May 16, 2005 

1. We are thankful to the Lord for how He blessed the evangelistic film festival we conducted in Ufa during the week before Easter…about 70 people attended the various showings and each one received a New Testament and an invitation to attend Easter services…we are thankful for the 3 individuals who did indeed attend the evangelistic Easter service and worshipped with us.  One of the students who attended the film showings repented and has been faithfully attending different worship and Bible study activities at one of the Ufa churches with us.  There are a few other students who attended, who are not far from the Lord’s kingdom, as it is obvious He is working in their hearts to draw them…pray for Michael, Alexander, Alisa, Aliya, that they would repent and be born again and become active members of a local church.

 2. Pray with us for the new English-language worship services we are now conducting on Thursday nights in Ufa.  We had 4 individuals at the first worship time and it went very well.  They were challenged to read John chapter 3 as preparation for the worship time this Thursday (May 19).  Pray for those 4 and others to come back with them, that the Lord would speak to them through the study and preaching of His Word, as well as through the songs, prayers, and discussions that will take place.

 3. Pray for two volunteer teams coming to work with us in coming weeks:

   A. Gayton Baptist Church (Richmond, VA) is bringing 7 folk to work with us May 22-28 in the Nizhegorodka (Knee-zheh-gah-ROAD-kah) district of Ufa…pray that the  Lord would grant us favor with local officials as we are still seeking the right spot to conduct a children’s backyard bible club.  The team will also be prayer walking in that district, participating in cultural exchange discussions with local students, presenting an evangelism training seminar and prayer strategy seminar during the evenings, and distributing Bibles and searching for persons of peace (Luke 10) as they share their testimonies.

    B. The Church at Battle Creek (Broken Arrow, OK) is bringing up to 8 folk to work with us May 29-June 8 in the Sipailovo (see-PIE-lah-vah) district of Ufa…they will be prayer walking, distributing Bibles and invitations to worship services, engaging people in evangelism through the Evangecube, 4 Spiritual Laws booklet, personal testimony, sports activities, visiting an orphanage, and other activities.  

 The goal of these two groups is to share the gospel with individuals, gathering people for bible study, providing humanitarian aid, make official contact with city officials to gain a hearing for the gospel, interact with university students and professors, and ultimately assist in the planting of a church in these two districts.  Please join us in prayer that the Lord would glorify Himself through these two groups of believers!

 Chris Carr

IMB Strategy Coordinator for the mega-city of Ufa, Russia

May 1 2005

Dear Praying Friends,

 Easter this year is observed across Russia on May 1^st.  In advance of this special time of the year, Grace Church in Ufa is sponsoring a series of evangelistic films nightly during the week preceding Easter (April 25-30).  Many people in Russia are more open to spiritual issues during Easter and Christmas, so this is a special season (a “kairos” moment for those of you who know what that means) of the year when we MUST seize the opportunity to clearly share the gospel with people.  Therefore, we ask you to join with us in prayer in the following ways: 

1. Pray that the equipment works each night of the film showings…Satan seems to enjoy nothing more than watching believers scramble to deal with “unexpected” glitches that seem to inevitably occur during such special events

2. Pray that we are able to piece together the necessary equipment during these last few days before we start showing the films; there are still a few unanswered questions as to how to assemble different audio-visual components for optimum viewing/listening

3. Pray for the Lord’s protection (even through direct intervention by His angels if necessary) during the actual showings; sometimes such events are visited by those who would seek to disrupt and distract people from hearing and responding to eternal truth

4. Pray for the Lord to continue working in the hearts of those who are thinking of attending…an ad appeared in one of the main advertising papers here in Ufa last Saturday, and we know that many in Ufa have seen the ad and are being drawn by the Spirit…pray for those who are inclined to come, to continue being affected by the Lord’s Spirit.

5. Pray for the members of Grace Church who will be serving in various capacities before, during, and after the showings (set up, popping popcorn, running sound and video, distributing Bibles, interceding during the showings, counseling with those who have questions, cleaning up after each showing, etc…each has a part to play…pray for their health, timeliness, and spiritual focus each night

6. Pray for Grace Church as her members seek to follow up with those who attend…
7. Films we will be showing: The Miracle Worker (for kids), Jesus Film for Children, A Walk to Remember, Jesus film, The Climb, and the Passion of the Christ (in English and in Russian, 3 showings)

Blessings!
 Chris Carr
Ufa, Russia

April 25, 2005

 Team Ufa, Ufa, Russia, just west of the southern Ural Mountains – Christ and Eileen Carr (SCs), and Larry and Josie Moon (apprentices) 

     Team Ufa asks you to pray for a meeting of Strategy Coordinators and missionaries who serve in Russia that is scheduled for May 5^th and 6^th in Moscow. Ask the Lord to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways to the assembled leaders. Russia remains one of the few areas in the world where the Gospel has made little or no headway and very few churches have been planted. Ask the Lord to encourage the missionaries and to show them the way ahead. Ask the Almighty to protect them as they travel to and from the meeting and to give them a blessed time of prayer, fellowship, and strategizing. Pray that the missionaries’ strategies and God’s strategies might be one and the same. Pray for a felt sense of unity and trust among missionary colleagues. www.hope4ufa.com/ 

      Team Ufa asks you to pray for a new strategy that will be attempted among those who are studying English in Ufa’s many colleges and universities. Beginning May 12^th, the team will conduct English language worship services on Thursday evenings at Grace Church. To the team’s surprise, some students who have rebuffed every invitation to attend a Russian language Christian worship service have indicated that they would attend an English language service. Actual commitment to one’s word is always something difficult to gauge in Russia. And so we ask you to pray that the students will be true to their word and actually attend the Thursday evening services. Also pray that the Holy Spirit will work through the Word of God shared during the services and convict the students of their need for repentance and reconciliation with the Almighty.  

     Team Ufa asks you to pray for the young college age members of the Ufa Bible Church who will be finishing the Experiencing God discipleship course on May 18^th. Pray that the Lord will bring to their remembrance all that they have learned in the course and that the training might result in new perspectives with respect to knowing and doing the will of God. Ask the Lord to keep the young people in a love relationship with Him, so that they will be prepared to join Him in His work, whenever and wherever He extends the invitation.

     Team Ufa asks you to pray for the 70 some people who attended Christian films during a week long pre-Russian Easter film festival at Grace Church. There were eight showings over six days of films such as The Climb, A Walk to Remember, The Jesus Film, and the Passion of Christ. Pray that the Lord might work though what people saw and heard to convict them of their need for repentance and the forgiveness that only comes through faith in Christ. Ask the Lord to lead them to churches and Christians in Ufa who can help them process what they experienced and point them to salvation in Christ.

     Team Ufa asks you to pray for students in our English Club. Nearly every Saturday evening since early February, the team has read articles and discussed film clips on spiritual topics with about 15 students who desire to hone their English. The second half of the two hour lesson has been spent either reading an English language Bible or reading and answering the questions posed in an inductive Bible study. To date, no one has repented and come to faith in Christ. And soon, most of those who attend the class will be going home to the villages as the college semester ends. Pray that God might work through His Word to bring the students in our English Club to faith and salvation in Him.  

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. The international church planting team is now in somewhat of a disarray and church planting efforts have stalled.  There is uncertainty as to how to proceed and disagreements over what kind of methodology to use. Moreover, 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, four months 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. Sipailovo’s populace has not been substantially engaged with the Gospel. Very little ministry has been done. Pray that God might identify a Russian team leader for Sipailovo. Pray that despite our human frailties, God might glorify himself by planting a church in Sipailovo.