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| World
Impact > Fred & Carol
Lewis |
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World
Impact
"But you
will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the
earth." Acts 1:8
Fred
& Carol Lewis
Zaporozhye, Ukraine
European
Christian Mission
PMB #153
5478 FM 2673
Canyon Lake, TX 78133
Email: Fred
& Carol Lewis
Read the Lewis' Latest
Prayer
Letter
Fred and Carol Lewis served
with Uganda from 1985-1993,
teaching at a Bible college
and seminary. They spent
several years in California
preparing for a ministry
in the Ukraine where they
are now serving. Fred
is one of the faculty
of Zaporozhye Bible College.
When Fred and Carol first
met, Fred quickly discovered
Carol was a Christian.
He wasn’t, however,
interested in her Christian
faith. When she finally
decided not to marry him
because he was not a believer,
Fred began investigating
Christ’s claims.
"If being a Christian
was that important to
her," said Fred,
"I figured I would
take a serious look at
it." He soon accepted
the Lord.
After marriage and working
two years, Fred enrolled
at Denver Seminary, and
in 1980 graduated with
a Master of Divinity Degree
in Christian Education.
Through several teaching
experiences at college
and church, he realized
he wanted a ministry of
leadership training and
discipling.
Prayer
Letter
February, 2005
Pioneering in the Wild
West of Russia
Carol is in the second
row from the front, in
the Center
Last December the senior
pastor of the Baptist
Churches in Saratov (located
about 1,000 miles west
of Omsk ) asked me to
conduct a 2-day conference
for the leaders’
wives of his area. He
said that the wives were
causing all kinds of problems,
and he wanted me to give
them a good talking to
about their roles and
responsibilities. I suggested
that perhaps a Russian
woman might be better
equipped to speak on such
a topic, but Sergei Nikolaiovitch
was adamant that I was
the perfect choice for
the task.
I was pretty frustrated
as I tried to find out
more about the churches
in that area and about
the wives themselves,
managing to learn only
that the churches were
extremely conservative
by Russian standards.
Much later I discovered
why only I could have
led the seminar. One of
the wives at the conference
said I had “opened
the door” for women
in the region. “Opened
the door” meant
that women could carry
and read their Bibles,
speak and pray in church,
lead and teach women the
Scriptures. They said
I was a “pioneer.”
Do you know that there
isn’t one word in
the Scriptures about the
responsibilities of leaders’
wives? So if that is the
assignment, what do you
talk about? It finally
dawned on me that I should
share with them my inner
experience of God, and
He led me to Psalm 73:25b.
“Earth has nothing
I desire besides you.”
It is an awesome thing
to say – and really
mean it. The psalmist
comes to this conclusion
after spending some extensive
time with God. I came
up with a theme, “Intimacy
with God”, and developed
8 hours of lectures and
four hours of small group
work around that theme.
On January 18th I took
off on a 40-hour train-ride
to Saratov . Accompanying
me was Oksana, whose husband
is a first-year student
at our college. Seventeen
leaders’ wives and
9 church members attended
the conference. I have
never had such a rapt
audience. They literally
listened to me with their
mouths open from morning
to night. Rarely have
I felt such power, freedom
and joy to speak for the
Lord.
I returned home to 5 deliberately
scheduled days of peace
and rest. Fred met me
at the train with a big
smile and a quart of 31
Flavors ice cream!
I appreciate your continuing
prayer support for my
teaching ministry here
in Omsk and at the Bible
College . It is only by
God’s power and
grace that I find strength
to do this work and even
the words to say on His
behalf. Praise to our
Holy, Almighty, Loving
God who uses ordinary
people like me to do surprising
things.
In Christ,
Carol & Fred |
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