YOU MAY THINK, “SURELY WITH TEMPERATURES OF -30°F THEY DON’T GO ANYWHERE!”
However, you would be wrong. In fact, maybe it takes just a shade of wildness to live in the area where modern advances clash with the rugged beauty of untouched nature, but we don’t slow down a bit in the winter.
In fact, winter is awesome for evangelism!
In January 2017 we took a trip up north to reach Tartar villages with the Gospel of Christ.
Can you imagine living in a place that is cut off from civilization 9 months out of the year? Only when everything around you is frozen can someone from the outside come in and share the good news of Jesus.
Meet Zulfia, a Muslim woman who has lived in the same house for 83 years. Although she did not make a profession of faith that day, she listened intently as the New Testament was opened and read to her in her own language for the first time in her life!
Another woman, Erna welcomed us in her home to hear about the true meaning of Kurban Bayrami ("the Holiday of Sacrifice").
This is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son, as an act of obedience to God's command. We told Erna and her children of the true Lamb of God, Whom God provided to wash away our sins. Thanks to you, we were the first messengers to tell these souls about God’s amazing love!
You must have been praying hard, because not a day of our 5 day trip went by without spiritual victories! Despite our vehicles (we took 2 vans and 2 cars) having daily issues, we were able to visit 14 exclusively Tatar villages on our 1200 km trip!
God blessed us with a group of students from Novosibirsk along with our missionary students and church members, twenty five of us, to share the gospel with Muslims. Thank you for giving me a great opportunity to better learn how to witness to Muslims and to point them to Ee-sá Mah-seéh (Jesus the Messiah).
I believe we all came away with a greater burden to reach the lost and a godly boldness to share Christ more often.
Here we are, a year later, and that same burden and boldness is in our hearts. We are planning another trip and covet your prayers for souls, for safety, and that the Lord will be glorified in all we say and do on this trip. I can’t give out concrete dates, but I will let you know the results of our trip when we return.