Challenges
Agape has impacted over 1 million people with the love of God in Russia since its beginning in 1993 through four areas of ministry: The Agape Medical Center in Moscow and its outreach to migrants and the homeless; Telemedicine and remote medical expeditions, chiefly to Siberia; Medical Education, a tool to share Christ with medical professionals; the Agape Farm with its outreach and Live & Learn programs for aged-out orphans. Agape's hands-on ministry has not been accomplished in a vacuum. It has been birthed in an atmosphere of prayer, faith, and obedient action on the part of Agape’s staff and people like you who have come alongside us as we presented our requests and thanksgivings to God. In recent months, our staff have faced health issues, personally and with our families, and government shutdowns both in the U.S. and in Russia have curtailed every area of our ministry. Our adversary the devil has taken every opportunity during this pandemic to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), as within any ministry doing God’s work, to bring to a stop and to derail the mission God has entrusted to us. Prayer Needs
Other Prayer Concerns
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians2:10). Pray without ceasing ... for our MEDICAL EDUCATION outreach!
Weekly Prayer Needs
This patient is homeless. Temporarily, he is sleeping in the basement of a rehab building. Agape medical staff are treating his wounds and will do follow up care.
For most of us, life as we knew it last year has most certainly changed. Face to face meetings have changed to Zoom calls. School from kindergarten to college has changed. Everything from grocery store runs to commercial airline travel has changed. Yet, some things never change. People still need Jesus and medical care. Agape is in a unique position to continue sharing God’s love through compassionate medical care to an ever changing, ever uncertain world. Please continue to uplift the Agape Clinic as we adapt to new rules and regulations and for our Telemedical program that reaches patients in the remote parts of eastern Siberia. Despite setbacks, we are continuing to share the Good News about Jesus! Praises: Our Live & Learn program at the Agape Farm now has a core group 6 Russians who all speak some English. This group will help plan 3-day (and occasionally 10-day) Live & Learn programs. Dr. Bill and Pat are overseeing this Live & Learn project and already the Russians came forward with an idea for our first 3-day seminar to be held in mid-September for pregnant orphans and single moms with babies and young children. Please pray… Medical Center Agape:
Agape Leadership and Staff:
Agape Farm:
Requests from our Supporters and Colleagues in Ministry
Thank you for joining us in praying for these needs. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.” --Jeremiah 29:12 Weekly Prayer Needs:
• To finish the construction of the second half of our New Life House that will allow lodging for more paying guests, space for a sewing lab, and a place to do creative crafts which the orphans can potentially develop into a small business. • For the orphans and students involved in the Live & Learn program, that they whole-heartedly invest themselves in these learning opportunities, especially as we teach them how to become "multipliers" for God. • For the poor and elderly in the villages, that they are drawn to Christ by the compassionate care they receive from our outreach staff. • For LABORERS; that is, for God to touch people's hearts to join us on our Friendship in a Suitcase and Friendship Box programs. Other Prayer Concerns: • For divine appointments with individuals, Bible study groups, and missions' committees as our Russian Missionaries travel to the U.S. and other places. That would go a long way in helping us share what God is doing in Russia through Agape. Agape is a small organization and unknown to most people. • Pray for more LABORERS who will go with us on one of our outreach programs: Medical Expeditions or Moscow or Farm Outreaches. Challenges: The Agape Farm was acquired in 2011. Since that time, ministry has mushroomed. The biggest challenge is that available funds do not meet the unlimited needs. The Agape Farm is all about "growing," but it encompasses much more than plowing the land, harvesting hay, watering the vegetable gardens, and collecting eggs from the hen house. It is a place to "plant," "grow," "harvest," and disciple LABORERS for the glory of God and His kingdom. Many of you have been praying for a long time about a “law suit” concerning our Agape Medical Clinic. We are sorry we were not able to provide you with more details at the time. After you read, Sergey S’s testimony, you will understand the injustice and complexity of the case. But God gave us the victory!
The Agape medical office in Moscow is the hub for all medical ministries done by Agape in Russia. Agape purchased the space on the first floor of a 17-story apartment building and it was opened as the Agape Medical Center in 2005. Here Agape trains and sends out the medical professionals to be the light and salt for the lost in the Russian Federation (Matt. 5:16). The building itself is run by an apartment owners’ assembly comprised of more than 300 owners, much like a homeowners’ association. Back in 2012, the assembly voted in a new chairman (a former military major). At first, he seemed kind to Agape but later he had hatred in his heart towards us and began to persecute Agape. He forced Agape to change the advertisement signs on the exterior walls of the offices which cost the ministry unnecessary expense. Then in 2018, he changed the building management company and fees increased by 35%. Then a fraudulent plan was devised to force Agape to hand over the keys from the Agape medical offices and allow 24-hour access to the offices by the owners. In addition, they demanded office space in the medical offices to house the building management company. But the biggest infringement and persecution was that the Chairman got the right from the assembly to sign any contracts with the building management company on behalf of Agape without Agape leadership consent. In November 2018, SergeyS and ZhenyaT, together with the initiative group of the apartment owners, were able to set a new assembly meeting. They visited every apartment owner to explain what happened to the building management regarding the fee changes. So they were able to collect 51.5% of votes to change the chairman and the building management company. The change was enforced in December 2018. In August, 2019, the former chairman reported a crime to the investigation bureau, accusing SergeyS, ZhenyaT and a group of apartment owners. The Investigation bureau checked, found nothing and closed the file. In September 2019, the former chairman filed a civil suit to annul the results of the assembly meeting of November 2018 and to restore his position as the chairman of the assembly. After 11 months of court battles, God gave the victory to Agape! On July 24, 2020, the suit was dismissed. The ministry is protected! I can testify to this new miracle of God. In spite of all the persecution of Christianity in Russia, Agape is still protected and sends out the medical missionaries to the remote places of Russia to proclaim the Good News of salvation in 2020! El-Shadai is our God! –SergeyS (edited by permission) More Praises:
COVID Medical Challenges:
Moscow Migrants and the Homeless:
Medical Center Agape and Siberian Outreach:
Agape Leadership and Staff:
THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH US! Your prayers are making a difference! Pray without ceasing ... for our community clinics for Africans!
Weekly Prayer Needs:
Other Prayer Concerns:
Challenges: African migrants are another vulnerable population brought to Russia or they come as students hoping for a less expensive education. They also suffer persecution, beatings, deplorable living conditions, and have no access to the Russian health care system or social services. Single women get caught in prostitution or end up on the streets pregnant. Our Agape staff serve at a "free" clinic for Africans and address their medical needs and help them find needed resources such as safe housing. Distributing Health Kits and food to Migrants at MCA
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Please rest assured that our Russia Agape missionaries and staff are praying for you, our supporters and prayer partners, during these difficult times. It is during trials that we realize just how firm a foundation our Almighty God is! Medical Center Agape is still open and treating patients daily with compassionate medical care. We appreciate every prayer lifted up on our behalf as we press on sharing the Love of God at every single opportunity given. Praises
PRAYER MATTERS: Please pray… Agape Staff
Thank you for your prayers and continued financial support. Your monthly gifts will help to sustain us during this critical time. Moscow’s indefinite coronavirus lockdown has left the city’s vulnerable homeless population with an impossible choice — find shelter or risk paying steep fines, while facing the danger of becoming infected with a potentially deadly disease.
In many European countries, where the coronavirus has hit hard, spaces including hotels, office buildings and gymnasiums have been converted into isolation shelters for the homeless. No such measures have been taken in Russia, where anti-homeless stigma is strong — and with parks, shopping centers and train stations closed and volunteers staying home, Moscow’s homeless have few options for finding shelter and basic necessities. “The homeless have no way to self-isolate,” Daria Baybakova, the head of the Moscow branch of the Nochlezhka NGO, which operates a network of shelters in St. Petersburg and the capital, told The Moscow Times. Official statistics for Russia’s homeless population are patchy, with data from the most recent census in 2010 placing the number of people living on the streets nationwide at 65,000. Nochlezhka — or “Overnight Stay” — says the number is closer to 1 million, with the number of homeless in Moscow alone at about 80,000. That number has only increased since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Baybakova said, and there are far too few places in shelters to accommodate them all. The spread of Islam is rampant in Russia. Tens of thousands gather to worship in the center of Moscow which is now the largest Muslim city in Europe.
Russia has 4 million migrants, many living in Moscow. The country's migration policy includes plans to attract up to 10 million migrants to offset the country's declining population. They flood into Russia through scams and the promise of well-paying jobs, hoping to support their families back home. They often live in crowded conditions, twenty people in a two-bedroom apartment which means they have to sleep in shifts. Often, they have no official documents needed to receive health care or social services. Many end up homeless and die on the streets. Weekly Prayer Needs:
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If you have questions or difficulties, or if you wish to give by phone, call 1-877-576-4504. To give by mail, please send your gift to: Agape Unlimited, P.O. Box 50994, Midland, TX 79710. |
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