Many people have told me, “I would love to go to Russia with you, but I do not think I can be useful.” My friend and Russian teammate, Erika Brunson, has an answer to that, “Can you show up?” So often, our ministry is a ministry of presence.  

What We Do

Currently on our Russia trips, we work with Cornerstone Church and their drug rehabs. We visit the mother church in Nizhniy Novgorod and several daughter churches in nearby towns. We are asked to speak in the worship services and occasionally assist in leadership training. We also visit the rehabs.  

In the rehabs, we eat a meal with them, worship with them, pray over them, listen to their stories, and share a testimony or Bible story with them. It is not a complicated ministry requiring a lot of skill or knowledge. All that is required is to love Jesus and love people. 

Now that sounds too simple. I am sure some people are thinking to themselves, “That is a lot of money to go there for something so simple.” I tell people that we probably will not know this side of heaven the results of our trip, but if you go for several years, you might see the fruit of your labor.  

Why It Matters

Let me share some of the feedback that we have received in the last couple of years. Our first visit to a Cornerstone rehab was in 2007. Twenty people shared a small one-bedroom cottage on the edge of town. Our team of seven and the twenty residents crammed into the tiny living room. We sang, we prayed, and we told a Bible story. We were so crammed in there, we had to leave in the same order we had entered. 

Nine years later, we were visiting a daughter church in Ulyanovsk. The entire church planting team had completed the courses at a Cornerstone rehab. Volodya was on that team and is currently the director of the Cornerstone rehab in Ulyanovsk. Volodya was also there in 2007 when our team visited. He told me, “I was in the rehab in Lesnaya Polyana when you visited. The Spirit of God entered the building when you did.” 

Our team was made up of normal, everyday type of people. None of our six team members were pastors or preachers. None of us would be considered super Christians. But when you are in a very, very dark room with no outside light and you light a match or a small birthday candle, that light is very bright. That is what we were—just a tiny light in a very dark place.  

I have used that candle illustration often. This year we were visiting Gorodets, a small town north of Nizhniy Novgorod. One sister came up to me and said, “You are like candles bringing light to us.” WOW. She definitely affirmed my illustration and let us know how our visits were valued.

God Uses Simple Obedience

A recurring theme is, “I remember when you visited the rehab. You spoke, or you prayed for me, and my life has been changed.” We hear that often now when we visit. Erika was on the team in 2015. She prayed over Ilya at the rehab in Makarika. In 2016, we visited a homeless shelter in the city and Ilya was the director. He told Erika, “I was at Makrika when you came last year and you prayed over me. You prayed that my life would be transformed. I felt something different then, and I have not been the same since.”  

I am not saying that these folks got saved because of our ministry or presence. Cornerstone has an amazing drug and alcohol rehabilitation program that leads many to salvation and a life of service. I am saying that we get to be a small part of what God is doing in Russia. 

In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 Paul says, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 

I was visiting with Ralph Neighbour and sharing some of our trip stories. He laughed and said we were vessels of the Spirit of the Living God.  

I have found out that a ministry of presence is powerful. A ministry of presence makes an eternal difference in a life. Anyone can shine with God’s presence by just “showing up.”

Sally Hinzie is a Church Consultant who has worked at UBA for many years. Her primary areas of ministry focus include church planting, bible storying training, organic church, and ministry implementation.