Back in the US...

Looking out the window of Pastor Anatoly's flat in Kolchugino

Tuesday morning arrival at SVO (airport in Moscow

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are writing from our dining room table in Pocatello early Wed morning! Wow! We're home!
We were met by our faithful sisters - Eulene and Zelda, Caleb and Jeanette.
Christina and I and the team want to thank all of you so much for participating in this mission trip with us through your prayers, which are greatly appreciated!  We feel that we were able to accomplish the things that the Lord had laid out for us to do.  We trust Him to give the increase to all the seeds of the gospel which were planted in the hearts of various people, whether on the streets of the cities, on public transport, at the concerts or in the shops. We believe the hearts of the sisters and brothers at the church in Vladimir were refreshed, as were ours, and all those who attended the conference from other cities as well!
All praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ our Lord for all He did in us and through us.  We were so blessed to be able to be used of Him in this way.
One last prayer request:  please continue to pray for the team as we all enter back into the lives and ministry that we have here in Pocatello.
And a big thank you to Stan and Sandi Eslinger for taking us to and from the airport in the middle of the night on this end, and to Pasha and Lena Baranovee on the Russia end!  We love you guys.
Pastor Jeff and the Russia Team, Christina, Caleb, Jerry, Rick and Christine
"For the administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints,
but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God!" 2Cor 9:12

Caleb sharing his testimony at the concert in Vladimir

Yulia & Caleb's brother, nephew & momma (at the concert)

Jerry sharing at the Leader's Meeting in Vladimir (Farewell Dinner)

Moscow - on the way to the airport

"Where hot kasha is made in Moscow" : )  (on way to airport)

a busy street corner in Ivanovo

Sasha Stepanov - our faithful companion

the team in Ivanovo

Canal in Ivanovo

The church of God in Vladimir

Sergei, Sveta, Sara, Stephanie (Ministers to the Hard of Hearing)

Valera - serves as worship leader in Vladimir

The "Happy Mood" Jazz Group (Roma, Pasha, Vova)

Pastor Pasha & Lena

At the Moscow Airport

Greetings to you all! We woke up at around four this morning and left for the airport at 5:15. We arrived safely and made it through customs just fine. We are now waiting to board our flight to New York!

God Bless,

Caleb and the team

11.13.11 and 11.14.11 (Two days in one)

11.13.11:
Sunday:  Today was more of a relaxing day. We attended the 9:30 Sunday morning service and were introduced by Pastor Jeff. We were greeted warmly by our Russian brothers and sisters. We had a good time of fellowship and treated our pallets to tea and cookies after the service. We also attended part of the second service. And again had great fellowship!

                            Worship in the Russian language!


 At about 2:30 we walked the streets of Vladimir to hand out invitations to a concert happening tonight. Then we went to our favorite fast food place, McDonalds.

 Afterwards we helped the bands unload and hauled all the gear up two flights of stairs. Talk about a workout!

 The concert rocked! Rick and I shared our testimonies and then Pastor Jeff shared the gospel. One guy named Dimitri and another man accepted Jesus into their hearts. Praise the Lord!

Waiting for the concert to begin.

Zion! (the band)

Rick shares his testimony.

 

 

Caleb shares his testimony.

The team at CC Vladimir!

 

11.14.11:

Monday:  After a good night's sleep we awoke to a new day. We had eggs and bacon for breakfast and had more of a mellow day as our mission here in Russia comes to a close. 

 We went with Sasha and Sveta Step to a museum inside the gate to the city. Inside it contained mostly older uniforms of the Russian army and even had an astronaut suit! We also finished our souvenir shopping. 

 For lunch we ate at a Blini place which pretty much had any blini topping you could think of. Jeff and Christina said it's the "IHOP" of Russia. I like to call it the "IHOB". You can probably imagine what that means.

The team with Sasha and Sveta (Pasha and Lena joined us later).

 When lunch was over we hopped onto a trolley bus and came back to the church.  We relaxed until it was dinner time and then Rick and I (the heroes of the night with a little help from Pasha) cooked the Shoshlik, which is ham and chicken mixed with spices and onions.

Rick and I cooking! We had to wear these ridiculous looking coats and mine was extremely small.

Roma, Roma #2, Kostya, Max, Jeff and Valera

The meat is finished and Pasha is ready to eat!

  Jeff lead the team and some Russian believers from the church in worship and then we dug into dinner! Jeff gave a teaching out of Acts 20 and then Christina shared with the ladies. The team also spoke some words of encouragement to the Russian believers (which will be missed). 

Jeff shares from Acts 20

Pasha and Lena

 The whole team would like to thank all of you for your prayers and support. We have read all of your comments on the blog and they mean a lot! Please continue to pray as we leave early in the morning tomorrow around 5:30 and take off to the JFK airport at 1:00 PM. We will see all of you soon!

 Keep your eyes on Him!

 Caleb and the 2011 Russia Team

  

 

BEHOLD! Cleaning, evangelism, and blini.

Greetings my brothers and sisters!

Today we were able to sleep in a little, had our breakfast and devos, then Yulia's Mom, Vera, came to pick up Pastor Jeff and Christina for a short visit before our evangelism at noon. The rest of us cleaned some parts of the church building (as Pasha calls it).

                                             The clean attic of the church!          

I swept the floors and polished the wooden objects.  Jerry mopped the floors that I swept.  Rick and Christine scrubbed away at the porcelain utilities and the walls.  Pasha, Volodya, and some others worked on finishing the new windows in some of the rooms.

After our labor, we ate pelmeni (like ravioli) that Christine prepared. She is becoming half Russian!

Our whole team joined some brothers from the church and we had a time of evangelism handing out invitations to a concert that is planned for Sunday night.

After evangelism we toured Pushkin Park and some of the Russian Orthodox buildings including the inside of the cathedral. The men went to use the bathroom and when we came to the entrance of the museum we were in, we noticed we were walking through a Russian wedding!  our bad! : )

Assumption Cathedral

We also did a little shopping and Jeff and I went into a store called SportsMaster. I walked into the Nike section and was surprised to find a pic of my favorite quarterback Tim Tebow.

Afterwards, we took a trolley bus over to a Potato and Blini place to eat with Sasha Step, and Yulia's mom, Vera. Thereafter we took a walk and explored the city a little bit.

The Golden Gate

                   This is the entrance to the City of Vladimir. It was built around the 12th century.

I found a cool coffee cup man and I got my picture with him so we decided to get a team picture with him.

We definitely feel all your prayers over here and are thankful for all of them!  Please pray for the concert tomorrow night, that the Lord would bring those who might be saved!  I will be giving you all our updates from here on out so I encourage you all to keep on reading and "entertaining your eyeballs" as I like to say.

Poka,
Caleb and the 2011 Russia Team
John 15:9  "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."

Ivonivo

We just arrived in Ivonivo and are at McDonalds. Sasha says we pulled into the parking lot at 11:11 AM on 11/11/11. Oh yes :) We'll keep you updated on today's events! -Caleb

This Past Week...

Hello dear brothers & sisters! 

We've missed you this week, sorry we were not able to communicate. We are back in Vladimir, staying at the church now through the end of our trip. We are glad to be able to stay in the House of the Lord, the atmosphere is sweet and we are warm and comfortable!  We'll try to catch you up a bit on the past week...

Sunday was the last day of the conference... Jeff taught the morning service, then we all attended workshops for singles/marrieds; Christina taught the married women, Christine helped to organize.  We ended the day with Q & A, dinner, and goodbyes. We all learned a lot and agreed that it went by much too fast.

Q&A - Last Day of Conference

Caleb & Misha

We checked out of the Golden Ring Hotel Monday morning and headed on the Express train to Moscow where we spent the day as tourists, with Sasha of CCV, Pastor Manny and Chuck from CC Lakewood, Ca. It was a great day and we were so thankful to see some sites, make some purchases and visit with Luba, a sister from the church in Vladimir.

Rick & Christine on the train

the Kremlin Wall

Jerry w/Red Square in background

Tuesday morning we left for the city of Kolchugino where we spent the last 3 days. Tues-Wed we did street evangelism with the church there. The culmination of the trip was a concert Wed night in the Grand Cafe with ZION, an R&R band from the church in Vladimir. Christine and Jerry both shared their testimonies with the somewhat difficult crowd! We were able to share with some people and we know seeds were planted! Pastor Anatoly roamed the streets during the days with us, praying with people and leading 3 people to Christ! His wife, Ira, kept busy praying and fixing some amazing food. Today we spent the day at their flat with the church in their home, eating, worshiping, resting, and eating some more! Tomorrow, it's on to the city of Ivanova with Pastor Pasha and Sasha, to check out the town and see what the Lord may have in store as far as a church plant in that city!

Sasha & Rick

A grandpa sharing his tales of being a sailor in the Baltics, we're sharing Christ with him!

 Pastor Anatoly & Ira

ZION (Max, Max, Roma, Valera)

I'll leave you with the verse Christine shared as an encouragement for the church of God in Kolchugino upon our departure:  Ps 18:2 "The LORD is my rock and my fortress 

and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust; my shield

and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

With much love in Christ Jesus our Lord, Christina 

on behalf of our Russia team - Caleb, Jeff, Christina, Rick & Christine, Jerry