CIS Prayer: December Update

[CarlaSun@aol.com]

Dear Prayer Partners,

The Lord is moving and doing great things in the CIS.   We want to take this opportunity to thank and praise Him.

Over 50% of all men in the former Soviet Union today are alcoholics.   Nearly every family is touched by someone that is an alcoholic or addicted to drugs.   The outreach and ministry to alcoholics is reaping incredible results.   Just last week Chuck and I had the opportunity to be in Ukraine.   Near the town of Vinnitsa are two drug and alcohol rehab centers.   We stood in one center as a group of sober men, praised the Lord for the new life that they've been given!   The result of this ministry is an incredible team of new believers that feel called to plant new churches and take the message of salvation back to their homes.   The team in Ukraine, led by Bob Skinner, have dreams of planting up to 10 new churches this next year as a result of this ministry.   

On Thursday of this last week a woman came to meet Bob Skinner.   She came out of her gratitude, because for the first time in nearly twenty years her brother is sober.   She can't believe that it's the same man.   This woman happens to be head of the tax police in the area of Vinnitsa.   She is a lawyer and an accountant, a very powerful woman with connections to all the heads of government in the Vinnitsa area.   She wanted to offer her services to be of any help possible to the Church of the Nazarene.   She said that the message of this ministry needs to be spread throughout Western Ukraine.   This woman would like to bring in television cameras to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is setting people free through the ministry to alcoholics in Ukraine.   

As we talked with the Skinners and the Wrights, we realized that we were probably getting to witness a movement of the Holy Spirit, similar to the early days in Los Angeles and the old Glory Barn.   It is incredible to watch God work.

Pastor Tanya Cantarella at Moscow First Church has also been praying about the needs of the alcoholics in her church's community.   The church is on the 2nd floor of a two-story building, with a grocery store on the 1st floor.   At 9:00 AM the doors open and the line forms for the purchase of alcohol.   The people stand in front of the church and get drunk nearly every day.   Several weeks ago Pastor Tanya began to pray that God would send an alcoholic to church that could be sent to the rehab center and come back to minister to the alcoholics.   One Sunday morning before the worship service a drunk man came into the church and asked if he could be helped.   He wanted his life back and wanted to stop drinking.   Pastor Tanya invited him back later in the week and she would help to send him to the rehab center.   She shared this during the worship service and the entire congregation prayed together that God would send them alcoholics.   Within three minutes the man returned to church, even more drunk than before.  He tried to sit through the service, swaying and falling all over the people where he was sitting.   Finally he passed out and dropped to the floor.   Several of the men took him to the kitchen and stayed with him to the end of the service.   Please pray for Sergei as Pastor Tanya is helping him get his documents together to send him to rehab.   He came by church today and daily confesses that he wants to be set free!

We have been praying that God would help us to plant the Church of the Nazarene in all the republics of the former Soviet Union.   It is incredible to watch how God works.   We had returned home late on Thursday night.   On Friday morning we received a phone call from a young man named Igor.   He is a former Mig pilot.   His family lives in Belarus while he's been working in Volgograd.   In Volgograd he became acquainted with the Church of the Nazarene.   He was on his way home to Belarus and wanted to know if he could open a Nazarene Church in his country.   We had a great time of sharing and prayer with him.   Please pray for Igor and the work in Belarus.

Cinda Kammermann has been in Astana, Kazakstan teaching two weeks of intensive classes in Christian Ethics and Spiritual Formation.   She will return to Russia on Wednesday and we are anticipating great reports from her.   The number of students in Kazakstan has nearly doubled in the last year.   

This morning two teenage young ladies came to the altar to accept Christ as their personal Savior.   
We praise God for what He is doing day after day.   We are encouraged!   There are more exciting stories from across the Field.   We will share those with you in the days ahead.   

Thanks so much for praying.   At this time of year we ask for special prayer for our Christmas programs.   Nearly all of our churches will have special services over the Christmas holidays, including outreach and ministry to prisons, orphanages and schools.   Christmas is such a new holiday for the people here so it's an exciting opportunity to tell people about Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Carla Sunberg -- for the whole CIS Team!