God greatly blessed your ministry in Tyumen, and I praise God for your willingness to so sacrificially co-labor with us these last two months. As God the Holy Spirit so clearly teaches in 2 Corinthians 1:11, “you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
In God’s value system and in God’s spiritual economy, those who minister on the mission field and those who faithfully pray are co-laborers. They share equally in the toil, the responsibility, the results and the rewards. God the Holy Spirit says that prayers of intercession not only help the missionary but that the missionary, in addition, experiences favor bestowed upon him as a direct result of the faithful prayers of those back home. God the Holy Spirit also teaches that because of this help and favor, prayers of thanksgiving will ascend to God by those to whom he ministers on the mission field. Now that is a great ministry, and we praise God that you join with us in this ministry through your prayers!
We look back on the favor and help with humble hearts…
God blessed your prayers concerning the Marriage Seminar. Not only was the first seminar attended by over 50 but it resulted in three more seminars being given because of word-of-mouth communication – people calling Pastor Ravil and asking for additional seminars. Not only this, but several non-Christian couples asked to be visited by Pastor Ravil - something almost unheard of in Russia today. Only your prayers could bring this about.
God blessed your prayers concerning the Family Discipleship Seminar. Again, we had many non-Christians attend with evangelistic contacts made. Also, the church now has a firm foundation in the area of Christian principles of child-raising. All the young couples are following scriptural principles, and the change in the lives of their children is creating evangelistic opportunities at work, home and in their neighborhoods.
God blessed your prayers concerning the Holy Spirit Seminar. The devil has been making inroads into Baptist and Presbyterian churches in Tyumen through a false prophet from Germany (Pentecostal) who claims the church age is coming to an end and a new age of Pentecostalism is replacing the church. Leaders from Presbyterian and Baptist churches attended the seminar and were grounded in biblical doctrines of the church and Holy Spirit. Your prayers have both protected and unified these churches around the Word of God and the church.
God blessed your prayers concerning evangelism. Young couples have been completed in Christ, non-Christian spouses have begun coming to church and Bible study, non-Christian spouses have withdrawn their opposition to the church and, instead, are supporting it, homes are opening to evangelistic visits and members of the church are hosting evangelistic teas and dinners. This is a phenomenal change, and again, only your prayers could bring this about. It is nothing short of miraculous.
God blessed your prayers concerning supplying the church with Bibles, Bible study aids and Bible reference works. This was a double blessing. First, it was a blessing to have the financial resources to purchase these materials, and then it blessed us to see the heart of the church members to do the work necessary to receive them. They are reading their Bibles daily, families are uniting in family devotionals, they are memorizing evangelistic verse packs and completing Bible study workbooks. Having a daily quiet time, memorizing Bible verses and doing Bible study has become the norm, not the exception, in the church. This is as a direct result of your ministry of intercession.
The application to this – don’t stop now!! We are now in St. Petersburg and this same ministry needs to be duplicated in this great city. By our toils together - ours on the mission field and yours on your knees - great works of God will occur. The church will be built up, men and women will be called into the Kingdom, families will be united in Christ and in subjection to the Word of God, churches will be grounded in sound doctrine, young pastors and ministers will be trained for service and satan will be driven back.
As 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 exhorts us, "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director – Grace Community Int. St. Petersburg, Russia
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