Greetings from Moscow, spring is here and it is a great relief from winter. On May 9th all over Russia celebrated Victory Day. It was the 65 anniversary of the World War 2 victory. A huge parade on Red Square where soldiers from all the nations (America included) that were apart of that great end to the world war marched together. A total of 161 tanks and other vehicles rolled through the Square on Sunday morning while over 120 various types of aircrafts flew above. In total, more than 102,000 Russian troops participated in military parades around the country. Among the foreign leaders who attend the Red Square parade were, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Hu Jintao. To insure that the sky's would be sunny Mayor Yuri Luzhkov had special air craft circle the out skirts of Moscow and seed the clouds with dry ice and silver #@*? and kept the skies blue during the 65th anniversary. What a great price that was paid by the Russian people as they defended their Mother Land. However there is a greater battle that has been waged against mankind from time of the Garden of Eden, a spiritual battle that continues relentlessly day in and day out that rages against the soles and minds of God’s creation. The Apostle Paul when addressing this foe said Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Jesus Himself spoke Mt 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Joh 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. We who have put our trust in Christ also have a Day of Victory that we celebrate. A Victory that was won over death and the grave 2000 years ago through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Nikolay Golovkov 12/21/1958 to 3/1/2010

Nikolay Golovkov 12/21/1958 to 3/1/2010

If ever there was  a student that typified the ministry of Spiritual Freedom it was Nikolay Golovkov and this is his story..........

some time in the early 90’s Nikolay Golovkov was convicted of murder and was sitting on death row in the famous 300+ year old Butirka prison here in Moscow. Nikolay lived in the Urals, in eastern Russia, where he was arrested. He was transferred to Moscow because he appealed to the Supreme Court regarding his case. According to Nikolay, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night he was arrested for a murder that took place in a park where Nikolay was found hopelessly drunk. The police arrested him, and because he was an ex felon, they thought they had their man. Nikolay’s appeal was rejected and there he sat on death row waiting for his execution, a bullet to the back of the head. In 1993 then the director and founder of SFR Phil Wagner, and the Alexy Tikhonov our current director were given miraculous permission to visit men on death row. It was there that sitting in death row cell #70 that Nikolay first heard the Good News and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. God kept Nikolay from being executed so that he could hear the Good News of the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. Here is a sample of the many letters received by Nikolay over the last 17 years.

“ Good morning, afternoon, or evening in our Lord Jesus Christ my dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Grace, peace, and mercy to you my beloved, from our God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ our merciful and faithful High Priest! Blessed is the Lord God, who never leaves us without His mercy and truth. I thank our Father in Heaven for our brothers and sisters from Spiritual freedom. Bringing to us the Word of Life, our daily bread. With all the depth of my heart I am thanking our dear Lord God for you.

Your brother Nikolay. 05/19/04 Mordovia .

In 2000 the death penalty was lifted and all who where on death row were given life sentences. But Nikolay had already received a pardon from heaven above! Later Nikolay would tell Alexy that even though he was imprisoned falsely, he knew that is where God wanted him to be so that he could know His Son Jesus Christ. Nikolay said that if he would have been free, his life would have ended in destruction. According to Alexy, Nikolay was very zealous about Jesus Christ. He did every course, and then began to write commentaries on the Bible studies. Nikolay had a reputation for not allowing any conversation that was contrary to the Word of God. Once, two things happened, when men were cell mates with Nikolay, they either became members of the family of God , or they begged to be moved to another cell. Nikolay would not back down when it came to the truth of God’s Word, even if that meant going toe to toe with orthodox priests. This simple man grew in his knowledge of the Bible. Nikolay knew how to defend the Word against false teaching that might work its way towards him. We will never know how many inmates and guards were influenced by this disciple of Christ. God kept Nikolay miraculously alive for many years. Nikolay suffered from the effects of TB and was missing one lung and the other was deteriorating but God kept him alive for 17 more years. Pictured is a photo in a frame that Nikolay made and presented it to Phil and Alexy. Notice the very intricate design done all by hand. Nikolay, as far as we know, was an orphan, but this we do know - he is part of the eternal family of God and all we who are in Christ will meet our brother one of these days. 

Joh 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life..."

Calvary Chapel leadership conference 2010

“Jesus was and is and is to come”

Servants of the Lords from all over Russia, Ukraine, Finland and Belarus gathered together for 3 days of teaching, worship, fellowship, and the breaking of bread together. Pastor Ken Ortiz, Senior pastor of CC Spokane along with Pete Nelson, pastor of White field community church in Colorado taught from the scriptures. Pastor Ken taught on the family. Also sharing in the teaching of the Word was Pastor Pasha and Pastor Yaroslav from the Vladimir region, and Pastor Bart from St. Petersburg. The setting for the conference was on the shore of the Gulf of Finland surrounded by a beautiful pine forest that seemed very similar to parts of the coast of Oregon. CC Spokane who is a sponsor of the conference brought a team to help out with the children’s church and to serve the guests. They did a great job. Pastor Boris, Pastor Dima and Pastor Bart all from St. Petersburg did an excellent job of organizing the conference. It was truly a blessing for all of us.