Andrew S (Mercy Ministries, Vladimir)

Praise the Lord for Vladimir!

Today was our first day of ministry and it was such a blessing to be able to minister to the people of Russia. We started at the Sudzal Orphanage which has about 30 children ages 3-10. The children sang some songs for us, and we were able to perform some of our talents with us. The children loved the magic tricks performed by Jaye W., or “Jaye the Magnificent” as she preferred to be called. After the assembly time, we were able to spend some time playing with the children outside. These kids were definitely full of life and loved being entertained by our face painting, balloon animals, and bubbles!

During our time with the children, Mickey S. was able to deliver Gospel aprons to the kitchen staff of the orphanage. Mickey believes it is important to include the cooks in our ministry, because they play such a large role in caring for these children. We are able to nourish them spiritually, but they depend on the cooks for their physical nourishment. Only one of the two women was there today, but as Mickey shared the truth of the Gospel apron with her, you could see that she was so touched by the words and she was honored to be included in our ministry. She promised to read the explanation of the Gospel apron that was provided, and to give the other apron to her coworker.  

After leaving the orphanage, and eating a delicious Russian lunch, we were able to visit some needy families living in Vladimir. Mercy Ministries, who is partnering with GAIN for this trip, has personal relationships with these families and has been ministering to them for quite a while. We split up into six groups, each with an interpreter and a representative from Mercy Ministries.

Tim B. and Natalie B. visited a woman named Luba and were able to talk to her about her family. She has two grown sons and one grown daughter, and one son and her daughter both live with her. Her daughter is a believer and she works at a local church, cleaning it. Her burden is for her son who lives with her, who is an alcoholic. He has had jobs but he usually quits after a week or two. Natalie said she seemed to have no strength or hope left for him. Tim told her that we cannot change other people, we need to put our hope and strength in Christ.   Natalie was able to share a similar situation that happened with her youngest son, who struggled with drugs and crime as a teenager. She needed to step back and let God deal with the situation and Natalie was only able to pray for him and trust God to take care of him. The interpreter and representative from Mercy Ministries shared the gospel with Luba. When Tim and Natalie offered to pray for her son and her situation, Luba told them that she wanted to pray to receive Christ! So, they were able to pray with her and she prayed along with them. Natalie shared that she could hear in Luba’s voice that her prayer came from the heart and was going to make a big difference in her life. As they were leaving Natalie encouraged her that though there would still be hard times, she should not be discouraged, but continue to pray and read her bible so she could grow closer to God. We know that the angels in heaven are rejoicing today for Luba, our new sister in Christ!

From: Faith H.