December 06, 2006

For God So Loved the World...

Two thousand years after the miraculous birth of our Savior, we are still discovering the almost incomprehensible height, breadth, and depth of His pure love. This month's newsletter is filled with tangible expressions that speak of this love, and we hope that as you read about them you are encouraged and your faith is lifted.

Student Spotlight: Olga Bezhura

Olga is a gifted worshipper/songwriter/mother who is currently studying in her second year at the StreetCry School of Ministry. Her music is featured on StreetCry’s next worship CD project to be released in Russia, early 2007. Her testimony reveals a journey of reconciliation and restoration into the father heart of God. Here is her story:

I was born in Kazakhstan (former USSR) in 1975. My family life growing up could be described as ‘dysfunctional’ at best. My mother deeply loved my sister and me, but was greatly afflicted by an abusive relationship with my step-father. He was a drunkard and an abusive husband who would often lash out at my mother in fits of rage.

As I grew up, the abuse worsened and intensified. Several times, my sister and I witnessed my step-father beat my mother beyond recognition, almost to the point of death. After these beatings he would force my sister and I to clean my mother’s blood off the floors and walls.

By the age of 10 I hated all men, and the word ‘father’ had become a curse word to me. Daily I watched as my mother was battered and humiliated by my step-father. His idea of fun was throwing knives at her while she defended herself with a pillow. Often, my mom would have us flee to find protection at a friend’s house.

The police were often summoned for assistance, and from time to time they would put my step-father in prison. However, when released, the anger and violence would only increase. The worse things became at home, the more I longed for love and protection. Most of my girlfriends came from similar situations, and I started to think that I was doomed for a life of torment.

When I turned 13, my step-father was convicted on charges of murder and sentenced to a life-time in prison. It was a relief for all of us. However, the damage had been done. My step-father’s actions towards my mother had left my soul in anguish, and my heart hardened. I could no longer fathom the idea of ever having a relationship with a man, or recovering from the effects of witnessing the atrocities dealt to my mother.

As years went by, I graduated from high school and enrolled in university. One class we were required to take was on atheism. The subject of my term paper was to be, ‘Why God Doesn’t Exist’. I had serious questions about the arguments my professors used in defending their beliefs. Their theories were self defeating and lacked substance.

While doing research for my paper, I happened across a Bible. I randomly flipped the pages open to Matthew 6 where Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray to God as Father. The word ‘father’ still made me cringe, and I thought it strange for a person to relate to God in this way. From this point on, I began a personal pursuit of the true meaning of the word ‘father’.

While in university, I slowly became friends with a young man (later to be my husband!) whose mother was a devout Christian. She would bring us to church where we would hear messages about the love of God. One Sunday, the pastor shared that God the Father loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could become His children. It was a shock and a joy to hear this. How could I have lived my entire life and not known that I have a real Father who loves me! In prayer, I repented before God and gave my life over to Him. His presence flooded my soul, and I began to realize how long He had been waiting to show His love towards me.

Since that day, I have had daily fellowship with my heavenly Father with each encounter bringing a deeper understanding of His love. I will never be able to adequately express the joy and peace I now have in my heart. God has revealed Himself to me as Father. He was always there, even in the moments of sorrow, pain and fear. Now I can see very clearly that it was only because of my Father God’s protection, that I was spared from my earthly father’s abuse.

God has healed my broken heart. He has given me a future filled with love and hope. I am now happily married and have two beautiful sons! I know that God always protects me. He never fails me, He is my real Daddy.

Please pray for Olga as she continues to discover the love of God and share it with others.

News

Healing Training

A training course on healing has begun at StreetCry fellowship for people wanting to become more involved in healing ministry. Just as many at StreetCry have been trained and mobilized in evangelism and ministering prophetically, we hope to see this happen in healing ministry. Both healing and prophecy are powerful tools we seek to implement both in the church and evangelism.

Recently an instant healing occurred during a Saturday night meeting. A student, by the name of Gosha Karovushkin (featured in the November newsletter), came forward for ministry regarding a chronic problem with sores in his mouth. After receiving prayer from one of the healing teams, Gosha felt something happen on his tongue. He immediately ran out of the room to find a mirror to check the inside of his mouth. After confirming that he had in fact been healed, he came running back into the church shouting, “I’m healed! I’m healed!”. It was quite a scene!

Please pray that God would help us in the area of healing, and that this gift would be used in a greater way for His glory in spreading the gospel in Russia!

Plans for 2006/2007 Christmas Feed-In

As the Christmas season approaches, plans are in the works for StreetCry's tenth annual Christmas feed-in. As 90% of Russia's population are poor and needy, we specifically need to hear from the Lord each year which poor and needy we are to concentrate on! This year's feed-in will be a celebration of God's goodness to the hundreds of former heroin addicts living in and around St Petersburg who have been saved and delivered from their addictions. In previous years, we have seen thousands of lives touched by the love of God through this outreach, and are excited to see what God does this year.

Please pray that God’s tangible love would be experienced by everyone who attends this year’s feed-in.

Estonia Prophetic School Update

A StreetCry ministry team has recently returned from ministering at our prophetic school in Estonia. In only two sessions there has been a marked improvement in the quality of ministry and number of people ministering. A number of testimonies came forward of how people had begun hearing from God on a new level.

A woman attending the school, shared an exciting testimony of how the prophetic gift has come into operation in her ministry as an intercessor. She and her mother, both students at the school, had received an invitation to help a friend who was having problems with the spiritual atmosphere in her house. She informed the women that it continually felt dark and oppressive.

As the mother and daughter began praying through the house, the daughter had a hideous vision which she did not understand or want to share out loud. After counseling with her mother, she reluctantly shared the details of the vision with the other two women. As soon as the daughter had finished speaking, the friend who owned the house began to cry and ran out of the room. When she returned, she told her friends the vision was of a gruesome event that had occurred in the house several years earlier that she had been a part of.

Armed with this new information, the two intercessors were able to minister healing to the woman, and take authority over the evil presence that had taken residence there. The
daughter, who is quite young, was excited that the teaching she received in the school helped activate a gift in her that helped deliver a tormented sister in the Lord. Thank you Jesus!

Please continue to pray for the nation of Estonia and for continued grace on the prophetic school.

Newsletter Compiled by Chris Loewen

November 16, 2006

A New Season With New Opportunity

The autumn season is now upon us! During this time, Russians celebrate the newly inaugurated ‘Day of People’s Unity’, while those living in America prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving. Here at StreetCry, we’re thankful for unity! This month’s newsletter includes a new student spotlight and news about autumn evangelism and a new prophetic school in Estonia.

Student Spotlight: Gosha Karoushkin


Gosha is currently enrolled in the StreetCry School of Ministry as a 2nd year student, and helps run a local drug rehab center in St. Petersburg. Miraculously, Gosha's life has been preserved after overcoming a serious drug addiction and breaking ties with a dangerous neo-Nazi gang. His life is yet another example of the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Gosha Karoushkin

My name is Gosha, and I am 32 years old. I was born in Vologda, Russia, and raised in a good family. Most of my close relatives are well educated. My father holds a degree in computer engineering and my mother in architecture.

As a child, teachers had great hope for me as I consistently achieved high grades in school. Towards the end of my sixth grade year a new trend developed in school - glue sniffing. Students began sniffing often, even during class. Soon I gave into peer pressure and joined them. Binge drinking was the next trend and soon I was an alcoholic.

During these years of my life, Perestroika hit the country. For the first time, Russians were allowed to listen to rock-and-roll music! I filled my ears with all forms of rock and heavy metal music and embraced the culture that was promoted through this music.

As a result of my negative lifestyle choices, my grades began to drop. The situation became critical, and one day my school principal approached me with this statement, “Gosha, I truly believe you are a good guy, but you no longer have any place in my school!” My parents also tried to intervene but it became too late, as I had already set my life on a destructive path.

I quickly joined a group of friends who shared my new set of values. We regularly attended rock concerts in surrounding cities, and began smoking hash to enhance our experiences. In 1992, I began experimenting with heavy drugs.

I had a very addictive personality, and drugs quickly got a grip on me. From this point on, everything I had was invested into my drug addiction. Drugs became my god and I served them with all of my heart.

My favorite drugs were hallucinogens. Because of the effect these drugs had on me, I was taken to a Psychiatric hospital five separate times, and five separate times the treatments I received had no effect. As a dog returns to his own vomit, I returned to my drugs.

As time went on, I ended as most drug addicts do, serving time in prison. I was first sentenced in 1997, and it was here that a whole new world of corruption opened up to me. I quickly made friends with a neo-Nazi gang leader who was also serving a drug related sentence.

After my release, I joined the neo-Nazi gang associated with the man I met in prison. Gang life conditioned me to become a hate-filled, dangerous person. The drugs I was still using dulled my sense of humanity, and fueled the violent acts I carried out on a regular basis.

Over the next few years, I was in and out of prison six times. During my final sentence, I met some inmates who were Christians. Even though I respected them, I believed the Bible was the biggest lie in the world.

One day while sitting in my cell, I received news that one of my closest friends from the gang, Yura Bugakov (featured in the October newsletter), had become a Christian and joined a Christian rehab in St. Petersburg. Immediately, I contacted him and began having long discussions with him about his conversion experience.

After many talks on the phone, Yura decided to come and see me face-to-face in prison. The Yura I encountered on that visit was a different man than I remembered. His eyes were now clean and full of life. I couldn’t figure out how this drastic change could have happened. I went back to my cell after the visit and began to rethink my ideas of Christianity.

In April of 2005, I was released from prison for the final time. Despite my encounter with Yura, I returned to my familiar life of drugs and crime. One day while at a bar, celebrating a successful crime, I suddenly heard a voice clearly say to me, “Enough Gosha, Stop It! Stand up and leave this place!”. Even though I was drunk, surrounded by prostitutes, and drugged out of my mind, I got up and left the bar.

Still high and unsure of what to do next, I hired a taxi to drive me to the train station. Once there, I bought a ticket to St. Petersburg and boarded the train. It wasn’t until I sobered up the next morning that I realized where I was.

By God’s grace, in my stupor I had bought a ticket that brought me to the very city where my friend Yura lived. I was in desperate need of help, and knew that I had to visit Yura at the rehab.

Once at the rehab, I beat on the front door and yelled until someone answered. The director of the rehab opened the door and I asked him, “Do you give tickets to get to heaven here?” He looked at me with love in his eyes and answered, “Yes, please come inside.”

The director led me inside where he introduced me to everyone. I had never seen so many happy faces in my life. They had light and love that came out of their eyes. I decided to stay.

While at the rehab I began to reflect back on my life. I remembered all the moments I should have died. Twenty times I overdosed, and many times my life was threatened. Jesus revealed to me that He had kept me alive up until this point so that I would be able to spend the rest of my life living for Him. He was waiting for me to come to Him. This realization broke my heart and real repentance set in. In that moment, I gave my life to Jesus and totally surrendered. I now know that He is real.

I was not only a basic sinner but someone who led many other people into sin. Jesus forgave me for all of this. People who knew me thought I could never be helped. Jesus does the impossible. This is a miracle that cannot be explained by words but only accepted by faith.

Please pray for Gosha as he continues his training at the School of Ministry and helps to oversee a local drug rehab in St. Petersburg!

News

Autumn Evangelism

Although street evangelism can become a challenge during the cold autumn-winter months, teams from StreetCry venture out twice weekly to proclaim salvation to people in the streets of St. Petersburg. Teams focus on reaching out to drug addicts, youth, and university students in local dormitories.

A number of salvations have occurred this past year through personal evangelism, and out of these new believers a few are now enrolled in our School of Ministry. We plan to continue developing and expanding this ministry as it brings the light of the gospel to many people who would otherwise remain in darkness. Please pray that compassion, wisdom, boldness, and power would fill those involved with this ministry, and that many souls would be saved!

Prophetic School Launch in Estonia

StreetCry has launched a prophetic school in the small neighboring country of Estonia. The purpose of this school is to train people in hearing the voice of God and ministering prophetically. Estonia was formerly a part of the Soviet Union and currently has a population of approximately 1.2 million.

The first session of the school was well attended as about fifty people registered. There were about ten pastors in attendance who wanted training so they could begin releasing the prophetic ministry in their own congregations (Very exciting!). Overall the response to the ministry was very positive. A number of people gave prophetic words for the first time and left the classes feeling more confident in hearing God’s voice.

The school will continue for the next seven months, with one full day of classes each month. Every month different teachers will be sent out from StreetCry to continue the courses. We consider the school an excellent opportunity to help strengthen churches in our surrounding region and promote unity in the body of Christ. Please pray for God’s continued grace and blessing on this new venture, and for a strengthening of unity between churches in Russia and Estonia!


Happy Thanksgiving!


We would like to take to the opportunity to wish all our American friends and supporters a very happy Thanksgiving.

With Love,

John, Sara, Vera, Roma, Anya and the StreetCry Team

Special Note from John Russell:

Sara and I would like to express our deepest thanks to all who have been praying for our daughter Katya to receive her permanent residency card in the United States. This past week, our prayers were answered and Katya received her card. Praise God!

Additionally, as the Christmas season approaches plans are already in the works for StreetCry's tenth annual Christmas feed-in. For those who are unfamiliar with this event, it is an outreach we host each Christmas as a celebration of God's goodness and love for the needy. We have seen thousands of lives touched by the love of God as a result of this outreach.

We are financially in a pinch this holiday season and are needing $10,000 USD very soon to cover our feed-in and Christmas season expenses. Please join with us in prayer for the funds, and if you could help out in an exceptional way it would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless,

John

Newsletter Compiled by Chris Loewen

November 15, 2006

Change Is In The Air

StreetCry has been going through changes on almost every front. In the past month, we've received new staff, a new building and a new group of students. Despite the challenges that change brings, we look forward to what God has in store for the future.

We thought we would commemorate these changes with a new format to our newsletter. We hope you like it!


Student Spotlight: Yura Bugakov

We are adding a "Student Spotlight" section of the newsletter where a testimony will be shared each month of one of our students. The stories of their lives are profound and awe-inspiring. We feel they are stories that need to be told, and we hope as you read them your heart is moved and your faith is strengthened.

This month's spotlight is on a student who was previously a neo-Nazi skin-head. Out of 15 gang-members, he and another student (to be featured in November's newsletter) are the only members still alive. Their lives are a miracle and testimony of God's power to redeem a life.

Yura Bugakov

I was born in Vologda, Russia. This is a place far away from St. Petersburg and Moscow. People in my town have the saying that "civilization arrives ten years later here".

When I was a child our town was divided into separate districts. This created an atmosphere of rivalry between the young people of different districts. We would fight with each other using solid metal bars. I carried a knife with me where ever I went. I lived with the daily expectation of being beaten with some type of weapon.

It was common for fights to break out during school dances. I remember one incident at a dance when a fight broke out between a local guy and someone from another town over a girl. The fight escalated into a town riot which later made headlines on national news.

In the 90's, after the fall of communism, regional violence subsided. Personally, I was still filled with hatred and a desire to protest. In order to find acceptance I turned to a subculture group of Russian Punks and joined their gang.

With-in a short amount of time I accumulated a broken nose, several concussions, and a torn earlobe. This caused me to realize that Russian Punk gangs were not for me. I left the gang but still embraced the culture.

I began collecting punk music albums from bands such as G.B.H., Dead Kennedy's, Exploited, and Kolovrat. I began making new friends who listened to the same music. The hate-filled lyrics were filled with racial overtones. The lyrics inspired us and we soon began to hate everyone who wasn't Russian. We embraced the swastika, and began to wear army clothes. We became very nationalistic and blamed Russia's problems on the foreigners. We would get drunk and go to Nazi clubs and shout hate chants.

At this point in my life I felt empty and sorrow began to hang over my beaten, shaved head. In order to accept the radical ideas of national cleansing I forced myself to drink more alcohol. Without noticing, alcohol was leading me into a deadly drug addiction. Soon I became known as "the Junkie" by my friends. Ironically, I continued to hate everyone who wasn't Russian, even though these were the people who supplied my drug habit.

As time progressed, I ended up in prison for drug related crimes. The time alone gave me a chance to reflect on my life. My attitude had become that everyone around me was weak. At the same time I realized there was no strength inside myself.

After being released from prison, I came to the end of my rope. Half dead from drugs and realizing I needed help, I applied to a Christian rehab center. It was there that I repented to God for all of my hatred and pride, and came to know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.

This was a miracle since before I would chant 'Jesus is dead!'. Now He was very much alive to me. Jesus never got offended at my sin, He only redeemed me. My angry, hardened heart was melting by His love. Now, I am sharing this love with all races and nationalities. Instead of trying to send foreigners home, I welcome them. I understand now that no power of the fist, or idea of a clean race will save the world from the power of evil. Only the redeeming blood of Christ can save us!

Please pray for Yura as he continues his training at the School of Ministry and is involved in overseeing a drug rehab in St. Petersburg.

News

New Staff

We are excited about the addition of Chris and Crystal Loewen as full-time members of our ministry team. They have moved from Winkler, Manitoba, Canada, and are graduates of the MorningStar School of Ministry. They will be helping with various administrative tasks and teaching at the ministry school. Please pray for them as they adjust to life in Russia!


New Rental Facility

Due to difficulties with our previous landlord, we have moved into a new building. The new building has adequate facilities for our School of Ministry, church meetings, and ministry offices. For the short term we are thankful to be renting a building where we feel welcome. Our long-term goal remains to purchase a property that would serve all the growing needs of the ministry. Please pray for breakthrough in finding a new property to own.

New Website Development

Development has begun on a new website. The new site will be simplified with updated information. We hope it will better serve the needs of our supporters and those interested in learning more about the ministry. We will inform you as soon as it is on-line and ready for viewing. Please pray that the new site will become a useful tool and accurately reflect the work going on here.

New Students

Our new group of 30 students have arrived, and the School of Ministry is now in session for the 2006/2007 year. We are very excited about the new students and the hunger for God they have brought with them. We believe they are part of the future leaders God is raising up in Russia to advance His kingdom. Please pray for a spirit of wisdom and council to rest on the teachers, and for the students to grow in the grace and love of God.

Newsletter Compiled by Chris Loewen