The Work of the Holy Spirit in Russia

Shalom dear loved ones! Thank you for your faithful partnership in the work of Christ as we continue to pursue our calling to  International missions!  

On April 10th, by God's grace, I will be traveling to Ukraine for the third time since the War started with Russia!  Rolfe Carawan will be joining me with Dr. Lev Prystupiuk as we again start in the Western part of the Country, circle up to the Capital, Kiev, and then plan on spending the bulk of our remaining time in the East where the violence and needs are the greatest!  

There are so many faithful brothers and sisters in this beautiful and historic nation that have captured our hearts!  But I must also say that on the other side of this terrible conflict are Russian brothers and sisters who also hate this War and are facing suffering of many different kinds!   

Last week I received the following letter from a dear friend in Krasnodar, Russia who is sharing her experience in the midst of the amazing work of the Holy Spirit and the transformation of lives as He touches one person after another!  These dear friends love Jesus as much as anybody I know and He continues to pour out His love and revelation to everyone, regardless of nationality, who is seeking the Lord Jesus with a pure heart! 

 Shalom, Shalom, my dear Brother and friend Jerry!  I miss you!  How glad I am that your health is improving and strengthening by the grace of God! And every time I thank Lord for  you, our friendship, communication and prayers!  You are a wonderful gift for me! I pray for you, for all the trips that the Lord has planned for next month!  May God's guidance and provision be in everything  We also have a lot of tasks and changes here, meetings and ideas from God - and everything is arranged by the Lord! I am surprised at the fast speed that the Holy Spirit has in our lives!    Now the Lord take us deeper into His peace (Shalom), and I begin to understand how important it is! Heb 4:1-12  And I remember those three levels in the growth of our faith, which you spoke about in Turkey in 2018 and further in the church!

Dear Jerry, I want to share with you some of the moments that the Lord is now doing in the our church. A lot of new things are happening in the church now - the Lord is renewing and encouraging many tired people, ministers. There are also people who have either moved or left the church for individual reasons over the past year.     

The friends from our  home group are also experiencing internal changes that are filled with work and the movement of the Holy Spirit! The Lord renews us in understanding His grace, love and fatherly heart. Also, the guys are jealous of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord affirm each other through service in gifts. The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about this.  The guys and I feel how the spiritual world reacts and how the Lord is rapidly cultivating joy and boldness within each of us. How he transforms hearts where there was rejection or any weakness and worthlessness.     

Can you imagine how happy I am for my friends Sasha and Slavik, who are also now running after God in the flow of the Holy Spirit! Their lives began to be greatly transformed and filled with the presence and glory of God! They are so joyful 

There are also some peculiarities in the current situation within the church. At this time, the message that God carries through the people of our home group differs from the established teaching of the church. That is, many people do not understand why we talk so much about the Holy Spirit, about personal communication with God, about hearing the voice of God, about anointing, inheritance in Christ and the like.  

Some members of the church consider this a charismatic teaching that is not accepted in our community and is not acceptable to the extent that we present it during preaching and communication. 

I tell you this with a calm heart, without resentment or chagrin. But just as a fact.  

And now the Lord focuses the attention of each of us on personal obedience and closeness with Christ in the Holy Spirit. There are new feelings that encourage us to pray that the Lord will reveal our further path and that we will be open to His goals.    

And perhaps the time is coming when the Lord will move us further in the message that He gave birth to in our small group. And I ask you to pray with us about this! That there may be the will of the Lord and the guidance of the Holy Spirit! Since we act in respect and obedience to our brothers and sisters and do not want to resist at all.    The Lord does interesting things in many churches here as well as in other countries. Time is precious and the Lord does not delay - Eph 5:15-17. He awakens his children, his church in the power that is being prepared for the last days  

I thank you for your prayers for us and for love!  May the grace of our Lord be with you, amen! My family hugs you tightly and sends greetings to you, to dear Sue and to your church!  With the love of Jesus, lyuba