Prayer is a top priority these days.

I pulled up a section from my journal from 1999. We had only been in Russia a year and were moving to our first city of service. Prayer became our top priority in those days. Prayer is a top priority these days.

Buck writes in a year in review newsletter in 1999:

"We are beginning to understand why prayer is so important. A pastor once told me that God would stop the world, the sun, and the universe, if He wanted to get the attention of His children. I believe it. Sometimes I’ve wondered if one of the reasons God has led us to Russia was just to strip away from us all the superficial in our relationship to Him and simply allow us to view our standing before Him with clear vision. I believe that God desires for every man to be saved; I believe that God will send a great outpouring of His Spirit onto Russia in these last days. But I also see that God’s desire for my relationship to Him to be one of simplicity, wholeheartedness, and total dependence upon Him. That kind of relationship only comes through a life priority of prayer.

It’s really a matter of a logical spiritual function. If the world is to be won to Christ, it will take men and women of God who are filled with the Spirit sharing with boldness. 'How can they hear without a preacher?' And if men and women are to be filled with the Spirit, they must have a deep relationship with Him. 'Walk in the Spirit'. And a deep relationship with God only comes through deep, quality time with Him in studying the Word, walking in experiences with Him everyday, and unceasing prayer. It’s that simple.

We are all called to be lights of the world. We are discovering that God as simply moved our lights from one part of the world to another part. And even though the faces have changed, and the entire culture is different, our relationship to Jesus in unceasing prayer through the Holy Spirit has not changed. Or if it has, it is being called to a deeper level."

-The Chosen Path, Journal entry "the unseen battle continues to rage in the forest land", L.Burch

Devotion for the month- "believing faith"

Path Light: Read Mark 11

Key Passage: Because I’m telling you that whoever would say to this mountain, “Go away and be thrown into the sea”, if he doesn’t doubt but believes that it will happen, he will have what he asks. So I tell you, whatever you desire in prayer, believe that you will get it, and you will have it. Mark 11:23-24

This scripture has been brought to my attention a couple of times this week. Some ladies and I, who meet weekly for a Bible study, were discussing this text about believing faith. I am convinced more every day about the power of prayer, not only in its power but also in its proving of our faith. Our faith is strengthened when we believe whatever we ask for will be ours. The stronger we believe, the more our faith is revealed as solid.

Many times I grow impatient and anxious for a specific desire that I have for serving the Lord to be fulfilled. The past few years I have taken these desires to the Lord and waited for an answer, though sometimes impatiently. Within this past month, I have begun to see how the Lord is answering my deepest desires. He reminded me once again of this scripture about belief in prayer. Prayer is powerful! Prayer is also proof of our faith. God does not have to prove anything to us, because He already is the great I AM. However, our faith is tested at times. We must stand firm in Him.

Path Application:
Decide today to be a person of prayer. Do you really believe that God will answer your prayers? Do you really believe that that mountain can be thrown into the sea? Do not doubt. Believe!

Walk Farther:
1. How much do you pray? How much could you pray? What’s the difference?
2. Do you really believe that a literal mountain could be moved through prayer?
Why or why not?
-A Winter's Path, path 48, L. Burch, revised '06

Lesson I learned- "Face to Face"

How nice it is to have a heartfelt, sit-down conversation with your best friend! One day I will have a face to face talk with my Lord— my very best friend. Interestingly while writing this, I am singing a few lines from my daddy’s favorite song:

Face to face with my Christ my Savior,
Face to face, what will it be,…
Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkening veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen (written by Mrs. Frank A Breck and composed by Grant Colfax Tullarin in 1898).

God sent messengers to the Biblical patriarchs like Moses and Abraham. These men even spoke to the Lord when he appeared, for example, in the burning bush. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have Him before me as they did and to talk to the Lord about anything. Then I recall the passage when Jesus appeared to the disciples after He rose from the grave. The disciples were in awe, because they had seen the Lord. Thomas was not with them however. Thomas wanted to touch Jesus’ wounds to know that He was alive. Jesus appeared a week later at the house and allowed Thomas to place his hands on Him. He believed after seeing Christ. The scripture tells us that we are blessed because we believe even when we have not seen Him (John 20: 24-31).

Many times over the past few months, I made requests after requests about some uncertainties. I felt the Lord encouraging me to wait on His answer and to trust in the fact that He is God. In other words, I was to listen for a time and stop worrying (Psalm 46:10). My natural reaction is to start asking questions, giving requests, probing for direction, etc. All of this is good, and actually the Lord wants to hear from us. I reminded myself to listen first. What a hard discipline to master! Four days ago I asked my prayer warriors to fervently pray with me that I would hear the Lord’s voice and know His plan concerning these matters. I studied in Amos 3 where God promises that He will not do anything unless He reveals it to the prophets.

Yesterday I opened the Bible to Psalm 50. As I read the first 13 verses, I was amazed at God’s mightiness and power. Verse seven states that He is my God. The passage then refers to His knowledge and how He created all things. Verse 15 encourages us to talk to Him when we are in trouble. We honor God when we share our desires with Him. His Word promises that He will rescue us.

I need to grow up and accept reality. We mature in stages both physically and spiritually. Babies start off with milk not steak. We are all familiar with the phrase: shag za shagom” (Russian for step-by-step). Jesus teaches me step-by-step. A baby satisfies herself with the taste of milk and enjoys it. When a child is ready, the parent gives her solid foods. She enjoys that, too. The fact is that I am to enjoy the day-by-day walk with God and trust Him with it all.

-The Chosen Path, 8-23-08, L. Burch

Living as Nomads for a Month

To place things in order, I will start by summarizing the past few months. It felt as if we have been moving two steps at a time. We were not sure what was taking place; we moved on faith. Literally we had to move from St. Pete to Moscow after living in the city for six years. While pitching our tent in Moscow, we registered until September. When September 15 started to approach, we had to leave the country. I think of this next experience as living like nomads.


Therefore, on September 13, 2008, we flew to Kiev, Ukraine, to renew visas in order to return to Russia. Matter of fact, we were not sure how long we were going to be there, because we had some difficulties with our paperwork. Buck left for a few days to check on our documents in another city.




On September 26, 2008, we headed down the road to Odessa, Ukraine, which is located near the Black Sea.



We all needed to travel and be present at the consulate where we would hand over our letters of invitation. We had hoped to meet our paperwork there; unfortunately, on the way we received an SMS that we would have to wait a few more days. While riding in the marshrouteka (van taxi) that we caught in Kiev, I glanced out the window in silence.

Wow! Wait some more! Okay! It is about time I realized that God works in ways that seem to us as possibly out of the ordinary. When in actuality He maneuvers all things according to His glory. It is really irrelevant whether or not I return; it is relevant that I “go” today with Him and be obedient.

Having left Russia a few weeks ago, I packed items for the trip as if we may never go back. I even packed certain items in trunks that we would need to receive if we got stuck out of country. Up until this point, we have waited for three months for these papers. These motives were wise given our situation but a minor issue in comparison to God’s big picture.

So, it was time to practice what I preached. I begin my day in Odessa enjoying what God provided and living for the day. I was no longer the poor, nomad missionary with no paperwork. Having learned in Finland years ago about no where to go, I made a conscience decision to delight in every day no matter where I was. I was smiling even as I walked the streets, and a Ukrainian, elderly lady approached me grinning and asked: “Young girl, apparently I know you, don’t I?”

I responded, “No, I was just smiling because Jesus loves me.” I soon realized by the look on her face that I needed to say that GOD loves you. I did. She accepted what I said, looked at me rather interestingly and then walked away. A transformation had taken place inside of me. I understood that the inner-change was all for my benefit. When transformation takes place within an individual, people begin to see evidence of it outwardly. It is not really about what I do for the Lord or with whom I have the opportunity to witness; it is about obedience.

Our family had a wonderful time together in Odessa. We also enjoyed seeing another missionary family, continuing with homeschool, attending an opera, watching a dolphin show, walking along the beach and worshipping with local believers. Buck even spoke at a brother’s prayer meeting. It was a celebration time of harvest with the local churches during this month. We felt blessed to be a part of their service and praise God for the gathering of crops. The pulpit area of the church was decorated with fruits, vegetables and fresh bread.

Luke was so amazed at the plenty before his eyes. He wanted his picture made in front of all the fruits and vegetables.

Even as we walked to the beach, we noticed the clusters of grapes growing along people’s driveways.



There are more homes in Odessa than apartment buildings. We purchased some fresh honey from a bee farm where the insects gathered the pollen from sunflower plants. We are truly blessed! Any situation can be turned into a good one.
-Journal: The Chosen Path, 2008, L.Burch

Please return soon for more posts. I still am pulling my thoughts together about the lesson I learned about not fretting. On the flip side I know that God wants us to bring our requests and troubles to Him. It is truly a lesson on balance.

By the way, on October 9, we returned to Moscow by train. We received our visas. Thanks for your prayers. Join me again soon for more of the story, especially the train ride back…

direct link for prayer video

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Thanks for your interest in praying with me. Some of you, though, are unable to view the video in the previous post. There are several possible reasons for this difficulty (i.e., internet service, web-browsers, or various applications). No fret. Try loading the link below in your address tab (copy and paste). This is the direct link that I use to feed the video. Your computer may find this easier. Have a great day! Here it is:

http://www.e-zekiel.tv/view_video.php?viewkey=4f8afe3df4886f5e516e&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr

Do you see what I see?

The kids and I enjoyed working up a home video clip from the previous post- voice of silence. One of my task as an IMB missionary of the SBC is to lead you to be on mission with God. There are many ways you are involved in this: pray, give, partner and go to bring all peoples to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. I want to focus on prayer right now and to do my best from across the Atlantic Ocean to help you see what I see. Please join me for a 3 1/2 minute "prayerwalk"...

*click on the arrow tab below.


Or, you if you cannot play it here, click on:
E.zekiel.tv

Feel free to show this to various church groups and Sunday School classes.

The Voice of Silence

Do you see what I see? Pray with me.

When I walk or travel in the metro (subway) in Russia, I often pray. I look at the many faces around me and wonder what they are thinking and wonder what they believe. We all go in silence. Even after living here for more than a decade, I am still not quite used to the quiet. People move about in their own little worlds.


I love to tell people about Jesus. Sometimes in Russia, though, the chance to share does not come as easily as it does in the States. I can think of many times back home when I walked up to a stranger in the grocery store and freely struck up a conversation about the Lord. I was home a few months ago visiting my parents. While shopping in Wal-Mart, I had the privilege of talking to a salesperson in the jewelry department about Jesus. It was so easy; she was ready to hear. In Russia the people seem more private. My neighbor even said the other day: “Leslie, you have your faith, and I have mine. It is personal, you know?”


Opportunities do arise to share; the “ground” for sowing just seems hard. It could definitely soften, because anything is possible with the Lord. If the Holy Spirit is pulling at a person’s heart strings, I just hope that I am around to tell my story. I am sitting on edge ready to jump at the chance. What do I do until that moment? I pray— the voice of silence.