For many years we in the West were at war with the Soviet Union, a powerful military might but a pitiful domestic nation. The US won that war by growing in strength and might militarily and economically. In the late Eighties the USSR collapsed under the weight of Socialism, inefficiency and corruption and from fighting God.
During a ministry visit to Norway in 1989 I spoke with a friend that was on the board of the Norwegian Bible Society. He said that the USSR had asked the Bible Society to print Bibles in Russian for the Soviets to distribute. This shocked them greatly. Why would an atheist nation ask for Bibles?
The USSR's reasoning went something like this. "We must have the Bible to teach our people to do good deeds. We have promoted social programs that ask citizens to help each other when they are sick, poor and troubled. However, there is no reason for them to care for others because we have eliminated the religious foundation for good works. Our people must read the Bible and see what God is telling them to do. We will not be able to restore our nation to care for one another if we do not have Bibles for them to read."
After Communism fell in 1989 thousands of western Missionaries swooped into the Eastern Bloc of nations, including Russia. They preached the gospel and many people responded to Christ. However, by then the people were so overwhelmed, traumatized and defeated that the entire nation suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The people had to be restored before the economy could improve. We knew the best way to help them was with a massive focus on healing their families and the recovery from alcohol. So, we purposed to take our experience with Christian family counseling and building church leaders into a nation that desperately needed help.
Sweeten Life Goes to Moscow
The tag line on my email says:
Strengthening leaders, One heart at a time
Strengthening organizations, One leader at a time
Strengthening communities, One organization at a time
Strengthening nations, One community at a time
We have been doing this with families in the Eastern Bloc for almost 20 years, yet much remains to be done. The work is slow and extremely difficult. We are not just evangelizing but healing the church and building nations. As an American I usually expect quick, microwave results when I do something. I can cook a potato in three minutes so why does it take so long to heal nations?
Now I see it is because of the complete devastation done by Communism. Our progress is slow but growing each year in effectiveness, size and depth.
I wish I could tell you everything God is doing with Liferoute, the Sweeten Life sponsored ministry in Russia. It has made great strides in penetrating the fog of evil left by the Bolsheviks. The pain and dysfunction that has dominated the people, families and churches since the Revolution of 1917 is impossible to accurately describe to Americans.
My first ministry trip to Russia came in 1991 at a Norwegian conference when the Lord said to "Go East to minister". This was a surprising call that sent us off to new and challenging fields where generations of state sponsored abuse was the norm. Lenin and Stalin's murderous extermination of males left families in deep pain for generations. I quickly saw why God was leading us to minister there. Few ministries know how to combine counseling with Christian compassion and training church leaders. Only a wide and ongoing application of God's love, truth and power could bring relief and healing to the accumulated trauma.
Dr. Galina Chentsova has applied her gifts to address these issues for decades. She was miraculously redeemed as a child of ten when God nudged her to read the Bible. But it was forbidden by her teachers. With the Spirit's guidance, Galina asked the teacher if she could study the Bible to better understand the atheist position on why it was false. The ruse worked and Galina learned about God's love and sacrifice for her.
Years later, Galina found a Priest to baptize her without telling the authorities. She secretly continued to worship God and read scripture. Despite a lack of Christian fellowship, Galina had a passion to share God's good news so she became a Doctor and Psychiatrist. When the Iron Curtain came down Galina prayed that she could go to America to study how the Bible could be integrated with Counseling.
I met Galina in Moscow and heard her say how strongly she wanted to go to the USA and study. She came to Cincinnati in 1994 and spent the summer with us learning how to integrate faith, hope and love into Psychiatry. Since those small beginnings, God has multiplied our ministries through her and others in locations all over the former USSR.
Galina and a team of dedicated, loving and well equipped volunteers have trained hundreds more believers to offer Christian care and counsel to Ministers, Therapists, and Peer Leaders. They are the best trained Christian Helpers in Russia and have planted Liferoute Ministries in every church denomination in the country. Liferoute uniquely brings together people from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Baptist and Protestant churches.
Galina's team train and then supports the local groups so they can multiply themselves in Siberia, the Caucasus Mountain, Ukraine, etc. The goal is to have light houses of healing and growth in every region. Their reputation has reached even into Denmark where the head of a large church planting movement asked Galina to train his Russian speaking Pastors!
The Liferoute Team leads seminars on forgiveness, healing, addictions, co-dependency, marriage and family life, ministry to orphans, etc. Leaders from around the USSR regularly come to the Moscow Ministry Center for advanced training. The Sweeten Life materials plus the Recovery Bible are being translated and distributed widely around Russia. Please pray that we can get these materials more quickly published and distributed.
Hitchhiking to Serve
It is an unbelievable hassle for the team to travel around Moscow and Russia. None of the team members has a car to get from one church ministry to another. In fact, they, and I, often must hitchhike to get around Moscow. Galina desperately needs a Mini Van for the team and their equipment. Will you help them get a used VW wagon? It holds up best on their rough roads. A VW costs about $30,000.00 USD plus money for gas and maintenance.
Please pray with us to advance this critical ministry and support Galina with a donation so the team can get to the ministry venues without hitching a ride. Please ask your church or foundation for at least $1,000.00 for this special need. Just 30 supporters at $1,000.00 each would meet the goal and set them free to advance the Kingdom of God.
Sweeten Life provides the nonprofit umbrella for Liferoute, so send your tax deductible gift to Sweeten Life Systems, P.O. Box 498455, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249-(Russian Mini Van Fund).
(Because of the restrictions on Russian Christians, keep this letter private. If Putin’s Government knew we were sending LifeRoute support they would be very unhappy.)
Спасибо
("spa-see-ba") - Thank-You,
Gary Sweeten