“When each of us accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we committed to the Great Commission. None of our lives can ever be the same after seeing despair turned to hope in the lives of so many precious Russian people. The rewards of going on a mission trip are unbelievable. You receive far more than you give.”
GO TELL Volunteer Team, 2007
Ministering love and hope in the cities of Bryansk, Dyatkovo, Slobodeshe, Jukovka, Bytosh, and Ludinovo, Russia, fifteen GO TELL Team volunteers were recently used of God to lead 220 Russian people to Christ, while encouraging and ministering aid to hundreds.
The GO TELL Team consisted of volunteers from seven states. Ministering in schools, orphanages, churches, a rehabilitation center, a senior home, and on the streets, they gave out 750 pounds of aid, 1,000 pieces of Christian literature and Bibles, and gospel bracelets. Almost $14,000 in cash was also given to churches and other Christian organizations.
Feeling directly led by God to go to Russian with the GO TELL Team, Pastor Steve Nixon committed his father-in-law, who was suffering with a brain tumor, into God’s hands. “I rested in the confidence that my father-in-law knew Christ as Savior,” said Pastor Nixon. “I knew I was needed to go 15,000 miles to fulfill the Great Commission because people on the other side of the world need Jesus too.
“In a cold, dark Russian Rehabilitation Center for alcoholics and drug addicts, I found cold men whose hollow countenances knew no joy. They were desperate for someone whom they could trust to love them. After sharing Christ with them, our team witnessed 20 men accept Christ as Lord and Savior. The change in them was miraculous. Victor told me that as I preached, his heart longed for what I was sharing. By the time I had finished, he said he knew that the Lord had delivered him and set him free from drugs and alcohol.”
Just fifteen years old, Terri Medley made a life-changing decision. “This trip to Russia was incredible. The hopelessness in the faces of the Russian people, including the children was heartbreaking. I will never forget two little girls named Kristina and Natasha, both with shaved heads, who I met in a children’s home. After I gave them each some stickers and a teddy bear, they were desperate to communicate. Luba, our translator, figured out what they were so anxious about—wondering if they could actually keep their bears. The overwhelming look of joy on their faces when I told them they were a gift was absolutely priceless. Love, affection, and the good news of Jesus Christ changed them and in doing so, made certain to me what the Lord wants me to do with my life.”
After hearing Rick Gage speak at her church, Rebecca Dempsey surrendered her life to God to go on missions trips to Russia although she was facing many medical problems at the time. This trip was her seventh time to minister in Russia. “Each trip brings so much joy,” she said. “It is hard to explain the change in the eyes of a seemingly hopeless child who blossoms like a flower after being shown love. Just reaching out with a sticker, a balloon, a Bible, and a smile opens them up to receive the message of Jesus’ love.
“A very special experience for me this year was meeting a Russian woman who was drawn to me at a prison. She and I bonded as we shared common problems. She left me knowing Jesus lived in her heart and clutching a Bible which she clung to as her lifeline. No matter where we go, hurting people are looking for answers that can only be found in Jesus.”
Mechelle Bryant wrote of her trip, “This was my third year to go on the Russian Missions trip with GO TELL Ministries. Each year is different, but it is the way God has called me to fulfill the Great Commission. God has really placed a burden on my heart for the Russian people, especially the orphans. I like to go in and hug those sweet kids and hopefully leave a bright spot in their lives. Their situations are so bleak, and I believe our trips make an eternal difference in many of the people we meet. Each time I return to America I think I have left a little of my heart with the orphaned children. I want to keep sharing Jesus and doing what I can to make a better life for them.”
Jesse Laine expressed thanks to be part of a team that was privileged to share Jesus Christ with the Russian people. “At an old folk’s home, I had the chance to sit with a Russian woman who knew no English. Since no interpreters were available, I just tied a gospel bracelet on her arm that I had made for her and sat close to her. She began to cry and kiss me all over. I sat and extended love to this woman the entire time we were there. Later I was told that people in that home never get visitors. It was a special moment and an honor for me to be able to be an extension of God’s love to this woman.”
Youth Pastor Hal Clifton first heard about GO TELL’S Russia Missions Trip at a GO TELL Summer Youth Camp where he has been taking his youth groups for the past seven years. “Last year when I went on the Russia missions trip I cried every day,” said Pastor Hal. “This year I was thrilled to be taking one of my youth on the trip, but was burned out when I left because of pressures and the hectic pace of life. It didn’t take long for the Lord to put things in perspective for me and refresh my spirit. When you get to minister alongside the greatest team anyone could ever work with and see the Lord use each of you in His divine appointments, you are transformed too.”
Since beginning its ministry in Russia in 1992, God has greatly blessed the efforts of GO TELL Ministries in that land where its teams have seen literally thousands of Russians come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Rick Gage says, “As long as God gives me strength, I will continue to take GO TELL Teams of volunteers back to that desperate land where the Spirit of God is moving and precious Russian people are hungry for the gospel message. Those who go on an overseas missions trip with us are forever changed as they share their faith and experience the power of God in a foreign land.”
For more information about Rick Gage GO TELL Ministries, please call 1-866-I-GO-TELL; email at info@gotellministries.com or visit the website at www.gotellministries.com.
