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
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
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
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
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
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:
