Update from Julia and Sergey

Col. 1:27-28

27 to Whom God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you the hope of glory

28 Whom we announce, admonishing every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, to the end that we may present every man perfect in Christ.

As we keep on following God in this ministry we wanted to ask you to pray for us to be the people who have all the needed resources to help the youth we minister grow in the knowledge of our Heavenly Father's love and live in a real vibrant relationship with Jesus. This verse has been on our hearts for a long time and we believe that the true meaning of every Christian ministry is to help every person see Jesus and develop a relationship with Him. It can be done in many different ways and we should use every way possible. We can bring clothes, shampoos and toys, Christmas gifts and crayons to the kids and this is great but to help them see that they can have a Wonderful Friend Who will always be with them is the most important because all those things will end, but a relationship with a Living God will never end. Also, as we meet with the young people to listen to them, encourage them and just show that we care we need to always remember to point them to Jesus, because only He can perfectly comfort them and love them with the love that satisfies. Sometimes we need to be reminded on that because when we see all of their pains and troubles we want to take it all away but in reality only Jesus can do that, so we pray that our love and care would be a window into God's heart for them. Please pray for us to be open windows into our Father's heart.

More and more God has been showing us that He is looking for every lost person in this world and wants to show that He is a good Shepherd Who cares for the sheep. How does He do it? He does it through people who know Him personally. Often we think that pastors should take good care of us (pray for us, listen to us, show compassion to us and guide us spiritually). This is true, but it is also true the other way around - we can all do some of that to every lost person in this world thus reflecting the pastoral side of God's character. There are times when we feel neglected and not appreciated by the church leadership, but we need to remember that there are people in this world who have never experienced God's love and who are lonely and desperate inside, so instead of focusing on what we want and need (even though these needs can be absolutely legitimate and normal) it is importamt to remember that we are called "to announce Jesus and admonish and teach every man in all wisdom to the end that we may present every person perfect in Christ".