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On April 22nd and 23rd of this year we celebrated Easter by having a two night academy based on 1st Corinthians chapter fifteen. The Academy was entitled, “The Glory of the Resurrection”.  There were two messages. There was a group Bible study and the whole chapter was presented in monodrama or duo-drama form. Music was performed graciously.

In order to celebrate The Gospel we decided to have a 1st Corinthians 15 Academy. Shepherdess Anna and Missionary Caleb prepared the messages. Anna delivered a gracious message on the first half of 1st Corinthians 15. Missionary Caleb delivered on the second half. The messages helped us rejoice in our true heavenly hope and also be reassured that our labour in the Lord is not in vain. In fact, only on the gospel of Jesus’ death for our sin and his resurrection for our eternal life, do we find meaningful life. The music was performed by the second generation. Ruth participated in singing. She memorized and sang beautifully in Russian. Charles did some accompaniment on Guitar. My task was to memorize from verse 12 to 34 and to present a monodrama. Here in St Petersburg, they hadn’t seen any monodramas ever before. I used the experience that I had gained in Chicago to do some drama training. I had a hard time memorizing in Russia but I put the demands of work aside and memorized.  Shepherd Sergey did a monodrama on verses 1-11.  Shepherd Natasha and Missionary Little Sarah performed a duo-drama from the thirty-fifth verse to the end. The sisters’ drama was very good. The dramas supported the message very well.

So on the first night there was Shepherdess Anna’s message and the group bible Study. On Sunday was the worship service with the dramas presented consecutively before Missionary Caleb’s message. God blessed our academy with 5 new attendees. I am amazed that they all came through my invitation. Denis has been studying Genesis. He came on for the Bible study on Saturday. While fishing the week before, I met Vladimir who came on both days and also brought his girl friend. He also began studying the Bible one to one with me. Then Barry, an American acquaintance of mine, and his Russian wife Natasha, came.

In conclusion, God blesses our initiative here very directly. God sends us sheep. God is developing our ministry. I am praying for strength to follow up with the new sheep. I am praying to be a shepherd for Charles. We are praying for God to send us workers for the harvest field. We are planning to have a full summer conference separate from Moscow this year. For this we need to start depending on God’s strength.

Thank you for your prayers which have availed much in the last several months.

Sincerely Yours, Missionary Michael Thompson