Prayer Request

Our hearts are very, very sad right now and wanted to ask you to pray for our next door neighbors Olga and Zhenya.   Yesterday afternoon their 24 year old son Dima took his own life.   His Mother Olga ran out into the street yelling for help and Andrei (our ministry partner) and another Christian young man at the Youth Center ran over and ended up taking care of the body and being with her the rest of the afternoon.  

James had just talked to Dima the night before.  Our fellow worker Ksenya had sat on a park bench the night before until after midnight talking about the Bible, God, does God exist, purpose in life.   It hurts to remember all the times I would walk down the road with the kids and always stop and talk with Dima... he was a great young man that always had a smile on his face and a cheerful hello.   It's also hard to think about all the times I invited him to a Bible study or to summer camp... but he never had time... he was never interested.  His girlfriend had broken up with him and the note he left his parents read simply 'there is no reason to live'.  

Please pray that we will have wisdom to know how to show love to Dima's parents and Grandfather.  He was an only child, and his parent's grief is very great.  

^^I wrote the above late last night.. and then near midnight James finally came home from the youth center.  The mother Olga had come over to talk with him for a very long time.  Olga wanted to know if James could 'pray his soul out of purgatory' - which is a Russian Orthodox tradition performed at funerals.   Since Dima's death was suicide the Orthodox Priest refused to conduct the service and the family can not have the funeral inside a church.  She also asked if they could have the funeral at the Youth Center.    Please pray for James tomorrow as we have this funeral at the Youth Center.. it will be Friday afternoon our time - about 2:00am EST.  James will need much wisdom and grace.  Please pray that we will know how to show out deep sorrow and God's love to these parents and Grandfather.   Pray that they will understand that we can only find purpose in life when we have a personal relationship with our Creator, the God of the Universe.   Pray that they will see past the empty religious traditions and find Jesus waiting there with true life.