Well if I had reason to doubt God’s in this Russia thing, then all doubt is blown away now!
What am I talking about? Let me explain!
Some time ago, a Russian Salvation Army captain, Sergey Kachanov, added me to his friend’s list on vkontakte.com. He sent a brief message, welcoming me to the Salvation Army group on that site, and hoped that if I knew enough Russian I could join in on conversations.
I took some time to look at his profile and check out all the pictures in his albums. I really liked seeing him, along with a lot of youth, involved in outreach at hospitals, orphanages etc.
It was great to see the work the Salvation Army is doing over there – such practical work that seems is hard to come by here in Australia. (Q: Have we lost our focus?) I did want to know more about Sergey and his Corps, but I forgot about it for a while.
In the meantime I tried organising other missions trips through OM (a missions organisation), but those weren’t going to happen in time. I’d also contacted the Rostov-on-Don Corps, but nothing had come of it. I was keeping my eyes peeled, desperately hoping for something extra to do while we were on that side of the globe.
Finally, I prayed that God would reveal an opportunity. Then in a moment of inspiration, I remembered Sergey and decided to myself “Yes! I’ll send him an email introducing myself and explaining my desire to serve God in Russia. Then I’ll ask him if there’s something I can do.”
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)
My God is a big God… and yes, He was just waiting for me to seek Him first! In His faithfulness, He answered my prayer before I’d even prayed it.
When I logged into vkontakte.com, ready to send that message to Sergey, what did I find? There was a message waiting for me FROM SERGEY!
OK, maybe a coincidence that Sergey sent me a message? But what about the content of the message? Judge for yourself:
Hi, Brett, how are you doing?
Two days ago we've had one couple majors from Moscow THQ (originally they are from Australia). They introduced us to the Australian Salvation Army sites.
On one of them I saw your desire to come to Russia with a group of those who would like to serve the Lord.
I thought it's a good idea and comes from above.
So, if you would be interested we could communicate and cooperate together in it. Here at Dnepr there are plenty opportunities to minister for example youth or children.
We are visiting the orphanages and shelters on a regular base. During summer there is a good chance to minister homeless children and youth in the shelter "ROSTOK". We've practiced that already and it brought good results.
So, please, pray about that and if God will lead you and your friends we would be happy to assist you...
Blessings upon your head and great Joy in Him!
So, here is Sergey answering God’s call to contact me. I’m glad he was faithful to God, because it really made my day, week and month!
Things have progressed well from here. Sergey is organising a letter of invitation from his DHQ so that I can obtain a visa to the Ukraine (Dniprpetrovsk is located in the Ukraine I soon discovered).
Now I’m praying for a team, and God is answering those prayers. Things are very encouraging. I’m so glad to be serving living God… a God of “coincidences” :-)
