Your Invitation to Go To Russia on A Mission Trip With Four in the Fire Russia Ministries, Inc.
Four in the Fire Russia Ministries, Inc.would like to invite you to travel
to Russia on a short-term mission trip with
Andy
and Stephanie Nelms. We are an evangelical missions board leading short term mission trips to Russia. As of January 2007, we will now be leading many mission trips to Russia each year.
Are you in a hurry and just want to get to the application process, then click
here, or you may continue reading your personal invitation to go to Russia.
We have organized nine short term mission trips where we stayed for two to four weeks in two small towns about 100
kilometers northeast of Moscow. In the past, we have traveled with groups in size from 4 to 18 people. God truly blessed us in 2006 with a team of 18 Americans and 17 Russian interpreters. We have learned that that 10-20 people makes for a wonderful experience and a family atmosphere.
Andy serves as a full-time missionary to Russia and Stephanie serves as a part-time missionary
to Russia. Andy went to Russia for the first time in 1992 with a group of 33 Christians. Since
then, he has traveled to Russia on nine more mission trips. Stephanie has accompanied him on seven
of these mission trips.
We do all of the usual things: preaching, teaching, church planting, VBS for children, adult and teen Bible studies, medical clinics, singing, one-on-one witnessing and visiting people in their homes. We
visit children in orphanages, and individuals in their homes. We have people over for tea and, since they
are in our home, we preach the gospel to a captive audience. We are returning to Russia
soon. You may view our
current schedule of trips.
We would be honored to have you minister with us in Russia on a short term mission trip. However, we only want you to go
if God wants you to go. So please pray and determine if this is what God wants for you.
We use Russian interpreters, so do not use language as a reason not to go. If you want to know
whether God wants you to go on a short term mission trip, then ask yourself this question: “Am I a committed Christian?” If
the answer is yes, then remember the Great Commission and obey it. If you would like to
know the reasons why
you should go to Russia on a short term mission trip, click
here.
If you want to go, but you think there is a reason that you cannot go, then please
read
our response to the most popular reasons people give for not going on a short-term mission trips to Russia.
What will
you do when you get there? You may, if you choose do any of the following:
sing
visit
people in their homes
speak with people about Jesus
help with the medical clinics (anyone can help, no previous training required)
teach an adult Bible study
teach
a teen Bible study
tell Bible stories in VBS
lead crafts in VBS
lead games in VBS
help with snacks in VBS
hand out tracts to people
participate in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes (no training required)
Or you may do just about anything else a Christian can do to win others
to Christ. You will
be allowed to work in any capacity that you and
the Lord see fit. You
may tell others how you became a Christian. You may tell how, by God’s grace, they can become
a Christian. You
may work in a VBS with children or visit people in their homes. You will see God bring
glory to Himself by saving
souls. Do
you have a measure of compassion? If so, maybe you would like to visit with elderly people
who may live alone. Your ministry to these people would be to speak with them for a little
while. They might
need water carried
into the house in buckets from the street
where the hand water pump is located.
The harvest is great, but the workers are few (not original with me). Will you be among those
who said yes to the Great Commission? (Sorry for the sermon, but I get very excited and I am
very passionate about Russia, because of my God-given burden for the Russian people.)
Two of the people you will meet and work with are Vladimir (Volodya) Kochelev and Nadezhda (Nadya)
Kocheleva. He is the pastor at the Baptist church and she is his wife. Volodya is the one with the beard. Vera (the baby) is in front. Vera is 7 and ruth is 9. Sasha, the oldest daughter is 16. Kirill is the young man in the striped sweater, he is approximately 20 years old and is the nephew of Pastor Volodya.
“Why do a mission trip in December in Russia? ”, you are probably asking. It is
cold, snowy, and windy; but it is also the time of year when the young people of
Russia can be reached. During the summer months, the kids and the adults work
in the fields in the evenings raising small crops for their families. In
December, they have nowhere to go and nothing to do. So when we invite them to
attend a Bible study with Americans, they are excited and come. It is also much more expensive to travel to Russia in the summer. We typically pay $900 for a winter trip airline ticket and $1,500 (or more ) for a summer trip airline ticket.
Your being in Russia is crucial, since the Russian people want to meet and speak with Americans. The fact that
you are an American Christian means that much more. If you travel with us in late December, you will be in Russia for Jesus’ birthday (not December 25th) and we
use it as a way to reach the kids. By
the way, Christmas in Russia is on January 7th, so you will be there to celebrate Christmas
with the Russian people.
On our trip in December of 1998, there were approximately 35 people who came to know Jesus Christ
as their Savior and Lord simply because we gave witness to Him. The members of our small group
had prayed for God to touch the hearts of the Russian people and prepare them for His message. They
had prayed for nine months before we left and they prayed during the trip. God honored
those prayers with a harvest of souls bringing glory to Himself. Pray now with us and ask yourself, “What
would Jesus do?” Your life will be changed, as well as that of the Russians.
If you decide to go with us on a short-term mission trip, you will need to checkout our
travel
deadlines. Please let us know as soon as you can. The sooner you let us know the better chance
we have of obtaining cheap tickets for you. Also if you are even a little interested
please download and read our 49 page
Mission Trip Survival
Guide. Reading this survival guide is a prerequisite for anyone wishing
to go on our mission trips. Read this guide before you write to us as it will answer
many of your questions. Then contact us and let us know about your interest in going with
us.
Vaccinations
No vaccinations are required; however, I would strongly encourage a tetanus booster shot and Hepatitis
B vaccine. A flu shot should also be taken if you are traveling during the winter, because
it will be the peak of the flu season. We purchase
bottled water and soft drinks when we arrive so that we do not have to drink tap water.
We boil the water with which we cook.
Cost
The cost of the trip is approximately
$2500-$3000. If you are interested in traveling with us, read the
travel
information and the information about the various
deadlines.
Sasha is the oldest daughter of Volodya and Nadya. She is eight in this picture and she would
like you to come and help her dad. See the expression on her face. She is 15 in the photo above.
We are an evangelical organization taking the Gospel to Russia utilizing short-term mission trips as the vehicle. While we are Baptists, we work with people of many denominations on our short term mission trips. We take with us Americans from many denominations and we work with churches in Russia from many denominations. Our primary concern for the Americans is that they have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Our primary concern for the churches in Russia with whom we serve is that they teach and believe that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Salvation is a major and everything else is a minor. So let's major on the majors and minor on the minors as a former pastor of mine used to say. In other words, if we can agree on salvation we can disagree about a lot of other things and still serve together. You may see our
Statement of Faith.
To that end, if you wish to travel with us on a short term evangelical mission trip, you will be asked a few questions that will help us to understand that you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Why do we do that? Well can you imagine us being in Russia and we have with us someone who is attempting to explain how to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, when they themselves are lost?
You do not have to be Baptist to go with us, you just have to KNOW that you are saved and on your way to heaven and you must be able to communicate that to us.
If you are still interested in going to Russia with us on a short term Russia mission trip, then you may
apply to go to Russia with us.
Thank you for considering our small work for Christ as an outlet for your expression of God’s
love for you. May God richly bless and reward your family as we move forward in prayer about this opportunity
for your family to participate in evangelism for Jesus.
Your brother and sister in Jesus Christ,
Andy and Stephanie Nelms