Dear Friends!
Thank you very much for your continued prayers, friendship and financial giving to our ministry! We really appreciate you and thank God for you! Again, we are happy to share with you the exciting things the Lord is doing here in Russia and Estonia!
Sara and I just returned from a blessed and inspiring 3 months in the US. We were able to attend our daughter Katya’s graduation from Forerunner Music Academy in Kansas City and being with her for that was the highlight of our trip. We also were able to fellowship with a number of wonderful pastors and churches and speak in churches from Virginia to New Hampshire to Kansas City and places in between. It is always a privilege and honor to be with God’s people. Thanks to everyone who hosted us, we love and appreciate you!
While in Indianapolis, our car was rear ended by a truck, and Katya and Sara received mild to moderate back and neck injuries which has required regular chiropractic visits. Katya has torn ligaments in her neck and we would appreciate continued prayers for complete healing from God’s miraculous, loving, healing hand as torn ligaments do not heal naturally. Thank you. As she is a drummer, we believe that this is an attack from the enemy on her in an area where she needs to be pain free.
NEWS FROM RUSSIA
The local church has changed its name to the Russian version of “Open Heavens” which we all hope will be more relatable to Russians than the English name “StreetCry”. The church worship team has also just finished a beautiful new recording of songs, 10 of them written by them. This is the fulfillment of many people’s dreams and we are thankful for this milestone.
Vera Abezina, one of the founding members of our church and ministry since 1994 has passed on her School of Ministry leadership responsibilities, and is preparing to move to Betel rehabilitation center to work together with Marco Saba, one of the Betel leaders as preparation for marriage. Although they have known each other via correspondence and occasional brief visits for three years, they will now have the opportunity to work together closely and decide on their future. Vera is our daughter, sister and co-laborer in the Lord, and the most sacrificial and dedicated servant of God that Sara and I have had the pleasure of working with in all of our lives. We will truly miss her anointed teaching and her boundless spirit of joy. We wish to honor her as the scripture says “honor to whom honor is due” and she truly is a saint that will have great reward in heaven. Please pray with us that her time with Betel and working with Marco will be fruitful and that God will have his wonderful way regarding her future. If anyone would like to help with her wedding with any type of love offering, it will be greatly appreciated. We know no one who is more deserving.
There has been a significant shift with regard to the ministry in Russia. At present, there is a strained relationship between one of the 3 people we left in charge of the ministry, and ourselves. So far we have had 3 meetings to try to resolve issues, but things have not have improved. The root of the problem is difference in understanding regarding Biblical accountability, counseling and communication. It is our hearts desire for this not to be, so we would appreciate your prayers for God’s will to be done and for His kingdom to be manifest in this situation. We know that God is much bigger and greater than this difficulty.
There are a number of people who either were born, grew up or were trained in our ministry in Russia that have significant anointings and callings on their lives. Some are evangelists, some teachers, and others have strong healing and prophetic gifts. It is our desire to help them to reach their full potential and destiny, and we will continue to feature them in our newsletters and to financially donate to their work.
EVANGELISM
We started having the home group for new believers 2 times a week. Because most of its members are university students and live in a dorm we meet weekly to have a Bible study for the new believers and another time for evangelistic meetings - to invite unbelievers: friends
from university and neighbors from the dorm. Vika (photo on the left) is a dorm neighbor. She visited our meetings and church several times and and listened with great interest. One evening in the midst of a spontaneous hot discussion on the topic of witchcraft (very widespread in Russia) Vika suddenly interrupted: “May I ask a question not on the topic? How do I repent and get right with God?” Ilya who leads the new believers’ home group prayed with Vika. She repented of her sins and accepted Jesus right there in the dorm room. Now she is an active participant in the church and new believers meetings.
Gosha spent a month in his hometown Vologda taking medication for his liver and resting. But he could not rest from sharing the Gospel and helping people in need to find Jesus. Yulia (with Gosha in the photo on the right) happened to be in prison in Vologda in the same cell with a girl whom Gosha witnessed to and helped to get into a rehab program a while ago. Unfortunately, that girl did not stay in the center and as a result of returning to the path of sin was put in prison. Nevertheless, she told Yulia about the chance to radically change her life right before it was time for Yulia to be released from prison and gave her Gosha’s phone number. Once out of prison Yulia found Gosha in Vologda and she came to Jesus after one week. Gosha shared with Yulia his personal experience of being transformed from a criminal and a drug addict into a dedicated Christian. As a result, Yulia made the decision to go to the girls’ rehab center in Ust-Izhora village near St. Petersburg run by our School of Ministry graduate Yura Bugakov (his testimony is published in the October 2006 issue of our newsletter). She has been in the center for about a month now. Please pray with us for her spiritual growth, complete deliverance from addictions and restoration of her life.
SCHOOL OF MINISTRY GRADUATION
June ended the school year in our School of Ministry. We are now moving on into the season of summer evangelism and putting into practice what was learned in the classroom. During the ceremony of receiving diplomas, several graduates shared what the Lord has done in their lives over the past nine months. Rejoice with us over their encouraging testimonials:
NASTYA SHTURMINA
“I am so grateful to God for putting the desire in my heart to come and learn from Him. I thank Jesus every day that His ways are high above my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts – His thoughts of me are for good and not for evil, they are to give me a future and hope. He lovingly led me to this school and more than just that – He gave me a new family and I am so happy about that!
The time of study in the School of Ministry has been a great time of equipping and training for me. Over the past year, the Lord has so drastically changed my heart and He keeps leading me into even deeper relationship with Him.
The course of Foundations of Christian Growth was packed with revelations for me! I discovered a whole lot new about myself, about God, His amazing love to us – how we are accepted in the Beloved, about righteousness, which is in Jesus, not by our works, about God’s provision for every area of our lives!
Classes on prayer and spiritual gifts triggered me to practice what I have learned and created a deeper hunger to get to know Jesus personally, to fellowship with him daily. My faith grew and patience increased.
The school taught me a great deal to organize my time and to discipline myself. I greatly benefited by memorizing scriptures – it helped a lot to renew my mind!
I thank God for all the teachers who contributed materials, especially John Paul Jackson. I am gifted prophetically and his 101 Course was an eye-opener to me in so many ways! Thank you to all who invested their time and hearts to teach us and for all who donated finances to enable the study process!”
VALENTINA SHKOLENKO
“In the summer of 2009 I was in a dry season of my spiritual life – felt exhausted, defeated in many areas, desperate for God and His help. In response to my questions and prayers, Jesus led me to the StreetCry School of Ministry.
Over the past school year, God showed me the areas of my life where I still trusted in my own strength. He demolished the wrong foundation that I had built and laid down a new one – firmly founded on the rock of his Word. My faith got strengthened. Not only I have faith now but Jesus taught me to trust Him completely and rely on Him in every area of my life.
The past year was a year of revelation of God’s love – to me personally and to people in general. I discovered that His love is greater than my limited mind could contain and His mercy is much deeper than I could only imagine! It blew my mind and broadened my horizons. God reveled Himself to me in ways I did not know Him before. He drew me closer. He proved Himself a Provider like I never dreamt about. I experienced His attention and care continually and saw how attentive He is to our needs. I discovered that there are no details too small for Him to notice and no problems too big for Him to resolve. He does not slumber nor sleep - the One who keeps us!
Jesus also taught me that meekness and humility are my weapons.
I used to be rather lonely and did not have friends but a practical part of the studies in the School of Ministry helped me to build relationships with so many more people than I ever had before. And God gave new quality to those relationships. Doing things together in ministry helped me to feel a part of the Body of Christ and helped me to find my place of belonging. It made my life so much more abundant”.
NEWS FROM ESTONIA
Our team continues holding Bible School classes and services in women’s prison in Tallinn. And we are very thrilled by what God is doing among the girls! As they study the Word of God, He immediately gives them situations where they can practice what they learned from the Bible. Recently, one of the students named Aigi (see her testimony in the March 2010 issue of our newsletter) shared a testimony of how she is learning to forgive and trust God in the area of relationships:
“I am a friend with one of the ex-inmates, but it was not always like that. I shared a room with 8 other girls and were getting along with everybody pretty well. But one day, this girl became envious of me receiving clothes from humanitarian aid and as a result she started slendering me to others, saying that I was a liar and a thief. My first reaction was saying rude things to her but then God showed me my wrong attitude toward someone He loved. I repented in my hatred and from that moment on, I started praying for her. But the tension in the room was getting worse – once this girl even rose her hand to hit me, but I believe it was the Lord who didn’t let her do that. Finally, I had to move to another room. Some time later, this girl visited me in my new room. I offered her a cup of coffee and told her about Jesus. Time went by, the girl was released from prison. She sent me a postcard. I answered her with a long letter about God, choices, the way of life and the way of death. I did not get any answer yet, but I believe that God is dealing with her. When she was persecuting me, I forgave her as Bible tells us to forgive and bless our enemies. I know for sure that God resolves our problems and situations when we trust in Him and when we are open for His help. And my desire is that people would never lean on their own understanding but would give their burdens to Jesus”.
God is moving among the girls who come to the Bible School and the services and uses them to share the Gospel with other inmates. Every week the Lord draws many unbelievers to our services with hunger in their hearts. Last week two girls named Alyona and Marina in response to the altar call literally ran toward the front to repent before the Lord. Three weeks ago, one of the prisoners was openly mocking Christian girls. However, last week she came to church and sat in the front row attentively listening and asking questions about how to forgive and how to be forgiven.
PRAYER POINTS FOR JUNE:
• For physical and spiritual protection for our church and ministry, divine health and strength for all of us
• Unity, love and wisdom for the leadership team
• For the graduates of our School of Ministry in St. Petersburg – for finding their proper place of usefulness in the Body of Christ; discovering the callings and destinies God has for them; putting in practice all they have learnt in classrooms and for open doors for them to minister
• For the outreach to the student’s dorms in St. Petersburg to be fruitful bringing many new souls to salvation
• For the home group for new believers - growth in faith, strong personal relationship with Jesus, hunger for the spiritual things and power to resist temptations that the world and the devil are constantly bombarding the young people with
• For new evangelism strategies for the summer season
• For Gosha’s healing from hepatitis C and restoration of his liver
• For monthly financial supply for the work in St. Petersburg and Tallinn. We need more regular support. Every single person, church and ministry that gives to us helps our ministry to preach the Gospel. Every single donation is needed and received with much gratitude. Thank you for your continued help!
• For the work in Estonia – more souls saved, drug addicts delivered and placed in the rehab centers, and for establishing a greater, stronger presence there
• For prison outreach in Estonia both in men’s and women’s prisons – more salvations, deliverance from drug and other addictions, peer pressure and fear of men, for physical and emotional healing, renewing of the minds of the inmates who just got born again, for their spiritual growth and developing steadfast personal relationship with Jesus
• We have debt, but are continuing to press on in spite of the difficulties. Please pray for an infusion of $72,000 to cover ministry expenses for the next 6 months. Thanks so much!
Thank you again so very much for your prayers and continued support of our work! If you are not doing so already we would like to ask if you would prayerfully consider helping us on a regular basis. We need your help to help others! All help is much needed and highly appreciated!
God bless and keep you all,
John and Sara Russell and your StreetCry family
Thank you very much for your continued prayers, friendship and financial giving to our ministry! We really appreciate you and thank God for you! Again, we are happy to share with you the exciting things the Lord is doing here in Russia and Estonia!
Sara and I just returned from a blessed and inspiring 3 months in the US. We were able to attend our daughter Katya’s graduation from Forerunner Music Academy in Kansas City and being with her for that was the highlight of our trip. We also were able to fellowship with a number of wonderful pastors and churches and speak in churches from Virginia to New Hampshire to Kansas City and places in between. It is always a privilege and honor to be with God’s people. Thanks to everyone who hosted us, we love and appreciate you!
While in Indianapolis, our car was rear ended by a truck, and Katya and Sara received mild to moderate back and neck injuries which has required regular chiropractic visits. Katya has torn ligaments in her neck and we would appreciate continued prayers for complete healing from God’s miraculous, loving, healing hand as torn ligaments do not heal naturally. Thank you. As she is a drummer, we believe that this is an attack from the enemy on her in an area where she needs to be pain free.
NEWS FROM RUSSIA
The local church has changed its name to the Russian version of “Open Heavens” which we all hope will be more relatable to Russians than the English name “StreetCry”. The church worship team has also just finished a beautiful new recording of songs, 10 of them written by them. This is the fulfillment of many people’s dreams and we are thankful for this milestone.
Vera Abezina, one of the founding members of our church and ministry since 1994 has passed on her School of Ministry leadership responsibilities, and is preparing to move to Betel rehabilitation center to work together with Marco Saba, one of the Betel leaders as preparation for marriage. Although they have known each other via correspondence and occasional brief visits for three years, they will now have the opportunity to work together closely and decide on their future. Vera is our daughter, sister and co-laborer in the Lord, and the most sacrificial and dedicated servant of God that Sara and I have had the pleasure of working with in all of our lives. We will truly miss her anointed teaching and her boundless spirit of joy. We wish to honor her as the scripture says “honor to whom honor is due” and she truly is a saint that will have great reward in heaven. Please pray with us that her time with Betel and working with Marco will be fruitful and that God will have his wonderful way regarding her future. If anyone would like to help with her wedding with any type of love offering, it will be greatly appreciated. We know no one who is more deserving.
There has been a significant shift with regard to the ministry in Russia. At present, there is a strained relationship between one of the 3 people we left in charge of the ministry, and ourselves. So far we have had 3 meetings to try to resolve issues, but things have not have improved. The root of the problem is difference in understanding regarding Biblical accountability, counseling and communication. It is our hearts desire for this not to be, so we would appreciate your prayers for God’s will to be done and for His kingdom to be manifest in this situation. We know that God is much bigger and greater than this difficulty.
There are a number of people who either were born, grew up or were trained in our ministry in Russia that have significant anointings and callings on their lives. Some are evangelists, some teachers, and others have strong healing and prophetic gifts. It is our desire to help them to reach their full potential and destiny, and we will continue to feature them in our newsletters and to financially donate to their work.
EVANGELISM
We started having the home group for new believers 2 times a week. Because most of its members are university students and live in a dorm we meet weekly to have a Bible study for the new believers and another time for evangelistic meetings - to invite unbelievers: friends
from university and neighbors from the dorm. Vika (photo on the left) is a dorm neighbor. She visited our meetings and church several times and and listened with great interest. One evening in the midst of a spontaneous hot discussion on the topic of witchcraft (very widespread in Russia) Vika suddenly interrupted: “May I ask a question not on the topic? How do I repent and get right with God?” Ilya who leads the new believers’ home group prayed with Vika. She repented of her sins and accepted Jesus right there in the dorm room. Now she is an active participant in the church and new believers meetings.
Gosha spent a month in his hometown Vologda taking medication for his liver and resting. But he could not rest from sharing the Gospel and helping people in need to find Jesus. Yulia (with Gosha in the photo on the right) happened to be in prison in Vologda in the same cell with a girl whom Gosha witnessed to and helped to get into a rehab program a while ago. Unfortunately, that girl did not stay in the center and as a result of returning to the path of sin was put in prison. Nevertheless, she told Yulia about the chance to radically change her life right before it was time for Yulia to be released from prison and gave her Gosha’s phone number. Once out of prison Yulia found Gosha in Vologda and she came to Jesus after one week. Gosha shared with Yulia his personal experience of being transformed from a criminal and a drug addict into a dedicated Christian. As a result, Yulia made the decision to go to the girls’ rehab center in Ust-Izhora village near St. Petersburg run by our School of Ministry graduate Yura Bugakov (his testimony is published in the October 2006 issue of our newsletter). She has been in the center for about a month now. Please pray with us for her spiritual growth, complete deliverance from addictions and restoration of her life.SCHOOL OF MINISTRY GRADUATION
June ended the school year in our School of Ministry. We are now moving on into the season of summer evangelism and putting into practice what was learned in the classroom. During the ceremony of receiving diplomas, several graduates shared what the Lord has done in their lives over the past nine months. Rejoice with us over their encouraging testimonials:
NASTYA SHTURMINA
“I am so grateful to God for putting the desire in my heart to come and learn from Him. I thank Jesus every day that His ways are high above my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts – His thoughts of me are for good and not for evil, they are to give me a future and hope. He lovingly led me to this school and more than just that – He gave me a new family and I am so happy about that! The time of study in the School of Ministry has been a great time of equipping and training for me. Over the past year, the Lord has so drastically changed my heart and He keeps leading me into even deeper relationship with Him.
The course of Foundations of Christian Growth was packed with revelations for me! I discovered a whole lot new about myself, about God, His amazing love to us – how we are accepted in the Beloved, about righteousness, which is in Jesus, not by our works, about God’s provision for every area of our lives!
Classes on prayer and spiritual gifts triggered me to practice what I have learned and created a deeper hunger to get to know Jesus personally, to fellowship with him daily. My faith grew and patience increased.
The school taught me a great deal to organize my time and to discipline myself. I greatly benefited by memorizing scriptures – it helped a lot to renew my mind!
I thank God for all the teachers who contributed materials, especially John Paul Jackson. I am gifted prophetically and his 101 Course was an eye-opener to me in so many ways! Thank you to all who invested their time and hearts to teach us and for all who donated finances to enable the study process!”
VALENTINA SHKOLENKO
“In the summer of 2009 I was in a dry season of my spiritual life – felt exhausted, defeated in many areas, desperate for God and His help. In response to my questions and prayers, Jesus led me to the StreetCry School of Ministry. Over the past school year, God showed me the areas of my life where I still trusted in my own strength. He demolished the wrong foundation that I had built and laid down a new one – firmly founded on the rock of his Word. My faith got strengthened. Not only I have faith now but Jesus taught me to trust Him completely and rely on Him in every area of my life.
The past year was a year of revelation of God’s love – to me personally and to people in general. I discovered that His love is greater than my limited mind could contain and His mercy is much deeper than I could only imagine! It blew my mind and broadened my horizons. God reveled Himself to me in ways I did not know Him before. He drew me closer. He proved Himself a Provider like I never dreamt about. I experienced His attention and care continually and saw how attentive He is to our needs. I discovered that there are no details too small for Him to notice and no problems too big for Him to resolve. He does not slumber nor sleep - the One who keeps us!
Jesus also taught me that meekness and humility are my weapons.
I used to be rather lonely and did not have friends but a practical part of the studies in the School of Ministry helped me to build relationships with so many more people than I ever had before. And God gave new quality to those relationships. Doing things together in ministry helped me to feel a part of the Body of Christ and helped me to find my place of belonging. It made my life so much more abundant”.
NEWS FROM ESTONIA
Our team continues holding Bible School classes and services in women’s prison in Tallinn. And we are very thrilled by what God is doing among the girls! As they study the Word of God, He immediately gives them situations where they can practice what they learned from the Bible. Recently, one of the students named Aigi (see her testimony in the March 2010 issue of our newsletter) shared a testimony of how she is learning to forgive and trust God in the area of relationships:
“I am a friend with one of the ex-inmates, but it was not always like that. I shared a room with 8 other girls and were getting along with everybody pretty well. But one day, this girl became envious of me receiving clothes from humanitarian aid and as a result she started slendering me to others, saying that I was a liar and a thief. My first reaction was saying rude things to her but then God showed me my wrong attitude toward someone He loved. I repented in my hatred and from that moment on, I started praying for her. But the tension in the room was getting worse – once this girl even rose her hand to hit me, but I believe it was the Lord who didn’t let her do that. Finally, I had to move to another room. Some time later, this girl visited me in my new room. I offered her a cup of coffee and told her about Jesus. Time went by, the girl was released from prison. She sent me a postcard. I answered her with a long letter about God, choices, the way of life and the way of death. I did not get any answer yet, but I believe that God is dealing with her. When she was persecuting me, I forgave her as Bible tells us to forgive and bless our enemies. I know for sure that God resolves our problems and situations when we trust in Him and when we are open for His help. And my desire is that people would never lean on their own understanding but would give their burdens to Jesus”.
God is moving among the girls who come to the Bible School and the services and uses them to share the Gospel with other inmates. Every week the Lord draws many unbelievers to our services with hunger in their hearts. Last week two girls named Alyona and Marina in response to the altar call literally ran toward the front to repent before the Lord. Three weeks ago, one of the prisoners was openly mocking Christian girls. However, last week she came to church and sat in the front row attentively listening and asking questions about how to forgive and how to be forgiven.
PRAYER POINTS FOR JUNE:
• For physical and spiritual protection for our church and ministry, divine health and strength for all of us
• Unity, love and wisdom for the leadership team
• For the graduates of our School of Ministry in St. Petersburg – for finding their proper place of usefulness in the Body of Christ; discovering the callings and destinies God has for them; putting in practice all they have learnt in classrooms and for open doors for them to minister
• For the outreach to the student’s dorms in St. Petersburg to be fruitful bringing many new souls to salvation
• For the home group for new believers - growth in faith, strong personal relationship with Jesus, hunger for the spiritual things and power to resist temptations that the world and the devil are constantly bombarding the young people with
• For new evangelism strategies for the summer season
• For Gosha’s healing from hepatitis C and restoration of his liver
• For monthly financial supply for the work in St. Petersburg and Tallinn. We need more regular support. Every single person, church and ministry that gives to us helps our ministry to preach the Gospel. Every single donation is needed and received with much gratitude. Thank you for your continued help!
• For the work in Estonia – more souls saved, drug addicts delivered and placed in the rehab centers, and for establishing a greater, stronger presence there
• For prison outreach in Estonia both in men’s and women’s prisons – more salvations, deliverance from drug and other addictions, peer pressure and fear of men, for physical and emotional healing, renewing of the minds of the inmates who just got born again, for their spiritual growth and developing steadfast personal relationship with Jesus
• We have debt, but are continuing to press on in spite of the difficulties. Please pray for an infusion of $72,000 to cover ministry expenses for the next 6 months. Thanks so much!
Thank you again so very much for your prayers and continued support of our work! If you are not doing so already we would like to ask if you would prayerfully consider helping us on a regular basis. We need your help to help others! All help is much needed and highly appreciated!
God bless and keep you all,
John and Sara Russell and your StreetCry family
