January 2023 Afghanistan, Germany, Russia, UK
AFGHANISTAN This week we SAKIR was baptized very quietly late at night with her whispering so as not to be heard in the bathroom, due to her pro Taliban relatives whom she lives with.
GERMANY This week we baptized MOHAMMAD online in Germany, and plan a trip to Berlin later this week Lord willing to baptize more. Please pray for that.
RUSSIA There's a lot of interest these days from Russia itself. People are in a very difficult situation, with the clampdown on human rights tougher now than at many times during the Soviet years. Do pray for all those there using the Russian
Bible Companion app. This week we baptized online TIMUR, a young man living in a JW family. The JWs are heavily persecuted and illegal. They suffer hugely especially for not going to army service. So he has all that to endure, plus he has figured the truth re no pre-existence, no satan and how way off the JWs are despite having some truths. So after going through
Bible Basics he really got it. He is under his parents so still goes to the underground JW meetings etc. Smart young guy. His parents both go out to work but his grandmother, also a JW, is at home most of the time but he found a time when she was out and we could do the baptism. Truly the Lord calls all kinds of people.
UK The astonishing response to the Gospel in the UK continues, not only in South London, but the rest of the UK.
This week we were able to baptize YAHYA, a Kurdish man living near London, baptized in a swimming pool near Uxbridge:
And also another 6 in the Midlands. Evia and Duncan drove up there and met a large group of Iranian students of "
Bible Basics" and baptized JAVAD, HADI, HAMED, PEYMAN, EHSAN and ALI in a swimming pool. The body of one of our brothers has deep wounds from torture, and his arms and back are lacerated with electric shock wounds and wheals from whippings. So much for "the religion of peace". No wonder people like this turn to the Lord Jesus. Other users of the pool complained and he was told to leave, but by then we had performed the immersions. Very very sad to see the overt racism when a large group of Middle Eastern men entered a swimming pool. But we managed to perform the immersions before being asked to leave. God is not mocked.
The meetings we hold for "
Lunchtime Church" in The Venue in central Croydon are just abounding with His blessings. They feel so much like those held for so many years in Riga- just with English speaking folk [for the most part- we do have Russian and Persian speaking groups too]. Same atmosphere, similar material needs, people asking for sleeping bags and tents, people genuinely hungry and appreciative of the food and warm space in this cold weather... but most importantly, seriously engaging with the Bible and the Gospel message and saying that this is exactly what they needed and were looking for. We had around 40 visitor attendances on Wednesday alone. The difficult point is the meal as there's no kitchen there and we have to buy in food from KFC some days and supplement it. And provide plenty of snacks for the hours before we start our teaching session and provide the meal.
Please do see the 1 minute video that captures the spirit of all this-
https://youtu.be/Hm-YPxQrYyo And ask yourself if you could come and help. Even just one day / week if you live in the UK, or if overseas- why not come over for a week or two or more and help. There is just so very much to do and we really, really need your help.
We also run a Russian speaking group there. This week the Russian group came back to the Heaster's place and we baptized VENERA, originally from Kyrgyzstan. Truly half the world ends up in south London.
Video at
https://youtu.be/0JZqaf0XL3Q [in Russian but you will catch the joy].
And our joy was complete with the baptism of REN, a local young man. Video at
https://youtu.be/33jHCg0ya6I including our very out of tune but from the heart rendition of "I have decided to follow Jesus / The world behind me, the cross before me".
PRAYER REQUESTS
- For those recently baptized
- For those bearing in their bodies and in their minds the results of torture
- For our work planned in Germany this week
- For more volunteers to come and help us in London
- Gratitude for the great blessing upon our initiatives in Croydon
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks