Kyle's Report

I am not sure what I expected before going to Russia for the mission trip that would mark my last event with Glowing Heart, but whatever it was, God went above and beyond my greatest expectations. In preparing for Russia it is easy for me to see now how foolish I was in selling short the power of God and in not praying with faith that God could do what I was asking for. If there is one thing that I could see evidently in Russia it was that God worked in mighty ways. I was excited about spending time with people from another culture, but was anxious about how teaching and communication would go with the language barrier. God quickly showed me how childish my fears were concerning this language barrier. I was a group leader with Lauren and Liz and our group was amazing. God destroyed the language barrier and I can honestly say my heart has never connected with a group of kids like it did with our small group in Russia. It was a complete God thing that we had the group of Russian youth that we did. The Andres, Marina, Nikita, Katya, Genya, Seergie, Mescha, Anna, and Lubya were gifts from God that week. God, in his complete sovereign goodness, united our group and humbled us by showing that He is God of all people and cultures and loves to unite His people with the joy of the Lord. We had the very unique opportunity to be ministering at a Russian youth camp where half the kids were strong believers and the other half was non-believers. My group was mostly made out of strong believers some of which were starting a contemporary church in Bryansk, the city that we were about 40 miles out from. The Russian church is in the same position as the Baptists in America were during the sixties, on the brink of ecclesiastical suicide due to rampant legalism and alienation of the youth. The young members of the church that we were working with had been beaten up by the institutional Baptist church in Russia that was afraid of movement in any form. One of the pivotal moments of the entire trip was during the lesson over John 4, the woman at the well. There is a discourse in the text of John 4 concerning worship, worship and the various forms of worship has been the most pivotal point of controversy in the Russian Baptist Church. To hear the kids hearts, broken and desperate as we looked at John 4 together ignited a passion in my heart and we shared a worshipful discussion concerning the God we love and how we practice worshiping Him for He is so worthy. After the lesson one of the young men, the brother of the pastor who is starting the contemporary church in Russia, said that the lesson and discussion “was the answer to His dream for the church in Russia.” He said that God had re-ignited his heart in order to face adversity coming from the institutional church directed to this movement of God in Bryansk. Another highlight was the opportunity to wash the feet of our students. We were able to illustrate John 13 where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. We did this first and foremost to glorify God by serving others and also to show the Russian youth that service is not a chore, but a biblical mandate put in place to glorify God and enjoy the blessing of serving others. A verse that I have begun to place in my head to reflect on Russia is in John 3 where Christ is talking with Nicodemus and in verse 8 which says “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.” We cannot place boundaries on what God can and can’t do for we are not God. God is sovereign and good. God calls and God breaks and God molds and God makes. We got to see God move in Russia. We got the blessing of seeing sovereign grace be poured out and dwell richly in the presence of God. In Russia, God reminded me that He is sovereign and beautiful here in Dallas and in Russia and in all of His glorious creation.