Nårunga-Ljur Missionsförsamling har en vänförsamling i Ryssland. Staden där vänförsamlingen finns heter Ryazan och ligger ca 200 km sydöst om Moskva. Ryazan har drygt 600.000 invånare och är grundad år 995, numer en militärstad och har varit stängd för utlänningar fram till 1991.

Vänförsamlingen i Ryazan är en baptistförsamling, Independent Baptist Church, som har drygt 100 medlemmar. Utbytet består av brevväxling, personliga kontakter och besök och att vi stöttar dem i deras sociala arbete bland barnhemsbarn och pensionärer.

1991 på hösten sände vi iväg den första hjälpsändningen till Ryazan och under flera år sände vi hjälpsändningar dit ett par gånger om året. Detta kunde vi göra tack vare att vänliga människor från vår bygd och Alingsås - Vårgårda och andra, skänkte kläder och pengar. Att hjälpen har varit mycket uppskattad, det har vi fått många bevis för. Under de senaste åren har vi stöttat deras arbete främst genom ekonomiska bidrag som gått till socialt arbete bland barnhemsbarn och andra hjälpbehövande. Församlingen i Ryazan har under de här åren stadigt växt och mitt i alla materiella svårigheter har man samtidigt haft alldeles för trånga lokaler och i december 2000 stod deras nya kyrka färdig. Församlingens verksamhet påminner mycket om vår egen med gudstjänster, barn och ungdomsarbete och träffar för daglediga mm.

Församlingens ungdomar besöker regelbundet olika barnhem i Ryazanregionen. Då undervisar man i kristen tro genom drama och musik och försöker ge dessa utsatta barn ett hopp och en trygghet inför framtiden.

Den gamla kyrkan har byggts om till ett boende för barnhemsbarn som är på väg ut i vuxenlivet. Församlingen stöttar dem med mat och husrum men hjälper dem även med studievägar, arbete och juridisk hjälp att ta vara på deras rättigheter i samhället. Den ekonomiska kris som drabbade vår värld under 2008 drabbade de svaga grupperna i Ryssland väldigt hårt, och de som bor och arbetar på detta transithem har fått arbeta mycket med praktiska saker för att få mat, värme och kläder, förutom att sköta sina studier. Just nu har man egentligen inte resurser för att ta ha mer än 5 ungdomar boende i transithemmet, men trycket är stort och under detta år räknar församlingen med att ha 13 barn boende där.

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Här kommer några brev från Ryazan och Anatoli

Our dear Lord! Your work is amazing!

A new Kostino director working less one year left her position transfering to another work. Now the question is opened - who will be a new director? Now the assistant is a temporary director which is very inclined to our orphan ministry. This lady asked us to organize for orphans something special during fall vacation. But what special are we able to do in our situation today? We can only take them for several days to our Transition Home serving them edifying by God's word, to pray, to glorify the Lord, to cook some home food and to give some comfortable lodging.

Praise God! With great pleasure kids-orphans were involved in the ordinary home work of the Transition Home: cleaning their rooms and outside. Especially with great enthusiasm both girls and boys cooked with Nadejda Bukhacheva in the kitchen studying to cook the first and the second plates and to bake some pies and cookies. All this will help them in their adult life.

Yes, this time we have no those sponsorship opportunities which we had earlier: we are not able to take orphans to the circus or to organize some trip to Moscow. Having this available God's funds sent by you we were able only to give some meal to them during their living in our Transition Home. But we could accomplish the main purpose - to teach God's word together with prayers giving some meal and some comfortable lodging in our Transition Home. And all kids were in delight! Never before we had such blessings: we could receive 40 orphans during the week. At the beginning we had 10 kids for 4 days, then school bus brought 20 kids for one day and we had our relationship filled with Bible lesson, various games and our meals and then another group in 10 kids came for 4 days. So we had 9 days filled with great blessings and fruitfulness. Every time at the end kids did not want to leave us but they did this to meet again. We are praying for growing God's seeds planted into kids' hearts during their fall vacation.

Dear friends, we are grateful for your prayers and we ask you not to forget us in your prayers. Our Jesus is so good! It is a great privilege for us to serve Him in various ways. Jesus teaching is so beautiful! And we have a wonderful opportunity to teach these wretched orphans. They are poor but we can enrich them and it is amazing. It is also amazing that you and we have some enrichment. "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10.

In His Name,

Your brother Anatoli

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Dear friends Christ's family!

We greet you! Heartily we are grateful for your any support our orphan ministry which we had last year. We are thankful for your prayers for some orphans and for our transition kids which lived and are living now.

Many of you know orphan Dima Sambulov's hard life. Since 5 years old he had to live with his grandma. His Dad died in the prison and his Mom was killed by men and left in the firing house to hide their crime. They all including Dima's Mom were alcoholics. Dima being a little boy was hungry very often and there was no heating in his residence because his grandma was an alcoholic too and she did not care of her grandson. So he was taken to the orphanage.

To my surprise I made acquaintance with him after his graduation from the orphanage. He came to our Transition Home and asked to live here. Usually the orphans studying the Bible in the orphanages come to us and ask to live in our Transition Home and so they know Jesus, they can pray and respect the rules of Christian living. But we had quite another situation with Dima. I did not know him and I doubted. But the Lord knew him before me!

He was very diligent in studying (he studied in the University) and he was very obedient and he always tried to help in any work. Living in our Transition Home he accepted Jesus and began to visit the orphanages with his testimony. Many orphans heard him with great interest and attention. Praise God!!! Together with the group of the young people with great joy he was baptized. Two years ago he got married with Jenya a Christian girl (at the beginning her parents were against him because he is an orphan and his roots are alcoholic. But the Lord changed Dima's life. He even does not look as if he was born in the alcoholic family. Praise the Lord! Our Jesus is so good!

Last year their daughter Karina was born. It is amazing to see Dima as Dad. In his childhood he had no any love, care, tenderness from his parents. But now he realizes his Dad's feelings to his little daughter and it is so touching to watch all this. Now Jenya's parents changed their mind concerning Dima.

Recently last week we got good news: city administration has given Dima not big a new comfortable apartment in which his family can live. Dima invited me to look at his new residence. With great joy and gratitude we prayed for the Lord's answer, for His faithfulness and that He is Father for all orphans. It is amazing to see the Lord's Hand and His care of orphans. Dear friends, it is a great gratitude to Him that we and you are partners and witnesses of His Holy deeds!

Rich blessings to you and your families,

Your brother Anatoli.

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Dear Friends in the Lord!

According to my counting visiting 6 orphanages we had 428 orphans and 60 teachers during our Christmas meetings. The Lord gave us this opportunity to proclaim them about His Love and Salvation in Him. All kids-orphans were very joyful to meet us and to see our wonderful puppet theatre. Our church youth prepares for a new performance for Christmas and Easter every time trying to tell some stories about Jesus by puppets. Also many kids together with us praised the Lord singing Christian songs and praying. After the end of our meeting we also prayed with some directors and teachers in the narrow circle with a cup of tea asking the Lord for blessings for kids and adults and thanking Him for opening the orphanage doors for outreach.

Due to some hard economic situation we ask kids during our meeting. "Do you want us to come again next time but may be we will not able to bring some school supplies, sweets?" It was so joyful to hear loud childish voices: "Come to us in spite of all. We love and wait for you." We were able to give the packets with sweets only to younger kids and a bar of chocolate to mid and elder kids.

This season the roads were very bad covered with a lot of snow. Nobody cleaned them. In Russia there is vacation for adults and children during two weeks. Our old van was broken very often (we have not bought a new van yet because we have no enough funds to purchase) but in spite of this the Lord helped us to come to every orphanage and back in safety.

We are grateful for your prayers and the orphanage doors are opened for our visits.

With prayers,

Your brother Anatoli

P.S. The Kostino orphanage has got a new director again. The former director Svetlana has become an assistant of education minister of Ryazan area. The name of the new director is Galina. I have already made acquaintance with her and she allowed us to continue to visit the orphanage. Praise the Lord! I ask you please pray for her.

Senast uppdaterad: 2012-02-02