Hello Everyone!


We hope you're all doing well! Rayma and I are doing great although Sarah leaves us tomorrow morning and we're anticipating her absence. We have wanted for some time to share with all of you about the fruit from last year's outreach concert as well as some of the ideas we have been thinking about for this upcoming October. Let me start by saying we are so excited to have a group of you coming out here to minister in Perm. Tomorrow I will be preaching on Matthew 9 where it says, "The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few." It really is true. We can't begin to explain how much it means to us to have a group of harvesters and laborers coming to join us in the field.

Last year's outreach was amazing! I will never forget my installation service, it meant so much to me, and I know it meant a lot to the church. Before the team came I talked about the McMinnville Calvary as our sister Church but it didn't mean much. By the end of the outreach the church here understood that our connection is real. The team did such a great job of showing love to our fellowship; the impact has continued 'til this day. I know that several from our fellowship still email you and many of your names still come up often.

I asked Max (one of the leaders in the church) what he thought about the outreach last year. One thing he said was that before the outreach the city had no idea our fellowship existed. Now much of the city knows who we are and where we are. This is so true I often meet people while walking the streets who remember me from the concerts. Something else significant that happened during last year's outreach was the unexpected ministry in the schools. The team received 6-8 invitations to come to the schools to share about America and the concerts. Many of the people that came to the concerts were from the schools the team visited. This was amazing! What many don't know is that not too long ago every Christian group in the city was kicked out of the schools in Perm. I heard from someone connected to Campus Crusade that they were kicked out of every school and university in town. Our presence at the schools was the first this city has had in a long time. Praise God! Who would have known?

Most of you remember that several months after the outreach we Baptized 3 new Christians from the concerts. This was a huge landmark in our church. Recently I went to 4 or 5 of the group that got saved at the concert and asked them if they wanted to share how they felt about the concert with you guys. The following are some short comments they made about the last outreach. Enjoy!


"Hi, my name is Tamara and I am a young Christian now. I came to know God through the Christian concerts last fall and I am very, very thankful for that! I can tell you for sure that such concerts are so important to give people who don't know Jesus an opportunity to get to know Him! Thanks." ~Tamara Sherbakova, Perm

"Hi, my name is Natasha. My best friend was a Christian and I heard about Jesus from her from time to time. But when she invited me to the concerts it was so great! I met so many other Christians and I came to know God! I am so thankful for those concerts! God is so good to us!" ~Natasha, Perm

"Hello, my name is Kate. I'm still in school and I'm 16. I met Jesus at the concerts in autumn 2006. The concerts changed my life a lot and now I have God and He helps me in life and teaches me, and I have my church! Such concerts can change a person's life!" ~Kate, Perm

"Hi, my name is Veronica. I think these concerts are so important for youth! I know a lot of people began to think more about God after last fall's concerts. But even for the Christians who want to tell their friends about Jesus these concerts are a great opportunity. I think we need Christian concerts like these in Perm!!!!" ~Veronica, Perm

"Hi, my name is Ruslan. I want to tell you how I met Jesus. I have always loved music: I would wake up with music, then on the bus I would listen to music because it helps me to distance myself from the crowd. But my story is that in autumn 2006 I had just became a student in one of the Universities and everything was so new. I had new friends, new experiences. They were interesting and exciting on the outside and yet empty and lonely on the inside. I would ask people about life and most of them just said, "Don't worry! Just live!" But I didn't know how to live knowing that one day I would die! And then it happened! Everything good in my life happens unexpectedly! One day a friend of mine called me and invited me to go to the concerts, I decided to go. I loved the music and everything was great but I couldn't stop thinking that the concerts would be over soon and I would be back in my empty life…then suddenly they started to talk about God. The soil in my heart was just ready! My heart was opened by music and I received Jesus into my life. I just wanted to say that music is the language that young people understand. Through music you can tell them about God! I am so very thankful to the music groups 'Out of the Ashes' and 'Narrowgate'! God used you guys to give me life; He can use you to give life to others also! We're waiting for you!" ~Ruslan, Perm


I have been talking with some of the leaders in the Church about this next outreach so we can plan our summer in a way that builds excitement in our community for these upcoming concerts. We have decided to look for a new place to meet for our Wednesday night Bible studies and are hoping to find someplace near the center of the city so that when we have the concerts we'll have a great place to invite people on Wednesday nights. Please pray for us, this is a huge step we're taking. We are also planning to double the number of flyers and posters we put up to promote the concerts. In fact, our plan is to put together a number of resources we didn't have last year. Free Christian CD's, some new Russian tracts, new invitations to the church, more Russian Bibles for those who want them, etc. We are also planning to start a new believer's Bible study after the concert ends and thinking about other follow-up events, like showing the Passion of the Christ but in a rented hall, and maybe having a Pizza Fellowship time for those who want to know more. We are also planning to visit the schools again and maybe a couple of coffee shops. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in all our planning and that He will provide for the team that is coming. If any of you have more questions about this outreach or our ministry please feel free to send us an email.

Thanks for all your love God bless,


In Christ,

Dave, Rayma, Elias and Sarah - For one more day...