December 5, 2005

 1) Team Ufa asks that you pray for Grace Church in the Telecenter District of Ufa. The church must soon decide whether to accept a 50% raise in their rent, to search for other worship space to rent, or to simply return to meeting in an apartment with all the restrictions that that entails. There is an outside chance that their landlord might relent and keep the rent the same as it is now. So pray first that the Lord of the earth will change the heart of Murat, Grace Church’s landlord, so that he might keep the rent the same and Grace Church won’t have to give up its current location which has been such a blessing to the church. If instead, Murat hardens his heart, then pray that God might impart His wisdom to Grace Church and Pastor Zhenya so that they might know beyond a shadow of a doubt what God would have them do next, so that His name might be glorified.

  2) Team Ufa asks you to pray for the team’s evangelistic English as a second language effort in Ufa. The team currently conducts an advanced level English class, assists a Russian Sister named Emeliya in teaching a basic and beginner’s level English class, and may start an intermediate level English class if there is demand for it. Pray that God will enable us to attend to our students’ desire to learn English and, at the same time, convey the Gospel. Pray that we will be able to hold the students’ interest and that the number of people who quit saying that they want English but not God will be kept to a minimum. Our classes will continue until the end of December and then take a short two week break for the January holidays. Pray that as our evangelistic English classes continue in mid-January that God might allow us to reap a harvest of souls and that we might see tangible fruit as the result of this ministry.

 3) Team Ufa asks that you pray for apprentice missionary Larry Moon as he continues to lead the Ufa Bible Church (UBC) in a study of the end times using prophetic books in the Old Testament and John’s Revelation. As the young people at UBC study what God’s Word promises will transpire in the future, pray that their relationship with God might grow closer and that their commitment to reaching lost souls for Christ before the tribulation to come ensues might increase. Pray that the study might give the members of UBC a sense of urgency, a sense that they were born for such a time as this. Ask God to speak His message through Larry and enable him to teach the prophetic passages in a way that is clear, compelling, and accurate. The study will continue through the end of April with a break in January for the holidays.

4) Thanks to all of you who prayed for Victor Bauer’s recovery from knee replacement surgery. His progress has been steady and he can now get around without much difficulty. Victor and Susan plan to visit Richmond for candidate week at the International Mission Board in April of 2006. If the Board gives them the okay during that week, they could potentially join Team Ufa in the summer. Pray for God’s will to unfold in Richmond in April. 

5) Team Ufa is still mulling over conducting an English Language worship service for students of English in Ufa. Pray that God will bring those who are seeking Him to the worship service and that some might eventually be saved. Pray that a number of Russian believers who know the English language might commit to making the English language service a reality. Pray for God’s blessing on this endeavor as we attempt to join Him where He appears to be working.

6) Team Ufa asks you to pray for the Sipailovo (sea-PIE-lah-vah) district of Ufa. The bedroom district of Sipailovo is home to a populace of some 250,000 souls, several casinos and gambling clubs, a strip joint, and a mosque, but has no Christian church or witness. Church planting efforts there have never really gotten off the ground. The difficulty has been that our Russian brothers believe that before there can be any ministry in Sipailovo, a trained and called Russian brother must oversee the efforts there. But a year after we rented an apartment in Sipailovo, with donated American funds, to serve as a base of evangelism in the area, no such leader willing to shoulder responsibility for ministry in Sipailovo has been identified. No one feels called to work there. One young man said that he was willing to work with apprentice missionary Larry a few evenings a week in Sipailovo, but then begged off because of an overcrowded schedule. A small group of concerned Christians now meet in Sipailovo on Thursday evenings to discuss ministry options there and pray. Pray that somehow, miraculously, fruit might be wrought from even the rocky soil of Sipailovo. Pray that despite our human frailties, God might glorify himself by planting a church in Sipailovo. 

7) Team Ufa asks that you pray for a summit on ministry in Ufa that will be conducted by Strategy Coordinator, Chris Carr, at Gateland Baptist Church in Richmond from January 13^th until January 15^th. Pray that God will bring a great many new ideas to bear through the summit participants. Pray that those present will learn of a number of new opportunities and/or ways in which they can plug into ministry in Ufa. Pray that as the summit proceeds that God might lead some of those taking part in the discussions to a greater commitment to reaching lost souls in Ufa. And pray that they will take their enthusiasm and passion back to their home churches.

8) Team Ufa asks you to pray for the Carr family who returned to the U.S. from Ufa on stateside assignment on December the 15^th. The Carrs have 5 kids, the oldest of which is 9. Pray that the Carrs transit to the U.S. will be a smooth one. Pray that as Chris leads a class on missions at Oklahoma Baptist University, that God might lead some of them to invest their lives in missions. Ask for God’s blessing on the Carr’s stateside assignment as they give Southern Baptists in the U.S. an account of what they have seen the Almighty do on the field. Pray that the Carrs’ time in the States might be a time of re-charging, a time of re-commitment to the task in Ufa, a time in which God reconfirms their call to Russian speaking people. Pray for periods of rest, relaxation, celebration, and joy as they re-connect with loved ones in the States.

 9) Apprentice missionaries Larry and Josie are now the only IMB representatives in the mega-city of Ufa for the next 7 months. Pray that they might daily feel the strength and power of God’s presence. Pray that they will not be afraid, but will be re-assured that greater is He who is in them, than he who is in the world. Pray that they will represent well the IMB, Southern Baptists, Team Ufa, and most importantly, God Almighty. Pray that the Lord might work in them and through them, confirm the work of their hands, and give them fruit as the labor on the mission field. 

 Again, thank you so much for praying. Love and peace in Christ, for Team Ufa, Larry in Ufa 

December 2, 2005

Greetings from Ufa, where we finally have snow on the ground…yes, snow has come later than normal this year to Ufa.

 We’ve had several volunteer groups come work with us this past summer and fall.  They have been involved in teaching English to 250 folk, some of whom are now believers and attending different churches in Ufa; personally evangelizing in different parts of Ufa; distributing Bibles and gospel tracts in different parts of Ufa; sharing God’s love thru acts of mercy such as donations of needed equipment to hospitals and orphanages; preaching the good news and encouraging the saints in different Ufa churches; praying with our team and strategizing for the growth of God’s kingdom.  

 Out of such activities has come an impetus for local Ufa believers and church leaders to become more intentional about personal evangelism and church planting efforts.  As one deacon said at a meeting today “Why in the world are American believers coming to Ufa to do the work that we ourselves should be doing also?  Why is it that they feel called to come minister and yet we are spending our time talking & discussing, when we should be spending as much time sharing the gospel, trying to plant churches, etc?”

 It was a great encouragement to me to hear that deacon say such words.   Sometimes God uses other believers to jolt us a little bit and get us to moving forward, and perhaps the presence of many American volunteers this past summer & fall has been used by the Lord to provide a nudge and a push for local believers to become more proactive and energetic in announcing the kingdom to those who don’t yet personally know the King.  

 There will be an important meeting here in Ufa on Thursday evening Dec 1, to hopefully take a big step toward crystallizing initial solid plans that will lead to an eventual church plant in the Sipailovo (sea-PIE-lah-vah) region of Ufa where approx. 200,000 people live without a single evangelical church.  Please pray for the Holy Spirit to powerfully reveal the Lord’s will to all present; pray that there be unity in purpose and desire; pray for God to raise up a clear leader for this work; pray for the Lord to put together a dynamic int’l church planting team for the Sipailovo region.   Praise God for the Westside Baptist Church in Sumter, SC, for providing the funds to continue renting an apartment in Sipailovo as an evangelism base.  

 Our family will be coming stateside Dec 15 for a 7 month period of rest, time with family, mentoring and facilitating mission classes at Okla. Bapt. Univ. in Shawnee, OK, and mobilizing prayer support, recruiting new team members and volunteers, and reporting to a myriad of churches where we have served, attended, and have hundreds of friends.  We will stay in touch with you by email even while stateside.  Pray for our teammates Larry and Josie Moon who will remain in Ufa to carry on the Int’l Mission Board (IMB) work until we return next summer.

 Southern Baptist’s annual offering for international mission work, named for Lottie Moon, will be received again starting in December. Eileen and I plan to give sacrificially toward that offering, even as we are on the receiving end of the offering itself.  

 Let me suggest that you do three things in the time between now and the “ingathering” of that offering:

 1. That you do not use part of your tithe for December in order to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  Doing that is an indication that you do not have a personal family budget.

 2. That you begin now making a personal family budget for 2006 and that you include in that budget not only auto tags and taxes, property taxes, birthdays and anniversaries that will come around during next year, but that you also include the annual missions offerings we normally give to.  If you do this, and weekly or monthly contribute to that budget, when the periodic missions offerings come, it will not be difficult simply to transfer those funds from your savings accounts to your checking account and write the check. It is not original with me, though it is true, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

 3. Be generous with your pen and planning for these offerings.  God is calling out RECORD numbers of folks to serve Him through the IMB…God forbid that we would have to again place caps on the number to be appointed for lack of funds…God has richly blessed Southern Baptists and evangelicals in the USA, and I know that we will all step up to the challenge to give sacrificially to support the ever-growing number of folk who are compelled by God’s love to push back the edge of lostness and take the good news to the unreached people groups of the world so that they can hear and respond to God’s invitation of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

 Lottie Moon, in very poor health and on a ship headed for the USA, went home to be with her Lord on Christmas eve 1912 in the port of Kobe, Japan.

 Lottie Moon literally starved herself to death as the result of giving her meager food rations to starving Chinese. She weighed 54 pounds at the time of her death.

 Money is so easy to give. Lottie Moon literally gave her life to help win our world. She also served awhile in Japan.

 During these days of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Int’l Missions,  let's express our appreciation to the Lord for Lottie Moon's supreme sacrifice through a very generous offering to the Lord.

 According to Lottie Moon's death certificate, she boarded the SS Manchuria with only one steamer trunk, which Eileen and I have been able to see and touch in Richmond, Virginia. She had so little following 40 years of life and ministry in China.

 What do you and I have, and what will we give for the Lord’s kingdom work for 2006 and beyond?

 Thanks for praying with us, standing with us, ministering with us, and giving with us!

Chris for the Carr family