From S-i-b-e-r-i-a to Sydney
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 27 Apr 2008 in From Steve's Study ::
Well, it’s been quite an eventful time since I last wrote for the newsheet! And what a great experience it was to go and visit our Christian brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe.
Lorna and I would both like to express our thanks to the people of St Peters for making it possible for us to go (particularly financially), but also for supporting us in prayer while we were away. God was very kind to us and we have both learnt a lot from our time in I-r-k-u-t-s-k. It was such an encouragement to know that people were constantly praying for us, especially when our luggage was lost for the first 4 or 5 days!
One of the greatest encouragements for us was to meet Christians who both love God and take seriously the need to apply his word to their life, despite quite difficult circumstances. Although there was an obvious language barrier between us, there was also an immediate unity that transcended that barrier. We were blown away by the faithfulness, prayerfulness and generosity of the believers we met. The church we visited was a vibrant and growing congregation where the word of God was proclaimed and lived out faithfully.
We were greatly challenged by the generosity and dedication of the Christians we met. One couple who live in a one-bedroom unit with their two children, regularly have people staying in their house who have no-where else to go. The music ministry team meet for 3 hours every Saturday night and another hour and a half on the Sunday to prepare for the upcoming service. One member of the church comes three hours early every week to mop the floors of the church premises so it is clean and pleasant for people when they arrive. This was a particular challenge to me when I think of how hard I can find it to be hospitable and generous, or when I try to place limits on my time spent serving God and his people.
The church has some great strengths, but also some great challenges. No one in the church has any theological training and most are fairly young Christians, will very little experience of church life. As they think and pray about where their church might go in the future, let us keep praying for them (and other churches like theirs), that God would equip and empower them to be “lights of the world” in the place where they live.
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