 
ear Friends!
Thank you all for your support and prayers. We are safely back and all 21 of us learned that there is nothing more rewarding than to serve a God who is personal and alive and who involves humans in achieving His plans on this Earth.
Let me just share a couple of highlights from the last few days of the trip. Since we knew that there are ethnic Latvians in Bashkortostan who moved there in 19th century to work the land, we decided to have a Latvian Night. We used radio and TV to invite everyone in the city who is either Latvian or just has an interest in meeting Latvians. A bunch of children and teenagers came, but no Latvians. We had a wonderful program, sang some Latvian songs, taught them some Latvian words and treated everyone to a Latvian national dish - grey peas. We divided into 4 discussion groups according to age, and it turned out to be the greatest blessing.
Afterwards, one of our key leaders Gunta said, "I was extremely tired and I was not at all convinced this whole Latvian event was a good idea ... Silently I prayed that if this was from God, that He would make His presence known that evening. During the discussion group time I was assigned to a group of high-energy teenagers. When we discussed some other stuff they were noisy, but when we talked about Christ they were as silent as humanly possible. We had the most wonderful opportunities to share Christ and several kids indicated they would like to follow Christ in their life. This evening was a highlight for me."
Friday was the infamous 13th day of the month. Local Satanists had intended to disrupt our activities this day. We woke up and the rain was pouring …Some of us leaders went to the sports field where our tents for VBS were located to see if there was any dry spot. There was just one tent standing, but it was the biggest of them all.
But would any children come? Would parents let them come? We also found out that we would not be permitted to use this sports field after today. But tomorrow there would still be one day of VBS. We would have to do it in the church. Friday is the most important time during the VBS, because that's when we share the gospel with kids and call them to repentance and following Christ. Were we loosing the battle? …
We had been praying that weather would not disrupt our ministry, but it looked like our prayer today was not being answered. It turned out that God knows better than we do… Not the first time! It turned out that one little girl had been praying: "Dear God, let there be a big rain tomorrow so that I don't have to go to forest with my mother to pick berries, but I can go to VBS instead." She was there. Children came and were very attentive and well behaved. When they were called to repent of their sin and to live for Christ, this little girl was one of the first to respond. Many others did the same… Praise the Lord!
On Saturday, I was able to meet some people that I feel honored to know in the city Uchali, some 100km east from Belareck. To get there, I had to cross the border that divides Europe and Asia. There I met a local Bashkir missionary couple Nadir and Lena. They are rather new Christians. They just finished a one year Bible school and have been sent to Uchali to start a church from scratch. The city mayor is a Bashkir and a Moslem and he had a meeting with Nadir where in no uncertain terms he said he will put all possible obstacles in front of them.
Nadir had recently rented local private movie theater to show some Christian movie about two mountain climbers. A couple of days before the show, the city mayor made a phone call to the movie theater owner. After this phone call, the movie theater owner said he will not allow the movie to be shown any more. This is so much like Russia. Just one phone call can change everything… But when we sat by the table and drank hot afternoon black tea, Nadir and Lena were full of love, hope and faith. Such devotion to the Gospel of Christ I have rarely seen! They are confident that by next year they will have a small church and they invited us to do a VBS there in their city next year. Pray for them!
Sunday was our last day in Belareck. Strangely enough, my highlight of this day was not related to the church service. It was well attended and according to the local pastor there were new faces. I could see that. It was a good service, but my highlight was in the evening when our entire team boarded the bus and went to the place where Europe and Asia meet. Right there on the border, together with local believers, we prayed for Bashkortostan and for believers there. We prayed for Asia to know Christ and to follow Him. We prayed for Latvia and also for Western Europe that has become too secular and atheistic. We thanked God for the Apostle Paul who was obedient to the leadership of God and came to preach also in Europe.
While praying there on the border between Europe and Asia I had a sense that there has been a certain completion as far as Latvian Christians are concerned. Paul brought the gospel from Asia to Europe. Subsequently it came to Latvia as well, but now it is our turn to bring the gospel back to Asia. This is where the book of Acts comes out of the pages of paper into our lives, and where God keeps writing the story into the lives of people. God willing, next year we will be able to send a team of Latvians to the city of Uchali. Please pray for it starting this very day!
In conclusion. On the way back everyone was tired, but it seemed that everyone was glowing in a strange way. Maybe, because most had time to take shower or wash in a sauna before our departure… No, that is not an adequate explanation. People were glowing because they had experienced the mighty work of God into their own lives...
Thank you all who prayed and supported us! You were part of our team! Please keep praying for local Bashkir believers. Please keep praying for the Latvians who need to respond to the call of God to become involved in missions work. Thank you for being partners in this ministry!
On behalf of the team,
Peter Eisans
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