// BLOG
No going back
March 11, 2010
from On Life in St.Petersburg by Liz Hulley
I like this thread by Motte Brown over at Boundless. He polls everyone about whether they’ve been “messed up” by a pastor, as in deeply convicted by a particular sermon, and moved to act.
While I can’t pinpoint a particular sermon, I can, of course, recall factors that changed my life.
“Ruined for the ordinary” is another phrase that gets tossed around, although I can’t seem to find the original source.
I can remember a few times when I wished I hadn’t ever gone to Russia or gotten involved. I was in too deep and I wasn’t sure if I liked that feeling.
I wanted to keep one foot planted on safe ground, but it was too late to go back. It wasn’t that it was bad, just overwhelming.
Since I was receptive to hearing about missions during college, I suppose Urbana 2003 would have held some of those sermons that “messed up” my life. I will have to find my notes again the next time I’m home. You can listen to some of the talks from that year in the archives.
Why is it that the messages that tear us apart the most often bear the most fruit in our lives?
The following verses come to mind:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. (Ps. 51:17)
Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him. (Ps.126: 5,6)
Working Together
March 7, 2010
Christina Melton writes from Montenegro –
Psalm 133 is all about unity and how pleased God is when His kids play nice together. It’s so good for us as believers to have to work with people who don’t look exactly like us.
There are so many small points where we can differ, and those minor things can easily lead to major arguments, which lead to hatred, mistrust, and gossip.
The last 2 weeks, we have seen brothers dwell in unity together, and there really is a blessing there!
This last Sunday, the Brethren Assembly church and the Pentecostal church (the only 2 evangelical churches in Podgorica) had a joint service. The church was full of people, including many that I had never met. I enjoyed worshiping with these people.
Our teenage meeting two Fridays ago also featured some diversity! Teenagers from Niksic (about an hour away) came to Podgorica and we all had a meeting together.
We sang together and had a teaching, and played games so that the teens would be more comfortable with one another. We played blindfolded musical chairs, which is why the picture resembles a hostage crisis. 
If we learn to work together with other believers in our lives here on earth, I think we will be less offended in the Kingdom when we worship next to people we didn’t like very much here. The world cannot understand the type of unity that we are called to as believers, but when the world sees it, they will know that there is power in the name of Jesus.
Revelation 7:9-10
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
Revisiting domestic adoption in Russia and Eastern Europe
March 3, 2010
By Liz Hulley –
To be honest, I haven’t devoted a lot of time lately to researching the adoption/foster care scene in Russia. There was a time when I regularly sought information and was up on the latest laws and statistics.
We ran into a lot of seemingly dead-ends while trying to push for adoption in St. Petersburg. There were a lot of obstacles, such as the endless paperwork and the impossibility of providing a bigger home for each potential family. The law says that there must be a certain amount of living space per person, but offers no solution for obtaining such housing if the family’s income is too low. That’s one example. This is not to mention all of the emotional, psychological, and social implications.
As part of our research, we had traveled to Vladimir to learn more about a ministry there that had been fairly successful in “redistributing” children in families and group homes. But I was shocked as we got in the van the first day for the tour, and our guide, herself a Christian and former orphanage worker, told us, “I’m not in favor of adoption.” (more…)
Cooking, Museums and Cows
March 2, 2010
News from Olga Goncharenko –
First of all, I’d like to start with the cooking class the orphanage. Teenagers from our church are very interested in helping out. Not only they became friends with orphans, but they are a great help in cooking classes and playing sports with the kids.
During those cooking classes, orphans learn basic skills of cooking a plain meal, as well as how to set the table and even how to make a dessert. They love it when they can do it themselves and we love to teach them how to do it as well as bring all the necessary ingredients.
Second, we had a great time with a group of orphans at the Belarusian Nature museum (it was my first time there as well). The children learnt about the animals that live in our country.
After the museum we all went to McDonald’s for lunch. Minsk Family Home girls have joined us, helping with orphans. It was the second time for Katya, who is 18 years old to be there.
After McDonald’s the girls as well as the orphans went to a Christian Youth conference dedicated to Love. The day was full of good impressions.
Another thing that we wanted to share was a visit to a foster family with 8 kids. SOR is getting a cow for that family. Nina, who is a mom, a single woman in her 60, is a new believer and loves the children dearly. For our visit, she has invited 3 other foster families from the area. She was an inspiration to them to start taking kids out of the orphanages.
It was surprising to see two kids from Stankovo, whom we met before, to be in one of those families. Last year SOR provided pigs for all those foster families, this year it’s a cow and we would like to get them chickens as well.
We shared a meal together and heard a lot of sad stories about each child: the girls of 3 years old were not walking yet, and the boy of 10 was not talking; some kids had scab. But the joy is that now they are all doing well, talking and walking, healthy and feel safe in a healthy Christian atmosphere.
Here are our prayer and financial needs:
1. Please pray for summer programs and camps. We want to take 40-50 kids to camps this summer. The cost for 1 child to go is 215$.
2. We would like to get chickens for 5 families this spring. One chicken is about 3$.
Thank you for all your help and support that allows us to continue the good work in Belarus. May God bless you abundantly and fulfill the desires of your hearts,
– Olga and SOR
Update from Christina Melton
March 2, 2010
Hello All!
I have been here in Montenegro for 4 months now! (Time for an update, right?!) Some days it feels like I have lived here for years, and some days I feel as though I had just arrived.
Ministry has not been “easy,” but it is an honor to be a part of the work here.
My teenagers now do not have parents who are believers or who attend church.
These teens all began coming to children’s programming at church and have now graduated beyond kids’ meetings.
It is a miracle that they are here, and we pray that God will continue to draw even more.
It is a challenge to show up as a foreigner and to try to minister to these teens. I am slowly learning their language and their culture, but I often feel like I will never catch up.
Fortunately, we serve a God who does not change with trends or cultures. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, never changing no matter how many borders we cross.
Lately, we have been partnering a bit with the teenage ministry in Niksic, a smaller city about an hour from Podgorica.
Because there are so few believers in Montenegro, we all have to work together if we want to see the Kingdom of God in this country.
We recently held a joint teenage meeting with teens from Podgorica and Niksic which went pretty well, and I believe that partnership will continue.
Plans are also underway for camp this summer, where we hope to see teens from Podgorica and Niksic, as well as some new faces who need to hear the gospel!
Thank you for your prayers and financial support, and please check out my blog, CMinMNE.blogspot.com
For more detailed information and pictures, and feel free to email me for any reason.
