Messiah is Risen - Truly, He is Risen

Photo: Mikael Good

A Mighty Jesus Manifestation in Huskvarna

It's the Good Friday today. More than one billion Christians worldwide remember how Jesus suffered and died on a cross for our sins to give us eternal life. It's painful and sad that the Son of God who is completely free from sin had to go through all this. But He chose to do it because he loves us so much. Good Friday is a day we should devote to Him in worship and praise because of what He did for us.

The Cross was actually God's victory over darkness and it's a day that we should be really thankful for. Today I participated in the way of the Cross walk from Kungsporten Church to the center of Huskvarna along with more than 500 children, youngsters, adults and old people who marched behind the Cross and sang hymns to Jesus to celebrate and manifest His victory.





We arrived at Alf Henrikson place in Huskvarna. The meeting started and a worship team entered the stage and we sang songs of praise together. After a short sermon we prayed for the church, world leaders, refugees and persecuted Christians.

When Jesus and His Cross is in the center of our lives revival is close at hand. I believe that the Jesus manifestation in Huskvarna will send a ripple effect through the area and it surroundings and eventually over the world. Jesus is the answer, for the world today!

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

A Muslim family in China

I met this father and his two boys in december 2004 when I visited the Chinese province Qinghai on behalf of the Swedish NGO Star of Hope. 20% of the population in Qinghai is Tibetan. Many Tibetans converted from Lamaism to Islam in the 18th century after a Muslim missionary came to the inaccessible and mountainous area were they lived. Nearly 50% of the people that I met were muslim converts. According to the organization Open Doors there's a ongoing Christian revival in the area and tibetans has left both Lamaism and Islam to become followers of Christ.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The Miracle baby from St. Petersburg

Imagine that you are 17, orphaned, homeless and pregnant. You have no relatives you can contact, you have just been ejected from your student home, your best friend has turned her back, you have nowhere to turn or go, you are completely alone and abandoned by everyone. That was the situation of Sveta who I met at Grace Family Center in St. Petersburg in 2011.

Svetas parents died in a car accident when she was only nine.  She ended up at the orphanage Swallow and lived there until she graduated. After graduation she began studying at a vocational school, where she managed to get into a student home. Shortly thereafter she met a guy, with whom she became involved and not long after she was pregnant. The relationship with her ended before she realized she was pregnant. He was not at all interested in supporting a child, so he told her to get an abortion.

“First, I also wanted to perform an abortion and I booked one at the hospital, but just before the abortion would be performed I changed my mind and decided that I would keep the baby,” says Sveta, and looks nervously down at the floor. 

The fact that Sveta had become pregnant was in itself a miracle. She had been told that she could never become pregnant due to a congenital defect in the womb. This was with all certainly the only chance Sveta would ever have at being a mother. She decided that the child would be born.

Abandoned by a friend

When the staff at the student home learned she was pregnant, they expelled her. Sveta had to stay with a friend, but her friend wanted to sublet the room Sveta was staying in for a profit. When she found out Sveta could not afford the new rent she kicked her out. Sveta was now both homeless and pregnant. As a last resort, she called the former headmistress of the Swallow orphanage. She could not help Sveta but she gave her the phone number to the Grace Family Center in St. Petersburg. Sveta phoned them and when they answered, she said with sheer desperation in her voice:

“I am very pregnant. I have nowhere to live and there is nobody who can or wants to help me.”

The staff of Grace decided that Sveta could stay at the family Centre apartment and picked her up the same afternoon. Sveta moved in at the beginning of September 2009. Her son Sergei was born in October the same year.

“I am very grateful that I kept Sergei and did not undergo abortion.  It is not certain that I can  have more children.  Sergei is a real godsend, a miracle baby. He is a healthy and very happy little boy,” Sveta lovingly wraps her arms around her little baby boy.

Sergei gets his hands on a toy camera, and as he jumps down from his mother’s lap he begins to take pictures of me. I take out my camera and snap a photo of him, when I show him the picture he starts to laugh when he realizes it’s he on the photo. Sergei is a happy little guy who enjoys being the center of attention and while at Grace, there is always a lap that he can sit in.

The biggest events in my life

Sveta really enjoys living at Grace, although it sometimes gets too crowded and noisy there. The warm Christian atmosphere and all the friendly people in her neighborhood who live out their faith led to Sveta becoming envious of them, she wanted what they had.

“The Greatest that has happened to me here at Grace is that I have received Jesus as my personal Saviour and Lord and that I have become baptized. My mother used to talk to me about Jesus when I was a child and when I lived at the orphanage we used to go to church a couple of times a year but it is only here at Grace that I have met people who actually live out their faith,” She says with a radiant smile.

Despite that all who come to Grace are not Christian most usually go to services at the nearby Russian Orthodox Church. The priests and nuns often visit Grace, where they hold bible studies and talk to those who live in or visit the Centre. 

When Sergei becomes two years the staff at Grace will help Sveta to get an apartment where she and her son can live. Then Sergei can start at nursery school and Sveta can start looking for jobs. When Sergei was born Svetas grandmother died and she inherited a small area of land that she is considering to sell for an initial capital. God has really taken care of Sveta and Sergei.

   

Love and goodness is something we all need

Grace is a family center in St. Petersburg that follows this motto: love and goodness is something that everyone needs. They have created a Christian family community for single mothers and orphans. The staff of Grace regularly visits orphaned children and young people at Hostels, boarding schools and orphanages in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area. They preach the Gospel and invite the children to the community at the family center. All orphans should know where they can go when they have finished school and are expected to fend for themselves.

Their work is important, especially in a large city as St. Petersburg where solitude is widespread and many former orphanage children easily fall into the wrong company. There are beds at Grace where those who need extra support can stay. The staff of Grace is Christian and works in close connection with the local Russian Orthodox Church which also pays the cost of their little three room apartment. The goal of the operation is to invite the orphans and single mothers to a personal relationship with Jesus and get them into the Christian community.

   

Many foreign pastors and evangelists have tried to start congregations in Russia, most of these have failed. Personally, I believe that their failures are due to the fact that there are major gaps in our understanding of how Russians think, acts and feel. The key to understand Russia and its citizens is to know the history of the country. Many foreign pastors and evangelists have, in addition to the Gospel, attempted to preach their own lifestyle and values. I believe in the revival of Russia, a revival that originated in the Great Russian Orthodox Church. Places like Grace Family Center can be key-points for the revival and we can give them our support through our prayers and financial support. Jesus is the answer for Russia!

Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved.

Grace is a thought that can change the world

Grace can be a name of a girl. Grace finds beauty in every face. Grace finds goodness in everyone. Grace is a thought that can change the world. Grace is also the name of a Russian Orthodox Family Center in St. Petersburg.

When I visited Grace Family Center in march 2011, it was like coming home to my own family. Taking photos at Grace was like taking photos of my own family and not of strangers. For orphans who have never had a family of they own, places like Grace Family Center must be worth one's weight in gold. Even if it´s one of my hallmarks to make people feel comfortable in front of my camera, it usually take a while for me to get the pictures that I want. But at Grace that comfortable feeling was right there as soon as i crossed the doorstep.

The work at the Family Center is very successful and according to Valentina who is the volunteer director at Grace the majority of the orphans and young mothers who have received help and support at Grace has been able to adapt to a normal life. The statistics for other orphans who didn´t get the same opportunities are very dark. Only 10% of them can adapt to a normal life and many of them end up as criminals, prostitutes or homeless.

Although the work at the Family Center is very sucessful, they are in a desperate need of money so that they can continue with their important job among all the orphans and young mothers that are in their care. For the volunteers at the Family Center. Grace is not just a thought that can change the world. Grace is something that they live, breathe and share.

The trusted NGO Star of Hope, USA concentrates their efforts on different countries than Russia. However if you wish to donate they will be happy to funnel your gift to Grace Family Center. Click the following link if you want to donate money via Star of Hope, USA: Grace St. Petersburg

You can read more about the important work at Grace Family Center here: Saving Grace



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good 2011, 2013, All Rights Reserved

Saving Grace - How to make a good investment

Over 2000 of the verses in the Bible encourages us to support orphans, poor people, widows and those who are oppressed. God is clearly on their side! But which side are you on? Grace Family Center in St. Petersburg are on the same side as God, and they work hard to help young people in need. But they are also in a desperate need of new investors so that they can continue with their important job among the least of our brothers and sisters.

When young people leave institutions in Russia (at age 18) they encounter multiple problems. Many are met with various types of prejudice because they come from an institution, they have no adults who care about them and they often lack the everyday knowledge that others may learn in their family, such as washing clothes, cooking, managing household cash, finding suitable accommodations in which to live and more. Most have no parents or other relatives to turn to, so they often feel lonely and left out, and in reality, they are.

Valentina is The Director at Grace Family Center © Mikael Good 

The Family Center is located in a apartment at a Russian Orthodox monastery in St. Petersburg. The volunteers at the family center works closely with priests and nuns from the monastery. The work that they do is really remarkable and most of the orphans and young mothers that come in their custody receive the support and the training that they need so that they can live ordinary lives. When I asked Valentina who is the director about the recipe for their successful work at the Family Center she answered:
- Love and kindness is something that we all need. It's also something that we want to teach at Grace, We also know that we need to talk a lot with the orphans to teach them to love and enjoy each other.

At Grace Family Center young people meet and spend time with adults who give them support and encouragement and help them to develop into independent people with strong self-worth. The staff, at the project, prepare an individual plan for each young person who comes to it. The work is based on Christian principles. They live and work in an environment where they can meet and know the saving grace of Jesus and become part of God's great family. Despite that Valentina and the other volunteers does everything that they can for the orphans and the young mothers at Grace they feel uncomfortable about the situation. When I spoked with Valentina, she said with tears in her eyes:

- When I see that the needs are so great as they are, it feels as I do not do anything at all. I know that there are so many people who need our help, and it is difficult to have to refuse people since our resources are not sufficient. But I know that God will provide us with more resources when the time is right.

The work at the Family Center is very successful and according to Valentina, the majority of the orphans and the young mothers who have received help and support have been able to adapt to a normal life. The statistics for other orphans who didn´t get the same opportunities is very dark, only 10% of them can adapt to a normal life and many of them end up as criminals, prostitutes or homeless. But despite the very positive result at Grace, one of their major sponsors decided to end the cooperation with the Family Center at the end of year 2013. The reason is that they want to concentrate all its activities to other parts of the world. The decision to end the cooperation creates great economical problems for the Family Center who already stuggles with a strained economy. And it will be difficult for the Family Center to maintain their important work. They are really in a desperate need of a economical miracle.

Perhaps it is one of you who read this article that shall provide the economical miracle that is needed? One of the best investments that you can make is to invest your money in the least of our brothers and sisters. I believe in miracles and I also believe that it´s very important that Grace Family Center can continue their work among the least in Russia. I believe that their methods can be a role model for other Orthodox Family Centers in Russia to follow. I also believe that the Family Center have a key to a revival in the Russian Orthodox Church and that this revival can affect millions of Russians. Dosen´t that sound like a really good investment to you?

Click the following link if you want to donate money via Star of Hope, USA: Grace St. Petersburg 

Star of Hope, USA concentrates their efforts on different countries than Russia. However if you wish to donate they will be happy to funnel your gift to Grace Family Center. 

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done". - Proverbs 19:17 

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". - Matt 25:40



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved