Behind the Iron Curtain!

Dave and Hannah Henson will soon be moving with their family to Russia to be part of a church in Tver.  Originally based at The Well Church in Loughborough, they have sensed God directing them to Russia for many years.

When did God first put Russia on your heart?
Ten years ago, Gerald Coates spoke at Orpington Town Church. Three quarters of the way through his sermon, he picked me out. After prophesying my name, the date of my salvation and that I had just come back to God after a period of questioning my faith, he prophesied that I was just about to meet my wife and that God would use us across Eastern Europe and behind the Iron Curtain.

How has your involvement with Russia developed?
In 1997, just before getting married, we sensed God speak to us about joining a church plant. As a family of churches we were asking God for 50 churches across the Midlands. God drew us into this initiative through the often referred to picture of an arrow coming out of Bedford, into the Midlands, and then many arrows going out from there into the nations. At this time, David Devenish was being invited into Russia as exciting doors were opening there. We quickly introduced ourselves to David and made him aware of our hearts for Russia.

In 2004 David invited me on a 2 week trip to central Russia and it had a profound impact on us. Hannah & I began to grasp a vision and sense of urgency to see the church in the Russian speaking world seen as a City on a hill, with many churches planted and Ephesians 4 teams raised up and mobilised. We began to get excited that we might be able to play a part in seeing this vision become a reality.

What made you decide that now was the time to move?
Eighteen months ago we both felt God telling us to get ready to go. While we were away on holiday, the other elder in Loughborough sensed God had told him to get ready to lead the church forward! I was so grateful for his boldness and faith in sharing this as it marked the whole process of leadership transition in the church with God’s great blessing.

We quickly contacted David Devenish who stressed the importance of immersing ourselves in language and culture before taking on too much ministry. He suggested we looked at moving to Tver, a small city of 300,000 people on the road connecting Moscow to St Petersburg. This seemed a good option as there is a great Newfrontiers church there and the city is famous for its University which attracts people from all over Eastern Europe and Asia to learn language.

Interestingly just a few days later I was asked to go to Tver on a ministry trip. It wasn’t long before we felt faith ourselves that Tver would be a good initial base for us a family.

Over recent months we have been to Tver three times and now have an apartment waiting for us. Hannah & I have enrolled at the University to learn Russian and the children have places in a great Kindergarten (all these things in themselves have stories of God’s exciting provision!)

What can you tell us about the church in Tver?
The church in Tver was established in the early 1990s. The story of how the church was birthed is a story of God’s exciting power in itself! After the Iron Curtain came crashing down, many churches were started literally overnight as Revival sprung up in many towns and cities.

The wife of the current church leader, Alyona was saved during this time, and began preaching the gospel to those around her. From that moment, and for quite some period of time, Alyona and the church led hundreds of people to Christ everywhere they went; on the bus, at work, and in the street!

How will the move impact your family?
Recently I was given a prophetic word that as we go to learn language & culture we will need to become like little children again, but as we humble ourselves God will teach us about receiving the Kingdom of God in a fresh way.
It will be hard to leave family, friends and a great church amongst many other things, but I take comfort in this promise that God will use us when we submit to Him.

Have you been learning Russian? Has it been difficult learning a whole new alphabet?
We have been taking evening classes and more recently having private tuition. Yes, it has been difficult but loads of fun! Every word can have several different endings so unless you get the ending right you can end up saying some very funny and even embarrassing things!

What is the strategy behind this move?  What are your future aims?
We want to see loads of young people trained in church leadership and churches planted. We are going to serve David Devenish in the central Russian region and will be working out the detail of our role within the existing Newfrontiers churches over the coming few years.

Are you taking others with you?
In many ways we are hoping that our move will serve as a catalyst in seeing people from our churches in the UK and beyond move to Russia. We are now in contact with around 20 people who feel called to move to Russia over the next few years.

What do you anticipate to be the cultural challenges of moving to Eastern Europe?

• The food (lots of cabbage soup!)
• The time most people go to bed (it is quite normal for friends to phone each other at 3am!
• A very different approach to the use of diaries and organisation!

What do you have faith for in 12 months time?

• To feel settled as a family
• To have done my first preach in Russian
• To have developed some great relationships with the leaders of our 11 churches in that region

Thanks Dave!