NEWSLETTER FROM THE LIVING ROOM FELLOWSHIP - TALLINN | SEPTEMBER 2015

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our ministry. It is hard to keep up with all of the wonderful and mighty things that God does on a regular basis. His goodness endures forever!

Our Coffee Shop closed for a time during the summer and the staff was able to get some needed rest. We were also able to use this time to paint the walls, make some changes in the menu, work on our website, advertisement, training volunteers, etc. We also have had a chance to do more evangelism on the streets and focus on getting ready for the new season both for cafe and for the church.

GRADUATION

In June we had a Bible School graduation ceremony. We had 3 first year students and 2 second year students that completed the course  in June (see picture below). 

Relika (1st year student) - "I learned more about the Bible and the importance of it during the year of Bible school than I ever have before. It also helped me to develop even greater hunger for God's Word. We have this gift that is His Word and there is so much wisdom in it. I am thankful for this gift that has eternal value."

Triin (1st year student) - "During the year of Bible school I understood how much I need to depend on the Word of God. Knowing the Scripture has helped me to discern between my soul and spirit."

Dasha (1st year student) – "During this year of Bible school, God blessed me a lot. I got to know God from a different perspective. He helped me to go deeper in knowledge of His Word and in being faithful."

Nancy (2nd year student) - "During the last two years of Bible school I realized how little I actually know. I can say that it helped me to see that there is so much more treasure in the Word of God. I really fell in love with the Bible and I know that this is just a beginning."

Imre (2nd year student) - "In Bible school I learned to know Jesus Christ more personally through His Word. I was learning to see how God reveals His plans through the Word, how to put my life down and follow Jesus every day in every situation. It also inspired and taught me how to witness and share the gospel with others. The hunger to know His Word increased gradually as I was studying it every day."

WATER BAPTISM

This summer we had the blessing of baptizing three of the newest additions to our church, Jana, Eva and Edward (see picture from the baptism below). Jana and Edward, high schoolers, came as volunteers to help at our cafe last year. A few months later both of them met Jesus and made a decision to receive Him as their Lord and Savior. Eva, after a long time of searching for the right church, felt led by the Lord to us. 

JANA'S TESTIMONY

"I feel like for whatever reason, God has been watching over me my whole life. Growing up there was a lot of bad influence around me. Nevertheless, I’ve never felt pulled to go down the wrong path.

My mom used to drag me to church every Christmas; and my grandmother would always be mad at us if we didn't go to church at Easter time. I thought church was boring, cold and a waste of time. I truly hated it. The topic of religion would naturally come up with friends at school and I occasionally got a flyer in the street. I had to think about it a bit more when I joined a choir and performed gospel songs. I fell in love with some of the songs and became more curious about God. However, at this point I didn’t think I would ever start believing in anything. 

My friends invited me to a concert that was hosted by the Living Room Cafe. It wasn't one of my best days and I didn't want to go. Everything about the coffee shop was amazing: food, coffee, atmosphere. After that I invited other friends to go there and one of them, Edward, asked the staff if he could volunteer there. Spending a day in the cafe, he was glowing and couldn’t stop talking about how amazing everything was. So, I decided to help out too. The Living Room friends got me a Bible as a birthday present and later I started attending Bible lessons with Nancy and Sara. I prayed with Katya and gave my life to Jesus on October the 2nd. Since then my life has been filled with so much joy and thankfulness. I have gained countless  amazing new brothers and sisters. Giving my life to Jesus was the best decision I’ve ever made and I haven’t regretted it for a minute" (see picture of Jana below). 

EDWARD

"My life before I met Jesus was crazy. I thought that people who believe in God are lacking something or they are just helpless hoping that God will help them. I didn’t think that I lacked anything or that I needed any help from anybody. I was a so called "rich kid". I partied with my friends, used drugs and alcohol. I lived a life that some people envy.

When I first came to the Living Room Cafe, I wanted to stay there and shortly after I became a volunteer. Very quickly I learned that everyone on staff were Christians. They kept telling me about Jesus continually. At first, it did not make much sense to me because I was happy with my life and I didn’t think I needed anything else to make me feel better. But after a while, the idea of giving my life to Jesus started to make more sense and I made a decision to accept Him on September 21, 2014. I didn't feel an immediate change in me, but God was working in my heart. Since then I have had many experiences with the Holy Spirit touching me and speaking to me in prayer and prophetically. I still have a long way to go but I know I’m on the right path. This summer I decided to get baptized to publicly show my dedication to the Lord" (see picture of Edward getting baptized below). 

TRIP TO GERMANY

In July, a group of us had a chance to take a trip to Nuremberg, Germany to  participate in the "Awaken Europe 2015 Conference". The highlight of the conference was when 25,000 people went on the streets of Nuremberg to preach the Gospel and to share the love of Christ with people. God refreshed our vision for reaching souls for Him and to maintain a lifestyle of being witnesses of Jesus everywhere we go.

Since we came back from our trip God gave us many opportunities to take young people from other churches and ministries to the streets of Tallinn to share the Gospel and pray for people. Here is one of the  recent testimonies.  

TESTIMONY FROM THE STREET

As we walked in one of the parks in Tallinn, trying to find someone to talk to in the rain, we noticed a group of guys just sitting under a tree, playing guitar and hanging out. They had their cigarettes and beer bottles nicely laid out in front of them as they listened to a street musician playing his guitar. One of them, Juha-Matti, being already a little bit tipsy, was eager to talk to us but quite resistant towards the religion he thought we were going to convince him to join. 

Tyler (from a visiting ministry team we took witnessing) :

Relika asked him if he knew Jesus, which turned into a 20 minute conversation about things like, “If there is a God why is there evil and why would Jesus allow terrorism in the world?” In reply, Relika said to Juha-Matti, “Can I pray for you?” He looked up at her and said, “prayer does nothing, but sure.” A few moments before he told us that a long time ago Satan told him that he was his.” This was powerful stuff.

Relika reached out her hand and prayed that the Holy Spirit would come over him. As she did Juha-Matti bent his head down into his hands. When she finished praying he sat there in silence. Moments went by before I asked him what happened. With eyes as large as golf balls, he said to his friend, “Solomon we need to leave RIGHT NOW!” He stood up and was filled with fear. After convincing him to stay we asked him what happened. In reply he said, “While you were praying I felt something go into my heart. It took something (I believe it was the spirit of oppression) from my heart and went out my back.” 

I looked at him and explained what had just happened and the only word that came to his mouth was “crazy.” I told him that I didn’t disagree, God can be a little unorthodox after all. Then I got a word of knowledge about him. “He’s been searching for joy,” I sensed the Lord saying. So, I asked him if he wanted joy in his life again. He looked at me and said, “Of course. I’ve been doing drugs for a while, but recently only smoking and drinking.” When I heard this, I began to tell him  part of my story. I too turned to alcohol to find my joy, but that stuff doesn’t keep you happy for very long. After telling him this, I asked him if he wanted to receive an eternal joy, joy from the Lord.

When he had accepted my request I put my hands on him and said, “Fire from heaven fall on this man. I pray that you would fill him with supernatural joy. He is no longer owned by Satan. In the name of Jesus he is set free.” Again, he looked up eyes wide open. “This is crazy!” He said. “I feel so happy and warm.” This is the God we serve. There is power in the name of Jesus.

I explained how Jesus died for him on the cross and what that means. He told me that Jesus would never love him because he could never stop smoking or drinking every day. When I heard this I sensed the Lord saying, “Tyler, I want to free him from those things right now.” As he rolled, lit, and puffed his next cigarette I said, “How about I pray for you again and I know you won’t want to take another puff of that cigarette in your hand!” He accepted. I prayed a simple prayer. “In the name of Jesus, you are fully free from cigarettes and alcohol. You are set free and don’t want them anymore!” Moments later with his head down, he dropped the cigarette in his hand. “This is CRAZY,” he shouted!

There is power in the name of Jesus! He looked up at me and said, “I don’t want them anymore! I don’t want them at all!” God healed him and set him free. Now he was ready. I looked at him and asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus and he couldn’t have been more excited to do just that. I explained that all he needed to do was ask Jesus to come in his life. It is that simple. So, I led him in a prayer of repentance and gained a new brother in Christ. There is power in the name of Jesus.

The change in him was so vivid. He had joy, he was able to look us in the eyes, he hugged us, he threw all his cigarettes and beer away and he even started witnessing to his friend who was sitting right next to us. He told him that he needed to experience the same thing he had. So we told him, he needed to pray for his friend. And that’s what he did, right there under the same tree, laid hands on his friend Solomon and prayed in his own language (Finnish). It was a true kingdom moment. Our God is so powerful and he can melt even the hardest hearts in few moments. Please pray for Juha-Matti to find a good church in Finland and that he would be able to stay in faith and get closer to God.

PRAYER REQUESTS

•   Growth and hunger for the new believers

•   Grace and wisdom for the new season

•   Fruitful time for witnessing on the streets

•   That the Lord would send more laborers into the harvest field

•    Unity and God's love in our team

•    Peace, wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit for those in leadership 

Thank you again for your friendship, prayers and financial support! May God shower you with His love, grace, peace and blessings,

John & Sara Russell 

for StreetCry Ministries & The Living Room Fellowship

Support checks for StreetCry or for Lana and Natasha's pioneer work in India can be made to:

StreetCry Ministries
PO Box 162
Franklin Springs, GA 30639

Please put INDIA on the bottom left of checks for support for Lana and Natasha.

Thank you!