Russia Once Again!

Dear Friend,

I am preparing to go to Russia once again! 

When: February 25^th through March 6^th, 2011 


Where: Moscow and Zavolzhye Russia


With Who: a team of 6 others from Grace Harbor Community Church  and fellow JWU students.
  
What: We will be helping Christ Our Savior Church in Zavolzhy'e, Russia with their youth outreach by speaking in high school classes about American life and culture. These presentations are the platform by which we will build relationships with students wherein we can invite them to church and share the gospel. We will also be spending some days supporting a missionary family in Moscow, as we learn about their ministry and how to partner with them in the future.

Why Russia: Statistics on the country paint a bleak picture of a nation that is without hope. Less than 3% of the population claims to believe in the gospel of the Bible. Russia’s population drops by nearly 500,000 each year and there are more abortions every year than live births. The alcoholism rates in Russia are among the highest in the world and drug abuse and AIDS run rampant among the youth there. The only hope for Russia is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am excited to witness firsthand how God will move.

What you can do: We will be meeting the spiritual needs of many people while serving and more than anything, prayer would be most beneficial support you can offer. God does answer prayers.


 I am asking that you pray for:

• safety
• travel
• financial support for other team members
• that we will have servants hearts
• that God will soften the hearts of those we meet
• that our service will be a blessing and encouragement 

 
               The trip cost is $1,800. Johnson & Wales (my SECULAR university) has appropriated a good chunk of money per student, and the other portion was from an anonymous scholarship credited to my student account. God has worked miracles to provide the whole thing, completely and unexpectedly.

Thank you so much for your time and prayers. I am so thankful for the body of Christ and am truly blessed beyond measure knowing that there are so many of you which I can truly call brother and sister because of Christ’s unimaginable love demonstrated for us on the cross. I pray that each one of you would be awestruck by the work of Calvary, and heartbroken for those without Christ. 

For the Absent

O God, whose fatherly care reacheth to the uttermost parts of the earth: We humbly beseech thee graciously to behold and bless those whom we love, now absent from us. Defend them from all dangers of soul and body; and grant that both they and we, drawing nearer to thee, may be bound together by thy love in the communion of thy holy Spirit, and in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(from the Common Book of Prayer)

Fighting for Joy and I-O-U-S

Honestly, I have not been very joyful lately, and sadly more than a few people could probably testify to this. It has been an uphill fight to keep the joy of the Lord as my strength- instead of letting lies and sin contribute to my weakness.

Recently while reading some blogs, I stumbled across this blog which featured a quote from John Piper's book "How to Fight for Joy" and it really hit home. The following chunk has been a helpful tool to aid me in seeking God. Take a gander:

I—Incline "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain." (Psalm 119:36)
O—Open "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Psalm 119:18)
U—Unite "Unite my heart to fear your name." (Psalm 86:11)
S—Satisfy "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." (Psalm 90:14)


I—(Incline!) The first thing my soul needs is an inclination toward God and his Word. Without that, nothing else will happen of any value in my life. I must want to know God and read his Word and draw near to him. Where does that “want to” come from? It comes from God. So Psalm 119:36 teaches us to pray, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” Very simply we ask God to take our hearts, which are more inclined to breakfast and the newspaper, and change that inclination. We are asking that God create desires that are not there.

O—(Open!) Next I need to have the eyes of my heart opened so that when my inclination leads me to the Word, I see what is really there, and not just my own ideas. Who opens the eyes of the heart? God does. So Psalm 119:18 teaches us to pray, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” So many times we read the Bible and see nothing wonderful. Its reading does not produce joy. So what can we do? We can cry to God: “Open the eyes of my heart, O Lord, to see what it says about you as wonderful.”

U—(Unite!) Then I am concerned that my heart is badly fragmented. Parts of it are inclined, and parts of it are not. Parts see wonder, and parts say, “That’s not so wonderful.” What I long for is a united heart where all the parts say a joyful Yes! to what God reveals in his Word. Where does that wholeness and unity come from? It comes from God. So Psalm 86:11 teaches us to pray, “Unite my heart to fear your name.”

S—(Satisfy!) What I really want from all this engagement with the Word of God and the work of his Spirit in answer to my prayers is for my heart to be satisfied with God and not with the world. Where does that satisfaction come from? It comes from God. So Psalm 90:14 teaches us to pray, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”


God, help me to find joy, and that that joy will be purely in your wonder and perfectly holy self.
 

"What's all this junk mail?"

So after a short term couch surfing session last night with my friend Jake's sister and her friend, I wanted to wake up really early and bid them farewell. But when I woke up at 6am, they had already left! Whoa. After realizing I had woken up and was full of energy, I decided to check my email. At first I just scanned the inbox for important/business/ personal emails from people I know. But as I was filtering through the spam, I wondered out loud "What's all this random garbage junk mail in russian?" I wondered to myself where I had signed up for russian junk mail, or if some how spammers in Russia had gotten ahold of my account name. It almost got deleted. But then, because of the grace of God, I decided to check into it further, and guess what....

IT WAS MY LETTER OF INVITATION from the Russian Government!
PRAISE GOD!

You should see the expression plastered on my face when I realized that a bajillion of prayers were answered and now there is still a chance to go to Russia with the rest of my team from Johnson and Wales. I had come to terms with not getting to travel with them, but going a week later. (that would have been sad). You know, it still might happen like that, but I know that God is good and His plans are above mine.

So thank you for praying everyone. In the next hour I will be overnighting all my paper work to Houston Texas where it will get processed and ideally shipped back to me with a Visa attached to it by February 26th! Continue to pray that it wont get delayed in the mail, but will arrive right on time=)

Thanks again!

picture from last years trip of the kids doing a fun lesson in church

Letter of Invitation: Please Pray

HELP! I need ya'lls prayers.
In order to go to Russia for three months for the purposes that I am going for, there is a government process that takes place and it's kind of complicated:

1. I have to request a Letter of Invitation (LOI) from the Russian Baptist Union (RBU)
2. They have to send it to the Russian government for approval
3. The Government sends it back to the RBU
4. The RBU sends the LOI to me
5. I send the LOI to a passport agency that will help me apply for my visa (2-4 days)
6. The Passport agency sends it back to me, and I can head to Russia! (3-5 days)

Well, because of certain time restrictions (You can only apply for the visa within 30 days of departure), I am only on part 2 right now. I actually started the process a little bit early, late December, and its taking a lot longer than expected. My supervisor said that last year, the Russian government had a time when they just randomly didn't respond to any LOI for 45 days! With absolutely no explanation.

With only 10 days to go, things are getting down to the wire. Number 4 requires e-mail, which is a fast process obviously, but the rest of the journey is by snail mail, which could bring this final visa to me the day before I leave, Lord willing.

If you could please pray for me, I really would love to be able to get on the plane with my team and not get delayed because of this nonsense. Please pray for this LOI to come through asap so I can get my visa. God will be the ultimate controller of my LOI and we need HIM to come through and work out this timetable! Other than that – I can only trust God & it's His agenda if it doesn’t come through like it is supposed to.

Thank you so much for your support.
-Alissa

Prayer for Russia

This email came from Sally Hinzie in Houston who sends out a monthly prayer for Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. I thought y'all might find it interesting:

"Mike Haynes (in the middle) is preparing to move to Zavolzhe (near Nizhniy Novgorod) to start an English Club. They will use the Bible, Christian films and Christian articles to practice their English. Please pray for Mike as he finalizes his preparation and pray for those that will be attracted to this club – that their hearts will be receptive to the gospel!


Visit the virtual prayer walk at: http://www.ubahouston.org/384885.ihtml


I will be working with Mike once I get there! Keep him in your prayers!

Things You Can be Praying About

1. My sister Kailey is on her way, as I type, to the New York School of Urban Ministry in Brooklyn Ny. She is there to learn the ins and outs of urban street ministry, and how to evangelize and serve the city. I am excited for her and proud of her. She will definitely excel there and I hope God uses this 6 week period to grow her faith and help her to expand her horizons. Pray that she is safe, grows closer to God, and learns to love people in a great new way.

2. Russia. As of right now, missionaries with religious visas are only allowed in Russia for a 3 month period before having to leave. They are allowed to come back into the country again, but only after 91 days of being out. So, its difficult on missionaries, because the most expensive thing about serving in Russia is the ticket to and fro. Its also hard to get consistency if you can only be in the country for 3 months at a time. Pray that the Russian government will change their policies and be more welcome to the gospel and humanitarian practices. Thank God for the people that are faithful and persevering. (To go on a Virtual Russian Prayer Walk Click Here)

3. Russian City of Bor. This is the city of Bor, just across the Volga River from Nizhniy Novgorod. Bor has 50,000 people and no evangelical church. There are plans to build a bridge across the Volga to connect the 2 cities and Bor will become a “suburb” of Nizhniy Novgorod. Pray that God will raise up church planters to plant churches in this city. (info from UBA Houston)

4. Johnson and Wales Christian Student Fellowship. We specifically need prayer that we are able to reach out to new students in Providence and show them the love of Christ in a way that connects them and unifies them. We want to build strong relationships between students and grow up a community of believers that has a passion for God and others. This is extremely important in the beginning of the year, as we want to get people plugged in right away, showing them that there are alternatives to the party scene so rampant on campus. Pray for all campus outreach groups across the world in fact.

5. Pray for me. (if you dont mind) I am trying to search out God's plan for me regarding missions. I feel strongly compelled to go, and I just need to trust in God and his timing, that he has it all under control. I am in the process of learning Russian, with the intent to go back there for a long term assignment. But pray for open doors for me, for wisdom, consistency, and for strength in my walk with Christ.


That is all for now. If anyone has anything else to add, FEEL FREE. We can never pray enough. I would love to know what I can pray for you about.

A Valentine's Day Prayer

Love is patient, love is kind.
Lord please help me to have patience when dealing with all sorts of people. I want to be kind, even when there is no gratitude or acknowledgement. And I want to be creatively kind at that.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 
Help me to look at my brother or sister and wish them well, not wish for what they have, or proclaim useless platitudes in order to have them think better of me. Help me to be humble and encouraging.


It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 
I do not want to be rude or hurtful. Please help me to stop and listen, rather than to jump in and speak. I want to only seek after the other persons benefits, and shove down my own. I want to have self control, a disciplined mind that will be laid back and loving, not quick to become offended or angered. I want to forgive and forget. Even if they hurt me 77x777 times, I want to forgive them.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
And sometimes the truth is not sexy.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 
I desire to protect hearts, to protect reputations. I hope to trust always, giving the benefit of the doubt. I want to be able to hope for the good, and always persevere through the bad with my friends.

Love never fails. 
God I thank you that you are love. And I thank you that you never fail me. I hope and pray that I also do not fail those that I love, but I also ask for you to give both them and I mercy and grace for when I do.


1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (New King James Bible)


As this Valentine's Day of 2009 comes to fruition, I hope that we think of greater things... Not about the candy or the heart socks that our grandparents buy us, the romantic dinners, or the cards from friends. But we think of deeper things.

"How can I love greater?"
I love my friend more by being slow to anger when he angers me.
I love my dad better when I seek to keep no record of his wrongs.
I can love my boyfriend/girlfriend better by striving to protect their hearts and their purity.
I can love strangers better by not delighting in evil, but seeking to rejoice in the truth, which sometimes isnt popular or easy.

Also, "how can I love God better?" Maybe by cutting out some of the crap that we strangle ourselves in and realizing the truth that He will never fail us, and He is love, so feel free to insert His name whereever love appears.

Which means that God:
Is patient, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. AND NEVER FAILS.



Amen. =)
Much love&
HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY
-Alissa-