June 26 2004

1. A volunteer team from Westside Baptist Church (Sumter, SC)  recently worked with us here in Ufa...the pastor (Mark Bordeaux) and I were able to visit with some officials at a local prison...while there, one of the officers asked us if we could give her a lift home, to which we readily agreed...along the way, she shared  with us that she was having trouble with her husband, who has a drinking problem...she additionally shared with us other domestic issues that were troubling.

She made an eye-opening statement to Mark and I: "I pray every day, I just need to know to which God to pray so that He hears me and helps me in my life...I just don't know where to turn, and I am not sure which God is real and who can really help me"...we gave her a Bible and contact info for further communication...we told her that we serve the Creator of heaven and earth and that "He is not far from each of us" (Acts 17:27)...pray with us that she and others like her in Ufa will come to know Jesus as He pursues them in love.

2. During the same above-mentioned volunteer trip, we were grilling chicken on our balcony...because of some miscommunication, there was not proper ventilation for the smoke (our balconies are enclosed with one openable window), and our apartment began to fill with smoke, billowing out multiple windows...one of our neighbors called the fire department, even though he knew we grilled on the balcony from time to time...as we were turning the chicken, a fire truck pulled up to  our apartment building, and the firemen began to raise the hydraulic ladder up to our windowsill...imagine the shock we experienced when a fireman crawled  through the window almost on top of the grill! 

He confirmed with me that I was the renter of the apartment, then waved down to the other firemen that all was in order, no one was hurt, and there wasn't any fire...he had to fill out an incident report, which I signed...the volunteer team leader and I gave him bibles for himself and his co-workers along with contact information about bible study opportunities, and shared with him that Jesus loves him and wants to save him from eternal separation from God and the flames of hell...God brings to us the most unusual opportunities to share the gospel, even when we least expect it!

As the Bible teaches us, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season".

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

June 17 2004

Thank you so much!

By now you've heard the wonderful news that Southern Baptists gave $136.2 million to the 2003 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. That's an increase over 2002 of almost $21.2 million -- the largest dollar increase in the offering's 115-year history!

Because Southern Baptists gave so unselfishly, restrictions on missionary appointments are being loosened. That means at least 200 additional long- and short-term missionaries will be joining our overseas teams! The result will be that more people groups will be engaged and more individuals will hear the gospel.

Thank you for the part you played in achieving this marvelous success with the Lottie Moon offering. Please make a commitment now to stand by your missionaries -- and the others whom God will call -- by challenging your church to sustain and increase their level of giving. God's spirit is moving in the most remarkable ways all over the world. We must be faithful to provide for the workers He is calling into the harvest.

June 17 2004

A few more prayer needs:

1. Two students (Kcenya & Evgenia) from Kiev Christian University are arriving here on Sunday evening to do a two-month summer practicuum...pray  that we can quickly define their gifts and desires and match them up with possibilities to fulfill specific segments of our church-planting strategies

2. A man from USA (Victor) is coming to Ufa Saturday night and will spend 2 days with us...he and his wife are exploring service with the IMB and they may be interested in joining our team in Ufa...pray that the Lord begins revealing His will to Victor during his time with us this weekend

3. Pray for Paul and Carol Schlett, friends of ours from Schenectady (NY); they too are considering IMB service on our team as a result of spending the month of May with us...pray for them as they seek the Lord's will for their lives and future int'l service with our team...

 4. Praise the Lord with us for an 8-person volunteer team from Westside Baptist Church in Sumter (SC)...they worked with us from June 19-16 here in Ufa...they  prayerwalked two sections of the city where we are wanting to plant a self-reproducing church, ministered in an orphanage northwest of Ufa (donating new shoes, sporting equipment, Bibles, and gospel tracts, sharing testimonies), had a cookout and fellowship with Grace Baptist Church (Ufa), preached and testified in 3 different churches in Ufa, visited prospective new believers in cooperation with the Ufa Bible Church and its members, spent an afternoon sightseeing in Ufa and eating some Armenian shish-ka-bob on the waterfront at the Ufa river, visited with prison officials in hopes of establishing future contacts and sharing the gospel with  prisoners, and finally, sharing a final worship service (including the Lord's Supper) with several members of Grace Baptist Church...pray that the contacts made during  the prayerwalking will lead to them hosting evangelistic bible studies in the Sipailovo (See-PIE-lah-vah) and Nizhegorodka (Nee-zhe-gah-ROAD-kah) sections of Ufa in coming weeks

 Blessings!

TeamUfa

June 7,  2004

Please pray for a volunteer team coming from Westside Baptist Church (South Carolina)...they will be here in Ufa June 9-15...pray that the Lord opens doors to share the gospel as they prayerwalk in two different districts of the city; pray that the Lord blesses each team member to share their testimony and preach in various churches in Ufa this weekend...pray for the Lord to bless them with wonderful times of fellowship and encouragement as they spend time with local believers...pray for them as they minister in a prison and orphanage; pray for them as they meet with officials from the mayor's administration and meet with local pastors and national missionaries, that their activities will lead to stronger and more effective partnership efforts for the Lord's kingdom.

Please pray for two students (Ksenya & Eugenia) from Kiev Christian University who are scheduled to arrive here in Ufa on June 20th...they will be spending two months working with us and our church-planting team in the areas of personal evangelism, children's evangelism, children's day camps, July 4th celebration, summer youth camps, etc.  Pray for their safe travel and quick adjustment to our team and our team strategy and goals...pray for their personal walk with the Lord and their personal fulfillment in ministry with us in the summer months.

Your IMB workers in Ufa, Russia