This month we have not had one set ministry that we are working with. We have been doing a lot of different things to get people connected to Andrew Mineev (the pastor of The New Ark Church and our main contact) and/or campus crusades, as well as, encouraging those who are already connected. Our translator is with us 24/7 to help us have conversations with people.
Teaching English: We met with Campus Crusades last week and they asked us if we would be able to teach English to help them get connected to people. So we went to several college campuses to pass out flyers to advertise our English class. We held our first class on Monday and had two different session times. Our first session we had 3 people show up. After the session, the girls stayed for tea and dessert. We were able to talk with them and some of my team shared their stories with them. The second session we had a lot more people show up. I helped teach the “beginners” class with Jessica and Kameron and we had 8 students. Campus Crusade staff was there and they were able to talk with the people that came. At the end of each session we invited everyone to a youth night that we had tonight.
Youth Nights: There are not many youth that are interested in church or anything. Here the church is very conservative and legalistic so they do not want to have anything to do with church or God. Our contact wants to dispel those beliefs and asked us to have youth nights where we would invite teens/young adults in for a time of fellowship and fun. Last week we went around the neighborhood where we are staying and invited people out on the streets to come hang out with us. Thursday was our first youth night and we had a lot of people show up. The team was able to connect with many of them. We had our second one tonight and again we had many people show up – we even had several from the English classes yesterday! Tonight we shared with them what we have been doing and showed pictures. We will be having two more youth nights and hope that they will continue even when we are gone.
Kids Program: The church we are connected with (The New Ark) has an after school program M-F where underprivileged kids come for a meal and then time together. Since we have been here, we have had the opportunity to organize different activities for them. We have played games, taught English, done Bible lessons, and made crafts. We haven’t been able to be with them everyday since we have a lot of other ministries we are involved with but we have definitely made connections with them that they are excited to see us, even if in passing.
Home Visits: We have gone on multiple home visits with Andrew. On these home visits, we are invited in to church members homes. We are there to meet with them and encourage them. We spend time getting to know them and encouraging them. The people here are very hospitable. They invite us in and offer us tea, coffee, and food. We share our stories/testimonies and listen to theirs. It is a great time of fellowship.
Cell groups: As I mentioned in the “Youth Nights” section, many people do not want to come to church because of the way it is viewed here. Most unbelievers do not want to step foot into a church building. For this reason, Andrew has started a couple different cell groups (meetings in people’s homes) in hopes that unbelievers would feel more comfortable to come and hear what they have to say. We went to 2 different ones – sang songs and shared our testimonies. They also shared their stories. The one group was all women and the majority of their husbands do not approve of them going to the group. Their faith in God is so strong that that relationship is more important than it is for them to please their husbands. 
