“Abide in me and I in you…”
“God, where are they?” We asked in desperation, “Where are the men you have prepared to lead these movements?” This was the cry of our hearts as we prayed as a team earlier this semester.
For the past year we have hit the campuses weekly in search of men who would be willing to lead a movement at their universities. Thankfully this has not been as big of a concern among the women because so many great girls have responded warmly and openly to the idea. Unfortunately, among the men the story has been quite different.
A few guys would come to an English Club or would stop and talk to us as we surveyed students about their beliefs and dreams. However, very few responded with interest and even fewer wanted to lead a movement. This is why we shouted for joy when we met Christian, a study abroad student from Spain. He had been involved in a campus ministry before and had dreams of building one here. Our dreams were combining and we began to pray and plan for ways to start a men’s movement.
Christian leading us in a game of pictionary
“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.”
On a cold, wintry Friday night in late February my teammates Dan and Chris and I met with Christian and we planned out what would be a 5 part series on discussing what it means to be a man. The first event was going to be “Banya and Bibles”. We invited all the guys we knew and told them we were renting a banya – which is a very Russian thing, kind of like a private sauna – and told them to come and be ready to talk about what it means to be a man. The invitations were sent, the plans laid out and we were ready for something great.
The day before the main event we took count of who would be there. To our sadness and shock we realized that not a single person said that they would make it.
No one was coming.
“Apart from me you can do nothing…”
That Friday Dan, Chris and I gathered around a pizza rather than a banya and talked about what else we could do. We were discouraged to say the least. At our staff meeting the next Tuesday the women on the team lamented with us and we cried out to the Lord on behalf of the male students of Moscow. “God where are they? Where are the men you have prepared to lead this movement? God we cannot do this, only you can, please raise them up.”
We prayed that morning, we prayed that day at one of the most male-dominated schools in Moscow, we prayed again the next week. We were coming to the realization that the only way we were going to see a movement among the men was if we prayed. If God was going to gather the men and raise up leaders he would do it in a way that would give him the glory and not us.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Imagine our surprise and our joy when two weeks later 14 men gathered in an apartment to hang out, talk and seek the truth of what it means to be a real man. God is in the process of answering our prayers. Committed Christians, agnostics and devout secular humanists were all present, discussing the common struggles and joys of manhood. Believers were being challenged to grow and the lost were engaged with the Gospel on a new level. Dan, Chris, Christian and I left that night thanking God for the work he is doing.
But, we’re not there yet. We still have a long way to go. Men need to step up and begin to lead movements on their own. They need to accept responsibility and stop trying to hold on to their adolescence. They need to take that step of faith and trust God for the ridiculous. They need to be willing to be ashamed for the sake of the Gospel.
Pray with us! Pray that God would specifically raise up men to lead movements everywhere in Moscow, so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus Christ. This is the cry of our hearts, right now. This is what we are trusting God for. Pray and fast with us to this end!
“By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:4-8
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