Arkady Ledkov

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Here is some news from our church, Street Cry, about one of our members —

Arkady Ledkov (photo on left) has been part of our church, ministry and staff for a number of years.  Several months ago we sent him out with the laying on of hands to reach the people of his ancestry.

Arkady was born in a small Nenets (a national minority) village of Karataika in the Arkhangelsk region – the far North of Russia beyond the Polar circle.  His people are nomads, their main trades are still reindeer herding and fishing.

Nothing edible grows up there except for wild berries and mushrooms.  The villages are isolated from civilization – there are no roads to reach them. Continue reading →

Words of Truth

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Olga and I have been considering new opportunities in Estonia, and a friend in the US, who will move to Russia soon with her family, sent the following note.  We are blessed to have friends who consider so deeply the things of God and share them so freely to encourage us.

I’m not sure these thoughts will be of relevance for you guys, but it’s what I have to offer!   Continue reading →

Word study

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Here’s another good post from Liz Hulley —

In a recent series on dealing with habitual sin, our pastor mentioned that “to confess,” in the original, means “to say the same thing.”

Today I was trying to translate a passage from John 1 (with the help of a dictionary), and I ran into a Greek word I did not know.  The first part was “homo” (same).  The second part contained “logos” (word).  Same word?  I could not think of a verb that would correspond in meaning. Continue reading →

Careful!

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This is some cctv footage of an intersection we have driven through many times.  You can see why it’s important to drive defensively in Russia.

These accidents are caused by people running or jumping a red light; both problems are common here.  There are traffic lights at that intersection, but the size of the intersection means there are more collisions.

A Postcard from Russia — Family News

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Please keep this in prayer — on the way to church yesterday Olga’s mother, Tanya, was hit by a car.  She has lost some teeth and has a concussion.  The neurologist said that she’s OK, but some of her upper jaw has been damaged so that it will be difficult to implant teeth in the future.

Olga’s grandfather was released from the hospital yesterday.  Orest is 90 years old and doing very well considering his age. We took him and his wife Ludmilla to dacha today.  He is very happy to be back home in the country.  He’s pictured above at dacha, and a picture of dacha is to the left.

Ludmilla has a mass in/on her intestines (we’re not sure what it is) and will be getting out-patient treatment until she goes into the hospital in a couple of weeks for more tests. She’s not feeling very well herself and is under some pressure as she cares for Orest. Being at dacha should help them relax a bit.

I will go to Estonia on Monday (and perhaps Olga will be able to travel with me) to learn more about ministry opportunities there and have some time with missionaries to see how we might serve them.  The Lord may be opening a door for us to minister in Estonia.  On Wednesday I’ll drive to Belarus to visit Spring of Revival, and help them as I am able.

Kostya Protasov

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Our church in St. Petersburg started (and continues) as a ministry to drug addicts and prostitutes.  In addition to street evangelism, city-wide worship services and other ministries, StreetCry has a two year School of Ministry.  Kostya is 26, currently in the second year of the program and is one of the leading evangelists in our church.

Here is his story:

My name is Kostya and I was typical of my generation.  Drug user, consumer, egoist – “mine, me, myself and I”  were the words describing my life credo.

Since I turned 13, my motto was “Take from life everything that it has to offer!”  Together with my friends I partied, went to discos, drank, smoked, used hash, etc… every day purposed to discover and experience something new.

I fell in love with the most beautiful girl in our class and – like in a fairy tale – she became mine.  We modeled our lives according to the latest Hollywood movies, only we were the main characters.

In the summer of 1997, I went to visit my friend in Voronezh region (south of Russia).  All summer we used hash and poppy that grew everywhere – we smoked, boiled and whatever. . . Continue reading →

Too Late

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Here is a good article by Liz Hulley,  a friend and long-term missionary to Russia who is currently in the US.  It’s from her blog, On Life in St. Petersburg:

I was searching for something non-trashy to watch on television and paused on PBS. A drama was on and I could see rolling hills and 19th century costumes. I hoped it was something uplifting like Jane Austen, and not Tess of the D’Urbervilles which seemed to be on each time I chose this station.

The tv guide described the movie playing as something like, “A girl struggles to improve her life after sorrowful circumstances.” That sounded hopeful.

As the film continued, however, I knew it had to be Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Yet I hadn’t read it since college, and hoped that the ending was happier than I remembered. Perhaps I just wasn’t remembering correctly. Continue reading →