Reflections on the trip

Thank you all for keeping up with us via the blog and for praying for our trip! Sorry it took us so long to update again. We needed a few days to get back into the swing of things. :-)

Looking back on our trip, we are so grateful for the many experiences our Lord had in store for us that we will cherish. The precious times of worship in the three churches and the two concert halls, the heartfelt responses of the people and their pastors, meeting with the missionaries and pastors and their families, seeing the rich culture and their beautiful cathedrals, hearing the people’s love for their city and its history, these are a few of the memories we will take with us. Following are some exciting things we heard about what our Lord did while we were there.

This is an excerpt from an email we received from Kirill, the man who organized our time in Moscow:

“It…was a great joy to have all of you here and fellowship with you and minister to our Lord. I already hear many great responses. The concert hall in the Tchaikovsky Philharmonic hall was a great success! [For several reasons:]

1. There was a good number of unbelievers. One of my friends told me that he invited an unbeliever friend and she was crying during the concert, she was crying so much so he was afraid to look at her so she would not feel uncomfortable. We were very lucky that our pastor agreed to lead the concert. He was wise enough to read the scripture and to add something to it so it was a little sermons, but not too attacking so the local authorities did not had any questions (remember that I told you that we could not preach or so in such hall? it is illegal now here). So, for the first time, the Bible was read in one of the most prestigious concert halls of the world!

2. One of the TV companies came and recorded some of the concert and took interview from you [Johnny] and me. It was a State channel called "Culture”. They broadcast through all over the country and every one can see that Channel in any city of the country. They showed a little clip during one of their news block. This is very important.

3. Another two journalists were present at the concert. They were representing two major news web sites, and now, their articles are presented at their web sites that visit thousands people every day. Plus to that, information will be showed at our, Christian web sites tomorrow (also visited by great number of people. these sites represent our brotherhood in the secular world). So Baptists had an ability to present them selves in Russia’s secular world. I truly think that your visit was a success in Moscow.”

Jennifer, one of our clarinetists, lived in Moscow for two years, and her email sheds a little light on the impact we had:

“Having lived in Moscow, I knew that what we were doing was important even though it may have seemed like we didn't make many [opportunities to converse with the Russian people]. I was concerned, though, that the rest of the group might not understand the significance of what we were doing. Kirill is right when he talks about our concert as a "bridge" between Baptists and the Russian people/authorities. It's true that Baptists have been regarded as a cult, so anything that can be done to show the general public that we are "normal people" will help validate the work that so many believers have done and will do in Russia.”

More from Kirill:

“Also, during the concert at Second Baptist Church (pictured above), we know that some local unbelievers came for that event. At the same time, some of the local authorities came and it was very important for that church too! In our case here, it is very important to have good relationships with local authorities. Gennady Sergienko (the same guy who was at the Second Bpt. Church and the concert hall of Tchaikovsky) told us that the local authorities who were present at the church on Wednesday were very pleased with the event, and this is important for future!”

And from Jennifer:

“I enjoyed seeing the response of the church people to our music. [In each church, they were visibly touched and said so afterwards.] Russians tend to have a "hard outer shell," and they don't say things they don't mean just to be polite (for example, they wouldn't generally say "nice to meet you" when they first meet you because they don't know you yet - they actually think we're a little shallow when we do this!) So they wouldn't have told us they loved the music if they weren't touched by it. Day-to-day life in Russia can be difficult and dreary, so it was great to give them some joy and encouragement.”

That is the Lord working! Sometimes I get short-sighted when I can’t see what He’s doing – but surely He works according to His passion to bring the freedom of truth and of His joy to each person He created. We can rejoice in knowing that He works through us! Thank you for joining in helping us through your prayers. Many people have given thanks for the favor bestowed on us in answer to your prayers!

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with You.” Psalm 40:5