Partnering Together

I think it is awesome that 10 college age young people have recently arrived to work on our team here in Moscow. Nine of these will stay for 2 months, live at a university dorm, study Russian, and hopefully develop meaningful relationships with Russian students. Pray for their adjustment here and for their witness.

On Sunday, 17 people came together at the Golovinski church plant for worship and Bible study. Among those who attended were 2 ladies who will receive baptism next month, 3 people who have not made a public profession of faith, and my friend (of a different faith) from Uzbekistan. Next week we will celebrate communion together! Thank you for rejoicing with us, as we watch God put together this body of believers step by step.

Blessings, Brad.

One of the special joys I have had over the last few weeks has been overhearing bits and pieces of conversation. Eavesdropping? No, just the pleasure of hearing a Grandpaw talk with his grandsons. Lori’s parents have been with us for the last 3 weeks. And just about every morning – early morning – between 6:00 and 7:00, one or more of my 3 sons would get up and go directly into the kitchen, where they would find their Grandpaw McSwain. Now, you have to realize that our kitchen is small. And yet, my boys would go and sit and simply converse with Grandpaw. About what? Everything – life, nature, God, whatever. And I have taken great joy in thanking God for this brief time when those Kitchen conversations could take place. Memories are a fun thing to create.

Blessings, Brad.

Thanks to you who have been praying for our meeting on Thursday night. We were turned down once again. There are many reasons for this, but all I will say now is that the director of the house of culture cannot go against the bylaws of the institution which prohibit a specific religious group from renting space and holding meetings on the territory. Although this is discouraging, we are asking for God to teach us more about His ways and purposes. What is He trying to teach us? Pray with us as our team of committed individuals seek other ways of structuring a new church plant without a consistent meeting place for corporate worship.

Blessings, Brad.

Testimony from Morning Prayer Time

This morning at a men’s prayer time, I had the privilege of hearing the following from a Russian brother, Alexei. He said that 6 months ago, his father told him to never talk about faith to him again. Recently, the father told Alexei that he wanted to begin reading the Bible together. Why? The father said, “Because you have been changed, and I see the changes in the way you live. I’ve noticed it over the last 6 months.” What a blessing it is for Alexei now to study the Bible with his father! Indeed, our actions speak louder than words, and indeed, people ARE watching. Blessings, Brad.

Pray for Timi team on Thursday night

On Thursday, 25th, in the evening, Sasha, Dema, Brad, and others from the “Timi” Team will meet with a director of a dom kultury ( a house of culture ), with the hopes that we will be able to rent a room for regular Sunday morning meeting times. The people are ready; but we just need a place to meet. Pray for God’s will to prevail as we meet tomorrow night. Thanks and blessings, Brad.

What a blessing it was yesterday, the 21st, that for the first time on a Sunday morning, our "mother church" and two of our church plants held separate corporate worship services at the same time.
Good News, the "mother church," met in one place. Genady's church plant in the G-region met in their apartment. And Sasha's church plant in the Timi-region met in yet another place.
Please keep praying for the two church plants to develop, and for Good News to keep producing daughter churches.

Blessings, Brad.

Yesterday, on Sunday, May 21, one of our church plants held their first corporate Sunday morning worship service. This is the “Timi” church plant, led by Sasha and a new Russian leader, Dema. What a blessing it was to see 40 people there! There were 10-15 guests, but 25 or more could be regular attenders.
More important than the attendance was the spirit and atmosphere that God granted. There was lots of participation from both older and younger believers, such as poems, a skit, scripture reading, prayer, and special music.
As part of this post, I must include 3 special moments which occurred during the day.
1. There was a lady who was contemplating suicide just 3 months ago, after having quit attending the weekly Bible study group that Sasha leads. She began coming again to the group about 2 weeks ago and said that it is as if a fresh breath of life had been blown into her. Yesterday at our worship service, she stood up and read a beautiful poem, praising God.
2. Another lady had a heart attack in January of this year. She didn’t know if she was healthy enough to come, but said if someone could pick her up in a vehicle, then she would try. It was my joy to pick her up in a “Lottie Moon” vehicle that we sometimes drive. After the service on the way home, she said she was amazed at how strong she felt, and how much blessing she would have missed, had she decided to stay at home. We agreed that when the soul is “doctored,” then the whole body is affected in a positive way.
3. Finally, a quote from yet another lady who gave a testimony yesterday. “When I come here, I receive therapy for by spirit.”

So thanks to all who are lifting up this church plant in prayer. You are part of the joys that were experienced yesterday!
Blessings, Brad.

Please pray for Sasha and the "Timi" Team, which is planning their first corporate worship service for Sunday, May 21. We will be combining our committed team members with a group of elderly which have been meeting together for Bible study. In addition, we have asked them to invite their friends. We expect between 15 and 25. In our team meeting yesterday, we agreed that we would try to have corporate worship 2 times a month throughout the summer. This is a significant step forward in the developing the new church in this area. Thanks for praying, Brad.

Hello to new readers of this blog. Lori and I are trying a new form of communicating prayer needs. We will still be sending weeking prayer requests to email addresses, but in addition, we will be posting comments on this blogsite throughout the week.
This is a personal blogsite. Although Lori and I are team leaders of the CoLaborers Team, everything we post on this site will not be representing the Team. We will often share needs and joys of the work of the team, but we will also include posts about our family.
We are experimenting with this form of communication, so please be patient as we work out the kinks.
Blessings, Brad Stamey.

Hello. This is a test. This is a first entry on this blogspot. Blessings, Brad.