The Team: Jeff / Sergei
The Country: Russia
The City: Moscow
The 411…….
Our goal is simple “Reaching the artists and musicians of Moscow through Christian artists and musicians”, says Jeff. When we began looking at a people group that has not been targeted in the Moscow metropolitan area, we found very quickly that the artist community has been one that has been looked over. What we have found is a unique people group that is at best difficult to build relationships with in order to introduce the concept of Jesus Christ into their lives. For the most part, many of the artists of Moscow are of a high intellectual as well as educational level, the question of God and their use for him can be reasoned away. Because of this, our methodology is radical and unique compared to techniques used in the United States or even other places in the world, we are literally dealing with a generation of Russian nationals that have no concept what so ever of Christ much less a way to find him.
The process that we go about winning and influencing the artist community of Moscow is slow and methodical, it comes down to one relationship at a time. The best way we have found is connecting Christian artists with non-Christian artists, each talking the same language so to speak; peer to peer. In doing this one of our techniques is to create a non-“churchy” dinner party for our Christian artists to invite their non-Christian friends. The goal of the evening is to provide a comfortable environment that allows one-on-one relationship and bonding to take place. We may end the evening with a game that spawns some thinking about their place in the world and perhaps where they feel their talent came from. That first step is followed up by progressive ways to build longer relationships to the extent that one day the gospel can be presented without a door automatically coming down.
One of the things we are excited about Global Missions Project (GMP) helping us, is bringing new and unique music groups that can plug straight into our strategies. For example, a really top notch jazz group that GMP brings us can be used to create a workshop designed to bring the non-Christian jazz players of Moscow into where we could never do on our own. In addition, the US jazz group can play at various venues around Moscow building even broader relationship and strategic alliances with people and organizations that we need to open doors with.
Please pray as God uses our team to reach specifically the artists of Moscow. Our hearts are burdened, but we see great opportunities ahead and through your prayers and God’s faithfulness we will see these opportunities become reality as people come to know our great savior!
For more information on how you or your ministry can be involved with Project: Russia, please give our office a call at 1.888.77GLOBAL. We have many ongoing requests from all over Russia for music teams of all varieties.