Hello!  Click here to open our September prayer letter. Enjoy!

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What excitement we felt in the HSI office today when we received the monthly e-bulletin from Calvin Institute of Christian Worship; they had reviewed a copy of HSI’s most recent CD compilation and given it a real “thumbs up”! This was really an encouragement for us, and we’re grateful for our partnership with Calvin. Check out the review by clicking here.

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I am safely home from Siberia and am absolutely delighted at the blessing of the Lord in response to your prayers over the last week! The Siberia Consultation meetings went incredibly well. In particular, I was relieved and happy to see that:

My sore throat got immediately better and became quite tolerable right after I sent you the letter; although it remained a little scratchy, the pain was almost gone and it did not interfere with my speaking.

The paper I gave on Contextualization: Intersections of Form and Meaning (click on the link if you’d like to read the English version) received a good response, and the discussion times that I included in the presentation were effective in helping people to process the new information. People’s responses indicated that they were challenged by the new ideas and would like to discuss them more next year.

The challenge of holding an interdenominational event proved to be well worth-while… a highlight of the whole time for me was watching two former “enemies” ask for each other’s forgiveness, shake hands, and hug each other.

Along with a Yakut pastor, I was asked to host a “cultural evening” where people shared songs, funny skits, round dances, and expressions of praise to God reflecting the huge variety of cultures represented among the 40 attendees (Yakut, Buriat, Khakass, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Swedish, Even, Evenk, Tatar, Russian, Australian, Korean, Chinese, and American).

For many, a highlight of the evening were the three cultural “circle song/dances” newly composed by some of the attendees to conclude this event – 1) a Buriat yohor 2) a Yakut ohuokai [with a few Russian & English verses added for the fun of it] and 3) a Russian khorovod – each of these song/dances was enthusiastically celebrated by the attendees, and spirits were high by the end of the evening.

The Yakutia delegation was large – eight people in all – and much to their surprise, they found that they were an inspiration and a model to the other minority people groups because of their active involvement, national costumes, musical performances, and the resources like the New Song Festival DVD and cultural items that they brought to share. This was a real encouragement to all, and I was proud of them.

A performance of the Yakut epic poem (olonkho) based on Genesis 1-3 was very well-received by the attendees. It just happened that no one in the Yakut delegation could play the khomus (Jews harp) accompaniment, so that honor fell to me… it was my first real public performance, and although I don’t fool myself into thinking I’m a great khomus player, it did make me glad I’d worked hard in my khomus lessons those many years ago before we left Yakutsk.

I think that this yearly gathering is probably the most significant event happening for church planters among indigenous peoples in Siberia. Each of the topics discussed were of vital importance – they addressed the shamanistic worldview of these people groups and the need for collaboration and partnership to see success in their church planting efforts. In addition, the indigenous peoples themselves were very encouraged by getting to know one another and sharing their stories and prayer needs.

I have been asked to join the Coordination Team for next year’s event, and after some prayer and discussion, Bill and I have decided that this is one of the key ways that we can really contribute toward the spread of the gospel in Siberia. It means involvement in the planning process via email and attending next year’s event; something we’d want to do anyway.

Thank you so much for your partnership in prayer! I’m delighted to be home again with Bill, and glad that the trip was a success in so many ways. I’m hoping to be over my jet lag by the time the next big events begin; ICE planning meetings on the weekend followed by the HSI Team retreat at our house next week… fun!

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There is so much good news to share that I once again hardly know where to begin…

I’ll start with the wonderful answer to prayer regarding the lost piece of luggage with the duplicator in it – it arrived today! It had been sealed up by the airline, so nothing was stolen, and it appeared to be in very good shape. It was so wonderfully easy to pick up from the airport!

I have had several meetings with Algys, the arts fellowship that was formed during our trip here a year ago. In my first meeting with them, I showed them the DVD that Bill had finished and they gave their blessing on it. Now that the duplicator has arrived, we will begin immediately to work on the duplication of the DVD so that we can take some copies to the conference in Irkutsk. It will be an encouragement to the attendees there.

Also, at that first meeting, they told me all about the projects that they have done since the Festival in March… the main one being a huge 2-day Christian Ysyakh Summer Celebration to coincide with its secular counterpart, which is the biggest Sakha cultural and religious celebration of the year. At the secular event, although there are many parts that are purely a celebration of Sakha culture, there is a lot of emphasis on the traditional Sakha religion as well; with songs, dances, and various religious rituals (including shamans and feeding the fire). The Christian Ysyakh that they held was the largest one ever, with various kinds of songs, dances, cultural games, and lots of food and fellowship. Attendees were there from all four of the Evangelical Association churches, plus another church located an hour’s drive from Yakutsk. Although there were some difficulties, they were very content with how it went.

The most exciting thing for them was how the Lord protected them from the weather – some black, threatening clouds began to cover the sky and it looked like it was going to really rain hard. They began to pray that the Lord would keep it from raining on their celebration, as there was not much cover for that many people. They got a few drops in all, and the celebration continued. When they got back home, they found out from all their friends who went to the secular celebration that it got “dumped on” – in fact, all around Yakutsk it just poured! It was clear to them that the Lord had protected them and shown them His favor in that way.

At the second meeting with Algys, they celebrated the 67^th birthday of Maria K., one of the main organizers of Algys and a prolific poetess who has provided texts for most of the new songs being written by people here in Yakutia. They also set out a plan for the next year, with goals for each month. They have already begun to work toward the next New Song Festival, and are sending out a letter to all the churches this month, inviting people to participate and prepare. They are so incredibly organized this year!

They have drawn up a list of who will be official members of Algys for this year; a few people have gone on to other related ministries; even more people have joined to take their places. All in all, the group has grown in size and experience, and most importantly, is still enjoying incredible unity of hearts and minds – this has always been one of my main prayer requests for this group, so it is thrilling for me to see this grow and develop.

A representative of Algys, Irina A., is going to the consultation with me, along with at least seven other Christian leaders from Yakutsk. Please pray for our extensive preparations for this event – the Reaching Shamanistic Peoples of Asia Partnership Consultation. I am still a little nervous about the paper and discussion time that I am leading on the topic of “contextualization” – there will be some controversial ideas there, and I am praying like crazy that the Lord will work in people’s hearts to be willing to discuss these new ideas with cool heads and hearts.

I’ll write more later… must run now, but I just wanted to thank you all who are praying!

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