Иисус-Воскрес!

Studying: Isaiah 46-47
Memorizing: Romans 2:1-2
Thoughts: Good

"I-isus Vas-kres", that's how you pronounce that title. In Russian it means "Christ is Risen!" Traditionally on Easter people will say that to one another over here and the other person will respond with, "Воистину-Воскрес!" pronounced "Va-i-sti-nu Vas-kres", which means "Indeed He is Risen!" Of course, most churches in Russia, even some of the Protestant ones, follow the Eastern Calendar for holidays, and thus Easter over here is still not for another few weeks. But seeing that the majority of people who read my blog are not following the Eastern Calendar, I thought I'd share that tidbit of information with you today.

I wanted to relate to you about the Fellowship group I went to Saturday night. There's a lady in our church who a couple of months ago had a desire to use her apartment for the Lord. She has a small, but very nice newly renovated apartment, perfect for hosting guests and such. Have a grown son who really wants nothing to do with the faith she herself knows how hard it is to really get to know unbelievers and engage them. So she began hosting a small fellowship at her apartment every Saturday night where some of her church friends could come over and mingle with some of her unbelieving friends. Pastor Mikhail usually attends and gives a short Bible lesson prompting a conversation time.

I've been twice and hope I can go more often. On both occasions I've been able to meet another young couple, Ramon and his wife Natasha and their little boy Pasha. They are not believers but apparently come every time. It has been a pleasure to get to know them and talk to them some. Last night at the dinner table I purposely broached the subject with Mikhail about how the average person in Russia views the Christian faith. The conversation was interesting. Of course, he knew what I was doing, and made a few comments on the subject but then deferred to Ramon and Natasha. Their responses were interesting. They commented that many people view it as rather dry theology that doesn't really affect day-to-day living. Of course we took the opportunity to hopefully remedy those ideas in their minds. They genuinely seemed interested.

Please keep this family in your prayers. The small group, one-on-one approach really seems to be the way to go these days in Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, missionaries flooded this country. People literally flocked to stadiums and churches to hear what they had been forbidden to hear for so long, and to see the foreigners in person. But now, many have lost interest. It's no longer a forbidden fruit, and many don't see a real point and purpose to the faith. So please pray for small groups like these. Our church currently two that meet and do this sort of thing, and we hope, perhaps, that we can host one of our own in the future.