news from russia

We are delighted to report the baptisms of OLEG and NINA. May God be glorified in the lives of all who turn to Him in truth.

ARMAVIR
Things here are hard for me. My chronic asthma gets no better, and nobody will take me to work because I cough so much and am often too weak to work. My brother Vitaly who is also as you know my true brother in Christ is my only help, and he is an invalid himself. The pensions we are paid are so tiny, one simply can't live on them, so it is really hard for us to survive. Our dream is to come to the Ukraine Bible School but I don't know if we can. I live in faith in Yahweh Elohim for whom all things are possible, and I am comforted that neither He nor you forget us here.
Sis. Galina

BALAKOVO
I would appreciate more copies of Bible Basics to give to people I am preaching to. I am encouraged to revive my preaching efforts after reading in the magazine of how other brothers and sisters keep on trying. I wrote an article too for Zvezda, I hope it will encourage our Russian brothers and sisters to keep on trying for our Lord.
Bro. Mikhail

CHELYABINSK
Thank you for Zvezda magazine and for your support of us. We have brother Leonid staying with us at the moment. We will try to come to the Bible School but maybe I will not have holidays.
Sis. Lena

We are planning to go to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan etc soon to visit brothers and sisters and try to preach there more. We’d love to come to the Winter School and we are with you all.
Bro. Alexei & Sis Vika

JOSHKAR OLA
I am trying to improve my English with the Speaking About Jesus book! I am going to make a special effort to come to Poltava, I miss you all so much.
Sis. Elena

KAZAN
It was such a wonderful, wonderful time we had when brother Duncan came, we baptized Oleg, and had such a good fellowship here in our ecclesia. Despite all things which can depress us, I believe that the Truth will prevail always. To try to brighten up my life I am trying to plant some flowers in my apartment, to remind me of God and the resurrection and new life which we believe will be ours.
Sis. Ludmila K.

It was very good to be together again and to see that we have one mind and one desire to serve the Lord. I am sending the names and addresses of my relatives in various parts of Russia, so that you can send them Bible Basics and Zvezda magazine, I will keep writing to them and I hope maybe to make a journey to see them and help them grow in faith and even to be baptized. I have now baptized my wife’s relative NINA and we are meeting as a small ecclesia for breaking bread. I feel I have passed on the truth which God gave to me.
Bro. Alexei

I am now placing advertisements in the newspapers here with the Carelinks address,  I hope sincere people will respond. It was very encouraging to meet recently and I was inspired to write an article for Zvezda.
Sis. Svetlana

Receiving the photos of our recent meeting meant much to me and I really appreciate it. I still remember the very warm fellowship and breaking of bread.
Sis. Lidija

MUSLYUMOVO
Here I am fine, but praying for the tragedy of the sister in Latvia whose farm burnt down. I think of you all and try to imagine how you are all.
Bro. Mikhai

NIZHNY TAGIL
Here I feel so incredibly spiritually lonely. I will make every effort to get to Ukraine for the Bible School but it is hard getting time off from the factory. Please pray for me.
Bro. Leonid

RZHEV
I continue preaching to my relatives in Western Ukraine by correspondence and would be happy to have contact with any brothers there. I so enjoy Zvezda magazine.
Bro. Sasha

St. PETERSBURG
I was delighted with the latest edition of our Zvezda magazine, and I was inspired to do some research on Adam and Eve’s sin in Eden, and I will send an article about this for the next number. I pray strongly for God’s blessing on all the wonderful work done to spread the Gospel.
Bro. Valerij

SARATOV
I was really thrilled to receive much Bible literature from brother Marcus. Here things are not so good for me as the harvest of potatoes was so poor. Also my relatives in Kazakhstan write that it is the same for them too. I with great eagerness each day read the Bible portions, this is what keeps me going. I am hoping to come to the Bible School and I hope my granddaughter will come with me as I rather fear travelling so far alone.
Sis. Raisa


Photo: Sis. Raisa at Bible School

SHAKHTY
It is good that so many Russian speaking brothers and sisters are now writing for Zvezda magazine. It is a pleasure to assist in producing this for them.
Bro. Andrej

We here are OK and I hope we grow in faith and understanding. We would love you to come here and teach us more and help our preaching!
Bro. Sergej

SHCHYOKINO
I'm delaying replying as I was away visiting my sister in Ukraine. I am alone here in this town, my late wife's relatives don't want to
know me, they are alcoholic, and I have absolutely nobody apart from my sister. With my heart condition I dread the winter. We get such strong winds, the ice is so bad, it is a huge burden to even go out and do the shopping. I fear too how I will be buried, as there would be nobody to inform any of you in time were I to die suddenly. I have seen how they bury such people as me, I watched it several times- they take the body from the hospital in a polythene bag and just throw it somewhere. I want to be buried with a testimony that I wait for Jesus and will rise again when He comes back. So my only chance is to move to Ukraine to live with my sister who as you know is also waiting for the coming of our Saviour. But if I live in Ukraine, I will not get any housing from the Government, and only two thirds of my pension. It will be hard or impossible to live where Sofia lives as you know. There is no inside toilet or washing facility, water is only from the well. So I don't know what to do. Ijust want to live with my sister so we can care for each other. Our only hope is that Jesus will come soon.
Bro. Boris


Photo: Brother Boris and his sister, Sister Sofia

TALITSA
We here in our small ecclesia are constantly praying for you. We are preparing for visiting the Poltava Bible School and Sasha is already writing some lectures to present. We’re so sad that here in our town nobody wants to respond to the challenge of the true Gospel.
Sis. Vera

TAMBOV
I and brother Aleksandr send you greetings from Tambov. I so love the Zvezda magazine, at last we Russian speaking Christadelphians have our own voice. I was moved to write a poem, A Star Over The World and I hope it can be published. I love you all and thirst for fellowship with all true brothers and sisters.
Bro. Vadim

TVER
I recently had my 50th birthday and was able to look back at how God has worked with me. I thank you for all you’ve showed me and done for me. I enjoy reading Beyond Bible Basics. I see God in all things around me, even in the huge buildings which the rich people are building here, and in the lives of us poor people too, I see God’s hand and the beauty of all He has created.
Bro. Igor

VOLGOGRAD
We received with joy the magazine Zvezda and were encouraged to be more active in our faith by the examples we read of concerning other brothers and sisters. We would like copies of the Speaking About Jesus course which was used by the ecclesia in Riga, so that we maybe can start a Bible group in English language here and attract some younger people to the faith.
Bro. Sergej

YAROSLAVL
I received and am distributing the literature sent. My health is now broken, I don’t go out much, but I so want to play my small part in the wonderful work of spreading the truth about God to others.
Sis. Anna