iREACH Canada

Hello Brothers & Sisters! We are getting ready to send our next team out, this time to Edmonton Canada. The team consists of Spencer Alvarez, Naomi Bossert, Greg Smith, Nick Wade, Rick & Christine Emerson, Jeff, Christina, & Leah Fadness. The team departs at 9 AM tomorrow morning (Thursday August 1st) come join us as we send them off. Please be in prayer for safe travels and for the preparations that Dejan and Julie Buljovcic have in welcoming their first team!

Safely Home

We arrived  back safely to Pocatello Tuesday morning at 4AM. A BIG thank you to Eric and Colleen Anthony for driving to SLC to pick us up after flight delays. It was such a blessing to us! We appreciate all of your prayers and appreciate the comments and followers along the way as we took this journey. Excited to share with everyone about the work that the Lord did through us. Please continue to pray for fruit to come from our labors.

Love,
Your Russia 2013 Team

Days 11&12- Our Farewells

We write to you from the Moscow airport. We have heavy hearts as we leave our brothers and sisters in Russia-but are excited at the same time to see how the Lord will use our trip and our testimonies at home! On Saturday we had our regular devotions and breakfast and then headed out to the streets for more evangelism. We had another mini concert and passed out invitations to the Sion concert that night. For lunch we were blessed by Yulia Fadness's Mom (Vera) with lunch and fellowship at her home. We then proceeded to the church to prepare for the concert. At the concert a handful of new youth came-pray for them! It was a great night and great fellowship, we even got up as a group and performed Waves of Mercy which was a huge hit :)

Sunday morning we had our last breakfast at the church together. Pastor Ron shared the Word from 1 John 1 and we got up as a team again and performed Waves of Mercy and hand motions :) During the second service the team joined the prayer meeting that takes place every Sunday. It was a precious time of seeking the Lord. It will bless you to know that they pray for Calvary Chapel Pocatello EVERY Sunday!!!!! We then ate lunch at the church, had fellowship, and then Pastor Ron, Darby, Jerry, and Ismael went to visit a couple of people in city center. While Rick prepared to teach the youth and Marti and Christine stayed behind to attend the youth meeting. We then had a big huge gathering of everyone as we welcomed the new team that came from Lynchburg Pennsylvania, Natasha from Africa, Sasha and Sveta from St. Petersburg, plus our beloved body members. We had a time of worship and then proceeded to fellowship and share a meal together. We did not go to sleep as we packed and had to leave at 1 AM to head to Moscow since traffic is so bad. We are now at the Moscow airport. We arrived early, Praise the Lord! Please pray for those that we were able to minister to, plant seeds, and overall the church body in Russia. Also pray for traveling mercies as we travel today! Sending lots of love to you from your beloved team, we are excited to share with you what the Lord has done for each of us and what He showed us through His love these last two weeks!

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1: 5

At Vera's Flat

Lunch with Vera

Team in front of Church

Team singing a farewell song in Russian

Day 9 &10

" But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." Luke 8:15

The last two days have flown by! On Thursday we had another great day in Kalchugino. The ladies started off their day with the Women's Prayer at 6:30 with our sisters from the Kalchugino church, then we had devotion and breakfast. After breakfast we headed out for street evangelism before the mid week church service.  Be in prayer for the city, it is a hard city! We were blessed to see some fruit as a new family attended the church service with us that evening after we had talked to them on the streets. Pastor Ron led the mid-week study and then we concluded with dinner and fellowship. Afterwards, we then made our way back to Vladimir. This morning, we woke up early to go and see Moscow! We were tourists today :) But the Lord still used us! We met a group of Christian missionaries who were from South Korea that were playing worship songs on the steps of St. Basil's Basilica. We had a very busy day as we toured around together, we had a great day of fellowship. Please continue to pray for our team that we would not let our guard down but that we would finish our trip strong in the Lord! We have evangelism and a concert tomorrow, so we still have a lot of work to do :)

Moscow: Red Square

Brothers and Sisters from South Korea

Moscow: Red Square, with St. Basil's in background.

Kalchugino market place.

Kalchugino (same place), with our interpreters taking a turn singing.

Heading to the train station!

Moscow: Posing inside the GUM.

Moscow: Eternal Flame

Moscow Metro

Moscow: "Center of Russia"

On the train!

Our fearless leader.

Day 7 & 8: Kalchugino

The last two days have been very eventful as we made our way to the city of Kalchugino! Tuesday morning we woke up at Vladimir had breakfast and devotion, then we hit the road. We drove an hour and half to get to Kalchugino where we were warmly welcomed by Pastor Anotoly, wife Irena, and the body at Calvary Chapel Kalchugino. It was a blessed time of fellowship, as we ate lunch, shared our testimonies, ate dinner, and worshipped together!

This morning we had devotion, breakfast, and hit the streets of Kalchugino to witness the love of Christ to the people. We found a spot by a market to set up and had a performance and witnessing. It was very interesting to see how some were receptive of the gospel and how others were hesitant yet still took the tracts. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in those peoples hearts that they would receive the Lord.

We then headed back to the flat where the ladies were waiting for us with a traditional Russian lunch-BORSCH!! YUM :) We were so blessed. We had lunch together, had a time of rest, and then reflected on our morning together. We had dinner and ended the day with some worship. What a blessed time we have had together with our brothers and sisters in Kalchugino. It is a refreshing time and has been full of the love of the Lord! Tomorrow we hit the streets again and then will attend church service (they have their mid-week study on Thursdays). After service we head back to Vladimir and Friday morning we head to Moscow! We send our love to you and pray the Lord will continue to strengthen us and use us every minute as our trip is going so quickly.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6: 14-15 
May we have forgiving hearts so that we may love, since our Father first forgave and loved us! 

Commanda in  Kalchugina

Ron and Rick- The start of a Promising Career, lol! Their first tip!

On our way to Kalchugino

Brothers and Sisters in Kalchugino

Day 6- Street Evangelism in Vladimir

Today we had a very busy morning as we got up and went to the store to find some breakfast, but nothing was open yet, so we had to look around for a new store! We found breakfast, had great fellowship together as we ate, and then had our morning devotional. After that, we hit the streets again. Today we witnessed by passing out tracks, invitations to an upcoming concert, and some testimonies. We ate lunch at McDonalds and then went out again to do more witnessing and on the way back to the church got some Russian ice cream. We were suppose to do a sports outreach with the youth, but on our way back to the church we got rained on (actually poured on!). So our outreach was canceled, but we went to Pasha and Lenas home and had pizza with the youth group, where Marti and Darby shared their testimonies, as well as three youth from the Russian youth group. It was a blessed time together, the Lord is continuing to use and strengthen us! Praise the Lord! The next few days we will be in Kalchugina. We may not have any internet, but will update you when we get the chance!

Here are some pictures from today:

Rick & Christine- Street Evangelism

Team Street Evangelism

Ismael- Street Evangelism

Pastor Pasha and Pastor Ron

Pastor Pasha, Lena, Tim, and Alisa

Team at Pasha and Lena's

Ron & Rick- Street Evangelism

Heading out for Street Evangelism

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Privet Brothers & Sisters!!! What a blessed time we had in Ivanovo. We had a wonderful breakfast meal again; today we had belini with sweetened condensed milk and lots of other dishes!  Today we had a church service where Pastor Ilya led us through a passage in Matthew 6:1-6. We reflected on glorifying God and not ourselves. What an awesome message and reminder for us as we serve the Lord in Russia. We then proceeded to have chai and snacks. Afterwards we cleaned Ilya and Sonya's home and mowed their grass. We then had our last meal together as we ate lunch and then had great fellowship after. They played blues music for us and we then packed up to head back to Calvary Chapel Vladimir.

On the way back to Vladimir Darby, Marti, Ismael, and Jerry took a detour to Suzhdahl. We then met back up at the church and were blessed with time to shower and rest. The Lord is good! He is doing a mighty work in Ivanovo, it is not an easy city or an easy task. They have a lot of work ahead of them in this city. Please join us in praying for Pastor Ilya, Sonya, and their growing family. We are street evangelizing in Vladimir and have an outreach with the youth tomorrow night. Thank you for your prayers! May we glorify the Lord in all that we do.

Here is a brief shout out from our team and a snapshot of their impression of Ivanovo:

Ron: So blessed by the outpouring of love among the team and the Russian believers. May it spill over on all those we meet!
Rick:  God will use you if you are willing.
Ismael: The Holy Spirit was working in the city and in the church.
Jerry: God can use a willing heart.
Christine: A pure picture of faithful servants submitting and trusting in the Lord's will for their lives. The Lord is moving in Ivanovo! May we trust, glorify, and have a sense of urgency for  God in ALL we do.
Marti: Ilya and Sonya were a beautiful example of surrender and love, to me. It was an incredible opportunity to serve with them for  a short while on the streets of Ivanovo.
Darby: Memorable and you could feel God's presence as the team bonded together witnessing. Life Changing!

Suzhdahl

We pray this blesses you as we share just a bit of an amazing two days that we cannot just some up in a sentence, our hearts are too full with what the Lord is showing us!

Church in Ivanovo 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." Matthew 6:1-4 

Day 3 & 4 - City of Ivanovo, Russia

After Rick led us in morning devotions and we had breakfast, the team had the opportunity to do some janitorial work at CC Vladimir as they have a limited staff for this kind of work.  After lunch we celebrated Darby's 19th birthday with a yummy Russian cake.

Then it was off to Ivanovo with our interpreters, Vova, Pasha, and Olya.  We were greeted by Pastor Ilya and his wife, Sonya and treated to a delicious dinner in their backyard.  What a blessing it is to be guests in their home - and there sleeping room for all of our team plus the interpreters.  Their house also serves as the church building where they have services on Sundays.  They are extremely gracious hosts!

On Day 4, Saturday, after breakfast and devotions led by Ismael, we headed out to evangelize Ivanovo!  It's a beautiful and modern city, slightly larger than Vladimir.  Pastor Ilya led us to the city center where we set up in a busy part of the park.  Some of the guys did music while the rest passed out invitations to the church and shared Christ with people who stopped to listen.  At one point the guys started doing some crazy country music and many people stopped to listen.  Ron preached the gospel and small groups formed with the team and interpreters sharing Christ one on one.  You could tell the Holy Spirit fell on this place and was drawing hearts to Jesus.  What an awesome day!  Thank you for your prayers, the Lord is answering!

1st Day in Russia

Here is a brief post to summarize our 1st day and give a couple pics. We arrived in Moscow about 10am local time. Had a 4 hour drive to Vladimir. Stopped at McDonalds on the way for some Big Macs! Got settled in at CC Vladimir before attending Wednesday night service. Pastor Pasha taught, but Pastor Ron was able to share a little bit before. Had some fellowship with our Russian brothers and sisters. Went to sleep.

God Bless!

Day 2: The City of Vladimir

Hello Dear Brothers and Sisters! We had a fantastic day today, which began with breakfast and a morning devotion. We then had a meeting with the staff of CC Vladimir to get a layout of our schedule for our time in Russia. After that, we headed out to get familiar with the city, being helped by our translators Roma and Liza. Immediately after leaving the church building, Ron and Roma began evangelizing; handing out gospel tracts and talking to people about where they were going to spend eternity. With them being such great examples, the rest of us started passing out tracts to people on the streets and even getting into some conversations with the help of our translators.

On our journey around the city we performed two mini concerts singing a song we learned in Russian while Ron played guitar. One of the witness encounters we had was while we were touring a monastery for the Russian Orthodox Church. While sitting in an elaborately decorated chapel, we struck up a conversation with a man who was visiting from Brazil. He didn't speak very much Russian, but he did speak English well. After sharing the law and gospel with him, we were able to leave him with a Million Dollar Bill tract in English.

After an eventful day we then headed back to the Church to have dinner, which Lena (Pasha's wife) prepared for us.  Then we were blessed by attending a prayer and worship service with the local body at CC Vladimir. What an awesome thing to worship the Lord together. We leave for Ivonovo tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for your prayers, we continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would guide and direct our steps.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8

With Much Love in Christ-
Russia Team 2013

Привет (Hello), from Russia!

Hi everybody! Wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely to the church in Vladimir with no problems. After traveling for about 25 hours and then attending the Wednesday night service here, we are extremely tired and getting ready for bed. Sorry for no pictures, we should have time to go into more details about today's events tomorrow and post some pics. Thank you for your prayers.

God Bless!

Russia Team Twenty Thirteen.

Mission to Russia!

Thank you for following and praying for the activities of our mission trip to Russia!  We leave Tuesday, July 9th and return Monday, July 22nd.  Our team includes: Jerry Holland, Ismael Diaz, Rick Emerson, Christine Emerson, Marti Anthony, Darby Winters, and Ron Castro.  We arrive to Moscow on Wed, July 10th and will spend a few days in Vladimir, then travel to the cites of Ivanovo and Kalchugino, spreading the gospel and edifying the faith of the believers. Thank you for your prayers!  Check back often for more updates!