Report from the Ukhta Church of Christ for June 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the University Church of Christ!

I am so thankful to you for the enormous help that you provide in strengthening the congregations of the Church of Christ in Ukhta and in Yarega. Harold, Marlon, David Bass, and other missionaries planted the seeds in Ukhta, strengthened us and helped us to purchase the building. We started working with the Yarega congregation, which is a small mining city. Today our biggest difficulty and responsibility is in Yarega. After the death of a Christian woman named Maria, Katya Tebenkova offered her apartment for church meetings. But many people do not want to go there because many years ago, in Kayta's absence, there was a horrible murder in that same apartment. Kayta's daughter (who is not a Christian) killed and dismembered her boyfriend. Meeting in this apartment makes evangelizing difficult.

Unfortunately, in June the congregation has not met at all in Yarega. Of course, all of them came to Ukhta on Sunday and some came on Wednesday. But all the June meetings in Yarega were cancelled. I will use 11 year old Andrei as an example to show how important it is to meet in Yarega. Andrei started attending church when we established the congregation in Yarega. Then he was 6 years still living with his parents and grandmother. He, very maturely, wanted to bring his alcoholic mother, father, and grandmother. Now his father is in prison and his mother left for another alcoholic. Andrei lives with his kind, but alcoholic, grandmother. He comes to church, praying consistently for his grandmother, father, and mother. Last year, he came with us on the children's mission trip. The trip strengthened him physically, thanks to good consistent food, and spiritually. He became happy and healthy. During the trip, my wife and I noticed that Andrei uses many bad words and expressions. The Bible expression rightly states that bad communications corrupts good morals. My heart breaks when I hear that Andrei can not attend worship and that bad circumstances surround him.

This dictates the number one task - to buy an apartment in Yarega for the church. We will have enough money when one of our renters (an advertising company) pays their late rent of 41,200 rubles. This is a big task, which I will tackle when I arrive in Ukhta the beginning of August.

In June, our congregation helped, not only the children's shelter - which we usually help, but also to an orphanage for babies (0 - 12 months old). Our church bought bath necessities and material to sew shirts, diapers, and sheets, which our sisters in the church and workers in the orphanage, will make together. This will be much less expensive than buying finished products at retail.

Our preacher, Andrei, took children and teenagers hiking in the forest and to a spring several times. One trip was made together with the Sosnogorsk Church of Christ, kids and grown-ups. Children there are anxiously waiting for us to go on a children's mission trip to central regions of Russia.

Thank you.

With Love,
Vladimir

Ukhta Church of Christ