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Russia
October, 1999
With
Hope International Services
I want to share
some of the stories and pictures with all of you whose prayers made a
huge difference in the Power we all felt while we loved and ministered
to the precious people in Ivanovo and Kovrov.
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In Ivanovo
one of the pastors is the delightful Alexei Kotchan (who also is
the praise and worship team leader)! Alexei is on fire for the
Lord and his leadership with singing and guitar has helped the
Russians to find new passion for Jesus! He's pictured here with
his beautiful wife Tanya and their adorable two-year-old, Liza.
I was so privileged to spend an evening in their apartment
enjoying the finest Borsch soup in all of Russia (home-made by
Tanya) and hear the stories of their lives pastoring new churches
there. Alexei and Tanya also head up an awesome ministry to young
girls and women, teaching them about the sanctity of life and the
sin of abortion. Through these ministry they have saved hundreds
of lives and brought many young people to Christ. |
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Pictured in
my finest Russian fur hat with Pastor Matthew Bachtold, we are
standing in a huge room which used to be part of a textile factory
in the early 1900s. The building has been purchased by the
Ivanovo Christian Center and is even now being completely gutted
and remodeled into church |
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sanctuary,
Bible college, fellowship hall, soup kitchen, and quarters for
homeless families. The vision of the people in this
Christian Center is tremendous, and ALIVE in Jesus' love! I could
feel the presence of the Spirit in that place where the workmen
are transforming an old, run-down rickety building into a Center
where the Lord will be praised and glorified! |
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The time we spent in the Russian orphanages was most precious
to me. I told them the "Blessing Song" story and they wept and
cheered right along with me.
We sang "Where God Ain't" and passed out gummy worms to each of
them and they were so wide-eyed and amazed, having never seen a
gummy worm before! |
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Thank you all
for your prayers. Many were saved and many were healed by our
Great and Sovereign Lord while I was in Russia. I saw a crippled
girl stand for the first time. A baby with water on the brain and
an enlarged heart was miraculously healed and released by the
hospital the same day we prayed for her. Women in the prison came
to know the hope and the peace Jesus gives. And a few little boys
walking home from school stopped to ask about my portable
keyboard. They played with it for a long time while we told them
about Jesus. They'd never heard His name. They went home with a
new Friend. |
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