Plowing concrete: what church planting looks like in Russia

Great is Thy faithfulness
O God my Father
There is no shadow of
Turning with Thee.
Thou changest not
Thy compassions,
They fail not.
As Thou hast been
Thou forever wilt be.
--"Great is Thy Faithfulness"

You're unchangeable.
You're unstoppable.
You're unshakable.
That's what You are.
You are God alone.
--"Not a god (God alone)"

Yesterday was church at our house. It's such an encouraging time for us. I played the piano and sang (it's been a while since I played the piano, but it went okay), and then we had Bible study for about 2 1/2 hours, and then we had tea and sweets and played a game of cards. All together, church takes us about four to four and a half hours. It's going to be weird to go back to the States and "do" church the way it's done there. Anyway, we studied the passage where Jesus walks on the water and Peter sinks under the water after a couple of steps. For most of you who read this blog, that's a very familiar story, one you've known since you were children. But it is different here. Our Russian friends do not know these stories. In fact, one of them asked if Peter is an important person in the Bible. Next week, Jesus is going to tell him that he is Peter, and on this rock the church will be built. Yeah, he's kind of an important guy in the Bible. It was just a reminder to me of how different it is for Russians to read the Bible, a book completely unfamiliar to them. It also makes me so thankful for my own background, which is so steeped in the importance of God's word. Anyway, the Bible study was wonderful, great questions, great responses, and a whole lot of it in Russian. (Our friends also speak English to varying degrees, but Russian is the language of their hearts, and so we want to speak their heart language as much as possible.) When Marc drove them to the Metro, one of them asked about how Jeff and Karla, our team leaders, are doing church in America. He explained that they were attending a church, not having church in their home. "What is that like, Marc?" Dema asked. "Does the priest perform a ritual of some sort?" Marc responded that the answer would have to wait until next week, because they were at the Metro station, but that he would prepare an explanation for Dema of what American church was like. It was a stark reminder to us of how difficult the combination of a lifetime of communism and orthodox religion is to overcome as Russians pursue faith in Christ. I read somewhere that Russians are Orthodox in tradition and atheist in worldview. That's about as well as I've seen the Russian psyche explained.

Our dear friend, Tim, went on a mission trip to Brazil with a group of men from our church a couple of years ago. They literally walked into a village and saw hundreds come to Christ. He was astounded, and we listened to his stories with awe at what God can do. In East Asia, where communism is the law and religious persecution is the norm, there is a church planting movement that is lighting a fire across the most populous country on earth. In South Asia, where Hinduism and Buddhism are now giving way to a rise of Islamic belief, where national believers are literally putting their lives on the line, the church is growing. In the Middle East, perhaps the most dangerous place on earth to serve as a missionary, there are amazing things happening, where God is speaking to people in visions and dreams, and people are literally waiting for someone to come to them and tell them about Jesus. In Russia, we are plowing concrete. No one is running to us to be saved. No one is begging us to tell them about Jesus. We don't have stories of hundreds coming to Christ. In one place in our region, a team worked for five years before they saw a single decision for Christ. When you think of Russia, you think of the ice and snow of the tundra. It's a fitting symbol for the ice and snow that has formed over people's hearts here. If we counted on numbers of churches planted and new believers saved, it would be really discouraging.

But our God is so big, He makes this place look small. He is unshakable. He is unstoppable. He is faithful beyond comprehension. Every week, there is progress. We were talking about Peter's lack of faith, his doubts, causing him to sink under the water. I know that Dema struggles with doubts. I told him that I love Peter so much because he struggles, because he is the everyman who is so like me, because I struggle with faith and doubt sometimes, too. He smiled at me and said, "Yes, Kellye, but Jesus does not let him sink. He comes to pull him out of the water. I think reading the Bible and studying it helps with our doubts." And suddenly, there was something going on in that room. I understood that Dema was making a step forward. And while I would throw myself on the floor and praise God loudly if he had just gone ahead and made a decision for Christ right then and there, I can still get down on my knees and be grateful for the step of faith it took for Dema to say that. What God's work looks like here is different from how it looks other places, but that does not mean He isn't at work here. He is. Step by step, inch by inch, He is plowing through the frozen concrete of Russia. And on days like yesterday, when progress is evident, I'm so thankful that He asked my family to come along, put on our hard hats, and plow along with Him.

It's 9a.m., Marc is gone on a business trip for the day, and no one else in my house is awake. I think I'll take this opportunity to get a little cleaning done, so off I must go. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are watching God sweep like fire through the people He has given you to love, and that it's not a cloudy, cold day where you are. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye