Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
News from Turkmenistan
Greetings from Turkmenistan !
The new year’s begun and we entered into a new stage of adventure with the Lord, and He always has lots of different variants of these adventures.
At the end of passed year we gathered together to resume it and to see where we’ve moved forward and what things still have to be corrected. And we’ve got rather fun team meeting.
One of the positive facts was that during last year we’ve rarely changed our places for the services. But… just after Christmas it seemed like we began to make up this “deficiency” . Since January we’ve changed our location for the 4th time! And there’s the only reason: a fear of the halls owners – what would people say or think of them if they know the church services are being hold there. Please pray for this point, because it’s getting hard to find a place that we could rent for Sunday services in Ashgabat. It’s an expected “problem” for us, but it’s more marvelous to watch the Lord faithfully bring new people on each service. And you may ask as many questions as you want, “Lord, I can’t understand – are we losing or gaining?”, but He meanwhile just keeps on adding to His Body.
This year attendance of our services is stably of about 80 people and still keeps growing – praise God. The Lord is faithful in answering our prayers as well: men attend the services – and their “rows” become bigger and bigger! And we can’t go into a small hall.
Since February 1 we began our spring semester Bible College classes. This semester we’ve got only 2 disciplines – Survey of Doctrines-1 and Methods of Evangelism. 19 students have started their long-distance race.
During the Bible College vacations we (not so big group of 5 people) went for 3 days mission trip to Turkmenbashy city (former Krasnovodsk). It was a great time of street soulwinning, prayers, discussions, salvations in this port city. We even climbed up to the one of the mountains that were just in the center of the city and watched the marvelous picture from there: the ice on Caspian sea. There wasn’t a thing like that for many years – so that the sea has frozen up to 1km from the shore.
Our weekly trips to the city of Mary are going on, where we have Wednesday evening services, and where the Lord is faithful in bringing His people too. Usually the team of 2-4 goes there, holds a service and comes back the following day. Please pray for the leader for Mary. The constant team is needed there. We’re short of human resources, but we believe the Lord will answer this need by the abundance of His grace.
Our prayer needs of paramount importance:
1. A constant place for the church services in the city of Ashgabat;
2. An opportunity to rent a bigger place for the church office and Bible College;
3. Jobs for the unemployed church members;
4. The church finances and financial opportunities for Pastor’s family;
5. An opportunity for the people from church to attend the GGWO conferences;
6. Guests to visit us!!!! (they don’t let, but try!);
7. A notebook and a projector for the worship ministry.
Be blessed,
P. Vladimir & Svetlana Tolmachev
E-mail: heaventm@mail.ru
heavenkg@mail.ru
Skype: ggashgabat
The new year’s begun and we entered into a new stage of adventure with the Lord, and He always has lots of different variants of these adventures.
At the end of passed year we gathered together to resume it and to see where we’ve moved forward and what things still have to be corrected. And we’ve got rather fun team meeting.
One of the positive facts was that during last year we’ve rarely changed our places for the services. But… just after Christmas it seemed like we began to make up this “deficiency” . Since January we’ve changed our location for the 4th time! And there’s the only reason: a fear of the halls owners – what would people say or think of them if they know the church services are being hold there. Please pray for this point, because it’s getting hard to find a place that we could rent for Sunday services in Ashgabat. It’s an expected “problem” for us, but it’s more marvelous to watch the Lord faithfully bring new people on each service. And you may ask as many questions as you want, “Lord, I can’t understand – are we losing or gaining?”, but He meanwhile just keeps on adding to His Body.
This year attendance of our services is stably of about 80 people and still keeps growing – praise God. The Lord is faithful in answering our prayers as well: men attend the services – and their “rows” become bigger and bigger! And we can’t go into a small hall.
Since February 1 we began our spring semester Bible College classes. This semester we’ve got only 2 disciplines – Survey of Doctrines-1 and Methods of Evangelism. 19 students have started their long-distance race.
During the Bible College vacations we (not so big group of 5 people) went for 3 days mission trip to Turkmenbashy city (former Krasnovodsk). It was a great time of street soulwinning, prayers, discussions, salvations in this port city. We even climbed up to the one of the mountains that were just in the center of the city and watched the marvelous picture from there: the ice on Caspian sea. There wasn’t a thing like that for many years – so that the sea has frozen up to 1km from the shore.
Our weekly trips to the city of Mary are going on, where we have Wednesday evening services, and where the Lord is faithful in bringing His people too. Usually the team of 2-4 goes there, holds a service and comes back the following day. Please pray for the leader for Mary. The constant team is needed there. We’re short of human resources, but we believe the Lord will answer this need by the abundance of His grace.
Our prayer needs of paramount importance:
1. A constant place for the church services in the city of Ashgabat;
2. An opportunity to rent a bigger place for the church office and Bible College;
3. Jobs for the unemployed church members;
4. The church finances and financial opportunities for Pastor’s family;
5. An opportunity for the people from church to attend the GGWO conferences;
6. Guests to visit us!!!! (they don’t let, but try!);
7. A notebook and a projector for the worship ministry.
Be blessed,
P. Vladimir & Svetlana Tolmachev
E-mail: heaventm@mail.ru
heavenkg@mail.ru
Skype: ggashgabat
Monday, February 25, 2008
Qatar
Christians to Welcome Qatar's First Christian Church
By
Alexander Sheffrin
Christian Post Contributor
Sun, Feb. 24 2008
Christians in Qatar will celebrate Easter this year in a church for the first time in 14 centuries.
Next month, the St. Mary’s Catholic Church will be among the first of a series of churches to open its doors in the Qatar capital of Doha. Anglican, Greek Orthodox, and Coptic churches are expected to soon follow.
"A few years ago, opening a church in Qatar was sort of impossible, but Qatar has changed since the coming of the new emir,” Italian ambassador Igantio Di Pashi recently told a local Qatari newspaper, noting the significance of the country’s first church since the 7th century.
The construction of a church in this tiny, oil-rich, conservative, Islamic state has been a historical landmark for the country’s diverse Christian population – mostly expatriates from India, the Philippines, Lebanon, and various Western countries.
Strict Islamic laws had previously barred the country’s Christian community from public prayer and religious services.
In 2005, however, pro-Western ruler Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani allowed for the construction of Christian churches, in a move to open up and demonstrate an Islam tolerant of other religions.
Yet the establishment of churches has not been without criticism in the small, strict, Islamic country. Many critics refer to quotations from Islamic Prophet Mohammed that state "no two religions will come together in the Arabian peninsula."
“The cross should not be raised in the sky of Qatar, nor should bells toll in Doha,” wrote columnist Lahdan bin Issa al-Muhanadi of the Doha daily Al-Arab in reflection of this sentiment.
Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, a former Islamic law school dean of Qatar University, pointed out, however, that the quotations from Mohammed are out of context and refer only to Mecca and Medina, the two holy cities of Islam.“This does not mean that churches should be banned in Qatar,” he noted, according to Agence France-Presse. "Places of worship for various religions is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Islam."Let's all welcome the presence of churches in Qatar as a demonstration of Islamic tolerance and human brotherhood," he said.
According to the World Christian Database, there are about 70,000 Christians in Qatar, consisting of about 7,000 Anglicans and 50,000 Catholics.
Christianity was brought to the Gulf States by missionaries in the second half of the 5th century but disappeared almost completely in the Gulf Arab states with the arrival of Islam in the 7th century.
By
Alexander Sheffrin
Christian Post Contributor
Sun, Feb. 24 2008
Christians in Qatar will celebrate Easter this year in a church for the first time in 14 centuries.
Next month, the St. Mary’s Catholic Church will be among the first of a series of churches to open its doors in the Qatar capital of Doha. Anglican, Greek Orthodox, and Coptic churches are expected to soon follow.
"A few years ago, opening a church in Qatar was sort of impossible, but Qatar has changed since the coming of the new emir,” Italian ambassador Igantio Di Pashi recently told a local Qatari newspaper, noting the significance of the country’s first church since the 7th century.
The construction of a church in this tiny, oil-rich, conservative, Islamic state has been a historical landmark for the country’s diverse Christian population – mostly expatriates from India, the Philippines, Lebanon, and various Western countries.
Strict Islamic laws had previously barred the country’s Christian community from public prayer and religious services.
In 2005, however, pro-Western ruler Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani allowed for the construction of Christian churches, in a move to open up and demonstrate an Islam tolerant of other religions.
Yet the establishment of churches has not been without criticism in the small, strict, Islamic country. Many critics refer to quotations from Islamic Prophet Mohammed that state "no two religions will come together in the Arabian peninsula."
“The cross should not be raised in the sky of Qatar, nor should bells toll in Doha,” wrote columnist Lahdan bin Issa al-Muhanadi of the Doha daily Al-Arab in reflection of this sentiment.
Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, a former Islamic law school dean of Qatar University, pointed out, however, that the quotations from Mohammed are out of context and refer only to Mecca and Medina, the two holy cities of Islam.“This does not mean that churches should be banned in Qatar,” he noted, according to Agence France-Presse. "Places of worship for various religions is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Islam."Let's all welcome the presence of churches in Qatar as a demonstration of Islamic tolerance and human brotherhood," he said.
According to the World Christian Database, there are about 70,000 Christians in Qatar, consisting of about 7,000 Anglicans and 50,000 Catholics.
Christianity was brought to the Gulf States by missionaries in the second half of the 5th century but disappeared almost completely in the Gulf Arab states with the arrival of Islam in the 7th century.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
following and being followed
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow me.” John 12:26
It is actually possible to serve God and still not
follow him. Judas was an active member of Jesus’
community , but in the time of trouble he all the sudden
turned out to be with the wrong crowd.
He served Jesus, but did not follow him.
He didn’t let Jesus into his personal life.
He “served” Jesus, but did not agree with him.
This is very possible especially with those who are fulltime
workers in the Christian community.
Sometimes working more is a disguised attempt to obey less.
God has no needs that we could satisfy,
but He has an amazing character that he wants us to know.
Did Jesus need Judas to take care of his money?
Of course not, but that was another opportunity given to
Judas to be near Jesus.
He seemingly loved more the money than to be with
the sinless friend who loved him unconditionally.
Following is all about influence.
Everyone follows somebody and everybody is
followed by somebody.
In order to be a good follower you have to keep your
vision clear; you have to trust the one you are following and
you have to guard yourself from distractions.
What happens when you stop following?
The blind behind you will be led astray in your footsteps.
The young, the weak, the newborn will all
be influenced by your distraction.
You follow, not only for your own sake, but for the
hundreds, maybe even thousands who come behind you.
Lk.9:23
It is actually possible to serve God and still not
follow him. Judas was an active member of Jesus’
community , but in the time of trouble he all the sudden
turned out to be with the wrong crowd.
He served Jesus, but did not follow him.
He didn’t let Jesus into his personal life.
He “served” Jesus, but did not agree with him.
This is very possible especially with those who are fulltime
workers in the Christian community.
Sometimes working more is a disguised attempt to obey less.
God has no needs that we could satisfy,
but He has an amazing character that he wants us to know.
Did Jesus need Judas to take care of his money?
Of course not, but that was another opportunity given to
Judas to be near Jesus.
He seemingly loved more the money than to be with
the sinless friend who loved him unconditionally.
Following is all about influence.
Everyone follows somebody and everybody is
followed by somebody.
In order to be a good follower you have to keep your
vision clear; you have to trust the one you are following and
you have to guard yourself from distractions.
What happens when you stop following?
The blind behind you will be led astray in your footsteps.
The young, the weak, the newborn will all
be influenced by your distraction.
You follow, not only for your own sake, but for the
hundreds, maybe even thousands who come behind you.
Lk.9:23
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