the next few days packing and re-packing things trying to fit in as much as we can into our luggage. We have only a few more days in which to see our children and grandchildren. Those moments are precious as we know it will probably be a year or more before we see them again. We are very happy to be going back to Russia despite the separation from family and friends.

Yesterday we spoke at "The Blessed of the Lord" church in Woburn, MA. This congregation, led by Pastor Betty Jacovides, is one of our most faithful supporters. We have been friends for over ten years and always enjoy the opportunity to visit the church and share what the Lord is doing.

Last Sunday, November 19 we were in Charlestown, NH speaking at Life Fellowship Foursquare Church. This vibrant growing congregation is led by Pastors Dave and Cindy Grasso. The church has made the decision to become a part of our support team, contributing toward our ministry monthly, and they have collected hats, mittens and scarves which they will be sending to us for distribution to the needy in Russia. We had a wonderful time speaking and afterwards sharing a meal with the missions group in the church.

We will be very busy over the next month as we adjust to the time change, re-start our language study, begin a young marrieds Bible study, meet with our church planters and plan a week of outreach in January.

Thanks to everyone who embraced us and blessed us on this trip to America. We would not be able to do the work we are doing in Russia without your help.

Mid November Update

It's Monday November 13 and we are back in our home in Lowell after a long weekend.

We started out Friday afternoon by driving to Concord NH where attended the Northern New England Foursquare Churches Leadership Conference. We had a great time visiting with friends that we have met while on this adventure and the conference was refreshing and encouraging for us. We were able to speak with one couple and give them some counsel as they pursue their desire to serve as missionaries. The conference ran from Friday evening through Saturday afternoon. The worship was great, the speakers were inspiring and the fellowship was good.

On Saturday afternoon we left Concord NH heading to Alton Maine. We had a nearly four hour drive and arrived in Alton at about 10:00 PM. We were hosted in Alton by Pastors Jim and Robin Tardy, of River of God Foursquare church. On Sunday morning we shared with the congregation the good things that have been happening in Russia. We were surprised and happy to meet several young people and couples from Bulgaria in the congregation. One young woman., named Petya, is a dynamic Christian who has worked alongside her father in Bulgaria to plant churches among the Gypsy, Roma people. She and her father have planted nearly 40 churches in Bulgaria! We hope to help Petya as she has a desire to became part of the Foursquare movement and continue planting churches in Bulgaria.

After the church service we joined the congregation in sharing a meal as we answered questions about ministry in Russia. After a long dinner and conversation we packed our car and headed down the road to Bath Maine. The drive to Bath was through torrential rains and took nearly 2 1/2 hours.

That evening in Bath we spoke at The Bath Foursquare church, pastored by Charles and Avis Nance. Bath Foursquare was one of our earliest supporters and the first church to send us a box of clothing for distribution in Russia. The night service was a lot of fun and the congregation enjoyed hearing about the work in Russia. Bath Foursquare is a great church with a heart for missions.

This week we will speak at 3 home groups and next Sunday, November 19 we will be at the Charlestown NH Foursquare church.

Karen and I enjoy sharing the story about our work in Russia, but at times we wonder if we are effective and does what we are sharing have any impact upon people. Well, this week we received news that one teenage girl was impacted enough that she has changed the direction of her life! On Mechanicsburg PA. We spoke at the Good News Free Methodist church. We shared our 5 minute video update, and a three minute summary. That brief bit of time caused this young woman to question the direction of her life and her future career choices. Her parents, were thrilled when she spoke with them saying that she thought that she might have a calling to missionary work. This is exciting and gratifying to us.