It has been an exciting couple of weeks here in Novosibirsk! We have actually had a few days in the 70 degree temperature range, and this has been perfect T-shirt weather. In Siberia, the motto for spring could be, "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 seconds". Lo and behold, Saturday we had cooler weather and in the afternoon we looked out the window and snow was going sideways! This continued for about 20 minutes, but virtually all of the snow that accumulated was on cars and melted fast. Needless to say, spring is an interesting time of year!
Ministry at Akadem ESL has been very good lately! After the Bible story last week, we got a few really great questions about whether Jesus truly is God. One person asked why Jesus can't be just a man considering Lazarus was raised from the dead and he was just a man. Good question indeed. I explained that Lazarus came back from the dead because Jesus called him. Lazarus couldn't have come back without Jesus calling him forth. But Jesus said He had the power to lay His own life down and take it up again--thereby accentuating one of many critical differences between Jesus and Lazarus. The biblical evidence for Jesus' deity cannot be stronger!
Please continue to pray as questions like these are exactly what we are looking for. They are inroads to the Gospel. Also, be praying for the future of the ministry at Akadem, as it looks as if this is going to shift from ESL this spring to more of an English language Bible study this fall. Of course, we also continue to request prayer for learning Russian -- we are learning slowly but surely! Once again, your prayers are much appreciated!
