At the Starting Line

It's been a while. Things have certainly picked up pace around here! To give just a quick update, this past Sunday we held our second of four preview services and saw sixty people from the community join us for worship -- twice as many as our first service! Many of our friends that we've now been getting to know for a few months returned for the second time, and two new people expressed a desire to know more about a relationship with Christ. We were so encouraged to see God's love through us bearing first fruits! It has been amazing to watch a community beginning to form of people from different walks of life.

Sergei and I (Sarah) have been spending the majority of our time building friendships with people God brings into our life. Relationships are what we thrive on, and we believe that is what the Body of Christ is made up of -- people joined together in love. Several people near us have reached out to us, too, and so we're beginning to feel like Loveland is home. Transitions have always been hard for me, but Sergei's persistent knack at finding and deepening friendships has begun to make this transition much easier; what a gift from God that man is!

The Mandolin Cafe

We're also falling in love with our little downtown. 4th Street is fabulous! We often spend our afternoons at The Mandolin Cafe, a locally-owned coffee shop with an eclectic personality. A couple blocks down is Anthology Books, a veritable Shop Around The Corner. On another of our downtown streets is a ministry called House of Neighborly Service, providing resources for low-income families. We plan to serve there frequently as a church and as a family. On the other side of town, they've put up an ice rink that will stay up most of the winter. We've already been twice, and we're hoping that this and other hotspots in our city can become places for ministry (as well as places to just have fun!).

One of our greatest needs right now is for a children's ministry in our church, and I've been praying about heading that up. Please pray for me as I consider taking on this responsibility, and as Angus and I talk out the details. Continue to pray for Sergei and Angus as they seek to move the church in a direction most glorifying to God. Pray for Jack and Tracy Ryan and Renee Mesplay who are trying to sell their homes in Kentucky to move out here and help the church.

Thanks for your encouragements and prayers! God has used our friends and family to keep our spirits energized, and we couldn't be more thankful.

A Sense of Home

Sergei is painting a wall in the study as I write this. I'm sitting on the couch in the living room with a warm cup of coffee, and not a box in sight. That's a good feeling. Sergei and I have settled into our apartment and it has become home to us. I can tell that I will always look back on this little place with a warm sense of affection. We've cooked here, put paintings up on the walls, finally unpacked the closet, defeated the sugar ants in the kitchen (though that may be a continuing battle), hung curtains, cleaned bathrooms, watched movies, eaten dinner at our little kitchen table, and had guests over for food and games. Although the decorative process continues, I don't think there is anything we could do that would make it feel more like home. Aside from the wet paint, it's all ready for visitors. (Hint hint.)

Sergei and Angus have been working hard every day to hammer out the details of getting Elevation Church off the ground. The major project at hand: narrowing in on a location. We're also really excited about this weekend: all of the team here in Loveland so far is taking a retreat to Estes Park on Friday and Saturday. Angus's parents have a cabin there where we will all stay, removed from civilization and the busy commotion of our lives to have some deep fellowship and worship together. We'll discuss our expectations for the church and our part in ministry, and we'll discover together what God is calling us to be and to do in the Loveland community and, more specifically, how that vision will be played out. Pray for us as we meet, that the Holy Spirit would unify us in mind and spirit!

I am still looking for a job. (Whew!) I'm daily seeking the Lord to see where He will place me, and daily checking Craig's List and Monster and revising my resume for various job applications. All of this has me pretty tired out, so pray for my spiritual and relational energy in the midst of the job hunt.

A HUGE praise: We have been richly blessed with relationships. God brings friends in mysterious ways, and we have been amazed to find great friendships developing with people that, a month ago, were strangers to us. We pray that we can minister into the lives of the people we meet, as God is ministering into our lives through many of those same people. May our love be unconditional!

One final note: Marriage. Is. Magical. In every way, except there are no literal sparkles floating around in the air. Sergei and I have been married for two months and six days (in two hours), and every day has been more splendid than the day before. As much as we (and others) wondered early on if we were crazy leaving everything we knew behind to come work for God's Kingdom in Loveland in our first year of marriage ... God has blown us away tenfold by His goodness in drawing us closer and closer to each other in Him. We left our homes, travelled 1300 miles, and discovered home in each other. It can only be Christ who has done this great thing. "Those who look to Him are radiant, and they will never be ashamed." (Psalm 34:5) We are, as C.S. Lewis described it, two people looking outward together in the same direction. May we never look any other way.

We are not owed.

I’ve been reading through the book of Luke, and in my reading I again came across Jesus’ story about a reckless son. The story starts something like this… Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man accepts sinners and eats with them." At that moment, Jesus looked at the religious leaders and told them three stories. The first one was about a lost sheep, followed by a lost coin, and finally a lost son. In the lost sheep story, Jesus shared how a shepherd leaves ninety-nine of his sheep to go find the one lost sheep, and when he finds it, he throws a party. In the lost coin story, a lady had ten silver coins but lost one. When she finds the coin, she throws a party. Jesus’ final story of the prodigal son gets a little bit more complicated. The younger of two sons asks his father for his portion of his father’s possessions. The father divides his possessions and gives the son his portion. Soon after, the son runs off to a nearby city. He lives a crazy party life off his father’s money until it all runs out. To survive, he gets a job feeding pigs in return for a meal of the same food the pigs eat. At that moment, he realizes that he is eating worse off than his father’s servants. He comes up with a great apology and treks home. When the son is still a distance away, his father sees him, runs to him and embraces him. The father then throws a huge party to celebrate his son’s return.

Enter older brother. He has been out in the fields all day, and as he’s walking home, he hears music and dancing. When he finds out that the party is for his younger brother who has come back home, he refuses to join in. The father comes outside to share the joy of the moment with his oldest son, only to be cut deep by his son’s greeting statement: 'Look here! All these years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a feast of even a goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has wasted your money with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' The father tries to comfort his son and finally says, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

I have heard this story a million times and honestly I wanted to skim through it this past time. But as I kept reading, I realized how easy it is to become each character in the story. This particular time, I found myself as the older brother. I found myself staring straight at God and telling him he owes me something. – Excuse me?!!! Who the heck am I? I’m just a little Sergei and I don’t deserve anything but what God gives. Yes, I had a hard week with getting my license and registration because of (awesome) laws in the state of Colorado, but I don’t have the right to play a victim. These laws that they have were here before me and the world does not revolve around me. And why am I demanding a party from God because of my righteousness? Every day is a party, because what is His is mine.

I hope you are reminded that you’re part of God’s story, and when things aren’t going your way, it’s because they are not supposed to. You are not the main character in this story of life, He is. It’s His story. Instead of complaining, we can join the party; look to Him; be fully alive: "The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God." (St. Irenaeus)

We Fall in Love with Colorado

It’s official: we have moved in. Well, by that I mean we have all the boxes inside the house and are slowly unpacking each box at a time. It’s a slow process, plus we need to buy EVERYTHING, from salt to our dining room table. (We’re currently eating on the floor. We like to keep things casual at our place.) For those of you who have moved a million times, I don’t understand how you do it. Moving is a heck of a job in itself. Nevertheless, we’re excited to have our own place – our first home sweet home together.

This past week was great. We had a mission team from First Baptist Church of Durant, Oklahoma, come and help us put on our first Elevation event: Kids Camp. We invited families from the community for a free sports camp for kids aged Kindergarten through 5^th grade. We held the camp at two different sites in Loveland. The team from Oklahoma was incredible, full of high school guys and girls who love Jesus. The parents who brought the kids for camp were awesome, too, and we were able to connect with several families. The early work of creating a missional community has started. WE ACTUALLY KNOW SOMEONE IN COLORADO NOW!!! (That has been a joke between Sarah and me about meeting new people in this new place … we never know how to start. We’ve come pretty close to asking the people at the check-out counter in Target if they want to grab dinner sometime.) We had about 20 kids come to camp during the week at Seven Lakes Park, and just a few less at the other site. The camp lasted from 8:30 to 11:30 every morning, with games and sports, snack and Bible story time. On Thursday, we had a grand finale for the whole family, where we served hamburgers and snow cones and set up a Jump House for the kids. Sarah and I had some great conversations with families, and we believe we’ve made a start to some wonderful friendships with people who, like us, are longing for community. Church work has started, and it’s fun and tiring. I’m super excited to see what God has for the city of Loveland.

The weekend before the kid’s camp, Andrei and Elena decided to take us on a few adventures in the beautiful state of Colorado. If I was not in love with Colorado before this, I am now fully in love with God’s beauty. We have a few pictures at the end of the blog for you guys to enjoy. Friday night we drove to a 12,000-foot elevation to view the Milky Way. It was AMAZING!!! We finished the night with some LIGHT PAINTING with Andrei’s camera and a flashlight (see the pictures). The next morning, we went on an adventure to the mountains near Poudre Canyon to see some other amazing views. After a long day winding through forested mountains, we came upon a view of a green valley with snow-capped hills beyond. Rose Valley (we think it was called) contained some of the most stunning views and pristine lakes we have seen yet. (I’m running out of words to tell you guys how amazingly beautiful it was.)  WE LOVE COLORADO.

Here are few prayer requests:

Sarah is looking for a job. Please cover her in your prayers that she will find a place where she will shine for the Lord and enjoy doing whatever it is that she will be doing.

This is kind of a funny request, but pray for all my registrations to go through. I have run into trouble trying to get my license and registration for the car. Pray that God will smooth everything out.

We are still trying to raise a few more hundred dollars a month. Pray for God to provide.

Pray for God to provide people of peace. This is the only way for our work to progress.

To God be the glory.

Daz Bog Coffeshop

I (Sergei) have traveled to many places in America but I have not been to a Russian coffee shop. Out of all the places on earth, in the city of Loveland there is a Russian coffee shop. The place itself is not so much Russian, but the name Daz Bog is Russian and Russian writing is all around the store. Maybe this is the first sign of feeling like Loveland is home for me and my beautiful wife. Yes, we are officially in Loveland, Colorado. It has been about a week since we arrived and we have already found a place to live (signed the lease and moving in 1^st of August). So far we have been staying at my sister’s lovely house ten minutes from Loveland. She is a wonderful hostess.

One of the ways we decided to share what is happening in our lives is through a blog. We will try to update this page regularly and keep you informed of what God has been doing in our lives.

For those of you who are not aware of our move and why, here is a little info:

We got married a little over a month ago and decided to live as missionaries in the city of Loveland. We joined a great team of people committed to follow God’s lead and to head out West. We are going to start a church by the name of Elevation Church (elevationlife.org). The city of Loveland has about 66,000 people, and 9 out of 10 do not know their Savior. That is close to 60,000 people who live without knowing what Jesus did for them. Our journey started about 3 months ago when we committed to raise our own support and help the church plant with anything and everything. We are very close in meeting our support-raising goal, but still short $300/month. We believe God will provide as he has been providing. (If you want to be an answer to our prayer, please contact us at syepishin@gmail.com) My lifetime verse has been Proverbs 3:5-6, which states, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understand. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Keep us in your prayers as we start our journey. Pray for an open door to the gospel here. Pray for opportunities to build relationships with people here and to share the good news. Pray for us, that we will be bold to take those opportunities. Pray that God will raise up 10 individuals/families who are able to commit $30/month to help us continue our work here; pray for Sarah as she searches for a job in the area to meet the rest of our financial needs. Pray for our encouragement in the Spirit every day. You are an encouragement to us! Each prayer means a lot!!!!

“Daz Bog” translated into English means “God gives.” He has already given us above and beyond all that we could ask or imagine; we know him now more than ever as our Provider. We know that, as surely as he has called us here, he will give us all that we need to do his work and share his love.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”James 1:17

Sergei and Sarah