December, 2002 Prayer Letters

December 4, 2002

We have now been back in Ufa a little over a month.  We are thankful for God's sustaining grace that has returned us to the harvest fields of Bashkortostan.  Would you please join us in prayer in the follow areas? Without your strategic involvement as intercessors, a church planting movement will not materialize in Bashkortostan...

 1. Pray for the eighty individuals who were baptized across Bashkortostan this past summer.  Pray that the Lord would raise up many new bible study group leaders from these new believers.

 2. Pray for a new Bible study that has started in our apartment involving university students.  Pray that the Lord would draw    lost students to the study and that they would come to know Jesus as Savior; pray also that the Lord would help us to train the believers in this group to become group leaders themselves.

 3. Pray for an upcoming Christmas party later this month; we are inviting university students to participate in this cultural event so that they can experience how Americans celebrate Christmas and so that they can hear the scriptural basis for this holy day of our faith.

 4. Pray for an upcoming youth conference Dec 11-13 here in Ufa.  This conference will be an opportunity for Christian youth to become more motivated in evangelism, missions, and discipleship and dependence upon God's Spirit for daily living.  It will also be an opportunity for lost youth to be exposed to the good news of Jesus Christ.  We expect between 200-250 youth at this gathering.

 5. Pray for believers in the Blagoveschensk area (just north of Ufa) who are praying for God's will as it relates to finding three different locations to show the Jesus film, with a goal of starting new bible study groups which will grow into churches.

 6.  Pray for us as we seek to minister to our children.  Our twins have been sick the past few days & it has been a very difficult time for us, especially Eileen.  The twins have been constantly crying and even screaming with little or no provocation, and it has been a very draining time for us.

 7.  Pray for Larry and Josie Moon, new team members who are scheduled to arrive in Moscow during the last few days of this month.  Because of a reorganization of the government offices responsible for visas, this process has become quite complex and even frustrating at times.  It appears that the Moons will receive only 3 month single entry visas; pray that they receive them in a timely manner, and that the travel plans for the Moons will fall into place and that the Moons will experience God's peace in the midst of the bureaucratic uncertainty.

 8.  Pray for our pastor, Leonid Markevich, as he meets with city officials this week to seek permission to use a local movie theater for the purpose of a meeting to deal with the spiritual needs of addicts.  Drug & alcohol addiction is a formidable problem in Ufa and our sister churches are to be commended in their efforts to address this spiritual need.

 Thanks for your efforts as you pray for God's blessing upon the work here in Ufa!

 Chris & Eileen Carr

IMB Strategy Coordinators for the peoples of Bashkortostan

Student Evangelist - Far East State Univ. Vladivostok

Student Evangelist - Vladivostok State Univ.

MK Teacher - Vladivostok

MK & ESL Teacher – Irkutsk

ESL Evangelism - Irkutsk (2 men)

Pioneer Student Evangelism Strategist – Irkutsk Develop Strategies for reaching students in this East Siberian frontier city

Media Strategist - Ufa and Khabarovsk

Specialty Evangelists From All Walks Of Life - Khabarovsk

Sports Evangelists - Novosibirsk & Khabarovsk Use sports of all types to draw young people to Christ