Sunday was a great day. We headed out to the House of Prayer (all churches that are not Russia Orthodox are called this) to worship with Russian believers. The place was packed with over 100 people - men, women, boys and girls. In my limited experience in Russia, this was very refreshing to see!
I preached from the passage in Mark 8 about Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ. A Russian pastor preached from Romans 1 about the need for salvation and the change in lifestyle that brings. The pastor of the church, Pavel, preached. Yes, that's three sermons! We observed the Lord's Supper. There was music and drama. One adult man gave his testimony of coming to Christ recently. The pastor's son, Mark (14 yrs old), gave testimony of repenting and accepting Christ just this last Monday night. We prayed. I love the way Russians pray. I can't understand what they are saying but I can tell they are praying from their hearts.
The service lasted over two hours. We commented about the length of it and how American Baptists couldn't take it. But then I thought about our Sunday morning routine. Bible study begins at 9:45 and we are usually leaving shortly after noon. That's over two hours! We just don't spend the time all together in one place. Maybe we should try a service like this some time.
We had lunch at the church before decorating for VBS. The meal was more of a snack by Russian standards. Cheese and bread. Bread with cabbage and potatoes. Cupcakes. Apple cake. Cucumbers. Watermelon. Another kind of melon. Candy. Coffee and tea. It had been a long time since breakfast (it was about 2:00 now) so we partook generously!
The church is now decorated for VBS. Balloons and streamers. Airplanes and posters. We prayed for God to work his will this week in us and through us. Join us in this prayer as we hope to impact many families this week.
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