From the 2nd until the 14th of April, we (a Team from Russia) had the privilege to serve at Oasis in different ministries, visiting refugees, and learning about Oasis’ ministry. It was the first missionary trip that everyone on our team had ever gone on. God called each of us in very specific ways to join this short-term Oasis team. Nobody knew what exactly we would face in helping the refugees. God really surprised us! We can say for sure that we received much more than we gave! God showed us how deeply He loves everybody on the Earth: Every nation, every human life. The first thing that we experienced was an unconditional and profound Love that every member of the Oasis team shares with the refugees and with each other. They really fight for every heart of the refugees to receive Jesus as their Savior, and receive eternal life. We experienced love and care from them. And we can’t help but to stop to thank them for these miraculous 12 days!
We learned how important just a cup of coffee, a pair of shoes, a warm greeting, or a smile can be for a person who has lost everything and is living in a foreign country. These are such little things that we rarely think about in our every day lives. But it is through these little things that God can reveal His love to everyone.
For us, it was a new experience associating with different nationalities. There are a lot of natives from the Caucasus in Moscow. And not all of them behave politely. Some of us encountered this in Moscow, and as a result, we had a bad opinion about these people. But through building relationships with Chechens and becoming friends, our viewpoints have radically changed. We enjoyed out time learning about Chechen culture and language, listening to their stories, and discussing religious views. God turned our uncertainty about Chechens into love. We were so happy to talk with them in Russian and see the joy in their eyes. We cried with an Uzbek woman, who was in a hospital with her daughter. She said that she felt like all of her emotions were ready to explode because she couldn't express herself to others around her who could not understand Russian. We are thankful to God that He placed us nearby her in that moment.
Wednesday night was a very special time. So many people from different nations want to come closer to God! We felt that we touched the heart of God, who suffers and weeps with these people and wants to save them so much!
There were a lot of testimonies of how Iranians and Afghans became Christians. Their stories encouraged us and we know now that it is possible for Russian speaking Muslims to know Jesus too.
Of course we want to come again if we will have an opportunity!
With love in Christ
Svetlana, Egor, Kristina, Lena, Maria, Maxim, Olga.
From Moscow, Russia.
We learned how important just a cup of coffee, a pair of shoes, a warm greeting, or a smile can be for a person who has lost everything and is living in a foreign country. These are such little things that we rarely think about in our every day lives. But it is through these little things that God can reveal His love to everyone.
For us, it was a new experience associating with different nationalities. There are a lot of natives from the Caucasus in Moscow. And not all of them behave politely. Some of us encountered this in Moscow, and as a result, we had a bad opinion about these people. But through building relationships with Chechens and becoming friends, our viewpoints have radically changed. We enjoyed out time learning about Chechen culture and language, listening to their stories, and discussing religious views. God turned our uncertainty about Chechens into love. We were so happy to talk with them in Russian and see the joy in their eyes. We cried with an Uzbek woman, who was in a hospital with her daughter. She said that she felt like all of her emotions were ready to explode because she couldn't express herself to others around her who could not understand Russian. We are thankful to God that He placed us nearby her in that moment.
Wednesday night was a very special time. So many people from different nations want to come closer to God! We felt that we touched the heart of God, who suffers and weeps with these people and wants to save them so much!
There were a lot of testimonies of how Iranians and Afghans became Christians. Their stories encouraged us and we know now that it is possible for Russian speaking Muslims to know Jesus too.
Of course we want to come again if we will have an opportunity!
With love in Christ
Svetlana, Egor, Kristina, Lena, Maria, Maxim, Olga.
From Moscow, Russia.
2 comments:
super
This is so exciting! I'm so glad the trip went well!
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