September Moscow

September is an interesting month to be in Moscow. The summer has ended, but the cold of winter has not yet arrived. It rained some each day we were there, but there was also some beautiful periods of sunshine. Comming from hot and humid Florida, the weather was a refreshing break.

In Moscow, I had the privilege of participating in the Regional Distribution Seminar for Book of Hope the CIS region. The CIS region comprises those countries that made up the former Soviet Union and many of her aligned countries. While these countries were closely aligned during the soviet era, today there is fervent nationalism with strong feelings between many of the now independent countries and Russia. In one way, this is a positive. Each country feels fully empowered to engage in the work of evangelism in a way that best fits the needs of her people. However, there are also negatives to this attitude. This fervent nationalism can also result in resistance to direction and an attitude that says I will not do something, simply because they do it that way in Russia. This is an important issue to be in prayer about. As we work with ministry leaders from throughout the CIS region, we need each of them to think in terms of how to reach their children and youth, without regard to how some other country does it.

In many ways, this issue of pride is like when Naaman was told to wash in the Jordan River to be cured of his leprosy. The story, as told in Second Kings, chapter 5, tells how pride, nationalistic pride, could have prevented his healing. Pray that the nations of the CIS can put aside their nationalist pride and, like Naaman ultimately did, receive their healing.

The exciting aspect of the Moscow meeting was that many of the individuals who serve on our various ministry teams in the region were there. This was not just a meeting of leaders, but also of those who are daily putting their faith into action to reach their the children and youth in their country. It was wonderful to see the members of the Perm team whom I had ministered with back in May. It was great to be able to meet the members of the Izhevsk and Chita teams and to hear their ministry stories. Throughout Russia, we have team members who every day are traveling from village to village to bring the good news to a lost and dying world. Pray for their safety and effectiveness in their ministry.