Nizhny Novgorod Region Ladies Fellowship

We live in a time of vast amounts of information and available resources, so it is not hard to find a sermon on a specific topic, listen in on a conference, and hear answers to questions that interest you. But we have neglected the habit and have forgotten how to communicate face to face with believers of other churches. Before, as we visited churches in other cities, we got to know many brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, these ties have been weakened, so the organizers of this gathering had a great desire to give ladies the opportunity to reconnect, get to know new people, and share their experiences and blessings.

After a welcome, blessing and prayer over the gathering by the pastor, Galina Nabilskaya shared a Bible reflection on Miriam from the book "Women of the Bible". We were encouraged by the amazing life of Moses' sister, her participation in God's plan for the salvation of Moses and subsequent service to the people of God. It was young Mariam who followed the tarred basket in which her beautiful brother was, and her heart skipped a beat at the thought of what would become of him. It was Miriam who suggested to the daughter of Pharaoh to send for the nurse a baby taken out of the water. Mariam hurried home and called her mother. As a result, Moses was in the hands of a loving mother, and she nurtured him (Exodus 2:3-9).

Some important points of her life: after the children of Israel had passed on land among the seas, she took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her likewise with exultation. Miriam sang before them a triumphant song of victory: “Sing to the Lord; for he exalted himself on high, he  cast the horse and rider into the sea ”Exodus 14: 19-21. And how sad when she and Aaron had jealousy in their hearts toward Moses, and said, "Does the Lord only speak to Moses. Doesn’t He also do with us?" The Lord heard this and showed them the superiority of Moses, who was faithful to Him in all His house, and with whom He spoke face to face. (Numbers 12:7-8). Miriam was punished, being covered with leprosy like snow. Only because of the prayer of Moses, after seven days, God healed Miriam (Numbers 12:13-15). The life of Mariam and her downfall became the subject of serious thought for the participants in the meeting .

Elena Boretskaya held a discussion on the topic of obedience and humility, confession and repentance. During the discussion, the sisters tried to find answers to the following questions:

• How is repentance different from confession?
• Is there a difference between obedience and submission?
• Who do I compare myself to? Who is my reference? Who do I imitate?
• Why is it difficult for me to obey my husband, pastor, and superiors?
• Who or what is causing me to disobey?
• What is the difference between external and internal disobedience?
• What was the sin of the prophetess Miriam?
• What do you think Miriam was thinking while she was out of the camp for seven days when God struck her with leprosy?
• What do we think about when we are sick?
• What should be done in order not to be in such situations?
• How do we learn not to sin? What preventions are there from falling into sin?

In this communication, the ladies had many other questions and  answers.

A mature Christian woman, Lyudmila, gave some hard-hitting lessons to the sisters which will be remembered for a long time. She took three illustrations: the life of Rachel and how not to deal with your husband: to demand of him, to insist on your own desire, and to not honor him. A good example of Ruth's obedience: “Your God will be my God,”  she told her mother-in-law, deciding to follow her to a foreign country. And the courage shown by queen Esther when she had risked her life to stand up for her people, for her faith in the living God and thereby brought her deliverance and blessing.

The wrap-up was an admonishment from Scripture: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man as to the Lord: whether to the king as supreme, or to governors as sent by him ... to encourage those who do good - because this is the will of God ..." (1 Peter 2:13-15). "Give thanks always for everything to God the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, obeying one another in the fear of the Lord" (Eph. 5:21).

Everyone concluded that God wants us to obey His will and submit to the authorities He has appointed over us with respect, gentleness, and complete trust in Him.

Then the sisters were divided into four teams to get to know each other. Relationship games helped them get to know each other, creating microcosms of unity. We also hosted our own Game Show, based on the book of Proverbs. It was nice to watch the teamwork of the sisters as they supported and cared for each other.

A highlight of the day - the men prepared a delicious lunch, which was a great act of servanthood for the ladies.

After lunch, everyone went on a tour of the ancient city of Gorodets. Our guide was a wonderful storyteller, as he shared fascinating accounts and sights of the historical Gorodets. After this, we drank tea with traditional Gorodets sweets.

We thank God for this refreshing format, lively interactions, great teaching, meeting wonderful sisters and for their desire to continue such meetings.

Galina Nekrasova