Did you ever meet someone who was both utterly fascinating and incredibly humble at the same time? Well, that was my impression of Lisa Asriev, whom I met at Moscow Bible Church about 4 months ago. By then I had already heard about her from our youth ministry since she got plugged into the group of young professionals almost immediately. Lisa is from New York and comes from a family of Russian/Armenian Americans. She graduated from a school that she called “a small college,” and it was only upon further questioning that I realized she had graduated from Cornell University. Upon graduation, she received a very lucrative job offer and came to work in Moscow. She is fluent in Russian, and it was in Russia that God found her. Back in April, I promised to share the story of one of the girls that was baptized and this is it.
Lisa has an athletic background. She competed at a high level in single figure skating before she was injured in seventh grade. Later on she switched to synchronized skating where she competed nationally until tenth grade. It was then that she switched to track and field where she specialized in the 800-meter run. It was that connection to track and field that brought Lisa to God. Last summer she watched the 2024 Olympics in Paris and kept track of her favorite athlete, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Afterwards she picked up Sydney’s autobiography. She thought this book would be about the grit, determination, and discipline required for an Olympic athlete, but instead the book was largely about… Jesus. Sydney shared openly about the influence of Christ on the life of a lost girl. It took Lisa just 2 days to read through this book, and upon finishing it, she made her first step towards God. She began reading the Bible and spending time praying. She says: “As with any other relationship, the first step was simply getting to know one another.”
This first step led to a complete transformation in Lisa’s life. She put her trust in God. Her life did not become ideal overnight, but her anxiety subsided. She knows her weaknesses and now finds the comfort and freedom that come from God. By her own admission she is now much more patient with people around her and is more confident. But most important of all, she knows that she was born to be loved by God, to know Him and serve Him.
It was such a joy to baptize Lisa this past spring, and it is a privilege to see her grow in her relationship with God as she is beginning to serve at Moscow Bible Church.
Yours in praying and hastening the day of revival in Moscow and Russia,
Constantin and Alexandra
PS God used our ministry to young professionals to help Lisa find a community in Moscow. Right now, our youth ministry is getting ready to head out to their summer camp and your prayers would be greatly appreciated. I will share more about this camp in the ensuing weeks.
THREE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Please join us in praying for God:
- To bless us to see the kids that went to our kids' camp but who do not come to church to get plugged in this year and to start attending Sunday School. So that God would use this camp as the first step to a trully meaningful lifelong relationship with Him.
- To bless youth camp. While our kids' camp is over our youth ministry is working hard on putting finishing touches on their camp that is about to launch in a few days.
- To bring peace to Russia and Ukraine. Moreover, ask God to use this conflict by bringing reconciliation and revival to these countries.
