NEWS FROM STREETCRY MINISTRIES
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
JANUARY 2006

As one year has closed and another has begun, it is a good time to reflect and share what the Lord has done during the past year and to look forward to what He has in store for the year ahead. We'd like to share with you some of the wonderful things that the Lord has done, and remember that you are a part of what has happened through your prayers, gifts, love, and support!

"I will tell of the kindness of the Lord, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us!" Is. 63:7

2005 CHRISTMAS FEED-IN

We started the year with our annual feed-in on January 8th, the day after Russian Orthodox Christmas. We fed more than 280 people in our rented building. Most were homeless people in pitiful physical condition - lice, TB, open sores, and a stench that permeated the building for days. But it was well worth it to be with these precious people whom Jesus died for, and who were made in the image of God. When they first entered the building, some with expectation, and some with fear, I broke down in tears and had to run someplace where I could openly weep before God, as I was overwhelmed by the love and compassion that He had for them. Many were simply very old women with no one in this world, some were drunks, some addicts; others children, cripples, and simple minded folk. Two homeless men, both named Slava, went from the feed-in into rehabilitation and by the end of 2005 have finished. They are now working at different centers, dedicating their lives to God, helping to rescue others as they were rescued one year ago. It was all worth it, even if just for these 2 men who responded immediately to God's mercy and love, and are now freely giving it away.

BIBLE SCHOOL

In early June, students from our Bible school and two staff members traveled to the nation of Kazakhstan for two weeks to put into practice what they learned over the past year. Kazakhstan is a Muslim nation bordering Russia. Young people from the local church in the city of Uralsk joined them for personal witnessing. It started with one, but soon increased to five. They met each morning for a class on evangelism, prayed and then went out. The Lord really encouraged the young people from the church by using them to lead 3 people to the Lord! This helped to break the stronghold in their minds of "why go out and approach unknown people with the Gospel"

A backslidden young man opened up his home for the team and saw a friend and a cousin come to the Lord. Sergei spent one whole night talking to the friend - he did not repent on the spot but later at home and was really changed and asked for a Bible which we gave him. The cousin, who is a teenaged girl, spent one evening with us and Zhenya talked to her a great deal. She was adamantly against us, but when she went home, she repented and was also really changed and showed a lot of hunger for the things of God. So many times we have experienced situations where people are against us or who are seemingly rejecting our message. But we have seen from experience that if we don't care how they react, but are faithful to share the scriptures in love and boldness with them, that they repent on their own. Rejection is part of the package deal of being a faithful witness. It is said of Jesus "He was despised and rejected of men." If we try to come up with a method to eliminate being despised and rejected, we will end up with another gospel that does not have the power to convict of sin and change lives by the blood of Christ.

Sergei, with the help of the local pastor, was able to talk with the chief narcologist of the city and region. He introduced Sergei to several secular organizations trying to work with addicts in the city and region. They got information about our work. Sergei went to the main clinic and witnessed to the group of guys who were in the clinic for 2 months going through withdrawals from heroin. He prayed for them in the presence of the Muslim doctors, and the Holy Spirit was so strong during this meeting that even some of the doctors were in tears.

Sergei was invited back to Kazakhstan as a follow up trip to the students' ministry trip. He went to the main clinic again. This time he was invited to speak and he met three new young men at the clinic who were there as a result of the teams of students who witnessed and passed out tracts and newspapers on the streets during the summer. Sergei also had a great time teaching the youth, preaching in the church, and sharing in the home groups on the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus and witnessing.

This year we have our biggest Bible school class ever, 22 students! Three students are former drug addicts. One is a leader at a rehab center that we work with. Another was an alcoholic and has been ministering at a rehab center for alcoholics in Dagestan, a Muslim republic in the south of Russia. Another student is from Siberia, a 96 hour train trip from St Petersburg. The rest of the students are from our fellowship or other churches in our city.

The Lord has started a great work in the life of one of our second year students. Luda is from Moldova and when she started Bible school last year, she could barely speak any Russian but this never stopped her from witnessing and leading people to the Lord. She was also partially deaf in one ear and was totally healed by the Lord! We are excited to see wonderful fruit and great spiritual growth in her over the year and she is now overseeing the children’s ministry and helping to lead worship in the church that she attends in a village outside of St. Petersburg.

MINISTRY TO DRUG ADDICTS

Sergei, a former drug addict who had been through rehabilitation and recently finished the first year of Bible school, is responsible for our 24-hour Hotline for drug addicts. The phone number has spread across Russia and drug addicts or relatives from all over the country are calling for help. Sergei talks to them and tries to help them to get in contact with a center if they desire rehabilitation. He is also ministering weekly to drug addicts at our building, interviewing people who want rehabilitation. He is witnessing to them, leading some to the Lord or praying for deliverance and getting them in touch with different rehab centers. We received nearly 1000 phone calls this year and know of 40 people now in rehab as a result of his faithfulness.

In the near future, we plan to open a women's rehab center. Natasha, who graduated from our Bible school last spring, has been visiting and working at several different rehab centers, gaining valuable experience, insight, and wisdom on how to run a center and how to minister to those that come. Please continue to pray for Natasha and the team that they will receive everything they need to open the rehab center and see women set free from addictions and into new life found in Jesus! We are hampered from having our own rehab center because of a lack of funding. We only need pledges of $2500 a month in order to have both a women’s and men's center. If you would like to help financially with the monthly expenses of the rehab center, please let us know.

EVANGELISM

Throughout each week, our Bible school students and others in the ministry are on the street, personally witnessing to those they meet. This last winter and spring, we were inviting people to our coffee house where we were either having evangelism concerts three times a month, and showing the film "The Passion of Christ" once a month. In the spring, while handing out flyers, Nastya (a Bible school teacher) met an 18 year old student from Moscow named Anya. Anya had been involved in a lesbian relationship with a 27 year old woman. Anya and her girlfriend had gotten into an argument and Anya left Moscow and came to St. Petersburg. Nastya was able to share the love of Christ with Anya, who repented and came to know the Lord. The next evening at our school of the Spirit, Anya shared how she was so happy to have met Nastya and how she was stranded in St. Petersburg without any money. She had called a friend, who put money into her account, but Anya had forgotten the PIN. She prayed and the Lord brought the PIN back into her memory during her first worship experience! Anya has since returned to Moscow and Nastya and Anya have been exchanging e-mails; in one of them Anya shared how excited she is with her new life in Jesus!

A few of us regularly go out witnessing to the prostitutes on the streets. This ministry has grown over the past year, as the Lord has provided a driver and a van for this ministry. Most of the girls are drug addicts, trying to sell their bodies for their next dose of heroin and are not always open to talking. Being able to invite them into the van for coffeee has helped to get them to talk. During spring, we met a 20 year old girl named Kristina, who has been on drugs for over 4 years. As the girls started to share how Jesus had changed their lives and delivered them from a similar background, Kristina's heart opened. Kristina asked for prayer, and the girls laid hands on her and prayed for her on the street. The next day Kristina called our office and shared that she had returned home that night, repented and gave her life to the Lord. The girls were able to meet with Kristina and her friend, Tanya, later that day. During that meeting, Tanya also repented and gave her life to the Lord!

Throughout the summer we have several concerts each week in which we sing evangelistic songs about God, His love, His mercy and power. For the most part, these are not worship songs, but are songs written with lost souls in mind. Between songs, individuals in our ministry share their personal testimonies. We also give words of knowledge, interpret people's dreams, pass out tracts and personally witness to all who are hungry. Through the concerts, 27 people repented on the spot, while another 35 people were talked to and put in touch with a rehab center! We are also continually meeting people whom we witnessed to that came to the Lord later and are now in churches in various parts of the country. This is always very encouraging - since it is the word of God that does the work in people’s hearts.

OUTREACHES IN OTHER CITIES

At the end of July, our band went together with another evangelism group, Bethesda, from one of the rehab centers we cooperate with, to Voronezh in southern Russia. It is a heroin hub, as drugs from Afghanistan enter Russia near there and there is a high rate of drug addicts in the city. We were invited by a local church to have concerts and do ministry there. Before the concerts started we had classes with the church on evangelism. For many believers it was a new experience, but many got involved in witnessing and were blessed by it. One brother shared that his life was changed. He was at all three concerts and felt a fire in his heart that he had not experienced before. This was an answer to our prayers.

At the first concert in the park one person received the Lord. At the other concerts several people gave their lives to the Lord with members from the bands or local believers. They got hooked up with the local church; one young girl repented at one of the concerts and is now going to Bible school in Voronezh.

In November, our evangelism band, together with a band from a rehab center outside of St. Petersburg, traveled several hours to Vologda, a small city close to Moscow. We were invited to minister in two prisons. Over 500 prisoners attended the concert at the men's prison. Gosha, a first year Bible school student and former drug addict, served his last sentence in that prison. Many of the inmates recognized Gosha and the Spirit of God moved in a strong way as he shared his testimony. When there was an altar call, several in the auditorium repented. There were about 200 in the audience at the concert in the women's prison. Many were hungry for God. Olga, a team member and a former drug addict, ministered to a girl whom she knew when she was an inmate in another prison. Another sister, Natasha, was witnessing to a woman who seemed really hardened and unapproachable. She challenged Natasha and asked her to answer a question that no one was able to answer before. Natasha prayed and then gave her the answer. The woman was in tears as Natasha continued to minister to her.

OTHER NEWS

Every summer we have had the privilege to have different teams and individuals from different parts of the world come and work along side us, helping in the harvest of souls. This past summer was no different. Marcus Ripp led a team of American college aged students with The Russia Project. It was their second year with us. They helped with practical work in the ministry and used a powerful drama during several concerts on the streets of St. Petersburg. We had a team of musicians from MorningStar Ministries in North Carolina come and work with us for a week in August. They really brought with them a love for intercession and a love to worship on the streets. We also had two teams of young people from different churches in Sweden that came and spent time passing out tracts and witnessing on the streets with us.

If you, or a group of your friends, your church, youth group, or someone you know would be interested in joining us for evangelism on the streets of St. Petersburg this coming summer, please email us at info@streetcry.org for more information. We are always looking for people who the Lord is calling to work with us bringing in His harvest!

We have also seen an increase in our families this past year with two weddings and one new baby! In July, Vanya and Nastya were married and in December, Dima and Nadya. Baby Anita was born to our leadership team of Roma and Anya Motorov on December 8th!

This is just a small taste of what the Lord is doing here! Again, we would like to thank you for your continued prayers, financial support, and faith in what the Lord is doing in Russia! Last summer, we received a generous gift of $60,000 from a ministry friend. With this gift we were not only able to purchase a much needed cargo van, but it also helped us to minister in St Petersburg and several towns for several months without financial pressure and burdens. Gifts like this make all the difference in the quality and depth of ministry that we can do.

We are extremely grateful for the partners that we have and are earnestly praying for more people that would stand with us. Together we'll see more lives changed; more prostitutes, drug addicts and youth set free from the bondage of sin and serving our wonderful Lord! We are looking forward to a more fruitful 2006 and are asking that you prayerfully consider being a part of it through your prayers and financial support no matter how large or small. We have dedicated leaders, on-fire staff and hungry students. We are doing the work of the ministry and loving Jesus and are bearing fruit. Our greatest and most desperate needs are finances for the work and good facilities to base out of to do our jobs! We believe that we are fighting against a stronghold that is keeping some of our greatest physical needs back. We would like to ask that you please pray, and give if you can to help us to the job we have been called to do.

We are continually praying for abundant blessings upon your lives and are praying that 2006 will be your greatest year with Him!

With love and gratitude,

John, Sara, Roma, Anya, Vera, and the StreetCry Ministry team

Compiled by James

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