Ours has been a slow, steady progress over the last (almost) two years since I announced a shift from focusing on training individuals to a focus on training an entire group. First I did a lot of vision casting. They didn’t really get me or where I wanted to go, but it was intriguing enough…
My home church in Georgia is organizing a vision-casting trip for those interested in getting a first-hand look at what God is doing here in St. Petersburg. Coming off of their initiative, we decided to open the trip to other interested parties. So far four churches have joined the discussion. This isn’t going to be your…
The following is an account of a visit to us by a friend of Diana’s this fall. I thought it gave a fresh outside view of what we do, and what God is doing here. I have never experienced anything quite like it. Arriving in St. Petersburg late on a cold and rainy night, heavy…
This testimony is from Luba, a young woman in our core group. It’s a sweeping look at all that she has learned over the last two years of her young Christian life. So it’s a good perspective on what we do here. I learned of Christ 2 years ago. The Lord miraculously led me all…
A guy can only do so much, but after six years of seeing and responding in small ways to the beggars on the streets, I am thankful that my heart has not yet hardened to their plight. If only I could do more! The boys and I were coming home on the metro the other…
If you don’t understand our vision well, it can sometimes seem overwhelming, because it really is big. But how else does a country change but when God’s people pray about big things? One more important piece of the larger puzzle came together this weekend for me, for our team, and for the advancement of the…
Our leader who is called to step into pro-life ministry here in St. Petersburg is Anastasia (aka Nastya) Tikhonova. This post describes how this project got started. Nastya came over to the US during part of my time and met with a number of ministry leaders in post-abortion work and from multiple Pregnancy Resource Centers. The director of the PRC…
This article from the NY Times is worth posting here. It’s a very sad portrait of what is happening along the busiest stretch of road in the country – the highway that connects St. Petersburg to Moscow. I can’t help but be sad for the rural part of Russia, which is the overwhelming majority of…
A subject I delve into once every few years for a few days before real life takes over again is genealogy. It’s a topic the Apostle Paul warned not to get caught up in (e.g., 1Ti. 1:4; Tit. 3:9), but given the plethora of biblical genealogies from Adam to Jesus, the concern can’t be with…
In a land that suffers from having the highest abortion rates in the world, good news is really good news. And I am happy to report two pieces of very good news for the advancement of righteousness in Russia. First is that I have learned that it is now law that before a hospital performs…
orphan dreams 