God's Mercy and Grace in the life of Laura

Laura on her way back home! Laura in the middle with two students who are believers.

Laura's Story (l to r: Jackson,Chas, Alfa, Laura)

In 2003 we had been making weekly visits to T.B. hospital in Solnechnagorsk over a period of a couple of years, but we were asked not to come back because of the health risk. Then in the summer of 2006 one of the guys coming to the church Chas was admitted and so we had the opportunity to return to the hospital without any problem and began to have a weekly Bible study at the hospital. During the course of are visits Laura who is from Cameroon Africa, had been admitted with T.B. and began to attend the bible study. Felix, Chas, Jackson, and Laura were all French speakers from Cameroon, so Chas would translate into French. Laura was sick and her life was a mess, she had left Cameroon with a dream that she could come to Russia to transit and then move on to Europe, but as it has been the case with many Cameroonians that are desperate to find a better life, they fall prey to fellow countrymen that promise to get them to the promised land of Europe. They collect a sum of money which is a huge sacrifice for the person and their family to come up, take their passport and then make all the arrangements knowing full well that they will not get them any further than Moscow. Once they arrive in Moscow they find that they cannot move any further and their visa expiries and they end up in very difficult circumstances in a foreign land. To complicate Laura’s situation, as I would later find out that Laura had left two small boys behind to live with her relatives as she sought for a better life. The last contact that I had with Laura and the rest of the guys in the Bible study was late August of 2006 as I was returning back to America for a visit. The photo shown is the last Bible study we had at the hospital. Upon me returning to Russia Chas was very sick (his story is in an earlier blog) and was dying of T.B. of the lungs. He later would go on to be with the Lord. Laura left the hospital and I lost contact with her. Later Alfa and Felix (Felix not shown in the picture would both die of T.B. About 7 months ago I got a call from Laura in her broken English and she wanted to meet, she was living 3 hours away in a different city and so we met at the Leningradskiy train station. She began to tell of all the things the Lord was doing in her life, and how He had touched her life in a powerful way. It was obvious to me she was a different gal then when I had known her at the hospital. It was then that she told me about her children back in Cameroon and so I encouraged her to return as soon as possible and that we would help her make that step. To leave Russia when your visa is expired is not a quick and easy process but I was amazed how quickly it fell together and within 3 weeks Laura was at the airport on her way home. I believe God has a great plan for Laura who was very anxious to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all her family. She has quite a story to tell of God’s mercy and grace, that even though she had made many bad decisions, and was thousands of miles away from home away from her family, tricked by fellow countrymen, living in very difficult circumstances with no money, no job, improper documents and in a hospital where she could not speak the language, with tuberculosis. God knew exactly where she was at and got a hold of her life and changed it. It will be interesting to see how God uses Laura back in her native country of Cameroon.

Messianic Conference

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the all Russian Messianic Jewish church conference, where pastors from various Messiah church fellowships came together for a time of fellowship.

Please, pray!

Please pray for Olya and Kostia, the family from the church in Smolensk (city Southwest of Moscow) their 3-year-old son Artiom was diagnosed with 4^th degree cancer (neuroblastoma of retroperitoneal space). Currently they are staying in Moscow Oncology center where Artiom will undergo 3 courses of chemotherapy and blood transfusions. If his condition stabilizes then doctors will do the surgery to remove the tumor. Pray for Artiom’s parents that the Lord would be their grace, mercy and strength and they would trust and hope only in Him. Pray also for finances and provision for blood transfusions, that is a difficult thing, because doctors often turn people down and only 1 person of 6 was able to give his blood. Please pray that the Lord would heal Artiom!

Pastor Kostia of CC 1905 visited Artiom and his mom on Sunday to pray for them and found that Artiom is pretty upbeat and running around. Praise the Lord for that!

We will keep you posted. Thank you for being a part of this ministry in Moscow! Natasha

Thank you for praying!

Thank you for praying for Julia and her mom! The Lord is very faithful! He has answered our prayers in His beautiful way! (see the previous entry with the prayer request) He has provided enough finances for the surgery and Julia’s mom is already at home getting better. Julia is very thankful for your prayers and support. Please, continue to pray that her mom would learn how to trust the Lord even more and realize the importance of growing in Him. Praise Him for He is Good, His faithful love endures forever!!!
May the Lord bless you! Natasha

Little Daniel

This is little Daniel, and were thankful to the Lord that Daniel only walked away with two fractures in his leg as a car hit his baby stroller. It looks like my soccer partner is going to be out for the season. We usually kick the soccer ball around before the Bible study. Daniel has some serious kicking talent. He is expected to make a full recovery and so we look forward to seeing him in action next season. God Bless.

Our little Tuesday Bible study

Our little Tuesday Bible study. Daniel's Babuska is on the far left, and her friend Mila first time to the study. Lisa, and Valya Daniel's mama, with baby Masha. When I left for America Masha was still crawling, and when I returned she was walking like mad!!!

Visitors

One of the opportunities we have is greeting those who are traveling trough Moscow. Fred (Florida) and Blair (Wisconsin) traveled to Moscow and then on to the far east to meet with church Pastors and lay workers for a week of leadership training. We gave them the 10$ tour of our city..... of course for free.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK"

Greetings from Moscow as I enter my second week of returning back to my normal routine living in one of the world’s largest cities. I must say it’s a bit of a contrast from spending 7 weeks in Modesto. I confess I enjoyed every minute of my time there among many dear friends and family who spoiled me to the bone. I also must confess that I receive the best from both worlds as I return to the place I call home almost 11 months out of the year, and that has been my privileged pattern for the last 8 years. I am truly blessed living here in Moscow. But in looking back at my 7 weeks in America, I want to thank my sister and her husband, Lynn and Bradley for being the main culprits of the spoiling of this missionary, as well as my home church Calvary Chapel Modesto, where I was surrounded by doers of the Word. Special thanks to my Pastor, Pastor Damian who walks the talk…and that’s some big talk to fill….

Perhaps the greatest highlight of my visit home was the opportunities to share what is going on here in my neck of the woods. I was taken back with the sincere interest in the work here in Moscow. I was amazed at the amount of people and even children that came up to me and said they pray for me and the church every day. I owe much to the prayer support of the work that I’m privileged to be a part of due to the faithful prayer of many of you back in Modesto. As I returned to Moscow as a church we are faced with many old and new challenges, I say that now more than any other time in the last 8 years. Perhaps the greatest challenge that has faced the work here in Moscow surfaced last week in regards to the issuing of visas. There are tough laws that now are surfacing regarding length of stay, and policies for receiving new visas. Without going into detail please pray for the will of the Lord in all of this as the new laws have the potential of affecting many foreigners in Moscow. God alone opened the doors here 15 years ago and it is His work going on. He is certainly not nervous a bit about all of this. Please enjoy a few of the photos that blessed by trip home. God Bless you all, and remember if you are born again you are a fellow missionary wherever the Lord has placed you in this world. It’s time for “All HANDS ON DECK”. dean

College Career group

My meeting with the College Career group was the one group I really had the desire to speak with. Because they are at the age where not too much holds them back for going full out for the Kingdom of God. It was a special night and I believe the Lord was in full control. Thanks John for inviting me!!

Kids at CC 7th street

A picture is worth one word"JESUS" What a privilege to come and share with the greatest kids at CC 7th street about Russia. I think I had a room of future missionaries. What a great work God is doing. If you want to be where the action is at talk to Pastor Leif, the Lord is up to some amazing stuff in that fellowship. The one picture I don't have is when Pastor Leif had all the kids lay hands on me and pray for me....It was a photo recored in heaven.

Matt and Breezee's wedding, (what more can I say!)

Sharing at the Church

Share night at the church is always a highlight of my visit, Special thanks to Jonathan, Jeff and KathyE for making it a great night.

My cousin Jimmy, my Unc Harold and My POP!!

Bradley, Sis, and MY MOM

BBQ

Dead Eye Dave on the left, and Man handler Mark did a great Job M-SEEM the CC MODESTO CHILI-COOKOFF!! special thanks to Dave for all His computer skills! My hats off to ya dudes!!!

Men's breakfast CCValley Springs, Valley Springs is right down the road from were I grew up.

Our pictures

Dear friends and family, we now have our photo albums on the net, with our old and new pictures. It will be kept updated and more new pictures will be coming soon. I recommend you to view the pictures as a slide show, this way you will be able to see it all and with the comments. Here is the link http://public.fotki.com/ccsokol/ and I am going to put it on the side bar as well.
I hope you will enjoy meeting people from our church:-).
God bless! Natasha

Help and Prayer Need

I received the following message today:

"Dear Friends, some of you may know Julia Smirnova (Juls) (see the link).

She served with CC Sokol in Moscow, and studied in Moscow Bible College. Later she went on to serve with CC Volgograd. Few months ago Julia's mom had a stroke and Julia came back to Moscow to take care of her mom. Couple days ago her mom fell and broke her hip. Julia was told by the hospital that 50 000 rubles needed for surgery. Julia works as a nurse and does not have such money. Neither do we. But we know it's not a problem for our Lord. So we wanted to ask you to pray for Julia and her mom, and this situation. Pray for mom's heart to turn back to the Lord, and also for financial provision for the surgery. If you would like to help Julia, please send a message to Valeria Machula(click the link) - pls, disregard the user pic- she is a much nicer person :)) or to Sasha Wheatley (click the link). But most of all please pray. Julia really needs our prayers and support right now.
Serving Christ,
Sasha Wheatley

CC Tushino, Moscow"
Please join in prayer with us. Natasha