And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized...

Not long ago Mira (Jews for Jesus full time servant) invited Dean to baptize some people who had a desire to make a proclamation of their faith. It was a very special time and I had an opportunity to witness to it too. Mira wrote a story about this event and I decided to put a translation of it on the blog for you to read. Also I’ve made some additional comments, which I though would be interesting details to the story. I hope you will enjoy it. God bless you!

Water baptisms in Moscow!
The year of 2007 in Moscow had a very rapid start! The wonderful Easter days had just flown by and I had not completely grasped the revealed miracles of the Lord: sortie, which has been named “Brighton Beach in the center of Moscow”, two Seders in Mitino (some pictures are in previous posts) – 37 Jews called Yeshua their Messiah.
Thanks and glory to You Almighty Lord!
And here are new God’s miracles: April 18^th and 19^th – 4 water baptisms!!! Is anything impossible for the Almighty Lord!!! A little bit about each person:
Polina (on the right): we had met with her 5 years ago in the metro, right then she prayed the sinner’s prayer. And after that, long 5 years of joys and sorrows, drawing closer to God and falling away from Him. All this time I had been calling …often, she was not in Moscow, but in spite of that, Polina was “growing” at our Mitino Bible studies, so her time has come!

Era (in the center): I have met her at Igor Barbanel’s Bible studies, then he moved to Odessa and I lost track of Era. One time Nehama (one of my callers, she is 80) had discovered Era and we began our fellowship, half a year later she invited Jesus into her heart. Then another two-year journey. All of my ladies are 65-82 years old, always blood pressure, illnesses, besides their temper becomes less easy with the years, but the Lord fills my heart with His love and patience, so I take them as little children and lead them God’s way.
Anna (on the left): she prayed with me a little over year ago at sortie, along with her friend Ida. This is the person, who discovered God through grief: in the instant, she lost her husband, her daughter and her granddaughter in a car accident. She did not want to live. Only God’s love can purify such suffering heart! (You would never guess that she went trough such a tragedy. Even though she is a Second World War veteran, she shows such love and excitement about life, that you might completely forget about her age and her past, because she can outclass any, even much younger person in her being joyful and enthusiastic about things. I guess this is why people call her Anechka.)
Marat (Mordecai) – is a man, whom God Himself added to this company. His first contact he gave at 2000-year campaign, and about two years ago, he gave it to me the second time. Occasionally he would come to the Shabbat and Maxim Ammosov was visiting him. He has serious eyesight problems and Anya (they have become friends) helped him to find a doctor, who agreed to do a surgery, but the results will be evident only in two and a half months. After that everything was sheer “coincidences”: he is sitting at the Shabbat almost completely blind and I am talking about third Messianic miracle “Healing of a man who was born blind”, then I prepare Polina and Anna for the water baptism, and he is sitting right there and listening very attentively. It occurred that the Lord touched his heart and he realized that only the Lord is able to help him in his infirmity. “I also want to be baptized, openly testifying about my faith!” Now nothing could be on the way of this decision. (I thought it interesting that Marat first began to think about the Lord when he was growing up, knowing that his mom is praying for her husband, who was in World War battles and watching her helping people who were in greater need than her family. When he grew up and got his education, he began to work in construction industry where he discovered people with beliefs completely opposite to what the political system imposed in those days. It drew his attention then and now being retired and having a lot of time on his hands to ponder, he came to realization that God has been at work in his life and already done many things that expressed His love and care for him and for his family. As Dean was talking to Marat, he was very quiet, but at the same time it seemed like he was drinking in every word that was said. After all he said, “Now I know and even sure that I am doing the right thing”.) Pastor Dean (“Calvary Chapel”) was the one who baptized, he indeed became our pastor and together we thanked and praised the Lord!

P.S. Now you can pray for these incredible people. Please pray for Mira’s ministry to the Jews here in Moscow and the upcoming outreach on the May 9^th – along with other volunteers she goes to the “Poklonnaia Gora” to pass tracts to people, which come to celebrate one of the biggest days in Russia – Victory day. Usually there are a lot of people and many opportunities to talk about the Lord. Also, for Mira’s upcoming trip to Israel.
Please pray for Polina, Era, Anna and Marat – their growth in the Lord and understanding of His will for their lives. For Marat’s healing – that the Lord would restore his eyesight. Also, for his sister’s and son’s salvation,(both of them live in one apartment with Marat), that the Lord would open his sister’s heart to the truth. Thank you for your prayers! Natasha