The following is an excerpt from our email update this week. To subscribe to our updates please email me at bruce@liftupyoureyes.org

Incredible testimony shared on the delivering power and love of God!

He spent years continually intoxicated.

This is nothing extra-ordinary in Ukraine. According to the World Health Organization, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus each rank globally in the top 5% of most inebriated countries.

To put that into perspective, by age 15, well over 90% of the population has begun drinking.

The average amount consumed per year, per person of ‘pure alcohol’ is 17 liters in Belarus! That’s close to 200 bottles of wine or 1,500 shots of vodka, per person, per year!

One in three men drink ‘heavily’ at least 4 times per week, and it starts between 12-15yrs old on average.

This past Sunday we visited another new church in Kiev called, “Eagles Church.” It’s two years old. There are so many new ministries & youthful churches popping up.

Ironically, the church meets in a popular night club.

During worship, I saw this one guy dancing away to the side. I did wonder for a moment if he was a little too happy if you know what I mean. In a major city, you never know what guests you’ll have come to your event.

As it turned out, this young man was on tap for giving his testimony before the sermon. As he began to speak, you could tell immediately he was not only sober, but a man who had been filled with living water.

What struck me, and moves me even now as I type, is that for an entire year he said he heard this ‘voice’ repeating in his heart and mind:

“You are not an animal”

The distinct voice of the Holy Spirit! The clarion call weaving it’s way through the myriad of condemnation and pain.

You are not a wild beast, but a man.

Whatever vice we find ourselves in, it kills our joy, robs our judgment and makes us so much less that what God intended. These words whispered hope, broke his chains and ushered in the miracle of new life in Jesus.

He’s now completely free of his addiction, found the love of his life in church and living as God designed him.  He has reason to dance.

This is what God is doing in Ukraine.

God is overpowering the destructive ‘template’ of post-soviet Ukraine. God, not the schemes of men, is rallying churches, partners, businesses, and even fashion designers to turn their creative tools into weapons, bringing Christ’s Kingdom to their generation.

God has put incredible favor on our growing team.  We are hosting a dinner on March 6th with the Ukraine leaders from:

YWAM
Steiger
Hope for OrphansOM
Lighthouse
XDH Minsk and more.

Our purpose? To unite in prayer, and dedicate this new work to Christ.

Pray for us! I believe what we are embarking on is a generational work.  We don’t as of yet have the financial resources, but we are excited and believing God will provide in the right timing.

There is legit excitement among partners who’ve yet to work together before; to be more visible in Kiev, to take full advantage of this post revolution freedom.

He’s calling us to assemble as one body, one army, and to disciple this generation in Ukraine.

Friends near Black Sea in Ukraine hosting worship for +1000 youth the day we returned from Russia. They are asking for financial help to continue renting places for more worship.  Much of the religious community in Ukraine doesn’t want to touch this emergence. We must encourage it!

Mir Ministries, the charity we are serving with, has again the humble opportunity to fuel significant Kingdom growth in the Russian & Ukrainian speaking world.

I’m so confident & enthused by this.

Cool meeting this week, unplanned (by us) with Valera (Steiger) and fashion designers Max and Margarita (Komashnya).  Increased Kiev outreach and platforms growing that touch culture – salt and light vs incubated religion.

It’s why He’s furnished us with the wisdom of partners and resources beyond our own abilities – to pool together and put a dent in this wicked kingdom of darkness.

We are starting a base in Kiev.
This Mir base will launch serious mission to the Russian world.
Join us!

For more information about our mission to the Russian & Ukrainian speaking world, and to give, visit our Charity website – click here.

Socrates coined a phrase, called the Socratic paradox and it goes like this: “I know that all I know is that I do not know anything.”  Sometimes when we anticipate certain things and they don’t go as planned, we’re left with this same feeling.

Musicians from final night, and our fearless audio engineer Sergey with arms up in back! He and wife Sandra were amazing logistic event folks, pros at every level!

Outcomes can both exceed and underachieve our expectations on a daily basis. I rarely find results meet what were in my head and heart. St. Petersburg looked nothing like I had hoped for. The crowds were smaller, the two evenings quite different from one another.  While many individuals were deeply, visibly touched, it lacked the themes of unity and ’emerging’ generation from Kiev and Minsk.

Christ came after Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Had they been given the chance to hear His supreme reasoning and truth claims, I wonder if old Socrates would have been altered his statement to something like, “I know Christ is God, that is all.”

It was chilly! Beautiful night walks were dampened by ‘spa’ workers attempting to lure tourists inside. The city is gorgeous at night and immaculately kept.

After Lit St. Petersburg, I’m stepping back to the drawing board a bit, as I realize we can’t assume God is working in the same ways in every place.  To make assessments of an entire country, simply as a visitor is rather ridiculous.  Yet, the Lord sees and knows all and I believe leaves us with deeper impressions than simply what we see with our naked eyes.

I’m left with a few impressions that have been ruminating in my heart, concerning the very general spiritual conditions of the three major Cities we have been focused with lately.

Ukraine is a country of spiritually emerging hope.  You can’t see with your physical eyes alone. People continue to struggle especially in rural Ukraine where jobs are scarce and a future looks bleak, but hope is definitely rising.  We feel it.  Aslan is on the move in Ukraine.  He’s roaring through new youth movements and a willing unity.  The fields are white, and so is the opportunity to develop stronger, united fronts for Christ to the Russian speaking world.

Belarus, from our 3 months this past fall in the capital of Minsk, is a country of spiritual thirst, saddled under relentless and debilitating control.  Ironically, this suppression is only resulting in increased hunger for God, especially among the youth.  They crave reality, deeper experience in God than that religion offers.  Gathering youth together was like an infusion of intense healing, of refreshing glass of cold spiritual water to a parched people.

Russia, at least from our experience in St. Petersburg, a city of about 5 million, is an intensely rich and comfortable city.  Instead of feeling the hope of Ukraine, or thirst of Belarus, I felt only grief.  There’s an apathy that creeps in when at people come to a place of no longer needing God – this verse dropped in my heart during our first day:

‘You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.’  Rev 3:14

I’ve since talked to some YWAM friends, and from Steiger who also confirm the difficulties of this City.  In a sense, the hardness and lack of visible success has ignited something in my heart – like a battlefield has been found, one that won’t go down without more prayer, diligence and wisdom.  I’ve tasted something that needs to change, it needs our focus and power of God to overcome.

We met some key new allies who break this mold however, and believe God moved deeply in several people. The first night we had around 150, and the second night a bit more. We had our eyes, at least I did, on at least 700, it’s always more exciting to worship in a full auditorium. With plenty of room to spare, people spread out, and seem to tabernacle with focused intent particularly the first night with Yan and XDH leading, some not moving or checking their phones for a solid hour.

I enjoyed meeting this brother and sister from close to Moscow – who came to perform their music at the opening of the 2nd night. He composes, she sings, we’d love to have them come to Ukraine and be encouraged by the community here.

I couldn’t help but think of how God loves to fill hearts, not just rooms. It’s hard to not be discouraged however when there are empty seats remaining, and literally 50 meters outside a city of millions wanders aimlessly in the night.

Some of my favorite stories (they are still coming in) include a family that somehow found out about the event and traveled +100 miles. Also, as missionaries have been systematically removed from legally serving in Russia, we were encouraged to meet several brave souls who’s faith was GREATLY bolstered by our event. Pray for them.

Some of the instagram posts afterward are always neat to read, where people say things like, “I totally came by ‘accident’ and it was amazing!” Others in shock that such an event was taking place right under their noses, or could take place at all.

In each country, God is both advancing and subsequently being resisted in unique ways.  The resulting plan of advancement in Christ must be equally unique and spirit led.

We heard that several of the pastors leading churches in the city had specifically instructed their people not to attend. It’s a sad reality that in incubated environments such politics are involved.

I pray more churches, especially in major cities like Kiev, Minsk and St. Pete will grow in boldness outside of their regular scheduled programming, and in co-operation with others. I believe it’s happening, but it’s also not.

The platform of Lit. Worship events geared towards youth in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. After hosting one worship event this past year in each of the three countries, I’ve come away agreeing with Socrates, I know that I know nothing (besides Christ).  The experience of the events have revealed to me, or perhaps educated me in the reality that each country we visit is quite unique.  Unique challenges, economic conditions, political pressures and religious control.  We need fresh direction, vision, and aid of the Holy Spirit – it’s ok to not know, because He does.

Pray with us as we step back and re-think how to approach Russian events and outreach.  I feel worship is not what is needed, at least not yet. The Gospel’s teeth need to be felt before the love and grace of God is appreciated. For that perhaps God is building a stronger base of long term influence in the freedom we are enjoying in Ukraine.  We just finished praying this morning for God to lead us in Kiev, for upcoming partner meetings, for housing and the place God wants us to form up.

We have June in our sights as we begin to work on Lit Kiev, and extending this project to include classes and more teaching during the day in various formats and topics.  We are also focused on Minsk in the fall and starting to look at venues to follow up that amazing event.  Both will need lots of prayer, and support as we are moving into these again by faith.  For now, it’s prayer over Russia, all the seeds sown, and ask you to join us, because this is a huge field of harvest. It must include the power of the Holy Spirit in all we do to bring the much needed blessing of freedom in Christ.

Thank you all that prayed, gave and are growing with us as we attempt to impact the culture for Christ in the Russian speaking world. I feel the weight of learning and maximizing our efforts and investments, with renewed humility.  We believe Jesus is the answer to those without hope, the thirsty, and even the apathetic who are too comfortable in this life and ill-prepared for the next.

Sincerely,

Bruce & Deb

We’ve just finished our first night in St. Petersburg after a full day of setup and rehearsals.  Unlike Minsk, there was plenty of room in our large concert hall, but we still had around 150-200 come out for worship.  Those that came out, and especially those that stayed towards the end, were really digging in and I believe receiving from the Lord – it was really encouraging to see.

We’re anticipating and hopeful that more will come out tomorrow night as we’d love to really lift up the name of Christ in numbers – the city is bustling with life and activity, it’s discouraging to think of how many broken, hurting, and even hungry hearts are walking right past this conduit of blessing.  Pray for our team and tomorrow night!

To watch the full replay of tonight, including Collins, Charisah and Bronwyn opening, a local band, then XDH Minsk at the end, click here!

Thank you all that have been, and did pray with us tonight!  Time for sleep.

Bruce & Deb

Join LIVE from your mobile device or laptop!

Date: Feb 20 & 21
Local Time: 6-9pm
[10am EDT |  9am CST ]

Our prayer is that the evening will encourage not only those in attendance but all that click and join!  It’s always amazing to worship in multiple languages and get perspective on the depth and diversity in the Kingdom.

Plus, you can see a neat mix of American (Collins, Bronwyn, Charisah), Belorussian (Yan, Alina and band), and new Russian worship bands.  I’m not 100% sure of the quality, but I’m told we will have 3-camera switching, so I’m hopeful it will be a neat experience.

If you do see us sharing live on social media, please help us share the links around on Tuesday and Wednesday night!

To connect, visit here

On social media we have several videos and testimony type spots circulating.  You may or may not see them in English world, here’s a taste – practice your Russian!

Please pray for our artists, travel and logistics (one has already missed a flight), favor in Russia, unity among all believers and most of all, that the Holy Spirit will inflame the hearts of all.

Through the generosity of our donors, this event is 100% free for those attending.  We’re still short on our fundraising goal, contact me if you’d like to know more, or donate directly here if you feel led.  Thank you!

https://youtu.be/Mz3aizj0TyY

https://youtu.be/0xpWmQ0PW6Y

https://youtu.be/roXM9CqWbPA