October, 2016

STREETCRY NEWSLETTER, OCTOBER, 2016

Hello dear Friends and Family in Christ!

We had a summer full of excitement, challenges and some hardships, but it has all been good for us. Difficulties and trials help us to draw closer to God, seeking His strength and wisdom even more.

MINISTRY TRIP FROM TALLINN TO HELSINKI, FINLAND

One highlight of the summer was a ministry trip to Finland. It was good to have Relika (who studies in Wales), Natasha and Lana (who currently are in India) who were visiting at the time as team members. We were invited to minister in Finland by Pastor Niko and his wife Päivi who along with several others from his church  visited us in Tallinn earlier this year for one of our monthly worship nights. (see March NL, 2016)  Now it was our privilege to visit them and pray for their city and the nation of Finland.

During the trip we were able to share the Gospel with the people on the streets of Helsinki and do a worship and intercession night together with the Story of Love ministry. Below are a few testimonies by our team members from the time doing personal evangelism, prophetic ministry, a concert and a worship night:

                           
(Nancy and Natasha sharing personal prophetic words with people on the streets)

RELIKA

“Going to the streets of Helsinki for those two days was very fruitful in terms of sharing the Gospel and praying for people. As we were walking around where our band was playing, my team partner Saari and I noticed a guy standing and listening to the music very intently. We went up to him and started a conversation. During the course of our talk Saari asked him if he believed in Jesus Christ. As she was conversing with him, the Lord gave me a word of knowledge that  this young man is a musician, and writes his own music. I shared this word with him, the love that God has for him, and  this gift that he had was from Him. I told him that God wanted to use him and his music in a mighty way. He let us pray for him, and as we were praying he could not stop laughing, and an overwhelming joy came over him. We asked him if he would like to give his life to Jesus and he said, " Yes".

TRIIN            
 

“While driving to the place where the worship night was being held we witnessed a terrible accident - a car crashed into a motorcycle, and a young man was thrown off of his bike. We stopped our cars and Joona, one of our worship team members, who is a nurse, was able to provide emergency care that the boy needed while we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive. We got to share with the young man about God's love, His healing power, and we prayed for him. We exchanged information before leaving and are staying in touch with him.”

NATASHA

“While having worship and intercession night at the Story of Love church the Holy Spirit led us to make a call for a prayer of deliverance for people with different kinds of addictions. Quite a few people came forward. One of them was a drug-addicted girl that I talked and witnessed to on the street the day before. After we prayed for her she made a decision to accept Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.  Praise be to the Lord who is mighty to save! Later on, as we continued worshiping and interceding, a random man from the street walked into the room, started talking to one of the local church leaders and was eventually led to Christ right there”.

WORSHIP  AND INTERCESSION WITH SWEDISH MISSIONS TEAM

                          

In the middle of August we had a chance to come together with a group of 20 young people from Sweden. They came to Estonia on a short term mission trip. The group had been serving and doing evangelism on the streets of Tallinn. Their mission trip was coming to an end and they asked if they could finish it by worshiping with us. As we were worshiping we felt and shared that God wanted to release a new song. One of the Swedes took the microphone and started singing prophetically which drew such a strong presence of the Lord into the room. The room was filled with shouts of joy, dancing and freedom. One by one other people started singing the song of the Lord.

After worship we were sharing prophetic words with each other.The Swedes were very blessed and they later shared that this evening was one of the highlights of their trip. But in the end we were equally as blessed as they were. What happened during that time of worship was so powerful, and at the same time it was exciting to see young people step out by faith and use their gifts. One thing these young people and their leaders didn't know was that we had financial needs. There were bills due and God supplied the funds through them. One man from their group took off his hat and took up an offering. We received over 800 euros from 20 young people. It was an answer from the Lord and a big blessing! Thank you, guys, very much!!! It was a big miracle for us, and we realized that God always supplies our needs , if we are faithful to Him and doing His will.

                 

THE LIVING ROOM FELLOWSHIP AND STUDENT CAFE

We started this new season casting our vision for the church and the cafe outreach ministry. Our greatest goal is to know Him and make Him known! Our contract with the government for the use of the building for the cafe was just recently renewed for the next five years. Praise God! Katya Russell is now managing the cafe and involved with Nancy Kudrina in outreach to the students who come to the cafe. She is also a part of the leadership team of the Living Room Fellowship together with Imre Kuller and Nancy Kudrina. As pastor, Imre is now able to spend more time concentrating on studying the Word of God, seeking the Lord and preparing messages for the congregation on Sundays.

During renovation this summer an unsaved brother of one of our church members came to help us. Several of us had been witnessing to him. In September he came to our service and gave his heart to the Lord. The next Sunday Katya and Imre prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He continues to come to church and serve at the cafe as a volunteer.

It was a blessing to have another  team of old and new friends from Sweden stopping by for a "FIKA" ( the Swedish word for a coffee break) and a quick lunch on the way to the ferry back to Sweden. This team comes twice a year to help in the ongoing building and expansion of a Christian drug rehab center outside of Tallinn. It is always a blessing to see them and pray and worship the Lord together. God, bless them for their work for the Lord and His people!

We want to thank all of you for your continuous prayers and your financial support for the ministry. We know that everyone has an important part in establishing God's Kingdom on this earth. We are compelled by His love to reach this lost world who is desperately in need of the Savior. 2 Cor. 5:14-15 says, For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• to grow closer to the Lord, to have more hunger for His presence and His Word
• for the unity of the church fellowship
• for the spiritual growth of every member of the church and raising up more Estonian leaders
• for grace, love, wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit for the leadership team
• for finances to cover all of our ministry needs: new vehicle, roaster, stove, furniture
• for preparation and financial support for the 5 Christmas Feed-ins (two in Estonia, one in Russia, two in India) more info in the next NL
• more volunteers for the church and cafe ministry
• to be always focused on the Lord, His will, His ways, His glory
• more souls to be saved

John and Sara Russell,

and The Living Room Fellowship team

for StreetCry Ministries, The Living room Fellowship and The Living Room Cafe


Support from the US:
Checks can be made to:

StreetCry Ministries

PO Box 162

Franklin Springs, GA 30639, USA

Support from Europe:
Bank transfer can be made to:

AS SEB Pank
TALLINNA KRISTLIK ELURUUMI KOGUDUS MTÜ

account #/ IBAN# EE091010220243222224

Bank address: Tornimäe 2, 15010, Tallinn, Estonia

July, 2016

STREETCRY NEWSLETTER, JULY 2016

Dear Friends,
Greetings to all of you and thanks for your prayers and support of our ministry.
Recently we've made some changes in the church and cafe. In May we began closing the cafe an hour earlier which has given us more time for prayer midweek, go witnessing together on Fridays, and have more Bible classes. More people from the church started to come out witnessing. It has been a great joy to see how God is moving on the streets, as we preach the Good news there. More people let us pray for them, and more are open to hear the Gospel.

WORSHIP NIGHT

  

The Lord has been emphasizing the importance to pray for unity between the churches in Estonia. On May 7th we had Worship and Intersession night together with Praise Chapel church. People from different churches in Estonia, and good friends from Sweden and Finland were part of it. Several musicians from two of the churches joined together to make one worship team. About 50 people from 7 nations got together to worship the Lord. He moved our hearts to pray for the nations represented there. 

WORSHIP BRINGS HEALING

                          
During worship the presence of the Lord was very tangible, and there was a strong healing anointing in the room. Roosi, a young lady from our church, got healed from migraine headaches. As the Lord took her headache away, she felt that it was not only physical healing but also spiritual. She knows now that she doesn’t have to get used to being sick and doesn’t have to agree with any sickness in her body because God's desire is to heal. She hasn’t experienced any more headaches since. Praise God!

                                                      (prayer for Roosi)
We were truly blessed to have our friends, Victor and Anna, from Sweden visit us. We have known Victor and Anna for more than 20 years now. Victor was a founding member of StreetCry Ministries in Russia. Anna joined us in St. Petersburg many years ago as a missionary and served the Lord with us ministering to the young people there. They got married and had two of their kids on the mission field. Later they moved to Sweden but continued to be prayer and financial partners of the work in Russia, and later in Estonia. We are very grateful to have them as our friends and co-laborers in the work of the Lord!

NANCY’S TESTIMONY ABOUT VICTOR’S AND ANNA’S VISIT 
On this trip Victor and Anna ministered in our church in Tallinn and during united worship night. They both have strong prophetic gifts, and they gave a couple of classes about their journey of discovering their gifts and using them for the purposes of God. They have shared their lessons and experiences, as well as the Word of God with us. After the class many of us were stirred to pursue more growth in prophetic ministry. The next day after these classes I picked up a book about the prophetic and went to read it in the park. As I was reading it the Lord started speaking to me about a gardener who was working next to me. I asked if I can share some things with him. I shared a word about his struggle and regrets about his daughter. I encouraged him to pray for her and seek God. He was amazed saying that the word was true, and that he will definitely pray. 

VICTOR AND ANNA SHARE ABOUT THEIR TIME IN TALLINN, ESTONIA
We have been planning our trip to Estonia for several months. We felt strongly in our hearts that the Lord wanted us to be there during specific dates in the beginning of May. 

Back home in Sweden, a while before we left, on Facebook I saw a profile picture of a girl in the church in Tallinn. Right away I felt that the Lord started speaking to me about her. He showed me some things about her current situation and the calling He had for her. During the very first meeting we had in Tallinn, I was able to share these words and minister to this girl in prayer. She was profoundly touched by the word and later told me, that she really needed to hear it, and that her eyes were opened up to the Lord again. She had been going through a tough time in her life.

Last fall we got to know Dima, a pastor from Narva, an Estonian town which is located near the Russian border, about three-hour drive from Tallinn. Dima and his brother pastor a church and a rehab center for drug addicts in Narva. Both of them are former criminals and drug addicts. On the second day of our trip we had a meeting with Dima in Tallinn. It was Friday and we were supposed to go out witnessing with the team that night. Dima and his family came pretty late, so Victor stayed at the Living Room cafe for a while, fellowshipping with them and then caught up with us on the streets. Before going back home Dima had some other things to do in Tallinn.

The team from the Living Room Fellowship took food out on the streets to pass out to homeless people and others in need. A couple of weeks prior to our visit they had met Juri, a homeless man and gave food to him and shared the Gospel with him. That day we met him again, he was sitting on a bench in total despair. He had lost everything he had, and due to memory loss remembered nothing of the past two years of his life. Victor told him that his life would change today, and that the only one who could save Him is Jesus! Victor shared with him about the rehab center in Narva and gave him Dima’s number. Two days later Victor received a photo from Dima of Juri sitting in the rehab center listening to the word of God! (see the picture below). Apparently Juri called Dima the same evening after we met. The next day some of Dima’s friends brought him to the rehab center. He was literally taken from the streets. 

  (Juri in Narva Rehab center)

We really had a great and blessed time ministering to people prophetically and in prayer. Here is another testimony:
At the worship night I (Anna) shared a word with a guy that he is a musician, he plays guitar and writes songs. Victor did not hear me sharing that word with the young man. Afterwards he came up for prayer and the Lord started to speak through Victor almost the same things as I shared with him earlier. God is amazing!
His wife attended the Sunday service, and the Lord told both me and Victor that she was a worshiper, that she had a beautiful voice, and that the Lord wanted to use her voice. At the end of the service she came up to the mic and started to sing very beautifully. We were really touched by her song! So the Lord showed us the accuracy of the word right away. The couple was very thankful for the things we had ministered to them.

We were also so blessed by the strong presence of the Lord in the meetings. At the worship night I  experienced it in a way like never before. It has changed my life! So overall we had a total blast on our trip to Tallinn! We are so thankful for the way the team in Tallinn received us, thankful for their heart for the Lord and people.

HEALING TESTIMONY BY TRIIN 
A young man, Edvin, comes to the cafe regularly. He is a competitive boxer. While training for his next competition his pupil got damaged, and the area around his eye was swollen. Nancy and I explained that Jesus has the power to heal him and he agreed to receive prayer. After praying for him, the swelling was immediately gone. The next day when he went to the doctor for an eye checkup, the pupil was healed as well. He was very moved, and it made him ask more about God. We are praying for Edvin’s salvation.

HEALING TESTIMONY BY NANCY 
Imre and I were on our way to the cafe, and Imre noticed a man (Ervin) limping. He quickly approached him and shared that we are Christians and believe that Jesus can heal. We found out that he had injured his ankle. We asked him if we could lay hands on him and pray for him. He gladly received the offer, and we prayed together. After praying we asked Him to move his leg. Suddenly he said, “It is better! I am not even joking! “He was doing different moves to see if it is going to hurt, but it didn’t. We shared with him that Jesus loves him and that’s the reason He healed him. Please join us in praying for Ervin to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. 

WORSHIP NIGHT IN RAKVERE 
Our church was invited to lead worship in Rakvere Karmel church at the youth meeting attended by about 40 students. Some of the young people did not know the Lord. By the end of the service we could see how their hearts were softened, and for the first time in their lives they asked for prayer. Many people were encouraged during worship and by prophetic words that we had shared. Here is a note from one of the girls who came to the worship night. 

“The worship night was wonderful. I have been attending Karmel’s church for 2 months now, but I have not experienced a stronger presence of God than that night. Before that I only had heard from others what it feels like when God touches you, but this time I personally experienced it through worship. I am still amazed at the accuracy of the prophetic words I received from the team from Tallinn. It was one of the greatest nights in my life! I am very thankful!” 

ARLO
     (Arlo (left) with Imre after baptism)   
Arlo received the Lord at our last Christmas Feed-In in Tallinn. Since then he has become a church member and a worship team member, and a volunteer at the cafe. He is such a blessing! We see that he has been growing in the Lord. Recently he made a decision to get baptized. See picture above. (see Arlo’s personal testimony in March, 2016 Newsletter)

MERLI
Five years ago Merli and I (Nancy) were classmates. I had been witnessing to her while going to school together. Although she believed in God she had never made the decision to really follow Him. Just recently she started to come to our church. When she first came, she received prophetic words that touched her to tears, and were clearly speaking about her current situation in life. Since then she has been coming to Bible study classes. She also has been baptized in the Holy Spirit and started to speak in tongues. Please pray for Merli to continue to grow in the Lord and make the right decisions in her life. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• More hunger for the Lord in our church

• Wisdom for the leadership to lead

• Spiritual growth for all the members

• More workers in the harvest field

• Fruitfulness of monthly Worship Nights 

• More fruit in street evangelism and in the cafe

• God's provision for all the areas of the church and cafe

• For people we are witnessing to at the cafe, to come to salvation

• Fruitful and Spirit led summer ministry time

Thank you again for your friendship & prayers!
Blessings,
John & Sara and all of us in Tallinn

You can see more photos and a video of the Worship and Intercession night at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/109763764736656092466/6285385267422860113?authkey=Gv1sRgCK2_ss-ulrTjCw
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwDMasAEX7o3VFktOERKaVpJR3c/view?ts=57486225

                                      

March, 2016

March 3, 2016

STREETCRY NEWSLETTER, MARCH, 2016

Greetings from John and Sara and the Living Room Fellowship team in Tallinn, Estonia! This month we would like to share with you a few testimonies of what has transpired  lately.

NEW BROTHER ARLO'S TESTIMONY

It has been exciting to see Arlo's growth in the Lord since he gave his heart to the Lord during  the Christmas feed-in (see StreetCry Newsletter, February, 2016). He is coming to morning prayer and studying God's Word regularly. God is speaking to Arlo in his personal time with Him, and he has been joining us in going out witnessing and praying for the sick on the streets.

ARLO


My name is Arlo Orlovski. I am 22 years old, I live in Tallinn and study at Tallinn University to be a music teacher. I gave my life to Christ this last Christmas of 2015, but I have experienced God’s presence many years before that. I remember myself praying to God when I was 10 years old that my house would not burn down. Our neighbors’ house caught on fire, and there was a big possibility for the fire to spread to our house also. Thanks to God everything and everybody were all right. I felt sincere joy and remember thanking God for answering my prayer.

I come from an atheist family, and though I had some Christian friends I still stayed far from God. But the fear of God did not leave me. 

I remember when I was in the last year of high school I went to Christian camp where the topic of God was raised again. After one of the meetings I was confused and in tears. The feeling I had, was amazing but  in a few days it left.

After finishing high school in another town, I started to play music and found many new friends: half of them were Christians and the other half were not. I felt like I was stuck between two worlds. I started to party, drink and sometimes smoke. I met a musician with whom I later played together in a band. He became a very good friend, and a person whose influence led me to drift away even further from God. I was a person who was kind to others but very insecure and sad on the inside.

I moved to Tallinn and began my studies in Tallinn University. I did not like Tallinn but I forced myself to come here because I really felt that this is what I had to do. I spent my first night on the street with my friend because my dormitory application was turned down. The next thing I had to do was to find a job, and I did. It was very tiring and because of that I stepped into a path of self-destruction even more. On the outside I would put a smile on my face and make everyone believe I am happy but on the inside I felt burnt out.

It continued like that till 2014 when I fell on the floor from an overdose of smoking marijuana. I remember I was standing in the room, then fell on my knees and my face feeling like I fell 4 stories down to hell. I could hardly hear or see. Later, sharing about this experience with my friend who got saved just half year before, he told me about Jesus Christ. I did not give my life to Christ that day but my life took a turn from there. I stopped destroying my life, stopped cursing, and felt the fear of the Lord coming back again. But soon after that I fell into the old lifestyle again: drinking almost every day which lead to many relationship problems. 

My life was falling apart. When fall of 2015 came there was only one good thing left in my life, job promotion: from serving tables to being a barista. Not long after that I went to a barista meeting and there I met Triin who invited me to The Living Room cafe where she is working. 

When I came to The Living Room for the first time I also found out that they also have a church that meets at the cafe on Sundays.  Soon after I also came to church. I was in tears feeling that there is something that truly touches my heart. I could not comprehend it with my mind. I met with all the other guys from the fellowship and very soon they invited me to play guitar in the Christmas band. I felt like a black sheep with them but I knew I was in the right place.

On the first night of the Christmas feast for students I gave my life to Jesus. I declared that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Right now I feel that God is doing something in my life. He is changing me and this is the best feeling!

When I accepted Jesus everything went the opposite way. I began to see life differently, my view of life has expanded. I feel more free than I have ever felt before. I don’t have the need for alcohol and other things that controlled my life before. I started to dislike them. It is not only because I am a Christian now, but it is truly who I want to be. I have never felt more happy, cared for and secure in my life. Thank God that I am learning to be more sincere and loving towards my family and experience joy even about little things that are around me. As I learn to listen to God’s voice I also am learning to listen to people around me. God is just so good and there are no boundaries to His goodness. It is a limitless and incomparable experience.

WORSHIP NIGHT 

As many of you know, every first Saturday of the month we hold citywide worship nights. We invite Christians from other churches and ministries to worship the Lord together and intercede for the country of Estonia, for Israel, for the lost, and other things that are on God's heart.  It is a very exciting and unifying time as we focus on the Lord, and seek His presence, His ways and His glory! 


                     

This month the worship night was filled with God's presence. His people came ready and hungry to worship. We had a group of from Love Story Church in Finland visiting us. It was powerful time of intercession for Estonia and Finland. We believe that God is preparing His bride for amazing things to come through worship and prayer. 

                           
          
(Worship)

After the service we took some time to share what we sensed God was revealing to us during worship.

Acts 2:17 says, “ And it shall be in the last days, God says, “ That I will pour out My Spirit on all people. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” It is always exciting to hear what the Lord is showing the congregation.

One of our young believers, Eva,  often sees pictures and visions while worshiping. We try to pastor these gifts and encourage those that have true prophetic seer gifts to receive what the Lord is showing them. This time she saw a big well surrounded by people who were stretching their hands towards the well and waiting for the water to spring up. As they waited the water started to come out of the well. The fountain of water covered the people; washing them. The people were getting cleansed and filled with joy of the Lord. 

We believe this is what the Lord is doing when we are hungry and thirsty, and waiting for His presence in worship. He washes over us with His Spirit and does not leave us empty.

                           
(Intercessory prayer)

Here is what the Love Story Church team wrote about their trip:

NIKO KAUPPI, PASTOR OF LOVE STORY CHURCH

We made a trip to Tallinn with our team on February 6-7. The purpose of the trip was to visit The  The Living Room Fellowship and student cafe, to attend Worship Night and Sunday service. There were about 13 of us but only Päivi and I have been to the “LR” before. People from our team were very excited to see the place and meet the people that we had told them so much about. 

As before, the welcoming was warm and friendly, and our team felt like they had come to their second “home”. The worship night was something special, worship was so anointed and the presence of the Holy Spirit was really unique. This was a powerful, uniting experience for our team!

One thing that we will remember is the most accurate prophecy that was released for the congregation and our team on Sunday. We were all greatly encouraged! We have invited the Living Room team to Helsinki, Finland, and we are praying for this to happen soon! God has opened our hearts for Estonia, and we hope to have close work and relationship with The Living Room in the future. We love you, guys, be brave and be blessed! 

                           
(Katya and Nancy are praying for pastor Niko and his wife, and sharing prophetic words)

WITNESSING

One of the Finish brothers gave us a prophetic word that we are entering into a new season in street evangelism. He shared that people's hearts have been softened by the Lord, and they will be more hungry to hear about Jesus. We received this encouraging word into our hearts as we went out to the streets and  we experienced exactly that: the harvest is ready and the workers need to go out and reap it. It is a great feeling when you get to share Jesus with the hungry people. It is amazing how God revives us as we do it.

We met an atheist who at  first was not interested in talking with us, but by the end of our conversation he said that he will definitely try talking to God, and he also let us pray for the healing of his neck.

We also met a girl from Malta. When we asked her if she knows Jesus she said, yes, she believes in Him. She is from Malta (where the apostle Paul was shipwrecked)​ where going to church and knowing something about the Bible is very common. But when we asked her is she could call Jesus her best friend she was not so sure. We got to pray for her to know Jesus personally and walk in His will every day.

PRAYER REQUESTS 

• Increase of obedience which brings more of God's presence among us
• Growing in our character and gifts of the Holy Spirit
• 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 
• For divine appointments with spiritually hungry people at the cafe and on the streets
• Unity and God's love among us 
• Peace, wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit for those in leadership position 
• More volunteers for the work at the cafe 
• For God's strategy regarding growth and direction for the cafe in Tallinn 
• 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 so much for your love, prayers and financial support. May God be with you in every area of your life.

John and Sara Russell
for StreetCry Ministries and The Living Room Fellowship and Cafe

StreetCry is a non-profit organization that operates solely on the generous contributions of people like you! If you are not already a supporter, please pray about becoming a regular supporter, or making a one-time gift. Your donations help to change lives!

Tax deductible donations can be sent to:
StreetCry Ministries
PO Box 162
Franklin Springs, GA 30639-0162, USA

Please make checks payable to: StreetCry

You can view more photos of worship night using the link below:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109763764736656092466/6Veebruar16WorshipNight?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuSoq3-0p6CYw#6249341858106858690