StreetCry Newsletter, February, 2016

Dear Friends and Family!

Thank you very much fro your continuous prayers and for your faithful support of our ministry. It was truly a blessing to be able to minister to young people in Estonia over the Christmas and to the now saved, former drug addicts in Russia.

It is a privilege and joy to share with you all that the Lord has done over the Christmas holidays in our midst. What an exciting thing to live for the Lord, to see Him change people’s hearts and lives, and to be used by God in reaching the lost for Him!

I would like to share few testimonies from my trip to Estonia and Russia.

SALVATION TESTIMONIES

(testimony of Augustus)

Over the holidays, our apartment in Tallinn was full of people. Most were Katya's friends and classmates from University, who are from other countries, who have no family in Estonia. We also had another visitor, Augustus, a young man from Lithuania staying with us. Katya and Triin met him at a coffee conference they attended in Vilnius in November representing our coffee shop in Tallinn. Augustus is a very intelligent, sweet young man, but very intellectual and in need of the Savior.

Several of us spent hours talking with him about the truths of God and meaning of life. At first it seemed that nothing could get past his braininess and defense. The only penetration point was when we shared the Scripture with him, as it made him think and ponder. He reminded us of Cornelius in the Bible. He was aware of God, even prayed to Him, tried to do good to others and to have positive thinking in his life. He agreed with almost everything that we said except that he is a sinner and needs Jesus to forgive him and give him a new life.

As we shared the word of God and our love with him, and prayed for him, God was working on his heart. At the end of his visit he asked what he needs to do to be saved. At that point Katya was able to explain to him about the need to be born again to see the kingdom of God. She led him in the prayer of salvation. Now Augustus is our brother, he reads God’s word and is looking for a place of fellowship in his home town.

(testimony of Ulia)

Our dear brother in the Lord Vitali, who gave his life to the Lord one year ago at our New Year Eve has met a wonderful young girl Ulia and brought her over for us to meet. Vitali had already been talking to her about Jesus and the Bible. She was very interested in his new faith. I was able to sit down with her and share from the Bible about the way of knowing the Lord personally. After some time I just asked her if she realizes that she is a sinner and if she would like to be forgiven by Him. She said, YES. She accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Our hearts were filled with joy, now that a new soul was born again and has a chance of a new beginning.

CHRISTMAS FEAST IN TALLINN

Christmas time has been very busy time for us. A lot of our focus was on the preparation for our Annual Christmas Feast for 100 students.

Most of the students who attended the feast were exchange students from different universities. There were also some Estonian youth who we have been regularly witnessing to in the coffee shop.


Students at the Christmas feast

It was very fruitful time of sharing the good news of Jesus through the Christmas message, testimonies, songs and personal evangelism.


Imre sharing Christmas message


The Living Room Band

In the November newsletter we wrote about Arlo, a young man who joined our Christmas band but who did not know the Lord yet. We along with the angels in heaven rejoice now that Arlo gave his life to the Lord on the first day of the two Christmas Feasts. This happened after Katya shared the message about Jesus, and she and Imre prayed with Arlo. Praise the Lord! Now he attends church and prayer in the morning regularly. We can see how he is growing in the knowledge of God, His love for him and his purposes for his life.

Many of the students felt cared for by the generosity and hospitality that we were able to show them thanks to your faithful support. Here are some feedbacks from people about Christmas feast.



- A Big Thanks to the Organizers of the Christmas Feast. I loved the Music and Lovely LiViNg PeOpLe. The Food was Amazing! A Big Christmas Hug to all the ppl from LiViNg RoOm CaFe..!

- Thank you Living Room we had a great time yesterday and thank you for sharing the message of Jesus. We had sometimes wondered where the young believers in Tallinn were. It's so good to see wonderful people like all of you yesterday.

May our God increase your sphere of influence in Jesus name.
Merry Christmas!
Oseremi and Oluwaseyi

- Hi There,
I am really Thankful for such an event. I enjoyed being there. You all are wonderful people. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to attend the event. Food was yummy..!
Thank you, guys, for your work of service to the Lord!!!

HEALING TESTIMONIES

Imre attended a Christian discussion group that he was invited to. It happened that one of the guys, Jürgen, who was in the group, who did not know the Lord yet, had one leg shorter than the other. Imre was asked to pray for Him. Imre took his legs in his hands and it was clearly visible that one leg was shorter than the other. During the prayer his leg started to grow and everybody was in amazement. Please join us to pray for Jürgen’s salvation.

Imre shared this testimony on one of the Sunday services, Lea and Malle came up to him to ask for prayer for healing. They both had one leg shorter than the other. It caused Lea to have back pains , and Malle has many other health issues. Imre and Joona prayed for them and they all saw how the legs miraculously grew. Holy Spirit filled the room and the joy of the Lord was so overwhelming! God is so good to His children! Imre had previously been healed of a similar problem and had his clothers personally tailored previously because of that problem. Since he has personally witnessed Gods miracle in his own life, he has faith for others to be healed.

We strongly feel that the Lord wants to pour out His healing, and especially make Himself known in that way to unbelievers. We are very excited to see even more healing manifested in the coffee shop and the church on a regular basis.

FEED-IN IN ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

This year was our 20th annual Feed-in for the drug rehabilitation centers. As always God has come with His presence on the hunger in the hearts of worshippers, and we had wonderful and powerful time of worship, praise, prayer for healing and intercession for the harvest of souls in the new year ahead.

Though the temperature outside was way below 0, and sometimes our car wouldn't start, our hearts were filled with God's fire and excitement, and expectation of what the Lord has prepared for His people in Russia.

On one of the days our team from Estonia was able to minister in one of the local churches in St. Petersburg, run by our dear friends and former StreetCry Bible school students Leonid Leskov and Sergei Abezin. A brother from Estonia shared a message that was very timely for the people there. After the altar call two of the rehab guys came up to receive the Lord. They were very touched by the presence of the Lord that was there. God ministered His forgiveness and mercy to them. Please pray for their growth and continuous walk with the Lord.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Growth for new believers, increase of their hunger for the Lord and His Word 
• Harvest of souls for God's Kingdom in this new season 
• More laborers for the harvest 
• Unity and God's love among us 
• Peace, wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit for those in leadership position 
• Ability to be ready to receive and minister to new believers 
• More volunteers for the work at the cafe 
• For God's strategy regarding growth and direction for the cafe in Tallinn 
• For divine appointments with spiritually hungry people at the cafe 
• For blessing, protection, provision and fruitfulness for our missionaries Lana and Natasha in India 
• For fruitfulness, joy and blessing on John and Sara while in the US 

Thank you again very much for your prayers for us and the team in Estonia, your financial giving (we would not be able to do the work without it), your love and care for us!

May the Lord bless you abundantly in all areas of your personal lives and the lives of your churches.

John and Sara Russell

for StreetCry Ministries and The Living Room Fellowship and Café

Below you can see more pictures from our Christmas event in Russia. 

 

Car that would not start -25ºC (-4ºF)


It was very cold, but people came


Worship practice in unheated car garage


Worship practice in unheated car garage


Worship


Worship


Enjoying dinner and fellowship


Enjoying dinner and fellowship

Follow these links to see pictures from The Living Room coffee shop and fellowship:

Christmas feast

Sunday Service in November

Sunday Service in January

StreetCry Newsletter November 2015

Dear F​riends​,

What a privilege ​it is for us ​to share with you some of the many wonderful things God is doing.

Some of you know that John and I are currently in the US helping John’s 96 year old father. Most of our time we spen​d ministering to his needs; taking him for medical check ups, dealing with insurance and contractor companies (we recently had a fire on ​his​ property) and helping in a wonderful local fellowship, Christ Community Church​.​

We have also had the blessing of praying with 5 people to receive the Lord in the last 3 weeks, and to pray for others healing. We have also had the opportunity​ to visit some of the churches that support our ministry and introduce new missionaries Lana (came to the Lord through the ministry of StreetCry in St. Petersburg, Russia) and Natasha (a founding member of the Living Room student coffee shop and ministry in Tallinn) and their new mission work in India. We have had some exciting things that happened during this time that we would love to share with you all.

NEW BEGINNINGS

On October 17th John and I were invited to a dedication service of a Women’s and children’s home. It is a long term residential home in Fredericksburg, VA where mother and child can find restoration and healing from life-controlling addictions through the power of Jesus Christ. The story of how this home came to  be is one of the most inspiring stories that happened. (It will take a whole letter to share this wonderful story of God’s fulfillment of His promises).

Before the dedication, we had time to meet new people, eat  and fellowship. As we were doing this I  noticed a young man sitting all by himself at the table and decided to join him. His name is Thomas, he is 22 years old and it was his forth day in the Teen Challenge program for drug addicts (see picure of Thomas and John below). A few minutes later John has joined us and we were able to share our testimonies, how we came to the Lord, how He has changed our lives and is able to do the same or even more for anybody who is willing to give their lives to Him.

Our conversation continued after the service, because Thomas wanted to know more and wanted to pray with us to receive Christ. After explaining repentance and salvation thoroughly, he asked Jesus to forgive him for everything that he has done wrong and accepted Him into his heart. After prayer we encouraged him to trust the Lord every day, learn to love Him and study His Word.

MORE PEOPLE BORN AGAIN

John's dad is a landlord and we had the opportunity to share our testimonies with the rentors and two of their children. Four of them gladly prayed with us for forgiveness of their sins and giving their lives to Jesus. A Muslim relative was there and declined to pray with us.

ANSWERED PRAYER

In the midst of the many shootings that are going on in and around school campuses and seeing the fear that often accompanies these incidents, it is refreshing to be in a county that believes in prayer and the authority of God over the enemy and his plans. At the end of August before the new school year several local churches  (around 200 people) in the area,  along with Christian principals, teachers and administrators got together and prayed in several schools for the children, teachers, principals, staff, security, etc. It was encouraging to see people realizing the importance of prayer.

Two months passed and in one of the schools in another county, there was a young man who brought a gun to class and threatened to kill people.  The Christian principal and a Christian teacher went to the classroom and began talking with the student. Meanwhile, other Christian students got together in another area of the school and began to pray. The principal and a  teacher reasoned with the student until he surrendered the gun to them. Shortly after that, the police came for the young man. It all happened with no violence, no bloodshed or dramatic heroics. This incident got almost zero press in the national news. It was clearly an answer to the prayer that was done at the beginning of the school year!

POWER OF THE WORD OF PROPHECY

Our dear friend and fellow worker Natasha Stembah was visiting us for 6 weeks and was able to visit several churches that support our ministry. She and Lana are pioneering a new work in India and are in need of prayer and financial partners.

On one of the trips visiting churches, we were at a restaurant in Charleston, WV with our friends Tom and Trish Bottoms. A young man was serving us and as sometimes happens to all of us, several of us at the table felt a burden for this young man. At the end of the dinner we asked him his name; it was Caleb. I said, “It’s a Biblical name.” The response of the young man was, “Of course, I am the son of a preacher.”  Natasha asked if she could share what she feels the Lord is showing her about him. He gladly agreed. She gave him a specific word, saying that he has a long time dream that is too big and seems too great to achieve. He said, “You are spot on!”  We started talking more and found out that he had two degrees and he was now waiting tables as a result of many disappointments and some wrong choices in his life. He told us he had been a drug addict for five years, but he was clean for two and his big dream was to get involved in drug rehabilitation work to help others. We prayed together with him and encouraged  him to pursue his dream. He was very thankful for the word and the prayer we gave him. We exchanged facebook and email info and hugged him goodbye.

NEWS FROM THE LIVING ROOM FELLOWSHIP AND CAFE IN ESTONIA

It has been the busiest of times we have ever had in the cafe. The number of people coming to the cafe daily has almost doubled since last year. We believe that each person is sent by God. Knowing this compels us to preach the gospel even more. Our hearts' desire is that all of them would experience God. The best moments in the cafe are when we are able to share Christ. This month there have been many hungry people coming in. The last week of this month we were able to share prophetic words of knowledge almost every day, both with Christians and non-believers. We have been able to get to know them, witness to, pray for and pour God’s love on them. We continue to pray for salvation for all who come.

We have also had the honor to host missionaries this month. Jem (see picture of her ministering to one of our church members below),  a Singaporean who lives in the Congo, is involved in rescuing child soldiers and bringing them to wholeness and love through Christ.

She shared amazing stories about her  home for the soldiers and the miraculous fruit of God's love working in their lives.

Ministering at a Youth Conference 

In the end of October our team was invited to minister at a youth conference at the Pentecostal church of Tallinn attended by around 100 teenagers and young adults from 14 churches all over Estonia. The conference consisted of seminars that covered topics of worship, evangelism, discipleship and prophetic ministry. Natasha gave a class on prophetic ministry and how to develop our hearing of God’s voice and after that our team was able to share words of knowledge with the youth (see picture below).

For many of them, it was the first time they ever heard about prophetic ministry and how God uses it to reach out to the lost. We are excited that the hunger for the gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation is growing in the body of Christ in Estonia and that He uses us in a small way to spotlight it to others.

RELIKA'S GRANDFATHER'S TESTIMONY

Relika's 88 year old grandfather has been quite sick and disabled for many years. After a recent downturn in his health he had to be hospitalized. The doctors said there is no point of keeping him in the hospital because he will definitely die, so they sent him home to do so. Relika is attending university in England, and we did not have a chance to visit him. But the good thing is that God is not limited by our distance so we were able to pray for him on Sunday. As we were praying, there was a word that an angel visited him in his room and touched him. Very soon after that he was taken to the hospital again and in a few days his physical body was healed but mentally he had become like a 6 year old and was completely dependent on others. We continued praying for him and  after a few days his mind was restored and  he has been completely healed and is now at home doing better than he has been for years.

SPECIALS PRAYER REQUEST AND NEED

Our 20th annual Christmas feed-ins and celebrations will be held next month. We have started planning for them in Tallinn, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia. We will have two events in Tallinn, and one in St. Petersburg. Since John and I are currently in the US, the brothers and sisters in Christ who are running the coffee shop and church in Tallinn are understaffed, they need special prayer at the time of planning and executing such a big event with music concert, evangelism and full Christmas feast. In Russia we are expecting 300 people from more than a dozen Christian rehab centers to come and enjoy a time of thanking God for the victories won in the past year and praying for the harvest of new souls among the afflicted and addicted. Both of those events require quite a bit of finances. In Russia we have to rent a big enough place to hold and sit 300 people, rent extra equipment for music part of things, buy lots of food and pay for transportation and visas of some of the volunteers from Estonia that would like to come and help. We need to raise $7,000. If the Lord is putting on your heart to help in any way to finance these events, we would appreciate your support and prayers. These times are some of the most joyous and fruitful times and we are so looking forward to sharing God's love with many during this holiday season.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Salvation of John’s father
• Spiritual growth, hunger to know God in a deeper way for Thomas and Caleb  
• Prayer and financial supply for the feed ins in Estonia and Russia
• Growth in love and unity as a church
• Spiritual growth of our young believers
• God’s grace and wisdom in situations we face
• More souls to be saved

Thank you very much for your prayers  and faithful support,

John and Sara Russell

for StreetCry Ministries and The Living Room Fellowship and Café