By Harry and Elaine Ellis

We are Harry and Elaine Ellis who have been forever changed by the Lord’s call into missions! We joined the missionary organization Operation Mobilization (OM) 2 ½ years ago as a part of OM’s Development Department. We visit the ministries around the world and return to share stories of OM’s work and the needs for His Kingdom.

In July we traveled for Operation Mercy, a partnered relief agency, to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kabardino-Balkaria, otherwise known as the Caucasus region. The Caucasus is a veritable Babel Tower of languages, ethnic groups, religions, territorial claims, conflicts and so on... The countries include: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and the southern republics of Russia (Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan.)

We tend to think that there is no church in the “10-40 Window”, but God’s church, though small, is alive and very active in this part of the world. While the relief work goes on – and in this case a Dental Clinic for Azeri refugees displaced by the Azerbaijan and Armenia war, as well as, medical help for Chechen children refugees – the local church is also motivated to carry out the Great Commission.

The workers we met were from Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Korea, Moldova, and the US. They were working beside many nationals from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia who are committed to spreading the good news. While Azerbaijan and southern Russian are predominately Muslim, Georgia is predominately Russian Orthodox. However, in both cases, the beliefs are generally only nominal, but that does not mean that the church doesn’t suffer.

We worshiped with a church of new believers on a Sunday evening, and on Monday morning one of the churchwomen was killed by her own brother because she had shamed her family with infidelity. This nearly destroyed the church. The national pastor wrote (we have quoted so you can appreciate that this is his 3 rd language): “The problem was hatred, unforgiveness and lack of love. The church is young and they are not established yet on the finished work and unconditional love of God. They are still living with their cultural mind. The culture here is strong, but God is bigger than the culture. Praise God we passed that time, but still we have believers don’t come to church. Please you can cover us with prayer. I meet here with darkness in the mind of people. Sometimes I realize that my patience come to end. But God is so good and in such moment I start to know God, who he really is. Faithful is our God – he is going to finish the work which started in us.”

Since this is article is also being written for a web site, there are few details we are able to include. Therefore, please invite us to your small group or home and we will share our pictures and tell you more. You can contact us at 707-252-3140 or ellisnap@pacbell.net. Also visit Operation Mercy at www.mercy.se and Operation Mobilization at www.usa.om.org.

Job Opportunity:

A new school is being started in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Caspian Academy is an English-medium international school with an international curriculum designed to help the child develop intellectually, spiritually and socially. All members of the faculty and staff are unsalaried volunteers. If you would like to be a part of this labor of love, we can discuss avenues of support or sponsorship. Write: info@caspianacademy.org