Belarus Mission Day 05

Belarus Mission

Day 5

By Peter Ruck

Yauheni dropped me back to my hotel and told me I only had 45 minutes to get ready. Thankfully, I had already prepared something – the parable of the sower. Yauheni told me I would be preaching in his church to a group who were renting their building following problems with their previous Pastor, who sold their building and ran off with the proceeds. The remaining congregation numbered about 30, mostly women.

After praise and worship, I began to feel I should be sharing and preaching something else! Then one of the leaders stood up and started to preach on what I had planned to say. God was removing my crutches; I was to follow Yauheni, who preached a Gospel parable. I had to rely on God and the Holy Spirit, and began to speak about discouragement: when we become discouraged, we start thinking wrongly and listening to the wrong things. I shared a part of my testimony and began encouraging them, that nothing was impossible with God. I explained that the enemy of our souls delighted in this. We may think his biggest weapon in our life is sickness and diseases – I can tell you it is not, so be encouraged. Jesus paid the price for your healing; He shed his precious blood to redeem us from our sin. He defeated the power of sin on the Cross.

Half the church responded, two of whom God met as we prayed with them. God ministered through the Holy Spirit as Yauheni and I prayed. Many of them said they were confused from the mess left by their previous pastor and had listened to so much wrong teaching.