The News from Here – March 2006 Hello from (finally) sunny Ivanovo, Russia. We are enjoying spring rain and warmer weather along with melting snow and mud. But, we are beginning to see some grass and flowers are sprouting, so we know, soon, everything will burst forth in new life.
I hope this newsletter finds you enjoying the same awakening and recreation in the spirit that this season brings in the physical.
Light invading the darkness Sergei and I are continuing to minister wherever we are called. We were recently asked to do mime at a restaurant in a neighboring city and, of course, we accepted. When we go into these places, we do not compromise our message or go to “entertain”. The patrons think it will be entertainment, but soon realize we are presenting a message and we always have results from either patrons or the staff or management.
At this last place, after we had finished our presentation, the manager of the restaurant came to us with tears in his eyes and talked of how much his heart was touched by our presentation. He said he had seen theatrical performances and expected our to be the same, but realized ours had a much deeper message and finished with, “I understood.”
Another example was when Sergei and I were shopping for shoes and the clerk, a young lady, came up to us and asked if she could speak with us. We agreed and she asked about our testimonies, which Sergei shared and, when he mentioned our work with youth and the youth center we recently opened, she got VERY interested and asked for information about when and where. When Sergei mentioned we were mimes, she said, “I know. I saw you before and that’s why I wanted to talk with you. Your pantomimes had meaning.”
Sergei and I agreed one can never know where they will share a testimony and when a seed is sown which we never knew we sowed.
Another example was a recent publication here in the city. From time to time, a magazine is put out about the city named “Gold Faces”. It chronicles events of the city from night clubs and bars to cultural events. It contains only photos and “VIPs” are labeled with names to show what “known” people were in attendance.
We laughed because this last publication contains a photo of me and my wife, Luda, at the theater and is labeled with my name as if I am a person of importance.
It also had a photo of Sergei doing mime at the Mr. Ivanovo contest I wrote to you about.
All in all, Sergei and I realize we are becoming known in the city since we, alone, do mime and the yearly presentations at the theater have gained us recognition.
May the Lord be praised for using these avenues for His work.
Youth center opens We opened our youth center and have begun preparations for having events almost daily there. We are planning to have guitar lessons, voice, photography and to form a club for students to speak English.
We are having our Friday night youth meetings there and they are exploding! The youth, after the first two meetings there, stated it’s as if we’ve gone to a new level in Praise and Worship and in the teachings.
The atmosphere is almost electric and filled with anticipation each week.
Our weekly youth prayer has 30+ in attendance each week and we have only had the center open for 3 weeks now!
Baptisms We did a baptism service at the church and I was privileged to baptize two young men during the celebration. Ilya is a member of my home group and Aleksei a new convert whom I have befriended.
Ilya began coming to youth as a quiet and shy young man who felt isolated and alone. Now, he is a member of the church usher team and always has a huge smile and is a friend to ALL the youth. he and I have developed a bond of friendship and he is currently finishing the “School of Leaders” at the church.
Alekcei was just delivered from drug addiction. He came to the church downcast and burdened with guilt and not really sure he would be accepted. Now, I never see him not laughing. He is also now actively involved in our work with addicts and helping them find deliverance.
Rehearsals continue for the outreach As I said earlier, the yearly outreaches we do at the theater have an impact on this city. We hope to do this year’s performance in mid-June.
With that in mind, we are continuing our rehearsals and the dance team is learning quickly. We are teaching mime skills to our newest members who desire to be a part of the performance and everyone is nursing sore muscles and secretly holding a grudge against their teacher for making them work so hard.
With the recognition of Sergei and me growing, we are planning on changing the promotion to “Randy King / Sergei Sorokin and Shout”. (“Shout” is the name of the youth mime group)
Sergei gets a promotion Sergei has been on his job for just over 4 months now and recently got a promotion. He has been made plant manager of one of the large textile plants in our city.
When I asked him how it felt, he said it was a somber moment when he realized all the people that look to him, now, for answers.
He was presented to the plant employees by the company president and called me from his new office during a break.
He and I laugh, but it is really an example of God’s blessing for his faithfulness.
Closing requests In closing, I would like to ask you to be praying for a couple of things.
Luda and I hope to make a trip back to the States at the end of May to attend my youngest daughter’s graduation and are beginning the process of getting her visa and raising money for the tickets. Please be praying about this and, if you so desire, can designate and offering to help pay for the trip.
Secondly, as we continue to prepare for the yearly outreach, we will be asking for support for that, also. We will need to rent the theater and pay for advertising. Each year for the past 5 years, the Lord has used you to answer the need and I ask that you would see what He would have you give this year.
If you haven’t’ given before, but wanted to, please send your donation for that.
Thank you for your continued support in prayer and finances. As you read these monthly newsletters, remember it isn’t just my story, it’s yours because none of this could happen without you.
May the Lord Jesus richly bless you.
Keep the Faith,
Randy