This year I celebrate my 40th anniversary as a Pastor at Fellowship Christian Church. And, not only have I been a pastor for 40 years, but I have been a pastor at the same church for those 40 years.  Many have asked, “How do you survive in one place as a pastor for 40 years?”  The answer that I give, “I started going on short-term mission’s trips 20 years ago.”

Let me explain.  When I reached my 20th anniversary at Fellowship, I was beginning to feel fatigue.  Twenty years of preaching to the same people and the same people listening to me for twenty years equals fatigue all around.  It is hard stay fresh doing the same thing at the same place year after year.  When I began going on short-term mission trips, my attitude and perspective changed. I felt that I had something more to preach at Fellowship; about a church that had local, national, and international mission.

The short-term mission trips began in 1992 when Barbara and I visited Rick and Heather Ives in St. Petersburg, Russia.  I went to Russia in obedience.  Rick and Heather were sent as missionaries from Christ’s Church Fellowship, a small alliance of churches.  I was a member of this organization and believed that Rick and Heather needed personal support.  Upon entering Russia, I remember Rick giving the introduction to our trip by saying, “Eat when you can, drink water when you can, go to the bathroom when you can because food, water, and restrooms are hard to find.”  Since Rick is now a staff pastor at Fellowship, I’ve worked with him to improve his initial orientation speech for short-timers!

Since 1992, I’ve visited Russia at least 35 times.  I’ve been there winter (very cold), summer (it doesn’t get dark), spring, and fall.  There have been the lost saved, pastors trained, churches started and leaders mentored.  The work that now exists is amazing – dozens of churches, thousands of Christians, orphanages, prison ministries, rehab houses, and leadership training.  Money and time well spent on my part!

But it isn’t what I’ve done; it is about what I’ve gained—an invigorated ministry, an enduring freshness, and a church in Springfield that has benefited from my international experiences.  A mission trip a year, or even two or three mission trips a year, keeps the lethargy and tendency to become stale in check.  The ability to get out of town and preach about Jesus and discipleship has been the key to my desire and ability to remain as Pastor of Fellowship Christian Church for 40 years.

In this special edition of the RRR newsletter you will find a 20-year announcement card inviting you to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of our work in Russia—THE World’s GREATEST MISSIONS FIELD! Thank you for praying for us, giving to us, going with us, and partnering with us in this great adventure for the Lord and the Russian people!

Many of you may not know that this ministry exists because of Israel! Really! In November of 1991, when I was a new youth pastor and just starting my ministry “career,” Heather and I went on a tour of the Holy Land with over 100 other pilgrims.  We had an awesome time seeing the land of the Bible. Well, little did I know that God had taken us all the way to Israel for a bigger reason—two really. First, flying home from Tel Aviv to the US, at 4:00 am in the morning, God very clearly spoke to me. In fact, I wrote down exactly what He said to me in a book I was reading and have it to this day to remember that the voice I heard was really the voice of God.

What did God say? Essentially, that we were to move to Russia and become missionaries, immediately, and leave everything else behind. Wow!  So friends, the ministry you know as RRR was actually birthed on an El Al 747 jumbo-jet in late November of 1991!

A very short six months later, in May of 1992, Heather and I entered Russia for the first time and rented a tiny flat In the tiny town of Morozova, which is a suburb of St. Petersburg and more aptly understood as a village, and began reaching out to the lost in Russia. And the rest, as they say, is history…except that the story is still being written by the Lord as the work of RRR now goes full-speed ahead into year 21.

Well, only God knew, and He kept it secret from me, that 20 years later, in February of 2012, that Hez and I would go BACK TO ISRAEL.  While in Israel, I met with Russian Jews who converted to Christianity and became Pastors for the over one million Russian Jews living in Israel.   My partners and I were able to have the contacts and credibility to meet these precious Russians, both in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, because we have 20 years of experience working in Russia with RRR. And today, it looks like we have a new open door to start working in Israel with Russians Christians. The ministry may well evolve into Russians Reaching Russians in Russia, Israel, and to the ends of the earth! What an exciting thing—to watch God bring this all FULL CIRCLE – Russia, the ives, Israel and YOU!

NYET TSERKVEE!

I remember the first time we visited Morozova, before we knew we would actually live there, we met a man named Nikolai who was a Christian wanting to start a church there. He was on a bus with Heather and me and we had no interpreter. Nikolai was very excited to be with Americans who were considering moving to Russia, and he was scribbling what appeared to be a map on an old piece of crumpled paper. It turned out that Nikolai was writing down the names of all the towns in the area, and then pointing to each one and saying “Nyet Tserkvee.” He pointed and said it over and over: “Nyet Tserkvee.  Nyet Tserkvee.” Well, Heather and I knew just enough Russian to figure out what Nikolai was saying. He pointed to the names of all the towns in the area and said There is “NO CHURCH” here, there is “NO CHURCH” here, etc.  Nyet Tserkvee – No church! This broke our hearts, and God moved on us, and, within a very short time, we were living in Morozova.  In less than a year, the Lord helped us start four churches in that area, and, today, RRR has been used to help start over 60 churches in the St. Petersburg area! Thank you for making “nyet tserkvee’ less of a reality in Russia!

I asked my partner and beloved wife, Heather (called Hez by Russians because there is no “th” in the Russian alphabet, to give her impression of the past 20 years in Russia:

From Heather  Ives: “From two quite ordinary people, a trip to Israel, a call from God to go, their car blowing up on an errand from God to obtain funds for their future in Russia, all possessions packed away into a small storage unit and four very heavy suitcases, settling in a land very recently hostile to God with almost no one near who could speak their language, the first winter with no meat to buy for a month, no veggies or dairy for 3 months, dear, dear friends grafted forever in their hearts, churches worshiping God loudly like never before, the gospel preached boldly in the streets without threat of imprisonment, pastors, worship leaders, Sunday School teachers, and churches birthing and budding to life nearly over night, growing Christians into mature believers and leaders, God raising up these growing saints as apostles and missionaries to minister in other lands, and God’s work continues … as God’s call continues to ring out … Go into all the world.”

Thanks Hez, for all you have done to make this dream in Russia a reality!

As you CELEBRATE with us, please allow me to ask what I have been asking you for 20 years! Please pray for RRR and especially the Russian pastors who are doing a great work for the Lord in the face of ever-increasing opposition. Please GIVE to RRR.  Every dollar is a big help.  WOULD YOU CONSIDER a SPECIAL 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIFT?  YOUR FUNDS ARE ALWAYS HELPFUL AND TIMELY, AND WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO YET IN RUSSIA!  And, please, consider going to Russia with us.  Watch our newsletter or website for details on upcoming trips.

UPDATE ON RICK IVES’ HEALTH – CLIMBING MT. MASADA!

AS you can see from the photo of us in Israel in February, I am alive and well! Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. Having undergone intense radiation and chemo-therapy last March and April, I have now been cancer free, as of today, for just under one year! I am checked regularly by two doctors, and, so far, every exam, every scan, etc. have all been good news!

The throat cancer that attacked me seems to be gone, permanently, in Jesus’ name. I am starting to be able to taste more foods (and am gaining weight), my energy level is up. I can talk and preach without pain. My ability to produce saliva still needs to improve, and I would appreciate your prayers for that. But, overall, PRAISE THE LORD for His touch of healing and for the excellent doctors He has provided me! While in Israel, I actually walked, on a hot day, to the top of Masada, a famous fortress on top of a mountain next to the Dead Sea. It was 1000 steps straight up, and I made it because God has healed and restored me!

VLAD AND MARINA! You will notice a photo of Heather and me with a Russian couple you have not seen before. They are Vladislav (Vlad) and Marina Dzedik. I met Vlad, who spoke English, during my first trip into Russia with Heather in May of 1992. God brought Vlad to us and he worked as our first interpreter during our all important first year in Russia. We could have done nothing without Vlad. During his year with us in Morozova, Vlad met marina, they were married, and, today, have three children. Heather and I had a 20-year RRR reunion in St. Petersburg last November, and we got to see Vlad and Marina for the first time in 18 years! I thank the Lord for so many people he has brought to help us!

From Denis Kozlov:

The work of RRR has always been based on personal relationships between people, which is biblical, genuine andpowerful. Personal relationship and personal discipleship are not simply a way of doing mission work, it’s the only way to do mission work in most countries. God has used Pastor Grant to bring an awareness of the need to restore biblical discipleship in today’s church, and He used RRR to equip many Russian pastors with a practical knowledge of how to foster discipleship.

As we enter a new decade of ministry, I see different pieces of the puzzle come together more and more, which is exciting.  Jesus will be glorified in many great ways in this work, as He was glorified in the previous 20 years.

From Pastor Vladimir Osipov: Pease and grace from our Lord and blessings to you from our hearts.

I thank God that he allowed us to meet and for uniting us in our efforts to reach people for the gospel.  20 years in Russia is not only proof of your faithfulness to your calling and of your obedience to the Lord, but it is also evidence of your love for us.

RRR is one of the very first ministries that has actually entrusted the work to indigenous people, trusting that, since they are born in the culture, they would do a better job of reaching out to fellow countrymen for the Gospel because they know the specifics of people’s mentality and particular problems they face.

We have reached the stage where our mission school is paid for by several churches that we recently started with the help of the graduates of the school. Most of the graduates of the school become workers and church-planters in different regions of Russia. I would like to thank you for your support. We know that current economy doesn’t make it easy, but you’re still doing it in spite of present circumstances. Thank you!

Also, it is always encouraging when you come to Russia with teams of brothers and sisters. Through those visits, we have grown close to you and you have become great friends in the Lord. We are so impressed with the faith of Rick, the courage of Heather, the wisdom of pastor Grant and the faithfulness of all the people that support this ministry.

We hope our work together is pleasing to the Lord and brings blessings to His kingdom.

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I recently visited Pastor Igor Sokolov, one of RRR’s leaders, to see how he and his church, Harvest Church, were doing.  During our time together, he told me how he completely changed the way the church conducts itself.As many of you know, most Russian Churches do not have a facility of their own where they can host activities. They typically rent a place to meet for the main services, which can be two or three times per week. So, the hope of most pastors and churches is to acquire a facility available 24/7.

At the end of 2010, Pastor Igor started negotiations with a Korean organization that owned real estate in the Saint Petersburg, and, in early 2011, they were able to reach an agreement and moved into a great facility.  It’s taken a while for them to become accustomed to a new way of ministry by utilizing their facility as much as possible. As such, the church launched a number of ministries to reach out to those in their immediate neighborhood.

Their new ministries include:

1)  Offering free counseling sessions for abused women with a certified counselor who is a member of Harvest.

2)  Launched a men’s training program to teach leadership skills based on a variety of programs, including John Maxwell’s leadership program. The men’s ministry is led by Pastor Igor, who, aside from having credentials, is very passionate about training men.  Pastor Igor is one of the keynote speakers at John Maxwell’s seminars in Russia.

3)  Launched a club for people who desire to learn English. English is very popular in Russia and very much demanded by the marketplace. Many seek to acquire English skills to improve their chances of finding a better job. The club is headed by English-speaking church members.

Harvest Church is extremely missions-minded. And, though summer can be slow for most Russian churches because many people go on vacation or spend their weekends at their “dachas” (summer houses), Harvest Church decided to make deliberate advances to go to all the different cities, towns and villages that surround Saint Petersburg. The put together small teams of church members who would visit a town to evangelize once a week. Their goal is to visit fifty towns to distribute New Testaments and Christian literature, talk to people and invite them to whatever local church there is, and, if possible, lead some to salvation right there. Harvest’s efforts are going very well, and of the fifty towns and villages they’ve targeted, they have already visited 30.

Personal Transitions:

Aside from the recent transitions in the life of the Church, Pastor Igor and his wife Angelica are experiencing a bit of a transition in their family life.  On a recent visit to Angelica’s home town in the region of Karellia, they learned that a distant relative has been leading a horrible life because of alcohol addiction. They also discovered that this relative had a teenage daughter who experienced the horrors of an addicted.  Needless to say, the daughter’s lifestyle was inturmoil.

When Pastor Igor and Angelica went to that village, they found that the house was in shambles. There was no food, no locks on the doors, and empty vodka bottles were strewn all over.  The mother lived with two men who were abusive toward the woman’s daughter.  In fact, one of the men severely injured her by throwing a big mug and hitting her in the head with it.

When Pastor Igor and Angelica saw what was going on, they were horrified, so they began spending time with her.  When their visit was nearly over, they talked the girl’s mother into letting her daughter (Lera) go with them back to Saint Petersburg for the winter holidays to stay with them for a week and to see the city.  By the end of Lera’s visit, both Igor and Angela were 100% sure that the Lord was leading them to adopt her.  Though there are many, many details of this story, let’s just say that the end result is wonderful.  Lera happily agreed to become a new family member and Igor’s daughters received her warmly into the family.  Since then, she has become a Christian, is now involved in all kinds of church programs for youth and attends a Christian school.  Lera received both a new physical family and new spiritual family in one package, and, in her case, it was a dramatic transfer from a painful world of anguish, darkness and despair into the light, love and hope that she now has in Christ with the help of Igor’s family and church.

This is a great story that I just had to share with you.

My Transition:

Many of you know me, and you may have noticed that I love to laugh with my friends. But, for many years, my teeth have been a source of continual frustration. Over the years, I lost many of my real teeth, and, for years, I have been trying to fix them.  Two years ago, one of my front teeth broke off.  To fix it, I needed to go through a complicated surgical process that I could not afford.  So, I learned to live with it, smile less, and cover my mouth when I laughed, which was hard for me because most of the things I do in life I do by talking to individuals and groups (translate, preach, negotiate, coordinate).

Various dentists told me that the day would come when another tooth next to the missing one would break, too.  I dreaded that moment.  Eventually, that day came, and right in the middle of a mission trip as I was helping brothers from the US minister in Russian churches, it happened.  I was mortified because I felt that there was no way anyone would want to hire an interpreter with my new-found look to work with them.  To make a long story short, those American brothers who were ministering on that trip took pity on me and immediately told me that they would help me financially with any dental procedures I needed—and they did.  It’s been a month since I started to re-learn how to smile again, and I pray this work will stay for a long time.  R

Praise the Lord and thanks to a brother from Ohio and a family from Oklahoma that helped me with this problem of mine.

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Our itinerary will also include ministering alongside of our Russian pastors in Saint Petersburg.  We’ll experience, firsthand, how the ministry of RRR is impacting thousands of Russians in various contexts, including orphanages, prisons, rehabilitation centers and, of course, churches, which comprises the main thrust or our work.

All in all, this trip will combine ministry and cultural experiences to provide everyone with spiritual and historical perspectives of the Russian landscape.  We hope you’ll have an opportunity to be a part of this trip.

To express your interest in joining us this fall, please contact Heather Ives at 937.322.5381 or via email at iveshez@yahoo.com

Ivan Voronin is a young man from Pushkin who recently came to Christ and experienced deliverance from drug addiction. His amazing testimony shows a Christ who heals today just as He did 2000 years ago.

My name is Ivan Voronin. I was born on the 26th of April of 1984 in Komi Republic (northern region of Russia) in the town of Ukhta. I started taking drugs in 2000. In 2005 I ended up in a Christian rehabilitation center for drug-addicts and I went through the full rehabilitation program. I praised the Lord for delivering me from the addiction but the consequences of my drug usage still haunted me. I was diagnosed with hepatitis (type C). The doctors said I was doomed. I was devastated by their verdict. When I got to the rehab center Christians that were running it told me that God can heal people even from incurable diseases.

Every time pastors or ministers would come and visit us I asked them to pray for my healing. Also, I have been asking the Lord personally to touch me. But doctors kept confirming their diagnosis time after time. In 2010 pastor Vladimir Osipov offered to pray for this specific need together with the entire church. They did it three times (three Sunday services). After the first Sunday prayer I went to have my blood checked again. After the second Sunday prayer I went to my doctor again to receive the results of the test. The result came back as NEGATIVE! The hepatitis was totally gone! Not a single sign of it was left. I was totally healed in March of 2011. Hallelujah!!!

There is a group of new students in the Mission school run by Pastor Vladimir Osipov in the city of Pushkin. Most of these guys were saved and delivered from drug-addiction. They have gone through the rehabilitation program at the rehab center. Now they want to

return to their home towns and serve God in helping other drug addicts and other people whose life was ruined by sin. Please pray for this group to be faithful to the end and fulfill their dream to become Christ’s ambassadors

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Taste of missions 2011 from Denis Kozlov on Vimeo.

The Next 20 Years for Russians Reaching Russians
First, RRR preached the gospel; then RRR trained pastors; then RRR planted churches – now RRR continues to do all of the above, but also focuses on training Russian leaders of leaders. Most Russian Christian leaders are 20 years or younger in the faith – during the 70 years Russia was communist, the generation to generation of leaders mentoring leaders was lost! In Russia there are no Bible college campuses and seminaries with strong evangelical traditions and few pastors with Bible college or seminary training at all. While western Christians rushed to preach the gospel in the early 90’s in Russia, few stayed to plant churches and train leaders.
Today Russian leaders don’t have the financial, educational, or leadership training to lead and build influential churches and Christian organizations. This is the need today in Russia … Russian Leaders Developed to Train Other Russian Leaders. And this is the goal of Russians Reaching Russians for the next twenty years!

Denis Kozlov in America Now … Needs a Barnabas or two to help him make connections!
Denis Kozlov is in American now. He will be here till mid-April. He still has several weekends open to minister at churches and he wants to meet with any and all supporters of Russians Reaching Russians personally.
Recently Denis wrote … In Acts 11 Barnabas went to Tarsus to get Saul (Paul) to help Barnabas minister to the growing church in Antioch. Barnabas was Paul’s connection to the Gentile church that would later send out Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles. I now need a few Barnabas types who will introduce me to pastors, churches, and friends who are interested in learning more about reaching Russians.
You can contact Denis at reachingrussians@gmail.com or by calling 937-360-1272.

20th Anniversary Trip to Russia: October, 2011!
In October, 1992, my wife Barbara and I visited Russia for the first time. I still remember the day we arrived in Russia, in a town on the Russia/Finland border called Vyborg, when Rick Ives greeted us to Russia by saying, “This will be a busy trip for you. Eat when you can, sleep when you can, and shower when you can … because you won’t know when you can do these things again.”
Things have changed physically during the past 20 years in Russia. On my trip to Russia in May, I will be staying at a Marriott Courtyard in downtown St. Petersburg. But the spiritual condition is still difficult. This October, Russians Reaching Russians will be sponsoring a 20th Anniversary Trip to Russia. Tentative dates are October 17 to 26.
If you have wanted to go back to Russia or have wanted to go for the first time, this is the trip for you. We will be leading a Pastors training conference, ministering in churches, teaching in Christian re-hab units and visiting the Hermitage museum. Please pray about coming with us!
Financial Need … as part of the 20th Anniversary trip, $5,000 has to be raised to pay for Russian leaders to attend a leadership event in St. Petersburg. Please pray about contributing to this need and helping future generations of Russian leaders.

An Update on Pastor Rick Ives
Many of you already know that Rick Ives has been diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis for successful treatment is very good, with Rick’s doctors constantly confirming their expectation of full remission. Continue to keep Pastor Rick, Heather, and Anastasia in your prayer for his treatment and recovery over the next couple of months.
As mentioned in this RRR newsletter – RRR will be sponsoring a Pastor’s Training Conference in October of this year. We will be holding this conference as part of RRR’s 20th anniversary of ministry in Russia. We are confident that Pastor Rick and Heather will be a part of leading this conference.

PDF:  newsletter February 2011