Dear Partners in Ministry,
Please forgive the delay in this update. Much has been going on!
I’m sitting here in Moscow right now. Later this evening I’ll be catching a flight out to Abakan, about 6 1/2 hours by car north of Tuva. I’m meeting a friend from the States, Justin, here in Moscow and we’re traveling out there together. We’ll arrive in Abakan early tomorrow morning, but are going to rest for the day and then catch a taxi down to Tuva early Saturday morning. This trip is part of my regular duties now as Field Director, and will give the chance to meet not only with our other InterAct Missionary there on the ground, but also with our ministry partners there in Tuva. Much will be discussed on a number of levels, so please keep this whole time in your prayers including traveling mercies.
As many of you know I recently was part of a group of people that conducted evangelism programs in a region about 3 hours from St. Petersburg known as “Tikhvin.” I must say that the whole trip was a great success. Working together with believers from various churches both in St. Petersburg and the Tikhvin region, we divided up into 7 teams and presented “Easter Programs” in 7 different villages. Our team was in a tiny little village called “Sarka.” As you may or may not know, Easter is one of the few times of year in Russia where the name of Christ is spoken openly. This presented an opportunity to talk freely about Christ at a time when people are more open to hearing about him.
Several of the villages had already been visited a number of times over the past few years. In one village, called “Kaivoks” after 4 years of evangelization, the first church service was held in the village! It is hoped that services can be held their once a month for a while and then increased with frequency.
The village we went to, Sarka, is in a little bit different category. This was only the second time a team has visited. The last time was right after Christmas in January of this year. Because of the large number of small children in attendance our team presented a short play and then I presented a short gospel message for about 15 minutes. The play was done quite well. It told the story of Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden (don’t worry, the actors were wearing clothes!), and the vast majority of the dialogue was taken directly from Scripture. I was pleased at how Genesis 3:15 was highlighted as the first promise of the Messiah we see in Scripture. After the program we passed out small gifts along with literature including Bibles and John Blanchard’s “Ultimate Questions” in Russian. While there have not yet been any people to openly profess Christ in Sarka, we believe the Lord used to this time to continue to open doors. They were very happy that we came and invited us back. It is our hope to see a children’s sports camp take place this summer perhaps. I hope to have pictures ready by the next monthly newsletter we put out.
In family news, Cristy’s arm is a little tender but has pretty much healed. Little Nadia is growing just fine, and all appears to be well. Isaiah is getting more and more excited about being a big brother.
Again, thank you for your love and support. By God’s grace our support has gone up! Praise God for all of you who stepped in to help. But we are still seeking further support as God so lays it upon your heart.
We praise and thank God for you and for your service. May God bless you all.
Pressing on,
Thomas Slawson (for the family)
Interview with Russian Pastor Mikhail Mikhailovich Poluboyarinov
Published March 14, 2010 Uncategorized 1 Comment
It was Winston Churchill who said Russia is “…a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” After living here for over two years now I can attest to this more and more each day.
The question often arises in various circles, “Is Russia a Western country or an Eastern Country?” and the answer is “yes.” Russia’s massive landmass spans two continents. The country occupies a large portion of Europe and a massive amount of Asia. In fact the exact geographical center of Asia is located in the Russian Federation. While the majority of the population might live in the European side of the country over two-thirds of the country’s land is located in Asia. In this Asian part of Russia there are large population centers and numerous Slavic populations but there are also numerous indigenous people groups, whose roots are predominantly Turkic, not Slavic. These people groups are distinctly Asian. While these people groups still in many ways maintain many of their own traditions, even their own languages and practices, they are still part of the Russian Federation and they endured the rule of the Soviet Union along with everyone else. Currently, the unavoidable fact exists that the indigenous peoples of Russia have been greatly influenced by Russian culture.
But it goes both ways. Those who know history know that for about 250 years Russia was ruled and raided by the Tartars and Mongols. Many have blamed this period of Mongol and Tartar rule on what has been termed the “East-West Gap,” theorizing the occupation of Russia caused a “delay” in the development of the country. Thus many major social and political changes and reforms that occurred in Europe never took place in the Russia. This includes the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation and the development of a middle class in society.
So when it comes to understanding Russia on the whole, trying to figure out whether it is Western or Eastern, European or Asian, I think Frank Sinatra is helpful – “You can’t have one without the other.” European Russia cannot be understood outside of the context of Asian Russia, and Asian Russia cannot be understood outside of the context of European Russia. To various degrees the indigenous peoples of Russia have been “Russified.” Hence, the vast majority of them can speak Russian to various degrees of fluency. Various Russian and Slavic traditions have entered their culture. This has been unavoidable. At the same time, the vast majority of Slavic Russians have been influenced by Eastern thought and mysticism. Most are highly superstitious. They don’t shake hands over the threshold of a door, and they never give an even number of flowers. Many other superstitions exist.
Trying to understand Russia without looking at her through the lenses of both continents is like trying to watch a 3D movie with one of the lenses missing out of the glasses. One may still get the general picture, but things will be blurry.
“Are You a Jehovah’s Witness?”
Published February 26, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: Encounters
The other day as I stood in the snow waiting for the post office to open this woman who was probably in her late 50s approached me on the street and asked me for money. I’ve learned quickly over here to almost never, with few exceptions, give money to people. As in the United States or anywhere else, one can never be sure what a person’s real motives are. Most want to buy drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. But, indeed, there are people really and truly in need, so what does one do?
Normally I ask the person what they need the money for and then, if it’s reasonable, offer to go buy it for them. Normally, those with genuine needs readily accept this, while those looking for other things quickly reject me. I’ll never forget the shock on a man’s face recently when he chased after me asking me for money for bread. I just so happened to have bought a loaf and quickly pulled it out of my bag and gave it to him. He hesitantly thanked me, but I could tell the last thing he expected me to do was whip out a loaf of bread and hand it to him. Boy did I ruin his day.
This lady who approached me, however, seemed quite different. She was very obviously not drunk, and seemed to be in her right mind. Judging from her age she was probably already considered a pensionerka, a woman who is already receiving a government pension. In 2009 the average pension was 5000 rubles per month, about $165. This year it was raised to an average of 8000 rubles per month, about $265. Though most pensioners already own their property and don’t pay rent, they still pay bills which can easily run $40 per month, and buy a transportation card that works on basically all the public transport systems. This also runs about $40. According to the new pension rate, this leaves about $185 a month to live on, and food over here isn’t cheap.
When she told me she needed money, I asked my normal question, “What do you need to buy?” She told me the name of a medicine that is pretty standard over here for aches and pains. I asked her how much it cost and she said “18 rubles,” about $.60. By this time I was starting to get the sense that she was not in this for the money. But all the same I tried to stay cautious. A pack of cigarettes over here can be purchased for as little as 12 rubles in some places. I told her that I almost never give money to people, but I’d be happy to buy her medicine for her. Right there by the post office was an apteka, a pharmacy. We walked in together, I discretely handed her a 50 ruble bill and waited back a bit. I watched as she bought exactly what she said she needed to buy and walked back to me to give me the change. By this time I could tell she was genuine. It was the end of the month and the little money she received from her pension had been used up. She was broke until March 1.
I told her to keep the change and then broke my “rule” by giving her 100 rubles. She thanked me profoundly as if I had handed her 100 dollars. Not wanting to miss an opportunity I asked her her name. “Lidia” she said. I asked her if she believed in God. She said yes, and then looked at me and asked, “Are you a Jehovah’s Witness.” I smiled and immediately answered “absolutely not!” She seemed relieved. I went on to ask her if she had ever read the Bible, to which she said that she had. I took just a few minutes simply explained the gospel of Jesus Christ to her. She listened someone tentatively but politely, and then thanked me.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again or not. These kinds of encounters are so brief, and, perhaps by our human perceptions, don’t accomplish much. But I believe in the power of the gospel and I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to work in hearts. Bibles are readily available in Russia these days, and it is my hope that she will read the word and that God will work in her heart.
Dear Friends,
I’m sitting here in our apartment in Russia contemplating the last two-and-a-half years that we’ve spent in this country. It’s been quite a “ride” to say the least. The Lord has led us down many paths, some in valleys, some on the tops of mountains, but through it all we’ve been preserved and blessed in the love of Christ our Savior.
Now, we are settled here and, in many ways, we call this home. After many brain-deadening lessons, we achieved fluency in the Russian language, and now our days are taken up more and more by direct ministry, rather than with cramming grammatical rules.
We believe we’ve been called to this work. Since the first time I visited Eastern Europe in 2000, and then Ukraine in 2001 my heart was burdened for ministry in Russia. God led Cristy and me together with a common calling to serve here. And despite challenges along the way, we are here by God’s grace.
Doors are opening now. Some connections are fully established and others are being made. It’s been 18 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in many ways a new generation of missionaries is entering the field in Russia. We came right at the beginning of that shift and in many ways feel like we’re pioneering a new era.
For the first two years here we lived basically free of any financial concerns as far as our support goes. This was a huge blessing to us, as it allowed us the freedom to focus on learning the language, establishing ministry contacts and settling our family. But this past year has brought many changes. We are fully aware that the recession has affected many, and are appreciative of this fact. This has subsequently affected our support levels significantly. While some new supporters have stepped in along the way, it has not compensated for those who no longer are able to give. As a result we are, in a sense, “hanging on” with our support. We are doing everything we can to adjust to this. We have cut back our expenses significantly, and are, more than ever, careful with our money.
As things stand right now, if we continue to receive the average amount per month that is coming in, we will have to leave Russia and return to the States soon. We have committed that we are never going to go into debt in order to stay here. We believe firmly that if the Lord wants us to stay that he will provide the funds necessary. We still feel very strongly called to continue working here, but we also believe that the Lord provides, and gives us wisdom to know the right paths to take. We will continue to cut back until we can cut back no more, but we will not rack up credit card debt in order to stay here.
So, here is what we are in need of. We are seeking 45 people who can commit to $25 per month. This will help raise our monthly support level to the necessary amount needed to continue serving in Russia.
For those who give already, we thank you. We are not necessarily asking you to give more. But we are prayerfully seeking new partners in this ministry. So if you can we ask that you please pass this information along to others who might be seeking to support missions.
I thank you for taking a moment to read this letter. Believe me, it’s not the most fun aspect of what we do here, but we recognize that it is necessary, and want to do our due diligence in regards to our responsibilities here on the mission field.
Pressing on,
Thomas
Forgive the delay in not getting this out sooner. Life, as always, has been hectic. I won’t wax poetic about the weather. Suffice it to say, it’s cold and snowy, without any changes in the forecast any time soon. Here’s an update of a few things that have been going on lately.
Regional Evangelism and Outreach
Last week I took a trip with a group to the city of Tikhvin to help plan for an evangelism trip there in April. Tikhvin is about a 3 hour drive from St. Petersburg and is located in a region surrounded by many small “villages.” This trip is being organized by a local pastor, Alexander Morozov, here in St. Petersburg whose wife is from the region. He’s done quite a good job of organizing churches both from here in the city and from the Tikhvin region to participate with this work. Further planning will be going on for this over the next few weeks. This trip will coincide with Easter according to the Eastern calendar. The ultimate goal is to plant churches in the various villages in the Tikhvin region.
PRAY: For the planning of this project. We are in need of more volunteers who can help in various ways. Please also pray that all of the funds necessary will come in for this project. Pray that people would come to know Christ.
April Bible Conference
Plans are coming together for a Bible conference to take place here April 30th – May 2nd. The conference will feature four main speakers, three from Russia and one from the United States. This conference will be for both church leaders and laypersons. I am serving as one of the main coordinators of this project.
PRAY: That the conference planning will come together smoothly, and that the one American speaker would be able to get his visa to come. Pray for a good turnout for the conference and that all the funds will be made available.
Travel to Tuva
As part of my work as Field Director for InterAct ministries, I travel to other regions of Russia several times per year. April 15th – 23rd I’ll be traveling to Tuva to meet with our one team member there and with native church leaders to discuss a number of issues related to our ministry there.
PRAY: For safe and problem-free travel. Pray for good meetings with native leaders, that our relationships could be strengthened to allow us to move forward in the work of the gospel there in Tuva.
“Alex”
Many of you remember me mentioning “Alex” in my last letter. Unfortunately I can’t report that anything has gotten better. A couple of days ago I had to be firm with him about his repeatedly calling me over and over again. This has been a common problem all along where he would call me repeatedly, sometimes 10-15 times in a row. This time when he called I was in a position where I could not take his call. Because I couldn’t take his call he accused me of having “issues that I needed to deal with.” When I was firm with him he hung up the phone and has cut off all contact with me.
This has been difficult in some ways, because I very much care for his soul. But at the same time, the situation with him has not changed for the past two years and has been taxing to say the least. During this time he has lied to me repeatedly, tried to get money from me (which I found out later he would have used for prostitutes), and has basically used me to impress others with his own abilities to speak English. This, I think, was also one of the issues which upset him, when I told him I was no longer going to speak English to him but only Russian.
I will continue to pray for him, and if he ever calls me I will be here for him, but I cannot change his heart.
PRAY: That God save Alex.
Personal Note
Cristy is at 23 weeks now! We praise the Lord that all is going well with our prenatal care here in Russia. She’s continuing to take just a few hours of Russian lessons per week to “tidy up” her knowledge of the language. It is amazing how far she has come with all of her responsibilities as a mother.
Isaiah is also busy day in and day out playing, and doing a little home school work with Cristy. The weather has unfortunately prohibited a lot of outside time, but he tends to stay plenty entertained.
We also want to praise the Lord as we’ve seen a little increase in our monthly support! We are so thankful that some other supporters have come on board recently and have started giving monthly. We are still behind though, and are in need of further monthly support in order to continue our work here in Russia. For all of you who have supported us and are continuing to support us we thank you dearly.
People sometimes wonder what it takes to live and work here in Russia. According to the most recent totals, the cost averages out to about $190 per day. Now that’s not how much we’re eating in food per day. That’s the average of everything we have to spend in order to live here. This includes, visas, legal fees, our apartment rental, food, living costs, our insurance, bills, and travel to the United States once per year. If you take that number and divide it by 12 you get about $15. What that means is that if you give $16 per month to our ministry, that over the course of a year that supports us being in Russia a full day! See, even small gifts help significantly.
If you’re able to help you can either go here or send donations to
InterAct Ministries
31000 SE Kelso Rd.
Boring, OR 97009
Please note “Thomas & Cristy Slawson” in the memo line.
Thank you all for your love and prayers. May God bless you all.
In Christ,
The Slawsons
We have our visas in hand!
Every time we apply there is always a chance of being denied or not getting our visas back in time. After already losing one set of plane tickets, we were quite desirous of getting these visas so we could indeed fly back on the 27th, the date of our new plane tickets.
Thank you for those who have prayed for us during this process. Thank you to those who have contributed also for the purchase of our new tickets. We are grateful beyond words that this situation is now resolved; we praise God for His provision and faithfulness to us.
My colleague and I shot the following video this past summer to promote the church plants going on in Tuva and Yakutia. Hopefully this will give you a better perspective on what the work that we are doing in Russia. Hope you enjoy.
InterAct Russia Program from John Conn on Vimeo.
Great news. We received our letters of invitation for work visas to Russia! To explain what that means, in Russia one must have a visa in order to enter, live in and exit the country. In order to get a visa one must first get a letter of invitation so that he or she can then apply for the visa. Normally, once one gets a letter of invitation the application for a visa usually goes through. So once we receive these letters here (hopefully in about 2 weeks) we can then submit them along with our visa applications to the Russian consulate in the United States and then get our work visas!
As many of you know, we’ve spent the last year in Russia on student visas. While these have been a big blessing to us, allowing us to continue with our Russian studies and live in the country, they have also been somewhat restrictive and expensive. This new work visa is good for a year and is renewable for up to two more years after that. So our hope is that this will allow us to live in the country for at least three more years.
At this point we are hoping to return to Russia on December 27th. Please pray for us as we make arrangements to fly back. We were forced to cancel our original return tickets. As you may or may not know, when we bought our original tickets we did not know we were going to be receiving these new types of visas. So now we are going to have to buy completely new return tickets, and unfortunately we did not get any refund on our old tickets. Please pray for a good price.
Thank you all for your prayers.
