Church Construction in Saratov

“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them“ (Ps. 111:2)

Dear brothers and sisters, as of April I am no longer Deanfor the Saratov region. But I am happy to to bring an update to those who care about our church building, who are praying for us and helping with the current progress.

Since the end of 2016 work has been done on the church hall: the cry room, the balcony and the church walls. The plastering has been be done as far as possible in the large church hall. With two to four people, a few dozen bags of plaster mortar, a compressed air-driven plastering machine and mobile scaffolding, etc., quite a few things could be done.During and after Easter the work in the church hall went on “pause.” Since then the work joyfully continues. It is hoped that the plastering will be completed in the near future, and then the ground tiles will be done.

Further, after Easter, the room for the planned diaconal clothing store in the lower floor was equipped with wooden shelves so that Sister Maren can soon begin this important work. Thanks for all the help!

Alexander Scheiermann, Michael Weise

News about Church Construction Process in Saratov

“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them“ (Ps. 111:2)

Dear brothers and sisters, as of April I am no longer Deanfor the Saratov region. But I am happy to to bring an update to those who care about our church building, who are praying for us and helping with the current progress.

Since the end of 2016 work has been done on the church hall: the mother-child room, the balcony and the church walls. The plastering has been be done as far as possible in the large church hall. With two to four people, a few dozen bags of plaster mortar, a compressed air-driven plastering machine and mobile scaffolding, etc., quite a few things could be done.During and after Easter the work in the church hall went on “pause.” Since then the work joyfully continues. It is hoped that the plastering will be completed in the near future, and then the ground tiles will be done.

Furthermore, after Easter, the room for the planned diaconal clothing store in the lower floor was equipped with wooden shelves so that Sister Maren can soon begin this important work. Thanks for all the help!

Alexander Scheiermann, Michael Weise

A New Dean in Saratov

On April 9th, Palm Sunday, we congratulated our brother and Pastor Andrey Dzhamgarov on his installation as Area Dean of the Saratov deanery. He has enthusiastically cared for the Saratov congregation for quite some time. Now he becomes the shepherd of a larger herd. It seems to have been only recently when his young wife Olga came to the church for the first time. Andrey brought her from another city. Together with Irina Scheiermann, the wife of Pastor Alexander, Olga began to help teach the children in Sunday school. Although Andrey had a great respect for the church, he did not go to church services. And if he sometimes came, he slept peacefully on the last bench. But the word of God is for the heart like a constant drop for the stone. It carves and gives it a completely different form.

One day, Pastor Alexander Scheiermann visited the Dzhamgarov family. At the table, he told Andrey's parents, "You'll see, Andrey will become a Pastor." Mrs. Dzhamgarov laughed and said, "No, Andrey will NEVER be a Pastor!" But God's view is different from our human view, for “people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Perhaps Olga Dzhamgarov was inspired by the words of the Apostle Peter that men who do not believe the Word of God “may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives” (1 Peter 3, 1). With patience, prayer, humility, unchanged obedience, and deep respect for your husband and his family she watched for more than 20 years how the Lord "woke up" her husband Andrey.

But the awakening did not start very brightly for Andrey from the perspective of a "normal" man. He lost his job, and his family got into a very difficult financial situation. For Andrey the humanitarian aid in form of food and clothing that brought Olga from the church became an important testimony of the love of God and brotherly care (in the Dzhamgarov family a daughter was born at that time). He began to go to church more often, to have fellowship with the faithful, and then to help Pastor Alexander at work. Despite the very modest conditions under which they lived, singing and laughter were heard in the house of Andrey, Olga and the little Adelina. Sunday guests often gathered at their humble table. In the meantime, Andrey began to preach in worship sometimes, to visit other congregations with the pastor and to serve everywhere where he had the opportunity. In 2004 God blessed the family Dzhamgarov with son David, and now Andrey and Olga have two beautiful children.

We wish our beloved brother and valued Pastor and Dean Andrey God's blessing in service and spiritual growth.
Lena Schumakova

Saratov Deanery Children’s Retreat 2016

The children's retreat took place in the village of Lebjazhe (Schwan village). The motto was -”You are a special person in God's eyes.» The time was beautiful and went by quickly. We played a lot, tinkered around and exercised. Each day was thematically framed by a new story from the Bible which was told by the staff in the morning and in the evening. Every evening the young helpers Rachel, Adelina, and Andreas spent a lot of time with the children talking about faith, in order to bring them closer to God's spirit. The children were not ashamed to express their thoughts about it, and the older ones corrected and guided them on the right path. Even though still small, the children’s souls are already marked by sin. Some unjust deeds can have consequences for any human being and particularly for small children who are not experienced. That’s why the older ones took care of the younger children to do good deeds. They read stories from the Bible. The parents were very grateful that their children were well provided for. According to them, the prayers of their children are now more comprehensive and intimate than before. It is wonderful that the children could hear God's word and talk about it from dawn to dusk for an entire week. When the retreat ended, all the children wanted to stay longer.

Thanks to Alexander Derugin, who cooked wonderfully for everyone. The children enjoyed his food and always ate up everything. In a friendly atmosphere they helped out in the kitchen: they peeled potatoes, washed vegetables and fruits and set the table.

We thank our Lord and God, as well as our church for the opportunity to tell our children about God in many different ways (stories, plays, games, etc.). It seems to me that this retrait was a pleasure for the adults as well and enriched them with a lot of good and useful things.

Luda Nakoneznaja

The 8th Annual Christian Canoe Retreat on the Volga River

«What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?» (Psalm 8, 4)

This fourth verse of Psalm 8 was our slogan and the topic of our canoe retreat from June 15 to June 24. There were 19 of us from Ulyanovsk, Saratov, and Kazan as well as from Germany. We fit into eight boats. Some of us had already participated in all the previous journeys, and some took part for the very first time. With certainty one can say that every year the ride is very special: the crews of each boat, the weather and the mooring – it brings difficulties, but joy as well.

We had never before headed out with the canoes as early as the middle of June. Until the day of the departure everyone was worried that it would be too cold in these 10 days, and that we would freeze; but on the 15th of June a heat wave began and continued in the days following. For the first time in all the years we were on clean water that did not even show a trace of green haze. And most importantly, this time we had no problems with the boats on the water. Only once did we have to repair an old 3-man canoe on the water. We thank all those who helped us to purchase five new boats. This year we paddled on a few days from 10 am to 8 pm with only short interruptions. We didn’t do this because of bad weather or because of boat repairs; No, just for pleasure. Nevertheless, we had plenty of time for blessed Bible studies. We reflected on mankind and the tasks of mankind. Besides, there was enough time for games, fishing, swimming and walks on the island. For the first time a couple took part. They had never been among Christians. They were very enthusiastic. The Sunday after the trip, they visited our worship service. Now they would like to become members of the church community. We thank God for this wonderful time on the Volga. Thanks to all who helped this year to renew our fleet.

Dean Vladimir Provorov

“A Healthy Spirit in a Healthy Body”

Saratov, Russia
  The Volga region has traditionally been a very important center for church life in Russia, from the times of the German colonists up until today. Saratov is certainly one of the most important cities there, and it was with great joy that I had the chance to visit and teacher there in May.
    Together with pastor Andrey Dzhamgarov and Area Dean Alexander Scheiermann, we chose the theme "healthy congregations" for our time together and, after inviting Dean Vladimir Provorov from Ulyanovsk (a good friend of the congregation) to share in teaching duties, we named the seminar "A Healthy Spirit in a Healthy Body."  There were approximately 16 attendees from Saratov, Saratov oblast, Ulyanovsk, and Kazan who took part over the first two days, while another group joined us for a summary of the seminary on Sunday after worship. 
   The group was engaged with the material, and especially enjoyed working together on the Bible in small groups, something that I learned was not typical for them. I personally very much enjoyed seeing the church (an enormous structure that has been and will be under construction for some time), meeting the congregations, and getting acquainted a bit more closely with a pietist tradition congregation in a large, provincial city.
  Less successful, it seems, was our choice of dates. The period of late April to the end of May is a great time in Russia, but it is also a time filled with many different holidays, events, and work on the dacha. This probably hurt us in terms of attendance, but we will learn from this experience in order to organize things better next time around.
Bradn Buerkle

Into the Mountains with Prayer

Ulyanovsk/ Saratov, Russia 

  On June 27 to July 2 the congregations of Saratov and Ulyanovsk organized a “prayer camp” for the 13th time. 30 people took part.

   The Bible study program was organized in the following way – prayer themes in the morning led by Pastors Andrey Dzhamgarov and Vladimir Provorod and evening Bible studies organized by Pastor Alexander Scheiermann on the first chapters of the book of Daniel. 

  On one of the days the participants of the camp visited the village of Shiryaevo, where they enjoyed the beautiful views of the Volga and surroundings. Afterwards they went through the settlement of Solnechnya Polyana (Sunny Meadow) to the Kamennaya Chasha (Stone Chalice) spring. 

  The path to the spring wasn't easy for everyone; some had to use their last bit of energy to make it, thinking all the time about how they would not only have to get there, but to get back. But swimming in the cold, mountain spring woke everyone up and renewed their energy enough that everyone was able to make it back to camp.  

  Two days later the plan was to hike up the mountain that stood over the campsite, but after the difficult hike a few days earlier, there weren't many people who wanted to go through with it. In the end a third of the participants set off, and while they were on the mountain they remembered the Biblical story of the Transfiguration. There was talk about wanting to build dwellings there and to stay on the mountain, wherever everyone is unified in prayer. 

  On the last day before returning home, looking back, everyone saw that during the whole week God had unified the participants of the camp into one congregation and had blessed them with fellowship with Him and with one another as they spent a wonderful time on the banks of the Volga. 

  Vladimir Provorov