Four in the Fire Russia Ministries, Inc. would like to invite you to travel
to Russia on a short-term mission trip with
Andy and Stephanie Nelms
. We are an evangelical missions board leading short term mission
trips to Russia. If you in a hurry and just want to get to the
application process click here?
Or you may continue reading your personal invitation to go to Russia.
We have organized nine short term mission trips where we stayed for two to
four weeks in two small towns about 100
kilometers northeast of Moscow. In the past, we have traveled
with groups in size from 4 to 18 people. God truly blessed us in 2006
with a team of 18 Americans and 17 Russian interpreters. We have
learned that 10-20 people makes for a wonderful experience and a
warm and inviting family atmosphere.
Andy and Stephanie serve as part-time missionaries to Russia. Andy went to
Russia for the first time in 1992 with a group of 33 Christians. Since
then, he has traveled to Russia on nine more mission trips. Stephanie has
accompanied him on seven of these mission trips.
We do all of the usual things:
- preaching
- teaching
- church planting
- hosting a VBS for children
- hosting adult and teen Bible studies
- hosting medical clinics
- singing
- drama
- one-on-one witnessing
- visiting people in their homes when we are invited
We sometimes
visit children in orphanages, and individuals in their homes. Sometimes we
have people over for tea and, since they are in our home, we preach the
gospel to a captive audience. We are returning to Russia soon. You may view
our
current schedule of trips.
We would be honored to have you minister with us in Russia on a short term
mission trip. However, we only want you to go
if God wants you to go. So please pray and determine if this is what God
wants for you.
We use Russian interpreters, so do not use language as a reason not to go.
If you want to know
whether God wants you to go on a short term mission trip, then ask yourself
this question: “Am I a committed Christian?” If
the answer is yes, then remember the Great Commission and obey it.
Please read what our Russian friends have said are some of
the reasons why you should go to Russia
on a short term mission trip.
If you want to go to Russia on a mission trip, but you think you have a
a reason for not going then please read our response to the
most popular reasons people give for not going.
What will you do when you get there? You may, if you choose do any of the
following:
- sing
- visit people in their homes
- speak with people about Jesus
- help with the medical clinics (anyone can help, no previous training
required)
-
- teach a teen Bible study
- tell Bible stories in VBS
- lead crafts in VBS
- lead games in VBS
- help with snacks in VBS
- hand out tracts to people
- participate in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes (no training
required)
Or you may do just about anything else a Christian can do to win others
to Christ. You will be allowed and encouraged to work in any capacity that
you and the Lord see fit. You
may tell others how you became a Christian. You may tell how, by God's
grace, they can become a Christian. You
may work in a VBS with children or visit people in their homes.
You will see God bring glory to Himself by saving souls. Do
you have a measure of compassion? If so, maybe you would like to visit
with elderly people who may live alone. Your ministry to these people
would be to speak with them for a little while. They might need water
carried into the house in buckets from the street where the hand water pump
is located.
The harvest is great, but the workers are few (not original with me). Will
you be among those
who said yes to the Great Commission? (Sorry for the sermon, but I get very
excited and I am
very passionate about Russia, because of my God-given burden for the Russian
people.)
Two of the people you will meet and work with are Vladimir (Volodya)
Kochelev
and Nadezhda (Nadya)
Kocheleva. He is the pastor at the Baptist church and she is his wife.
Volodya is the one with
the beard. Vera (the baby) is in front. Vera is 7 and Ruth is 9.
Sasha, the
oldest daughter is 16.
Kirill is the young man in the striped sweater, he is approximately 20
years old
and is the
nephew of Pastor Volodya.
“Why do a mission trip in December in Russia? ”, you are probably asking.
It is
cold, snowy, and windy; but it is also the time of year when the young
people of
Russia can be reached. During the summer months, the kids and the adults
work
in the fields in the evenings raising small crops for their families. In
December, they have nowhere to go and nothing to do. So when we invite
them
to
attend a Bible study with Americans, they are excited and come. It is
also
much more expensive to
travel
to Russia in the summer. We typically pay $900 for a winter trip airline
ticket and $1,500 (or more )
for a summer trip airline ticket.
Your being in Russia is crucial, since the Russian people want to meet and
speak with Americans.
The fact that
you are an American Christian means that much more. If you travel with us
in late December, you
will be in Russia for Jesus’ birthday (not December 25th) and we
use it as a way to reach the kids. By
the way, Christmas in Russia is on January 7th, so you will be
there to celebrate
Christmas
with the Russian people.
On our trip in December of 1998, there were approximately 35 people who
came to know Jesus Christ
as their Savior and Lord simply because we gave witness to Him. The members
of our small group
had prayed for God to touch the hearts of the Russian people and prepare them
for His message. They
had prayed for nine months before we left and they prayed during the trip.
God honored
those prayers with a harvest of souls bringing glory to Himself. Pray now
with us and ask yourself, “What
would Jesus do?” Your life will be changed, as well as that of the
Russians.
If you decide to go with us on a short-term mission trip, you will need to
checkout our
travel deadlines.
Please let us know as soon as you can. The sooner you let us know the
better chance
we have of obtaining cheap tickets for you. Also if you are even a little
interested
please download and read our 49 page
Mission Trip Survival Guide.
Reading this survival guide is a prerequisite for anyone wishing
to go on our mission trips. Read this guide before you write to us as it will answer
many of your questions. Then
contact us
and let us know about your
interest in going with
us.
Vaccinations
No vaccinations are required; however, I would strongly encourage a tetanus
booster shot and Hepatitis
B vaccine. A flu shot should also be taken if you are traveling during the
winter, because
it will be the peak of the flu season. We purchase
bottled water and soft drinks when we arrive so that we do not have to drink
tap water.
We boil the water with which we cook.
Cost
The cost of the trip is approximately
$2500-$3000. If you are interested in traveling with us, read the
travel information
and the information about the various
deadlines
.
Sasha is the oldest daughter of Volodya and Nadya. She is eight in this
picture and she would
like you to come and help her dad. See the expression on her face.
She is 15 in the photo above.
We are an evangelical organization taking the Gospel to Russia
utilizing short-term mission trips as the vehicle. While we are Baptists,
we work with people of many denominations on our short term mission trips.
We take with us Americans from many denominations and we work with churches
in Russia from many denominations. Our primary concern for the Americans is
that they have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Our primary concern
for the churches in Russia with whom we serve is that they teach and believe
that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Salvation
is a major and everything else is a minor. So let's major on the majors and
minor on the minors as a former pastor of mine used to say. In other words,
if we can agree on salvation we can disagree about a lot of other things
and still serve together. You may see our
Statement of Faith .
To that end, if you wish to travel with us on a short term
evangelical mission trip, you will be asked a few questions that will help us to understand that you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Why do we do that? Well can you imagine us being in Russia and we have with us someone who is attempting to explain how to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, when they themselves are lost?
You do not have to be Baptist to go with us, you just have to KNOW that you are saved and on your way to heaven and you must be able to communicate that to us.
If you are still interested in going to Russia with us on a short term Russia mission trip, then you may
apply
to go to Russia with us.
Thank you for considering our small work for Christ as an outlet for your expression of God’s
love for you. May God richly bless and reward your family as we move forward in prayer about this opportunity
for your family to participate in evangelism for Jesus.
Your brother and sister in Jesus Christ,
Andy and Stephanie Nelms