RUSSIAN MINISTRY NEWS LETTER: July 1999

Dear friends,

Christian greetings from Russia!

An American missionary had been freed from captivity in Russia's breakaway Chechnya region. This is one of the most important religious news for today.

Mr. Herbert Gregg, 51 years old moved to Russia with his wife Linda in order to teach English at a university and do a Christian missionary and work in Dagestan, the southern Moslem region, which borders Chechnya. Mr. Gregg was kidnapped on 11th of November last year.

Hundreds of people (most of them Russians) are being held for ransom by gangs in Chechnya, where Russia fought a war with separatists in 1994-1996 before withdrawing its troops. Tens of thousands of people died in the war.

Mr. Gregg said that in spite of the fact that his kidnappers had cut off his right index finger to press ransom demands, he had been treated well much of the time. "God has shown me many things and it has been very eye-opening in many ways", he said.

I have more information about his hostage experience in Chechnya that can be sent to you upon your request but my real point is to urge you to pray for the spiritual, political and economic situation in Russia and Chechnya in particular. We do need your prayer support.

Nowadays in Moscow area it's very difficult to attract people just by preaching. Most of the people are under strong spirit of fear and religion: they consider any non-orthodox church as a strange sect. But the language of good works is easy to understand.

We pursue with humanitarian help distribution. Christian charitable organization has donated us some more food and clothing which was distributed among over a 100 needy people (mostly elderly). We preached them the Gospel and most of them responded on the salvation prayer. Praise the Lord!

Now we understand these words of Jesus much better: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We are planning to continue this kind of ministry.

Good Lord willing my visit to the US will be in the end of September-October. Right now I am working on my visa.

We regularly pray for you- our American brothers and sisters. God bless you!

With love in Christ Jesus,

Andrew revival@centro.ru
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