Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We can’t believe that this year is over. It went by so fast…

We want to Thank You for your faithful prayers for our ministry here in Russia. God is doing amazing things and in this letter we want to ask you to praise God with us for what He is doing.

Youth Camp

Thank you for praying for Lighthouse of Hope Camp. The 10-day session began with very warm and sunny days and finished with three days of rain and cool temperatures. However, the rain was not consistent and did not stop any activities from happening outside. Even the rainy days didn’t hinder the Lord from working in the hearts of the campers.  Of the 80 teenagers from the Tambov and Lipetsk provinces that were in attendance, 30 prayed to receive Christ. Praise the Lord for providing a good harvest at camp and please PRAY for the follow-up work with the campers.

Drug Rehab Ministry

The drug rehab center is running smoothly. There are several people who have gone through the program and started a new life with Christ.  In the midst of the joy over these new brothers and sisters, there is also heartache as there are some who have left the program and returned back to their old life. But we haven’t given up hope for these souls. We are still keeping contact with them and praying for them. Our center is one year old and 48 people have already participated in the program.  About 30% of them have begun a new life in Christ. The center ministers to people from all walks of life, and from all regions of Russia.  Recently, we had a good illustration of the reach and the need for this ministry.  You can see God’s hand at work in the life of Nikolai, one life that is now on the road to recovery.

One Life on the Road to Recovery

At a recent youth ministry conference in Tambov, we had a guest speaker from a nearby city, Saratov.  After the first evening of the conference, as we were visiting in our home with Vitaly, the guest speaker, he got a phone call from an acquaintance in Saratov.  Nikolai was a very powerful member of the Russian mafia during the 90s. For the more than two decades, he has been in and out of prison, drinking and abusing drugs.  He called Nikolai to say goodbye and thank him for his friendship, as he was preparing to kill himself.   We spent many hours calling back and forth to talk with Nikolai.   In the end, he agreed to order a taxi that would bring him the 500 kilometers to Tambov.  When he arrived in the morning, we continued to talk with this hurting man.   We realized that he was ready to make a change and David took him straight to the drug rehab center at TCC (Transformation Christian Center).   Two weeks have past. Nikolai has overcome withdrawal, and is reading the Word of God, praying and considering what the Bible has to say about life.  He is very grateful that he has finally found a way out of his former life of addiction.  Please pray for Nikolai, that he will complete the 2 month program and give his life to Christ.

Discipleship Youth Camp

On New Year’s Day, winter youth camp will begin at TCC. This five day camp is geared toward discipleship for those who have already accepted Christ. Youth from all over the Tambov oblast will come to this annual camp and be challenged in the areas of evangelism and ministry.  Praise God that we were able to finish putting a new sewer system before this winter session. Please pray for these new believers as they are challenged to serve Christ in their schools and towns.

At Home

Our family is doing great! This year,  Edward, our middle son, is returning to Russia for three weeks over Christmas. We are so glad to have him back in Russia after a one and a half year absence. The next six months are the last in Russia for our youngest son, Erik. Alesya’s 2 nieces and 2 nephews are coming from Ukraine and Moscow to see the boys. We will have nice reunion of cousins for Christmas! 

Because of Him,

David and Alesya Andrusyak

Peace to you, our dear friends,

Our summer schedule is again very full with a variety of special ministries while continuing some of our usual commitments.  We realize we can only accomplish what God enables us to do in His power.  Please pray that we are careful to depend completely on Him.

Thank you very much for praying for our travel to the SEND family conference held in Germany. We had a very blessed time together with our family, reconnected with other missionaries and most importantly we had very good spiritual food. One of SEND’s regional directors led us in Bible study through 2 Corinthians each morning.

We came back to Tambov on June 16 and June 18 went to TCC (Transformation Christian Center) in Lipetsk Province 130 km from Tambov to prepare rooms, tents and grounds for the Tambov Province Family Camp.

Thank you very much for praying for this camp. It was a very blessed week. God provided very good weather in spite of a forecast, which promised rain every day. We had some rain, but it never interrupted our program. To God be the Glory!!!

The Family Camp was from June 20 to 25. Families from several churches in the Tambov Province spent time together in a warm family atmosphere. Parents attended daily seminars where they got healthy spiritual food. During this time kids had their own program. There were games and crafts in which the whole family could participate. The goal of these activities was to provide opportunity for families to be more united, as they helped each other and worked together in different activities. They had a lot of fun. Some of the activities included volleyball, horseback riding, sport games and a climbing wall and the forest provided a nice atmosphere for walks.

A couple of new believers brought their non-Christian spouses and children. We wrote in a previous letter about Andrey Tkachev, who started attending Church last fall after the music concerts with the worship team from Alabama.  He became a believer just a month ago after attending church services and David’s Home Bible Study group for several months. Praise the Lord that his wife repented at the family camp!

• PRAY for the Tkachev family as new believers, and that their three small children would know Christ at an early age.
• PRAY for Christian families to be strengthened; for the church families to have more love for one another; and for more unbelieving spouses to come to Christ.

On June 26, a basketball team from Community Baptist Church of San Jose, CA arrived to help us do a sports outreach in Tambov. They made many contacts with locals on the outdoor basketball courts.  A tournament was played on Friday for guys 17 and under with 10 teams competing for first place.  There was a great environment and everybody had a lot of fun.  On Saturday, there was a tournament for guys 18 and older, and many of the younger guys who played on Friday came and watched.  The weather forecast again did not look good.  We prayed every day and instead of the thunder showers that were predicted we had blue skies and white clouds. The games and tournaments went on without interruption.  Praise the Lord!! All of the participants were invited to attend a special closing event on Sunday evening at the Central Church. The program included games, testimonies, songs, a slide show of the tournaments and a gospel message.

• Praise God for another miracle. Many of the basketball players and some of their parents came for the first time to the church and had opportunity to hear the Word of God and we got to know each other better.  God is working to build trust in the minds of unbelievers toward believers who are of the Baptist church. 

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.  We value your partnership with us to realize God’s work in the lives of the families at Camp and the young people and their parents during the Basketball Evangelism Outreach.

Please now pray with us for the upcoming events:

• July 4 –July 16 -  Evangelism in Mordovo (Church planting)
• July 19 – 30 Evangelism events in Rzhaksa (Church planting)
• July 25-August 5 – Lighthouse of Hope youth camp
• August 11-14 - Tent Evangelism in Kirsanov (Church planting)
• Aug 18-21: HiBA Club Leaders Conference

Family News:

On Sunday, July 17, our youngest son, Erik, will be baptized here in Tambov along with others from our church, Truth Baptist.  We praise God that He provided for David to travel to California to attend Emik’s and Edward’s baptism in June.  We are thankful for our boys and the work of grace that God has done and continues to do in their lives.  Please continue to pray for each of them as they seek God’s wisdom from His Word and our advice as they are becoming young men learning to make good decisions and choosing what is best in their personal lives in order to glorify God with their whole life.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support. May you know God’s richest blessings in your life!

Gratefully,

The Andrusyaks

David and Alesya (Emik, Edward and Erik)

Peace to you our dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

Finally summer is here. We are praising God for a lot of sun and longer days. (We will rest from 6 months of winter:).  We use this time for evangelism, youth outreach, Church planting, and Christian camps.

More than a year we have been working in the town of Mordovo which is located 90 km from Tambov and Rzhaksa which is 120 km from Tambov. These are two of the towns where we are planning to plant new churches. We are visiting them every week for Bible study. This summer we will go and do some social work, like repair a fence, fix toilets (outhouse) put new wallpaper, clean house, etc. We will work during the day and will have Christian concerts and Bible study in evenings.

We were praying this whole year to find the family who can live in Mordovo  full time. We found an Ukrainian family who were church planters in Uzbekistan and because of pressure from the Muslim government they are escaping to Russia. They are coming to live in Mordovo and planning to come in July. Please pray for this family for their transition as they will continue the ministry we started.

June 20-25. For the first time in Tambov region we will have a family camp. As missionaries, we were asked to help organize this camp. We expect up to 25 families, some of them are not Christians. Please pray for us and pastor Vadim as we prepare the program.

June 25-July 5.

A basketball team is coming from Chinese Baptist Church of San Jose, CA. We will have street evangelism using basketball.  They will play ball in different locations in the city of Tambov with local teams.  We will be prepared to share the Gospel in each location. Please pray ….

On Easter Sunday our Vietnamese friends were hosted in a home where they watched with great interest the “Jesus” film in their own language. It was the first time for some of them to hear about Jesus.  They had good questions after the film ended. The first thing they wanted to know was if we really believed that this Jesus existed and did we believe he did all these miracles.  What a blessing to share more personally with the men the Good News of the Gospel. They continue to meet every Sunday. Please pray for the salvation of the one young man who serves as a translator.  His name is Hai.  He is finished with university as of this June and will return home to Vietnam in July.  Please pray….

Here is a list of some of our Summer ministries:

June 7-14 -  Family conference for Eurasia SEND missionaries.

June 20-25 -  Family camp for Tambov region

June 25- July 4 - Sport evangelism with Basketball team from the US

July 3 – 8 Children’s Camp

July 7 - Family from Uzbekistan coming to Mordovo

July 25-August 5 - Christian youth camp

August 11-14 - Tent Evangelism in Kirsanov (Church planting)

August 17-21 - Discipleship camp

Thank you again for your love and support!

David and Alesya Andrusyak

Christ is Risen!!!! He is Risen indeed!!!!

What a Jo to have a living God who is a always with us.

We can see His work in our live and in the lives of our children every day! Thank you our dear friends for bringing us before Him.  Our family is doing great. All of our boys will be baptize this summer; Emic and Edward in Sacramento, CA and Erik here in Tambov, Russia! It will be sad for us not to be with older boys in the US. However, it is exiting for us to see our kids dedicate their lives to God.  We are praising God for our boys and for all of you who are always praying for our family.

More exciting news…. two Sundays ago one girl, Tanya, repented and decided to follow Jesus. She was at the music concert when the worship band from Alabama came last fall and started to visit our Church. Her father is not very exited that she is going to a Baptist Church. We meet with her on a regular basis; she has a lot of questions.  Please pray for her that she will grow in Christ and, by her example, her parents will follow Christ, too.

Andrey Tkachev was also at that concert and now he is coming to church regularly and attends our Bible study group that meets in our home every Tuesday. He still has some doubts. Please pray that his faith will grow and he will know the Truth. We started the Bible study group for new believers and for others who are interested in the Bible.  

In an earlier letter we spoke about a group of Vietnamese people who came to our Church in Tambov because they wanted to learn Russian.  They are working in a shoe factory here in Tambov.  At this time our co-workers, Rick Kirschman and Gabe Garrison meet with them every Sunday afternoon to build friendships and to teach them Russian.  This Easter Sunday afternoon the Vietnamese group is invited by our coworkers, to watch the “Jesus” movie in their own language and dialect.  We are glad that they can hear the message of Hope and Life in their own language. Please pray that the seeds of truth that will be in their hearts will grow in God’s timing. 

We have good news about our support also.  In our last letter we reported that we needed to receive $780 more per month to reach full support.  We give thanks to God and to those who responded to this need.   We are praising the Lord for you.  Currently we need only $420 per month.  Please continue to pray with us about this need and if any of you are able to help us at this time please contact us or direct your donation to SEND International for “Andrusyak account #160367.”

Wishing you a blessed Easter,  

David & Alesya Andrusyak