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Victory Day
May 9th, incidentally, the day following Inga's birthday, is one of the most significant holidays in Russia. It is certainly one of our favorites since it usually involves colorful parades and displays of military hardware, e.g. tanks and howitzers. On top of it all, the official ceremony is often culminated by an ear-splitting cannon salute.
Here is an informational snippet taken from Wikipedia about the history of this grand holiday -
"The Soviet Victory Day or 9 May marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War (also known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states). It was first inaugurated in the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the surrender document late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (9 May by Moscow Time). It happened after the original capitulation that Germany earlier agreed to with the joint Allied forces of the Western Front. The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin. Though the official inauguration happened in 1945 (which means it has been celebrated since 1946), the holiday became a non-labor day only in 1965 and only in some of the countries."
Aside from the parade and all the fanfare, the best part of this holiday is what it stands for - victory! Victory in the Great Patriotic War (World War 2) holds special significance to the Russians, since during the war much of western Russia was occupied by the Nazis and an estimated 26.6 million USSR military personnel and civilians lost their lives (a staggering amount, far greater than any other country). Emerging victorious, after suffering such tremendous loss, is simply astonishing and nothing short of miraculous. Victory is something that should be celebrated, especially victory over evil.
You can imagine that on Victory Day, our thoughts invariably run to the cross and subsequent resurrection of Christ from the dead as the supreme example of victory. Sometimes, when faced by the evil of this world, it seems as if hope is dim and light is waning. At these moments it is vital that we remember that JESUS IS VICTORIOUS! We are on the winning side. It is time to cast aside the sackcloth of mourning for the garments of joy. Believers are not downtrodden losers, we are triumphant victors in Christ.
We love you,
David, Inga, Diana, Michael, and Meghan
Please keep in mind that all contributions to our ministry should now be sent to "David Maxey Ministries" P.O. Box 1538, Snohomish, WA 98291, or you can simply make a contribution online through PayPal located in the sidebar menu.
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Watch This Video Of New FOL Church Improvement
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God's Grace At Work
Personal testimony of Zhenya Zaporozhets, a member of FOL Church -
My testimony is about the favor of God, which radically changed my work situation. In the past, I worked for several years as a sales manager in a building supply company named, 'The Ark'. In time, the director of another similar company, who was a client of 'The Ark', and had observed my work, invited me to come and work for him as his head accountant. The name of his company was 'Pharoah'. Everyone around me said, "What is this all about? How can you leave 'The Ark' to go work for 'Pharoah'? It's the same thing as leaving the Promised Land to return to Egypt. Are you sane? Things at 'Pharoah' are not doing well, and you won't be able to successfully work there." In spite of what they said, I decided to go to work for 'Pharoah'. In the beginning, times really were tough, just as the others had predicted. It turned out that the previous head accountant had been dishonest. Because of this, I immediately was forced to fire several employees who were involved in her dishonest dealings. Due to my firing these people, the other employees hated me. They thought that I was guilty of 'rocking the boat' in their company, causing instability. On top of that, the director was afraid that if we started doing the accounting procedures honestly, the company would be forced to close. In response, I announced that I believed in Jesus Christ, and that I wouldn't allow anyone to interfere with the finances of our company. Some people were so angry that they literally threatened me, but I stood in faith that the Lord would make everything right. Currently, I have been employed at 'Pharoah' for 4 years already, and I am highly respected by the management and employees. The accounting department is in pristine condition and the company does everything above board. Not only that, it is prospering! All the dishonest people have been let go, and I, just as Joseph with Pharoah, have special favor with the director. Oftentimes, he will come to me for advice, since he believes that I have wisdom from God, whom he has not yet received. But I believe that someday soon he will receive Jesus as his Savior.  | |
Zhenya with her husband Sasha
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Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center - 'Restoration' - Prayer Request
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Pastor Vitaliy Bandurin
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Pastor Vitaliy Bandurin and I have been good friends for several years now, ever since the bishop of our union of churches asked me to take him under my wing and be a support to him, which I have faithfully done. Vitaliy pastors a small church in the village of Rakeetnoye, just outside of Khabarovsk's city limits, whose main ministry is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. The church rents a mid-sized house from one of its parishioners, which they have renovated for their purposes. This house has a good sized meeting hall, and several rooms, in which they can house up to 15 men, plus a kitchen. There are many drug addicts and alcoholics in Khabarovsk, so the rehab center is often full to capacity.
It is no small feat to house, clothe, and feed 15 grown men, many of whom have serious disabilities and various medical issues. The way Vitaliy does it is by organizing the able-bodied, mentally competent men into work brigades, who earn money by doing remodeling jobs. Recently, Vitaliy opened up a new business which installs drop ceilings made out of high-quality latex. This approach not only provides the rehab center with finances, it also provides the men with a trade. It's a win-win situation.
Though running a rehab center, along with the church and construction crew, is extremely challenging - I am amazed at how stable and patient Vitaliy is. He is a true man of God and he is doing a tremendous work. Not long ago, he came by for a visit and I could tell he was disturbed about something. He went on to share with me that for several months, they have barely been able to make ends meet at the rehab center. They have been surviving, but just barely. I asked him what we could do to help. He informed me that their greatest need is for remodeling/construction contracts. Contracts mean work, which means support and sustenance for living.
I told Vitaliy that I would share this need with our friends and partners and ask them to pray that the rehab center would be inundated with remodeling/construction contracts. It would be ideal if they could get a large contract that would keep them busy for months at a time. So I ask that you join together with us in prayer and faith for this request according to Philippians 4:7, 8 -
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." NKJV
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April Session @ RKR
This April, Pastor Vera and I were a little tense as we prepared for our Rhema classes, since neither of us had taught a full-blown course to date and we weren't entirely sure what to expect. I know now, that I actually over-prepared. I ended up with 20+ pages of typed notes, most of which never even got past the printer. When the moment of truth arrived and we stood firmly gripping our microphones and our notes, we were both amazed at how smoothly things went. The words 'easy', 'natural', and even 'fun' come to mind. The students were so receptive and attentive that it made ministering to them like a trip to the candy store. One of my favorite impressions from teaching them was, "A guy could really get used to this!" Of course, towards the end, we physically began to feel the strain of running both a church and bible school simultaneously, but the Lord blessed us with grace and strength. We are so glad to be a part of this awesome ministry.  My topic was 'Aspects of Grace' and Pastor Vera's was 'Ministerial Ethics'. It's a good thing that those two topics went tandem, since they actually ended up complementing each other. One of our students, who comes from a very legalistic church, came up to me after the session closed and commented, "When I first saw that there would be a class about grace I was really disappointed and had no desire to attend. I told myself that even if I did attend, I wouldn't even consider purchasing the class CD recordings. But after listening to you teach and seeing your passion and joy about grace, I realized that I don't know everything and there's a lot I can learn about grace. So, I've decided to buy the CD's and plan to listen to them." By the way, this student didn't miss even one lesson. This is just a small example of how radically Rhema Khabarovsk has served to transform the students lives.  
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Happy Birthday, David & Inga
May is a festive month in the Maxey household. Not only is the weather generally at its best in Khabarovsk, but both David and Inga celebrate their birthdays in May: May 8th, Inga May 26th, David We don't often list personal needs/ desires in our newsletter, but this time around we decided to break the mould and let you know what our birthday present wishes are: Inga - digital video camera and purse. David - iPad 2 and a Rhema class ring (something I've wanted since 1998) |
WEBSITE :-) ; -) :-\ :- 0
Please visit our website: davidmaxey.org.
- New videos are displayed on the homepage.
- Access to E-newsletter archive
And much, much more! |
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All personal checks should be sent to 'David Maxey Ministries' PO Box 1538, Snohomish, WA 98291
Checks should be made out to 'David Maxey Ministries' |
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About Us
The focus of David and Inga Maxey's ministry is to bear witness to the gospel of God's grace by the power of the Holy Spirit. God has called them to be ambassadors of righteousness, grace, and faith to the nation of Russia. They have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to teach the Word of God and make disciples of Christ as the senior pastors of "Fountain of Life Church" in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia, and as administrators or Rhema Khabarovsk Russia.
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Contact 
David Maxey Ministries
United States: POB 1538
Snohomish, WA, 98291
Tel - 1.360.794.3120
Russia Zaparina 53 KB6
Khabarovsk, Russia 680000 Tel - 7(4212) 755.145
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Contribute
All donations for the support of David and Inga Maxey and David Maxey Ministries are made through a secure
connection and are tax-deductible to U.S. donors.
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