A Final Bow

As I write this Crystal and I are preparing to go to one final worship night here in St. P. StreetCry recently decided to take a two week sabbatical as a ministry from July 9th-23rd. Because of this decision, Crystal and I have decided to return to Canada 8 days earlier than originally planned. This means we should be on the ground in Winnipeg by 6:00pm on July 17th. The next 10 days will be filled with many good-byes and reflections on all that's happened during this past year in Russia.

Tomorrow will be the final evangelism outreach we take part in before leaving. Yesterday's concert was canceled because of severe weather. Last week we decided to continue with a concert despite rain and were amazed to see about 100 youth stand in the rain and listen to the music and ministry. It was picture of the spiritual hunger in people's hearts here. Please visit picasaweb.google.com/streetcryinfo to view pictures from this concert and others as they happen.

A big thanks to all of you who have stood by us through the good, bad, and ugly times this past year. We look forward to see many of you soon and sharing some of our experiences with you. Love, Chris and Crystal

The Paparazzi and Evangelism Concerts

Mom and dad have now come and gone through the Motherland and beyond. We had a fantastic time with them during their three week stay. While here my dad made the discovery that he may have missed his calling as a photo journalist and earned the title of Papa-razzi with his picture snapping antics. To view some of his work and a detailed photo journal of the trip you can go to http://picasaweb.google.com/mmloewen.


The time together with them presented a lot of time to reflect on this past year and think about what's ahead in the coming months, we were very grateful for every minute.


Since mom and dad's departure the evangelism has gone into full swing at the ministry. During the summer months when the daylight never seems to fade, the ministry organizes outdoor evangelism concerts in parks around the city.In the past couple of weeks there have been four concerts that have seen anywhere from 50 - 200 people gather to listen to the music and then be confronted with the gospel message. The spiritual hunger can be seen in the eyes of the people listening and they will often linger after the concerts to ask questions about God. Each time a person makes a decision to receive Christ contact information is exchanged and someone from the ministry follows up with that person. This summer already about 20 people have come to know the Lord at the concerts. It's very exciting to be a part of. I'll try and get some pictures posted as the concerts happen.

If you remember, please pray for these outreaches in the coming months. For some of the people living here in St.P they become a life line to salvation in a place that can be overwhelmingly chaotic and hopeless.

The Overdue Update

Whoa! It's been way too long since the last posting. Here's an update of the latest happenings:

Last night I had the opportunity to speak during the Saturday night church meeting. I felt led to speak about how we as sons and daughters of the King can access the limitless spiritual blessings we've been given. Included in the message I spoke about common father issues we can develop and how they can hinder our walk with our Father God. There was a strong healing presence that went out with the message that seemed to touch many people. It was great to see God moving and ministering to people.

Everything else we've been keeping busy with has more or less stayed the same. The healing ministry has continued to develop. We've been feeling that God wants to release more physical healing on the streets, and in everyday life. We've begun a corporate fast asking God to open doors and release more of His power in these areas. The focus seems to be shifting from only doing in church to doing in everyday as a lifestyle. God has been shifting our focus on just looking for opportunities in church where things are safe and controlled to looking for opportunities everywhere we go - just like Jesus. We're asking God to show us more about what this looks like and how to do it, so we'll see what happens.

On the horizon we're looking forward to a visit from our parents (the Loewens). They are arriving on May 24th and staying for three weeks. We're sure it will be a life changing experience for them (how can you not visit Russia and walk away unchanged :-)). At the same time they arrive there will be a conference going on at the ministry with some speakers from Streams Ministries (John Paul Jackson's ministry). They will be doing some teaching and training on prophetic evangelism and intercession. It should be really good and applicable to so much of what StreetCry does here.

That's about all for now. Thank you to everyone who has been praying and supporting us. We really appreciate every bit of it. Please send us emails if God ever gives you any encouragement for us. We'll try not to wait so long in posting our next update. Be blessed!!!

-Chris

Office Renovation

A new posting was long over-due. Here are a few updates with what's happening over here:

Recently the ministry made an agreement to obtain a new room in the building we're renting space in. After a thorough cleaning and some minor renovations we moved the office furniture and equipment in and set up camp. This new room is limited to office staff only! This translates into a peaceful, quiet working atmosphere with a lot less distraction.

Previously the ministry bookstore, cafe, meeting room, and offices were all crammed into one room resulting in a lot of traffic and noise. We're really thankful for the new space and are looking forward to putting it to good use.

The original room will now be designated solely as a cafe/bookstore/meeting room. Renovations are currently underway to make use of the extra space. A coffee bar has already been installed for the cafe and a new layout has been set for the bookstore. It's a drastic improvement from the previous arrangement and should become an important hub for one-on-one ministry and relationship building to take place.


Crystal has continued teaching English to some of the students in the ministry school. It's amazing how quickly some of them are picking up the new words and phrases. Others are learning at a slower pace and need constant encouragement. It's been a great learning experience for both Crystal and the students.

We are continuing with our Russian classes and are slowly adding to our vocabulary and learning how to build sentences. It takes a lot of discipline and faith to learn a new language. It takes pick and shovel type of faith that enables you to keep at it a little chunk at a time and not get discouraged.

The healing ministry has continued to develop. About twenty people in the church have now gone through the healing training and are now involved in praying for the sick after church meetings. Testimonies continue to come forward of people getting healed of various afflictions. Colds and head-ache healings are becoming more common. We are asking God for more faith and authority in this area especially when dealing with incurable diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis as they are very common here.

Thanks for all you prayers and continued support. We could not do it with out you all!

Christmas Feed-In

On January 6th (Russian Christmas), StreetCry hosted an annual feed-in celebration in honor of former heroin addicts from Christian rehab centers in and around St. Petersburg. The celebration included extended times of worship and prayer, as well as a huge feast. Approximately 500 men and women were in attendance, filling the auditorium to, pretty much, maximum capacity.

More Christian rehab centers are starting up every year in Russia, however, there remains an overwhelming demand for such centers for both men and women. Other staff from StreetCry have stated they've seen a tremendous improvement in both the quality of rehab centers, as well as spiritual maturity in those completing the rehabilitation.



Over-all, it was a great honor to be a part of this celebration. It was impacting to see a large meeting hall filled will transformed lives, praising and worshiping God for their newly discovered freedom in Christ. Many of these coming out of the rehab centers are reaching out to others and in full-time ministry. It will be exciting to see what God continues to do through these types of ministries in St.P and beyond.