Three days on the farm.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had the opportunity to visit a rehabilitation center for men coming out of prison. It is located about 300 km north of Moscow. Pastor Nickolie and his wife Leah, host 6 men. They work on the small farm taking care of the dairy cows, pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, and one horse. The men are active in all the duties that it takes to run a farm. They are now getting ready for the planting of their garden. It is a wonderful work that is going on and the grace of God is seen in their lives. Please pray for Pastor Nickolie and Leah and the wonderful fruit of their effort.
по-русски

Losha

Hello everyone, for those of you who have been following Losha over the last 6 years, I ran into him at the Metro hanging out with Vadium a friend of his. It has been about 7 months since Losha left back out to the streets. I have seen him a few times, but this is the first time I have seen him in about 41/2 months. He really looked rough, and has fallen back into drinking. His friend Vadim went through alcohol rehab and was doing well but now is back on the street with Losha. I told Losha and Vadium that God had not forgotten about them and not to forget about God. As I told Losha, a smile began to break out on his other wise stone face. Losha belongs to the Lord. I have seen his heart for God. Losha has many struggles but I believe God has a great plan for his life. Please continue to pray for Losha.

Please pray for Valya, she has been diagnosed with having one of her heart valves is not closing properly. The opening is bigger and so it does not close properly. It is and expensive operation to repair so we're praying that God just makes the correction.

Kulich

Total time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Initial oven temperature: 110° C (210° F)
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Rising time: 1 1/2 hour
Baking time: 1 1/4 hour
Cost: Very reasonable
Difficulty: Moderate

The classic kulich was begun several days before Easter. It contained candied fruit, almonds, and raisins, flavored with rum and saffron, and prepared like a bread. It was always baked in a special kind of pan - tall and cylindrical, sort of like a coffee can. When the cake was done, it was decorated with white frosting drizzled down the sides. On the side, spelled out in pieces of candied fruit, were the letters XB, representing the Cyrillic letters for "Christos voskres" -- "Christ is risen."
Often the kulich were carried to church and set out on long tables to be blessed by the priest. (In the old days, the priest would often make a "house call" to his wealthier parishioners to bless the food at home.)
The cake forms a hat shape, since the dough swells above the mould and becomes wider. Russians often trim off the brim and place it in the center of a serving plate. The cake is then cut in half horizontally and sliced. These slices are arranged around the brim. Kulich is traditionally served with Fresh Cheese Pashka.

• 1.25 to 1.5 liters (5-6 cups) white flour
• 500 ml (2 cups) icing sugar
• 340 ml (1 1/3 cups) warm milk
• 3 packets of yeast
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) sultanas
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) blanched almonds
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) candied fruits
• 65 ml (1/4 cup) dark rum
• 225 g (1 cup) softened butter + 5 tbsp.
• 10 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. powdered saffron

Icing

• 500 ml (2 cups) icing sugar
• 4 tbsp. cold water
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• Soak the raisins in the rum for 10 minutes; drain; mix the saffron with the rum and set aside;
• in a bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 tbsp. sugar in 125 ml (1/2 cup) warm milk; let sit 10 minutes; add the vanilla, egg yolks, rum and saffron;
• combine the flour, icing sugar and salt; make a well in the centre;
• gradually pour the yeast and egg mixture into the well, gradually blending in the flour to form a dough;
• place on a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, while gradually incorporating pieces of the butter;
• place into a lightly greased bowl; cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in volume;
• in a bowl, toss the almonds, candied fruit and raisins with 1 tbsp. of flour until well coated;
• punch down the dough; mix in the fruits and almonds and knead for 2-3 minutes;
• butter a rectangular bread tin; line with a sheet of buttered brown paper, with the unbuttered side facing out;
• place the dough into the pan; cover with a cloth and let rise 30-45 minutes until well risen;
• place into a preheated 110° C (210° F) oven for 15 minutes; increase the oven temperature to 180° C (350° F) and bake for 1 hour longer.

Icing

Combine all the icing ingredients; pour slowly over the top of the cake so that it drizzles down in thin streams.

ИИСУС-ВОСКРЕС!!!!

Greetings from Moscow as the city prepares for one of it’s biggest holidays, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Please take note of the poster of Jesus Christ and the children.) This is one example of posters that every business is required to post in celebration of Easter. The one pictured here says translated in English “with celebration of the light of the Passover or Easter.” Other posters declare Jesus has risen. Every where you turn in the city these posters are displayed. On Sunday almost the entire city will greet one another with these words. « ИИСУС-ВОСКРЕС, ВОИСТИНУ-ВОСКРЕС !!!!» “ CHRIST HAS RISEN-INDEED HE HAS RISEN!!!” Please pray for our city that the reality of these words would speak to hearts and the power of the resurrection would become alive to many !! Jesus said” "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” John 11:25.

One of the traditions here in Russia during Easter is a wonderful cake called a Kulich. (See picture) I found a receipt and so if you want to give it a try you can.

Regarding our search for a permanent location for the church, we found a service that for a fee provides a data base of every building for rent in our area. Tomorrow we will be looking at one place in our region. We will keep you updated.
God Bless you and use this time as most of the world is focused on the resurrection of Christ. That God would give you opportunity to speak bolding of what the resurrection means to you. dean

"BIG SKY" MOSCOW... what a beautiful day!

Over 3500 years of the Passover feast

Today Natasha and I had the privilege to join with Jews for Jews as they celebrated the Passover. Mira, who works with JFJ. (If you have followed the Blog you know about her) the JFJ take full advantage of every Jewish feast to invite believing Jews and non believing Jews who have not received their Messiah. Moscow has a large Jewish population, and it has been said that 1 out of 5 Jews speaks Russian. The Celebration of the Passover is an amazing Celebration that has been celebrated for 3500 years as God delivered the children of Israel out of bondage under the Pharaoh in Egypt. This is an amazing fact that until this day the Jews have observed the Passover especially in light of the amount of times the Jews have suffered circumstances that have caused them many times through their history to be scattered throughout the world. But yet to this day the Passover is kept. The Jewish nation is a Testimony to the inerrancy of the Bible. If you want to know what is going to happen to the nation of Israel just read the Bible, and you will find who it will be that brings the long awaited peace to that nation. He is known in the Bible as the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Music complex

Moscow's new Music hall

Spring knocking on the door...

Hello everyone, all is well here as spring is actually knocking on our door, and let me tell you the entire city rejoices at the absence of snow. It has been the shortest winter I believe record here. Today we had a great service in our temporary hall as we have not found a permanent place. But a perfect peace rules in our heart as we know that the Lord loves His church. Yesterday I had the privilege at teaching at CC Toshino, as pastor Chris and Sasha are in the states visiting friends and relatives. At our 24 hour prayer a couple of weeks ago had a good group with even two (almost) teenagers Dima and Sveta, and their teenage sister Veronica. It was a sweet time at our favorite retreat center. Please pray for Sasha, he is the one lying down on the bed, he is undergoing and operation I believe tomorrow. Sasha whom I mentioned in an earlier email has tuberculosis of the spine. The doctors will be operating to remove the infected area that is affecting his nervous system. Dr. Tom pictured next to him has been sharing with him about the Lord. Tom himself just underwent surgery on his lung as the doctors removed a growth. Tom has been sent home for 6 weeks and will return to have hip replacement surgery. Vova our worship leader and my roommate just left tonight on the train for his home town Tombov. Vova received word from his mom that his dad was very sick. Please pray for his father to be open to Jesus Christ, and that the Lord would touch his physical body. That God would use Vova as he spends time with his Mom. I talked to Geno the other night, he sends his greetings to all, Geno has been rapidly learning the Hebrew language, Geno no doubt will one day be a fluent speaker as he has a gift for foreign language. Also Geno has been having a difficult time with having his Sunday service in the common hall. He has been some what persecuted for their gathering and look upon as a sect but the Lord has His hand on the situation. Geno told me that one of the administrators of the prison came to talk to him. They had heard Geno plays the guitar, and they wanted him to represent their prison among many others in the prison system because they are going to have a talent show competition between the prisons. Geno told them that he would be happy to represent them but first they needed to resolve the issue of the time for their Sunday meeting time. which the administration is now willing to do. God is good!

Woman's Day March 8

Today here in Russia we celebrated National Woman’s Day. It is one of the most popular holidays and obviously pays tribute to all women. Every where you looked today on the streets and in the Metro women carried colorful flowers always in odd number: 1, 3, 7, 9, and so on. It is considered bad luck to give an even number of flowers. I only made the mistake once!

Tomorrow we are going away for a 24-hour prayer retreat. We will be going outside of Moscow where we usually have our 3 day prayer retreat. However this time we will not visit the cafeteria, and will do our best to fast during our 24-hour prayer time. We felt that at this most interesting time the Lord has our church it would be a great time to seek Him together. God Bless, dean

New look

Dear friends, you’ve probably noticed that our blogsite is experiencing some changes. Please, note that we have a little media player on the sidebar, so you can listen to the worship songs in Russian while reading our news. However, for some unknown to me reason a few songs were saved in double speed, which sounds pretty funny :-), but I was not able to fix this problem yet. I will try to do it ASAP. You can also download our worship songs in the MP3 format (normal speed :-) if you follow this link. I am also going to put a permanent link for CCSokol Worship on the sidebar. I hope you’ll enjoy it. God bless you! Natasha

The feast of Purim.

The feast of Purim also known by Jews around the world as the Feast of Esther, holds a dear place among the Jewish feasts. In short summary it is the Bible account of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from extinction. God for such a time in the life of Israel chose Esther, a Jewish woman, whom God placed in the court of a pagan king of Persia. Esther by God’s divine providence became Queen so that God at a time when a wicked man by the name of Haman who served in a high level of the king and sought to exterminate every man woman and child of Jewish descent, would use her for His purposes. The Bible records that Haman’s plan turned against him and he was hung on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, the uncle of Queen Esther. And so the feast of Purim, where the story of Esther is read from the Bible and every time the name Haman is mentioned children shout, stomp their feet, and twirl noise makers to drowned out the mention of his name. During this most festive of Jewish feasts, children dress up in costume as characters of the book of Esther. A special pastrie is served called(ha-man-tash-en) which means Haman’s ears.
Natasha, Vova and myself yesterday were invited to the celebration of the feast of Purim with the Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus celibate every Jewish feast and they use the opportunity to reveal Jesus in every feast to Jews in the community that have not received Jesus. Jesus is found in the middle of every Jewish feast, and the Jews for Jesus here in Moscow have seen the great fruit of Jews receiving their true Messiah. It is said that 1 out of 5 Jews speak Russian. Please pray for Mira, and the team of Jews for Jesus her in Moscow.

Update Dr. Tom.

The doctors removed a cyst from his lung on Monday and he is recovering well and awaits a much needed hip replacement he has been in the hospital for almost 4 months now. Please pray for Sasha the young man that is next to Tom in the hospital. Sasha is an orphan and is suffering from the effects of Tuberculosis that has infected his spine. We have had the opportunity to tell him about Jesus. Apart from Christ Sasha is in a very desperate place. Please remember him in your prayers.

Thank you for praying for Daniel.

Thank you for praying for Daniel. Here he is home from the hospital with Mom and Dad and baby sister Masha. Daniel was not able to keep food down for more than a week and was on drips. The doctors never found out what was wrong but what ever the problem was it is gone. Continue to pray for Yuri and Valya as they parent Daniel and Masha.

Shalom

I just received this picture of Geno. Since Geno has Jewish ancestry he has decided to learn Hebrew. Geno learned English on his own while in prison so we probably will be soon have a missionary that speaks Hebrew. (Note Hebrew text books we sent him) Please continue pray for his ministry, and with all 50 plus of his roommates. God Bless, dean

Bible Study at Mira's

Today Natasha, Vova, and me were invited to the weekly bible study of the Jewish believers. It is lead by Mira, (means peace, or world in Russian) Mira has lead them all to the Lord and disciples them. Mira has lead so many Jews to Jesus. Today I was asked by Mira to teach on the blood covenant the believer has with Christ, and also on baptism. Vova lead us in worship and it was a great blessing for us to fellowship with them all. Some of the ladies have been attending our church. Mira not only has the gift of evangelism, but she also has the gift of hospitality. And as always we had a wonderful Russian Jewish meal. Also after the meeting we left to look at the possible new location for the church. We all three decided that it is not the place for us, and so we continue our search for our new church home. Thanks for all the prayers, dean

Some news

Hello everyone, please pray for little Daniel he has been in the hospital for one week. He can not keep any food down and the doctors do not know what the problem is. He is in a special infection hospital for children where Valya is able to stay with him. (Photo of Valya,Yuri and Daniel.)

Winter is here finally and we have the white stuff in abundance.

I love it !!!!

Update on the building search, we are going to look tomorrow for a possible location. Pray for God's leading. We continue to meet at the All Russian Society of the Blind.

During our transition period I have taken a little break from our verse by verse study of the Book of Matthew and have for the last 4 weeks looked at little snap shots of the earlier churches found in the Bible. It has been a great encouragement to me in keeping a healthy perspective on just who we are as the church of Jesus Christ. God Bless, dean

Greetings in this New Year

Greetings in this New Year. It is now the holiday season in Russia and from January 1 to the 10 everything is closed and it is not the best time to be looking for a new location for our church. However what confidence we have in the Lord knowing that He cares more for His church than we could ever care. Last week Natasha and I spent most of the week before the holiday looking at future locations where we will be able to rent our own place. I was very encouraged in the fact that there are places in our region that can be rented on a full time basis. We will continue our search after the holidays. We also continue to look for a place where we can at least rent temporarily for our Sunday service. We had a few possibilities but because of the holiday season we were not able to provide a place for last Sunday. Now the 7th of January is coming soon, (the Russian Christmas) and no place to meet as of today.

Our last service at the Hotel Sokol.

We had received news during our staff meeting two weeks ago that we would not have the opportunity to continue meeting at the hotel. We were told that the mid week service would be our last day.

It just so happens that same day Natasha and I were invited by Jews for Jesus to attend their Hanukkah service that night. (As Natasha mentioned on an early post). At that Hanukkah service Tanya, who works for Jews for Jesus, (I married her and her husband John about two years ago), showed me pictures of their new baby boy. Tanya wanted to dedicate little Emanuel on the next Sunday. Only one problem, we could no longer meet at the Hotel. The next day we went to meet with the assistant director of the hotel, to see if we could at least meet one more Sunday, which we had planned for our Christmas service and also we needed to inform the church members that we could no longer meet at the hotel. They graciously granted our request and so the 24th of December was our last service. The worship team read from the gospels the recorded Birth of Christ. With each section of scripture we sang a worship song appropriate to the scripture. Then I taught on the birth of Christ. What made our celebration of the birth of the Savior such a special time was that we were able to dedicate little Emanuel to the Lord. It could not have been a more fitting time to have John and Tanya bring their little baby and dedicate him to the Lord and was such a blessing for our church. Thank you all for praying for our situation here in Moscow. God Bless you and all the Lord has called you to do for His kingdom. dean

Please, pray!

The holiday season has not yet started in Russia , so we have an opportunity to continue looking for a new location for the church. On Tuesday, we have couple of places to look at. Please, pray that the Lord would guide us to the place He prepared just for us, that we would know it is the one where He wants us to be.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and have wonderful holidays celebrating our Lord’s birthday!

Visits and the staircase

This past Monday was a day of visits. First, Dean and I went to the Architectural College (our former meeting place) to pay a visit to Rific and Nelly, just to say “Hello” and give them a small gift for Christmas. It may sound funny but walking up the 5^th floor to get to the Youth Center where Rufic and Nelly work and where the church used to meet for many, many years, was like a special treat. I did not even notice how I got to the top this time, where before I would gasp, stop a few times on the way and think to myself how horrible it is not to have an elevator in such a building where 5^th floor can be compared to the 8^th in regular apartment building. It is a memorable staircase; we used to joke about it on the way to the 5^th floor or come up with different ideas how to install an elevator. Once Mira, our good friend, who serves with Jews for Jesus and often brings new believers to our church, shared a little secret with me. When I was telling her that I’ve never heard a complaint about the staircase from the older ladies that came to our church with her, she said that they have a good motivation. I of course asked her what was it and she said that Dean told the ladies that when Jews went to worship God in Jerusalem they had to go up to the temple and there were a lot of steps. And not only that, those steps also were different – a number of small and then one big one, it was made this way so people would not run to the temple and enter in a hurry, but so they would meditate on God going up. I thought it was a great motivation and explanation for our staircase, and I adapted it too.

Well, I was not going to write so much about this, but it is one of the good memories I have about our time at the Architectural collage. These last months and especially last a few weeks I was really missing Nelly and Rufic and the good relationship we had and have with them and what a pleasure it was to work together. So, please keep them in your prayers, that they would see how much the Lord loves them.

Our second visit was paid to Rudolf, who is the director’s assistant at the “Sokol” hotel. We just wanted to know if everything is going fine with our church meeting there, if there were any complaints from people and if we could stay for another month, since we still have not found a more permanent place. Rudolf told us that everything is going fine and we can stay longer, he also gave us couple of suggestions and that was pretty much it. In this case, there are no memorable staircase stories :-)

This same evening we had a Bible study and as we came back to the hotel, I received a message that I need to call Rudolf as soon as possible and if I will not do that, (the staff lady said) then tonight will be our last time here. I was really surprised to hear that, because we just had a meeting with Rudolf. There was not much time left before the study, so I decided to call the next day.

The phone call

I do not really like to make phone calls and here is one of the reasons why: I called Rudolf right before our stuff meeting on Tuesday and he told me that 30 minutes after we visited him, director of the hotel called him in and told him to get rid of us right away. Wednesday will be our last day. He apologized and told me that we will get a refund. I tried to get an explanation and he gave me a few reasons.
Well, it was one of those times when I wished somebody else would have to tell Dean and Vova this news. I will not write about all the feelings I had at the moment, otherwise it would take more bloog space than the memorable staircase story plus all the other stories put together :-).

It is Hanukkah!!!

After such news, there was not much to talk about because now we did not have a place for our Christmas project and celebration. Dean decided to go and look for a new location right away, but we did not, because there was not much time before Hanukkah celebration where we were invited in the evening. I was glad that we had to alter that plan, because this evening completely changed my heart and gave me a different perspective on things. The Lord gave me His amazing peace while I was listening to beautiful Jewish songs, then to Mira’s message, which was fully Evangelical, and meant for Jewish non-believers, but for me as well, because the Lord “restored to me the joy of my salvation and renewed His right spirit within me”. Then at the end pastor Max, blessed everyone with the special Aaron’s blessing, first in Hebrew and then in Russian. Those words, so familiar were like a balm to my soul. You know what they were?

I’ll tell you: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Selah

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we went to see Rudolf again and he met us with apologies, but at the same time said that he cannot do anything about the situation. Then I just asked if it is possible for us to still keep the Sunday, because it is the day when most people come, so we would let them know what is going on. Rudolf said, “Ok. I’ll take the responsibility upon myself.” Honestly, I did not expect this, but it is the Lord answer for us.

Then we went to administrator to talk about the refund. I want to tell you about this young lady, when I met her the first time she was the most suspicious one, she asked me a lot of questions and not all of them were nice, “Are you a sect?” was one of them. I really wanted to give her “More than a carpenter” to read, she said she had a Bible. But every time I would bring the book to her she either was not working, or was leaving, or was too busy. However, one time, when I came up to ask some question, in return she asked me to bring her one of our booklets. We ran out of booklets, but we had “More than a carpenter” with the Gospel of John. So, now as she found out about our situation she said “May God help you”. That was so special.

Of course, we do not know about all of the details and reasons why we have to leave, but the Lord knows and if He touched through us at least one person’s life that is already good reason enough for us being there for 4 month.

Please, pray for Rudolf, for the Administrator, I believe her name is Nastia, for the director of this Hotel and others who work and stay there.

Please, pray for us as well. Thank you and the Lord bless you…

Natasha

P.S. On Wednesday night we were praising the Lord and praying for the people in the hotel. “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” song, became the theme of the evening.

Please, pray for Chas

Please pray for Chas, (see photo standing next to Jacob)

Chas is in a very serious condition, he is suffering from T.B. He has lost one lung already, and the other is deteriorating. He is very sick and I will visit him today and give an update. Chas is a very unique young man he speaks 5 different languages. Chas needs a miracle.

Jacob

Greetings from Moscow, today at 12:00 pm Moscow time my good friend Jacob at age 34 went home to the Lord. Many of you knew Jacob through my emails over the last 7 years. Some of you had the opportunity to meet Jacob. There is so much to say about this young man. Jacob knew what tribulation and poverty was all about. Born in Cameroon, (Oteh as many called him) left Cameroon and ended up in Moscow like so many other young Africans to find a better life. Unfortunately for Jacob it was a hard road that few people will ever walk. However it is here in Moscow where Jacob found His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jacob over the last 8 years has helped many Africans, not just fellow Cameroonians, with visas, support, food, lodging, and in many other ways. Jacob worked with me on sending many Africans that found themselves over their head here in Moscow, back home to Africa. I often would suggest to Jacob about returning home but optimism would always get the best of him and he would endure to the next trial. I cannot tell you the times Jacob has been assaulted, harassed and discriminated, but he would always rise to the top and move on. Jacob had an uncanny way establishing friendship with various police men. Jacob would amazingly earn their respect and would have an opportunity to give them a Bible. Over the last two months Jacobs’s heath had been deteriorating. Several days ago I met him (at the same Hospital I visited him 7 years ago), and prayed and anointed him with oil. Jacob could hardly speak and was very tired. For more than two weeks he had a hard time breathing and was getting almost no sleep. Jacob told me he was tired and he wanted to go home to Cameroon. To make matters worse, Jacobs’s father had died two weeks earlier. Jacob was grieved for his Dad, he told me his Dad loved him very much. Every hospital that I visited Jacob in the last month (which was 3) everybody knew who he was from the nurses to the patients. I would bring along bibles and other pamphlets about the Good News of Jesus Christ and Jacob would give them to his fellow patients. The last time I met with Jacob he told me of the young Russian man in the bed next to him. Jacob told me that he had taken a liking to Jacob and helped him in and out of bed. Jacob had become so weak that he could not even lift himself in and out of bed. Jacob told me that the young man was very attentive to all his needs. I met Jacobs’s new friend and shook his hand, I noticed his arms were almost completely covered with colorful tattoos. I commented that they were beautiful and he allowed me to inspect them. It was evident that this young man had had a tough life, and the tattoos gave testimony of his prison life. But yet he had a huge smile and you could tell he loved helping Jacob out. One thing that struck me about this young man was not his tattoos, or even his big smile, or the fact that he would get out of his bed and help Jacob get back into his bed after relieving himself, what struck me about this young man that had a hard life written all over his face was that he had no legs. But that did not stop him from serving his fellow brother that was born in a different country, and had a different shade of skin. God has some very incredible children He has created and I‘m awed at times by the character I see displayed in lives of people who know what tribulations and poverty are all about. Jesus wrote to 7 literal churches in the book of Revelation telling the churches what He liked and what He did not like in His churches. As Jesus spoke to the church in Smyrna, Revelation 2:8 He said “ I know your works, tribulations, and poverty but you are rich. Jesus did not have one bad thing to say to the church of Smyrna. He was not ashamed of them, and did not rebuke them for their wretched condition, say they lacked faith. Jesus did not give them a quick solution to get out of their tribulations and poverty. He only told them that they could expect more, and “to be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus seemed to be very comfortable with the church of Smyrna, and all their trials, persecutions, and poverties. Jesus said Himself in John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." One thing Jacob has never been able to do is clap his hands to the Lord. Sometimes during worship I will glance over at Jacob, and knew that he could never clap his hands and praise the Lord, and I know he would if he could have. You see Jacob as some of you know was missing an arm. It was severed in an accident as a small child. But today December 7 2006 Jacob was able for the first time to clap and raise both his hands before the Lord. Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." 2Corinthians 5:8 "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Please pray for the service for Jacob, Jacob was well known in the African community here in Moscow. Many of the guys and gals do not know the Lord, that God would get all the Glory.

Also in the photo is Dr. Tom, I could spend the same amount of time talking about Tom and how he has been a great help to the helpless here in Moscow. He is in the hospital awaiting a much needed hip replacement surgery. Please pray all will go well and Dr. Tom will be restored to active duty.

“Ruskie Stoal” means Russian table

“Ruskie Stoal” means( Russian table), and that is what me and the guys had tonight after our prayer and worship night. (DISCLAIMER: WE DON'T EAT LIKE THIS EVERY NIGHT) First we will talk about the Ruskie Stoal ( Russian Table) and the food for the physical body. The center piece was a nice flat fish, (and I mean flat, like you know 18 wheeler tire ran over flat) that is called Zabrie, and it has been Kapchornized (smoked). Astarowsna apasna koste (be careful dangerous bones!!) Then you will notice a nice bowl of chessnook, no not a place where you play chess but (garlic). Chessnook is good to eat with each bite of Kapchornie Reba (smoked fish). Also we had (see photo)Tavork which is a solid block of (cottage cheese) but much better tasting. Tavork is like cottage cheese on steroids. The Banka (jar) you see is Smaroadnaya ( currant jam) yum yum!!! (yum yum!!!) And let’s not forget the Krooglie Belly Haaleb (round white bread)with a stakanchik(glass) of Moloko (milk). Also we had two types of Kalbassa, Kalbassa without Salla, and Kalbassa with Salla (baloney with and without fat.) Hey its winter and we need as much fat as we can get!!! But we shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Now about the prayer and worship meeting. Every Friday we gather for worship and prayer, we usually do 5 to 6 worship songs and then have corporate prayer then the men and the women pray in groups. But tonight we never made it past worship and it was a beautiful time with prayers of thanks giving. It was wonderful, as tonight we remembered our first love, and what He means to us. I am so thankful that it is His church and that He loves it and looks after it. Spakoynanoche!! (Have a peaceful night) Cbogim ( God Bless) Дин (dean)

believe it or not!!!

Greetings everyone, believe it or not practically all the snow has melted. global warning? Even so called global warming will not keep the snow away from Moscow. I am one of the few people I know that is looking forward to snow. Snow to me is still a wonder, living in California my entire life, those few times in my life when it did snow (a quarter of an inch) were unforgettable. So I anxiously wait for that white stuff to fall from the sky.

Prayer retreat. On November 5-7 we had our prayer retreat and believe it or not praying was the focus. Starting from 10:00 pm on Sunday night to 4:00pm Tuesday afternoon we had the opportunity to pray continuously. Everyone picked their hour or hours (even the kids) to pray so we all had our alarm clocks ready to go. Rumantsevo the camp that we stayed at is about an hour plus ride out of Moscow. It is located where nothing at all resembles the monster city we live in. It is a place where the busy pace of Moscow is left behind, where the air is fresh, and the sounds of a big city are not to be found. It is interesting in the book of Exodus that Moses found a place out side the populated camp of a million plus Jews to go and seek the Lord at a great time of sin among the children of Israel.

Ex 33:7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp.

I found for myself and I know for others, getting out of the city where our only focus was on the Lord was very beneficial. Through out the two days we had simple teachings on prayer which was good and well, but the great lesson of the power of prayer was in just making a step to pray for an extended period of time. For some an hour at a time, others 3 hours at a time. Just praying teaches us so much about prayer. Natasha as always, organized the retreat and made it very special with many little touches that were a blessing, and honored the Lord.

Please continue to pray for the Lord’s perfect will in our next move to a more permanent place which we can use 24/7 if we like. Pray for Dr. Tom as he now has entered the hospital for a much needed hip replacement surgery. Dr. Tom as some of you know has been a great help to many homeless men and women who need medical assistance. Tom being from Gambia, is well know in his region for his service to the forgotten. Please pray for Sveta a precious sister in the Lord (see the June prayer retreat on the blog regarding her) she is suffering from the cancer, she is a great woman of faith and needs a miracle. Her mother is a Muslim and God will get the glory from all that Sveta has suffered. God Bless, dean

I'm back and ready for SNOW!!!

This was my last night in Modesto, My good friends Troy and Sheila, with Logan and Beau, and of course my sweet Sis and my brother in law Bradley, by the way Shiela and Bradley are brother and sister as well

Hello everyone, it has been a little over a week since I returned to Moscow from my 6 week stay Modesto. It did not take me long to get back into the swing of things, after being awake for almost 2 days. I was greeted at the Airport by Shasha, Yuri, and Natasha who whisked me away right to the Friday night prayer meeting. For you who travel this is a great recipe for avoiding jet-lag." We are still meeting in the Hotel Sokol and will be there at least until the end of November. We are looking for a new place as most of you know. I believe it’s time to have a place where we can meet at any time. Right now we have run out of room at the hotel but it is very nice and we have a great opportunity to be a witness to the workers and the guests.

Staring on Sunday afternoon about 20 of us will be going out side Moscow to the Baptist camp to have 3 days of prayer. Some of you may remember we did the same 3 days of prayer in the summer. ( see blog ) We will start around the clock prayer at 9:00 pm on Sunday night and continue until 4:00pm on Tuesday. The theme is going to be James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”.

On our Sunday service we had a new addition to our church. We were able to use our new digital projector for the songs during the worship service. This wonderful and totally unexpected gift is such a great blessing to our church. Now all are able to see the words of each worship song clearly on the wall even if the sun light is coming through the window, a problem we usually had with our old style overhead. Thank you Kevin and Herta!!!! ( see photo of them)

There is so much thanks to give out for making my time home such a memorable time. I’m a hopelessly spoiled missionary by my home church CC Modesto. My Sis and her husband Bradley are part to blame. Special thanks to Franz and Jonathan, who went out of the way to load me up with a year of CD of various teachings, and my favorite Pastor D. Thank you all at CC Modesto, you all are a wonderful role model for me.

Please continue to pray for God's perfect will in seeking a new location. Pray for Dr.Tom who desperately needs a hip operation. He has been waiting for an opportunity for over a year and it looks like it will be soon. Pray for Losha who returned to the street life. Pray for the guys in my flat, that their lives would bring glory to God. And for the prayer reteat, that we would all come away for it with a greater love for prayer. God Bless you,dean

And yes we have had our first SNOW!!!!!

The fallen leaves…

These are my favorite colors of the Autumn in Moscow.
"HE has made everything beautiful in its time..."

Please, pray!

Please pray for Joanie and her son Matthew, who is in a very serious condition in a hospital right now. You can read their story here.

Divine appointment

Tonight after our Bible study, I stopped by a store to get some groceries. As I walked around looking for things, a lady came up to me quickly and asked for a mirror. A mirror??? In a store??? Why would somebody need a mirror in a grocery store??? Well of course there’ can be many reasons why, and especially for a woman, but I could not think of any. I guess, I looked so puzzled that the lady said, “I need to look in a mirror, because I’ve returned to the store after I already bought things and to return means bad luck.” She asked me again if I had even a small mirror, then realizing that I cannot be of any help for her she walked away mumbling, “It is a bad luck, I need a mirror.”
I’ve met superstitious people before and it’s very common here to spit three times over left shoulder if a black cat walked across the path or if a person whistles to let him know that he will whistle all his money out (Dean got in trouble with this one). Or not to give even amount of flowers, because it means death or something, and so on and so forth.
Today, however I’ve realized how bad it can get, so bad that it becomes bondage to a person who believes all that stuff. I felt really sorry for this lady and I immediately remembered that I have a copy of “Living water” with me, which was in my handbag for a longest time and a few times I wanted to give it away, but it never happened . I knew I had to give it to this lady. She already went trough the cashier and as she was exiting the store, I held out the booklet to her with the words “This is better than a mirror.”
To be honest I was a little afraid of the reaction, because last time a tried to do the same thing and give the booklet to a man who was asking for money, he yelled at me “Are you from a sect, I do not need this kind of stuff, go away!!!”
So the lady took the booklet and I was about to walk away and continue my shopping when she asked me for my phone number. I was blown away, she was so open. I asked for hers too and told her that I will pray for her. So would you please join me in prayer for this lady, her name is Ludmila and she is in a desperate situation. She told me about her son who is a hard drinker, demanding money from his mother. Ludmila said that last time when she did not give it to him; he tried to commit suicide by cutting his veins, So please pray for him too and also that the Lord would help me and use me in this. Thank you and may He bless your today. Natasha

Mission trip to America

Hello everyone from sunny California (sorry my beloved Moscowvites). After staying up for about 50 hours I arrived in San Francisco at 10:00 in the evening of the same day I took off from Moscow. I gained one day!!! Today I just got back from the Northern and Central California's pastors conference which was for 3 days at the beautiful retreat center Mt. Herman. No not in Israel but in the Santa Cruz Mountains here in Northern California. It was amazing that I ran into so many people that I had met in Moscow over the last 7 years that had taken short term missionary trips. Jeff, and Rich from CC Grass Valley who came on the trip when Pastor Chuck Smith visited Moscow 3 years ago. Terry and his wife, Dave Johnston who is now pastor of CC Santa Cruz, Manny, Matt who is now a Pastor, all who came to Moscow with CC San Jose 6 years ago. Dan who is from CC Weed California who came to the Russian Men's Conference 2 years ago. Mark Piester, who stays with Dale when he does his winter and summer youth camps here in Russia. Mark came with his Pastor who was here and did outreach in Tver (Russia) with his band. He is the Pastor of CC Marrow Bay. Rob Nash who is a friend of Russia, and who has been here many times. I'm going to visit him in Southern California. The teaching was awesome and it was a great encouragement for me personally. My home church CC Modesto organized the conference and Jeff and Franz did a great job. CC Modesto also did all the worship and it was wonderful. And as always I had a great time with my pastor!! It was so encouraging to see so many of the people that have come to visit us in Moscow are serving the Lord. I have many opportunities to share what the Lord is doing in our church. So many people are interested in what is going on here in Russia. So many people are praying for our fellowship, it is so encouraging. Friday I will be speaking to the singles at our church. I may have a few words to speak about the single life, its one of the few areas that I have had the most experience in. Hope to see many of you that may read our blog site while I'm home. God Bless you, dean

New address and our life in a new place

Just want to give you our new address, in case you want to visit us. It is metro Sokol (still:-) Chapaievskiy pereulok, 12, second floor, room 141 and in Russian it is Чапаевский переулок, дом 12, 2 этаж, комната 141. Our new place is right across the largest apartment building in Europe “Triumph palace”. Here is the picture so you just get an idea.

Monday
On early Monday morning, Dean flew to the States, so now all of you who read this blog from that side of the world, California in particular, have a pleasure to meet Dean and fellowship with him for the next month and a half. That’s fine, we’ll try not be jealous, I mean, we really really have to try, but we’ll not be jealous!!!!:-[
Monday night Dale begun teaching on the book of Psalms and it was an incredible encouragement to those who was able to come.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we sent off our missionary to Washington D.C., Olga. She is going to be working there at least until January. The beginning of her move was a bit rough; as she was going through the customs; her luggage was checked to and fro, then she had to take some things out because one of her suitcases was overweight and she was unable to pay for it since there was not much time left before the departure. After all, her stuff got lost somewhere between New York and Dallas. She is a little discouraged right now, so, please pray for Olga as she is trying to adapt to a new place and to find and plug in to a new church that solidly teaches the Word.

Wednesday
This Wednesday we had a worship night and it turned out to be a beautiful evening. It was so sweet just to worship the Lord together and quiet our hearts before Him. Vova shared a little from Psalm 31 (32 in English) and we took a few moments to pray. I am really looking forward to what the Lord is going to do through these services.
Please keep us in prayer as we continue to follow our great Shepherd, Jesus.
God bless you! Natasha

Latest news

Hello everyone, greetings from Moscow. Tomorrow is the 859 birthday of Moscow old.We have had rain all week but the mayor has promised to seed the clouds and chase them away as there will be an amazing 2,000 concerts going on throught the city.Well it has been almost a month since we were asked to leave our 11 year church location. But last week we found a hall in a hotel close to where we were meeting.We had our first Sunday service there last Sunday and it was a wonderful time. It is a little small for our needs but it is a peaceful place and the management have welcomed us. It is interesting that the Hotel is owned by the army. We are able to use the hall 4 times a week and so we will be returning to our regular schedule. I'm so thankful the Lord opened up the opportunity so quickly to find a new location especially as I'm retuning for 6 weeks to California. It will make my trip a lot more enjoyable knowing we have a place to worship. During the last of our Sunday outdoor services in the park, which would have been two weeks ago, I was a bit discouraged. It looked like it was going to rain any minute. The best place in the park to have the service had 2 men that were drinking and were under that influence. We could hardly chase them off. I still remember that popular acronym WWJD. But one by one people begun to show up. Yuri was at our old location directing people to the park. One man called me on my cell phone trying to find us in the park. He and his family had gone to the old location and were directed to the park. As I went out to the street to meet them it was a great surprise to find it was Ilya and Zalina former worship leaders at the church of Sokol. They had moved to the USA before I moved to Russia. It was such a timely visit as they joined our outdoor service and did worship for our communion service. The Lord encouraged me so much that day, He turned the circumstances completely around and we did not get one drop of rain. God did the cloud seeding that day and gave us a great service.

We are settled for the moment and it will give us time to find a location where we can better serve our community. A place where we can have the church open 7 days a week. Almost every building has a basement, they are huge and most have natural light and they even have kitchen. Please pray for the Lord's guidance.

On Monday I will be traveling home, and I look forward to seeing many of you once again. Please pray for Natasha, Vova, and all those that will serve in my absence. The Lord is doing a wonderful thing in our fellowship. God Bless and see most of you soon!! dean "The Lord has done great things!!!"

Missions Conference

Thanks very much to all of you who prayed for my Austrian visa. This year was unlike any year before, I had to go to the embassy 5 times and each time to be there for nearly 2 hours, but it is all in the past now and I already went to the conference and got back two days ago. I had some time in Munich where I went on a free tour around the city and enjoyed great weather (for pictures-click here). Then the next day, I took a train to Spittal where the conference was taking place. Brian Brodersen, Bil Gallatin, Ray Bentley and Samy Tanagho were speaking this time and as always, it was good teaching. Men & women’s session had a little different setting this year – we got together in small groups and had prayer and a time of sharing and encouragement. I liked that very much, because this way we were able to meet more people and to get to know each other better, ministering to each other in more personal way. Also the Lord has really blessed me by fellowship with my friends from Nice, France and it was a special treat to see them again.
Truly, it was blessed and fruitful time. The Lord answered many of my prayers even while I was there. I just love times like this, when my soul can rest in Him and can be quiet before Him and I get a little glimpse of Heaven as we worship, fellowship, enjoy Him and each other every day for a whole week. I cannot wait for the day to come when we will have not just a week, but eternity. Until then, let’s continue serving Him and others faithfully, wherever He’s called us to be.
God bless you! Natasha

Trip to St. Pete & more

Hello everyone, as most of you know last week on Sunday the church ended 11 years of meeting at the same location. I will talk a little more about that later.

Last week some of the servants in the church had the opportunity to attend the first Calvary Chapel conference in St. Petersburg. It was timely and it was a great encouragement for all of us. The teaching was right on as usual for a CC conference. Pastor Ken Ortize of CC Spokane, Lloyd Pulley Old Bridge New Jersey, and Gale Erwin taught over the 3 day conference. I had the greatest birthday party: I got to see Gale live and in action, we got to take a boat ride down the canals of St Pete (The Venice of the north) and had so many friends that I have made the acquaintance in the last 7 years in Russia. For more pictures of St. Pete trip click here.

Today we had our first service without a building as we met in the park across the street from the church.The Lord gave us acceptable weather, as it looked as if it could have rained a few times. We had a perfect time as we worshiped the Lord, and partook of communion today. Lord willing we will have a place to meet next Sunday, if not we will meet once again in the park.

Pray for Natasha as she is going for her Visa on Monday, so she can fly to the CC European leadership conference in Austria. God Bless, dean

...no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly

Greetings from Moscow, today was like any other Sunday, I was up early preparing for the lesson in the Book of Mathew 18:15. I ironed my shirt, at which I’m almost as good as my Mom, grabbed the piano, Losha followed with the guitar, Yuri went to get grape juice for communion today, and Roma went to the store to buy all the things needed to make sandwiches after the service. On the way to the church which about a 10 minute walk, I met my neighbor Luba she is about 75 and she told me she is having trouble with her eyes and not able to read the LARGE PRINT Bible I bought her. Today our plan was to go to the park after the service, but we received an unusual (almost) 24 hour rain. Upon arriving at the college we met Jacob, Olga and Natasha. The guard usually comes and opens the door for us but today we were greeted by Sasha. Sasha is the one we have been praying for, for a long time and he is the boss of the security guards. Sasha usually has a dry humor and so today he told us that we were no longer able to meet at the college. We are thinking that Sasha is joking and we are waiting to see him laugh but he is not laughing and continues to tell us the new director said to tell the church they are done. One by one the church began arriving only to hear there was not going to be a service today and that we need to find a new place to meet. I can tell you I have perfect peace about this. We were told one month ago by the administrator of the hall we rent ( Rufic and Nellie the husband and wife that we have a great relationship with) that current director was fired and a new director was coming. We knew at that time that our time at the college might be over. But Rufic felt confident that all would be ok after he talked to the new director. So Natasha and I were not totally shocked. We have so much to be thankful for. The church has been at the college for more than 10 years, without really any inconvenience. I know some churches have had to move many times, and don’t have the space that we have had. We have nothing to complain about, God has been so faithful to our fellowship. We are confident that God is moving us in a different direction. We have prayed off and on over the last 7 years that we might find a different location but it was just not God’s will. The church building had many positives, but it also had some negatives. We would like to find a place where we can use it 7 days a week. And that our time would not be limited. We are on the 5th floor without a lift and it has been difficult for people who may not have the best health. If a street person would like to visit the church they are not allowed in the building because it is a school. We would like to reach more out to the displaced people in our area whom we have an abundance of. Please pray for us to find a location easy to reach with public transportation, most of our members do not have cars, including myself. Pray for a place where we can meet as often as we want. And pray that it is in our region. It is not easy finding places in Moscow, one of the most expense cities in the world. But God is in control and it is His fellowship. He has shown Himself so faith to our fellowship, answering so many of our prayers.

Friday Dale was finally able to take his daughter Dasha to America. It was a miracle of events, but the church has faithfully prayed for the situation and today Dasha is visiting her other family in Minnesota with Dale. Please pray for the 8 of us that will be traveling to St. Petersburg tomorrow night on the train to attend the first CC St. Petersburg leadership conference. Gayle Erwin is going to be one of the guest speakers. Since we had all ready made plans to go with all the tickets bought I felt that we must go, and that the Lord is going to work out our new location. We have many people that have ideas about where we might be able to rent. Next week we are going to meet in the park across the street from the church for our Sunday service. If you’re in the area please stop by we will have church in the park. God is faithful to the church He gave His life for, and so we rest in that. God bless you all who love and pray for CCSokol we love all of you also!!! dean

bringing Life to Big City life

Greetings everyone from one of the world's most expensive cities to live, Moscow. Where you will not see more Mercedes Benz this side of Stuttgart Germany. You won’t see more luxury sky rise apartment under construction anywhere. You won’t see more shopping malls this side of southern California, or this side of the world. There are over 170 metro subway stations in Moscow and they are determined to build monster sized malls at almost every stop. Moscow is a fast city moving faster. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I have not written in a while and I needed something to write about. Really, Moscow is a great city to be a Christian, there are so many great ministry opportunities here. Everything has been going fine with the church. I had to leave the country at the 6th month mark two weeks ago. It is required by law that foreigners leave the county every 6 months and get a new immigration card. I’m thankful to the Russian government for this law because it gives me an opportunity to take a short excursion across the border. I traveled with Dale, another missionary (many of you know him) to the city of Kiev in the Ukraine. It was the first time I had been there, and found it to be a beautiful city, or should I say village, only 3 million people, compared with Moscow upwards of 14 million. It was interesting to see how they are doing and it seems they are moving along well. We were able to see the tent city in the center of town as they await the outcome of the future government. I must say they are well organized and the camp was very orderly. Calvary Chapel has a very healthy church in Kiev and has planted numerous churches in Ukraine. The Ukrainian language is very similar to Russian and so it was easy to move around in the city. Oh, by the way that is where Chicken Kiev came from and yes, we tried it. The prices on food and transportation, and housing were delightfully less than in Moscow.

I just finished the Ken Ham “Answers in Genesis” on C.D. that took place at my home church CC Modesto. Perhaps we will do a mini one and a half day Answers in Genesis type of meeting. It is as much for the believer as it is for the non-believer.

God has been so good to His church here in Sokol. We have seen the Lord answer many of our prayer requests. We will be planning another prayer retreat for November.

Please pray for Chas, He is the young man from Africa. He lost one lung to T.B. and the other lung is healing very slowly. The doctor told him that he can not continue to take the medication for the T.B. because it is affecting his heart and liver. Chas needs a miracle. Only God can bring him through this. Chas really should have died according to him while he was in prison. Out of all the men that were in the prison T.B. hospital, Chas is the only one that survived. I believe God has a great plan for Chas. Also pray for Dr. Tom, many of you know him, and we have worked together for about 7 years. Tom needs to have hip replacement surgery. Tom is in a lot of pain but he will never let you know. He has been seeking an operation for about one year.

Update on Geno, I am able to talk with him once a week, and he is doing great under the circumstances. God is using him, and his prison church is growing. Please, if you remember, pray for Geno and the work God has called him to in the prison.

Look forward to meeting with some of you in September when I come home visit. God Bless you and what God is doing in your life. dean