Dear Fellow Laborers,

December 2009

More Prayer Needed

Last month I wrote about a new bill being considered by the Russian government. A new amendment to the bill being considered, would make it illegal for anyone, who is not a leader of an officially recognized religious organization, to try to get anyone to join their religious organization. Regular citizens would not be allowed to hand out tracts, Bibles, or talk to anyone at all on the street or door to door about their faith. We do not yet have our church incorporated and this would severely limit our ability to witness to people. I was stopped just the other day while handing out Bibles and taken in to a police office and questioned about my activities. There is always a reason for these apparent setbacks and God is working. This limiting of people’s freedom might be the very thing that God uses to bring people to Himself. We covet your prayers in this challenging time.

More People Studying the Bible

Nina and Lyudmilla are sisters who have begun to study the Bible with me every week through our discipleship program. I was handing out Bibles in the center of town and as I always do, I put a tract in each Bible inviting people to be saved and to begin studying the Bible. I received a call from Nina asking about our activities. I told her about our Bible studies and she asked if she and her sister and friends could begin studying with us. Praise the Lord.

I Can Drive a Bus

I needed to exchange my American driver’s license for a Russian one. According to Russian law, the license needed to be comparable to my California one. That was where it got interesting. At first they said that because my license allowed me to drive only category “C” (regulars cars for us, but only buses for them) that I would only be able to drive buses. Then they did some research and said that because my license allowed me to drive 15 passenger vans and U-haul trucks along with regular cars, the only thing they have that was comparable, was a license that allows me to drive buses and semi trucks and everything else. In order to get that though, I would have to pass the written test for buses and semi trucks. I told them that I was not qualified to drive a bus, and that I should only have to pass the regular test. However they would not change their minds. Praise the Lord though I passed the written bus test, and although I have never driven a bus in my life, I now have the permission to do so. Our house/church is on the outskirts of town and now we have the ability to drive people to it. Praise God.

 

Yours in Christ,
Adam, Angela, Alex, Amelia, Alisa, and Austin