Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001601A
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00:01 Hello, friend. I am John Carter.
00:04 I've just come back from Russia. 00:06 It was my 43rd visit to that land. 00:11 I'm gonna tell you today about Putin's Russia. 00:14 And the amazing things I've found today 00:18 happening in Russia, 00:19 because I saw the power of God. 00:22 Welcome today to the Carter Report 00:25 and The Russian Experience. 00:31 Hello, friend, I am John Carter here in Russia. 00:35 It is a cold day. 00:38 This is my 43rd visit to the old lands 00:42 of the Soviet Union. 00:44 Thank God, that evil empire is gone. 00:49 And I am here today, because God has called me 00:51 to Russia and Ukraine, 00:53 to preach the everlasting gospel 00:56 of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 00:58 It's great to be back. 01:01 I first came here in the year 1971, 01:06 and I came as a boy, 01:08 and I came as a tourist just to have a look. 01:12 I returned 20 years later in the year 1992, 1991, 01:19 not as a tourist but as an evangelist. 01:23 And I came to the great city of Moscow. 01:26 We conducted the first ever evangelist campaign by 01:31 a foreigner in the old Soviet Union. 01:35 We held the meetings in the palace of culture, 01:38 just down the road from the Kremlin. 01:41 These were days of grace, and glory, 01:45 and mighty power. 01:48 The meeting started at 10 o'clock in the morning, 01:51 and they finished 10 o'clock at night, 01:53 with only time out 01:55 for a little bit of bread and water. 01:58 We had a tremendous choir but better still, 02:01 we had a tremendous audience. 02:04 I was talking to an audience basically of atheists, 02:08 communists with a few believers. 02:12 And when I made altar calls for Jesus, 02:15 the people would break down and weep. 02:18 They were hearing the gospel of Christ 02:21 for the first time, 02:23 and they were just filled with amazement. 02:26 I can never forget those days. 02:29 And then the next year, it was 1992, 02:36 I came here to Nizhny Novgorod 02:39 or the city which used to be called Gorky 02:42 after the famous Russian poet. 02:46 In faith, we hired the great Palace of Sports. 02:51 The old communist director said to me, 02:53 "Mr. Carter, this is going to be 02:56 a failure because no one is going to come." 03:00 He said, "We've taught the people here 03:02 not even to think about Him, He doesn't exist in our minds." 03:08 But when we open those meetings a few months later, 03:11 the crowds was so great 03:13 that that old director was almost killed 03:16 in the rush of people there. 03:18 It was amazing. 03:20 When I came down to the auditorium, 03:23 I couldn't get in my self. 03:25 The Russian army had to take me to the meetings. 03:29 The people broke down the doors, 03:32 they smashed the windows, 03:35 and we had tremendous opposition too, 03:37 days of grace, and glory, and opposition. 03:42 The great state church sent along ruffians, 03:45 and they had smoke bombs, and they had fire bombs, 03:48 and I was preaching with smoke bombs all around me 03:52 and our believers were putting out the fires. 03:56 We saw the power of God. 03:58 The place was filled with tens of thousands of atheists 04:02 and communists and unbelievers. 04:06 But I want you to know today, 04:08 listen to this. 04:09 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God 04:13 unto salvation to everyone who believes. 04:17 That is why I am here today to preach that same gospel. 04:21 And when I preach the gospel back there, 04:23 we saw hundreds of thousands of people come, 04:27 come to Christ. 04:29 I want you to know this, I have seen the latter rain. 04:35 I have seen the mighty outpouring 04:38 of the spirit of God. 04:39 I've seen hundreds of thousands of atheists 04:44 and communists come to Christ. 04:47 This is my 43rd visit. 04:52 You say, "Why do you come? Why do you go there? 04:55 Is it because you like the climate?" 04:58 I come here my friend because of the need. 05:01 These people still have a tremendous need. 05:04 Please support our work here. 05:06 Write to me John Carter, PO Box 1900 Thousand Oaks, 05:11 California 91358. 05:13 In Australia, write to me at Terrigal, 05:17 in the name of Jesus, please support us 05:21 in this great work, amen. 05:32 Welcome to the Carter Report and the Russian Experience. 05:36 I'm privileged to have with me today my wife Beverley. 05:40 Beverley, I'm glad that you're with me today. 05:45 How many times, Beverley, have you been to Russia? 05:50 I've been over 20 times with you. 05:53 And some of my first impressions of course, 05:56 I was impressed at first that God should give us 05:59 this opportunity to go to the former Soviet Union 06:03 just as it as communism was falling back in the 90s, 91. 06:07 One of the greatest blessings of our lives together 06:11 when we went to Moscow. 06:14 Do you remember the year? 06:16 1991. 1991. 06:19 And there weren't any cars on the roads 06:21 and that was one of the things that impressed me, 06:23 no cars except some two or three small cars, 06:27 I forget the name. 06:28 I think there was a car call the Moskvitch. 06:31 That was it. 06:32 I think it was partially made out of wood. 06:34 Yes, they were very small. 06:37 And this was before the Volgas, 06:38 before they started making 06:40 the Volga which was a bigger car. 06:41 Yeah. 06:42 And also another impression was no food in the shops, 06:45 and of course what had happened 06:46 the Soviets had spent all their money 06:49 making weapons of war. 06:51 And so they had gone broke. Yes. 06:53 And you had people we saw them lined up 06:56 to get bread and cheese and that was something 06:59 and also another thing that impressed me Igle, 07:02 our translator took us to his home, 07:05 and in that time people couldn't choose where to live. 07:09 They were told to live in a certain small apartments, 07:13 the apartment, the one that we went to 07:15 was no bigger than this room. 07:17 Yes. 07:18 And there were three families living there. 07:20 Using the same toilet. 07:22 Well, that's right. 07:23 And they couldn't choose who they lived with. 07:24 No. 07:26 Certain people were just told to go there 07:28 and they had the kitchen were small, 07:29 you could only fit about two people in. 07:31 The bathroom, it could only fit one person in. 07:33 And then so, 07:35 they took turns cooking their foods and food. 07:38 And then, they would go into their bedroom 07:40 which was also their eating room. 07:43 And that's where they took us. 07:45 And you'll remember that in those days, 07:47 the doors, they weren't wooden, 07:49 they were curtains separating these rooms, 07:51 so no privacy. 07:52 Not a lot of privacy. Things have changed 07:55 Yes, I know. 07:57 Now, you've just come back from your 43rd visit there. 08:00 So what is changed? And what did you...? 08:02 What impressed you about in the time? 08:05 lots of motorcars, lots of great hotels, 08:08 lot of apparent prosperity. 08:11 But there are still 08:12 the aching void in the hearts of these people 08:17 because of atheism, and communism, 08:20 and false religious systems. 08:22 And so, that's why I've gone and that's why you've gone too. 08:27 Not because we agree, 08:29 necessarily with the Russian government. 08:32 But we want to reach these people for Christ. 08:36 The door opened. Yes. 08:38 And God led us to go through in there. 08:40 I'm so thrilled about that 08:42 and the things that happened there were just miraculous now. 08:45 Then you went down to Nizhny Novgorod. 08:47 Yes, I did. 08:49 That was one of our highlights of our work in Russia. 08:52 Beverley, '91, we ran the first ever evangelistic campaign 08:55 by foreigners in the old Soviet Union. 08:58 You know, hallelujah. 08:59 And that was Moscow. 09:01 Yeah, glory hallelujah. 09:02 Just down the road from the Kremlin. 09:04 And then, we book the Kremlin 09:05 but we never got to the Kremlin. 09:08 It got, it got taken from us, you can talk to Danny Shelton 09:11 about this because he knows the story. 09:14 He was our partner there. 09:16 And then the next year, we went to Gorky which is now 09:20 called Nizhny Novgorod. 09:23 And there we saw the mighty power of God. 09:28 I've just come back from Nizhny, Beverley. 09:31 And I'm almost overwhelmed by how God has blessed this work. 09:36 And '92. '92. 09:38 Just tell us again, what happened? 09:40 Well, since '92 my hair has turned white. 09:44 Your's seems to be doing okay. 09:45 My hair's too, but I get a little bit of help. 09:47 You don't want to confess those things on television. 09:50 But what you see here is what you get. 09:53 What happened in '92? 09:57 Oh, dear Lord, we saw the power of God. 10:00 It was miraculous. 10:02 We saw the greatest crowds attending evangelistic meetings 10:05 in the history of the Soviet Union. 10:08 Thousands, tens of thousands inside, 10:11 tens of thousands outside, 10:13 people breaking down the doors, 10:16 people breaking into the windows 10:19 and then the largest baptism in the history of Russia, 10:22 in the Volga River. 10:25 A church is established. 10:26 The people were looking for something, 10:27 because I think 10:29 what had happened as I look back now, 10:31 that communism at least structured their lives. 10:34 Yes, yes. 10:35 Even though it wasn't good, a good structure. 10:38 But once communism fell, 10:39 and though many of them were atheists, 10:42 they had no belief in God, they were left with nothing. 10:45 There was a terrible void there. 10:48 Let's, let me talk about this void. 10:49 Because somebody you talk to me last night, 10:53 Alexander Solzhenitsyn. 10:55 He spoke about the void caused by atheism. 10:58 Somebody said, 10:59 Stalin ripped the heart out of the Russian people. 11:03 Atheism, what a curse it was. 11:06 Tens of millions of people murdered 11:09 in the name of communism, 11:11 and in the in the name of atheism. 11:15 And when we went there, there was this tremendous void. 11:19 People were so hungry for God. 11:23 And I was thrilled because as you well know 11:26 I used to stand behind the curtain... 11:27 You were there, yes. 11:29 Behind the curtain praying right through. 11:30 We head out the groups praying around the hall too. 11:33 But, that they would come in 11:35 and their eyes was so full of hopelessness 11:38 Yes. They look so sad, but then... 11:40 Yes, depressed 11:42 With the translator you opened up the word of God 11:44 and you gave them evidence from archaeology 11:46 to believe the Bible. 11:48 And then from then you could tell them, 11:50 "Well, there is a God." Yes. 11:52 "There is the God of the Bible", 11:54 and that gave them hope 11:55 and you could say their faces change. 11:56 Beverley, we saw Pentecost, 11:58 people say you know, 12:00 and people say, well, 12:01 the latter rain is way down in the future. 12:04 We saw, glory be to God the latter rain. 12:07 We saw more than 12:08 two and a half thousand atheists 12:11 and communists and members of the KGB walk out into 12:15 the freezing waters of the Volga River 12:18 and get baptized. 12:20 And, I've just come back 12:22 from greeting some of these new believers. 12:26 Now, old believers. 12:28 Yeah, and they're still faithful, 12:30 the majority of them are still faithful. 12:32 Went to the Christian Cultural Center this, 12:36 the largest Protestant building in Russia. 12:41 It's amazing, I spoke there to our church 12:44 that was packed to the doors. 12:47 I saw young people playing violins, 12:51 wonderful singing. 12:53 They're great musicians. 12:54 One of the best. Just, just touches my heart. 12:58 I saw Julia, 12:59 who's in charge of the 3ABN ministry there. 13:03 This last year she's lost her brother, murdered, 13:07 Boris Nemtsov, our friend. 13:09 Yes, yes, we knew him. 13:11 My friend, I knew him. 13:13 Then she lost her husband. He was drowned. 13:16 And when I got over there, 13:18 her mother had just broken her hip. 13:21 And Julia is taking care of her. 13:24 And so we meet these people, who are saints, 13:28 who are standing firm for God in spite of hardship. 13:32 Beverley, the church has been through a time of trouble 13:36 in Nizhny Novgorod. 13:38 And this left them stronger for that. 13:40 There was a man who professed to be a member of our church. 13:44 And he murdered his wife and all of his children 13:48 and the government moved in 13:49 and our churches have been under siege. 13:52 That was just a few months ago, wasn't it? 13:53 Yes, Julia sent me a message she said, 13:56 "Don't come. It may be too dangerous." 13:59 But God put his hand over his church. 14:02 That church is survived 14:04 the people of God need to realize 14:07 this is no time to sound the retreat, 14:11 and forsake as suffering Russian brothers and sisters. 14:15 Just because we don't like the booten government. 14:17 That's right, and not to be feeble 14:19 and not know it is the novel says, 14:21 "Not to fight in times of trouble." 14:24 Now, in used in Novgorod, 14:26 that was where I first started my orphanage work. 14:29 Yes. 14:31 I felt impressed at the time 14:32 as you know the Book of James I think it is says, 14:35 "A true and pure really is just a vision 14:37 the orphans and widows widowers in their pristine and flexion", 14:42 and I just felt impressed that, 14:46 to do something practical for the people because, 14:48 I didn't want them to think well, 14:50 "Okay, you're here just to preach us. 14:52 You're also here to help." Yes 14:54 And that, and also because 14:56 we love children. 14:57 So, that's where I began the orphanage work and, 15:00 and at that time I also visited a children's hospital. 15:04 And I noticed that they had nothing. 15:06 If you went into hospital, 15:08 you had to take your own bathing, 15:09 you had to go and buy your own medication 15:12 because the hospitals have you nothing. 15:13 Nothing. 15:14 Because as we said before. 15:16 The footage of atheism 15:17 All the money had gone to the building weapons, 15:19 of destruction. 15:20 Instead of helping the people 15:22 And so with us at that time we had two, 15:25 German friends, who were from at church 15:27 back here in America they went over with us. 15:29 And they still had relatives in Germany. 15:32 And so what we did, we got some money together 15:35 and our friends in Germany. 15:37 There able to buy by ten tons of medication, 15:40 and medical supplies. 15:42 And they brought it over on a big semi truck. 15:43 And glory be to God. 15:45 And we just thank God, we thank our supporters, 15:47 and for all those people that helped us to do that. 15:50 And I know that did make an impression 15:52 on the people to say well, 15:54 "These Christians they're not just here to preach 15:57 that they're also here to help us." 15:59 And we'll be back, after this special message. 16:05 Hello friend, I'm John Carter in Russia. 16:09 This is my 43rd visit to this land. 16:13 And I come not for this weather, 16:16 but to preach the gospel of Christ. 16:19 The need here is tremendous. 16:22 The first big campaign was in the year in 1991. 16:26 In the great city of Moscow, 16:28 followed by a mighty campaign find here, 16:32 in 1992 in Nizhny Novgorod. 16:37 When the Volga River, 16:39 2,530 souls were baptized 16:44 into Jesus Christ. 16:47 The need here has not lessen 16:50 the people are crying out for God. 16:53 I'm asking you today in the name of Jesus. 16:58 Please support us in the preaching 17:01 of the gospel of Christ to the Russian people. 17:05 Please write to me John Carter Post-office Box 17:10 1900 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 17:15 In Australia, you can write to me at the address. 17:19 Now, appearing on the screen at Terrigal. 17:23 I' am here my friend to bring Christ, 17:27 to the Russian people. 17:29 Already we have seen 17:31 the mighty pouring of the Spirit of God. 17:35 We have seen hundreds of thousands of people 17:39 come to Christ in Russia. 17:42 please write to me John Carter Post-office Box 17:46 1900 Thousand Oaks California. 17:48 91358 in Australia Write to me at Terrigal, 17:54 in the name of God to please support this work. 18:07 Welcome, back to the Russian experience. 18:09 I'm so happy today, to have you with me. 18:13 But I'm super happy to have Beverley with me. 18:18 Beverley, welcome today to the Carter report. 18:20 Well, thank you I'm very happy to be here too. 18:23 You've been my partner, 18:25 in this great work in Russia for many years. 18:28 And I've just come back as you know my 43rd visit. 18:31 You've been there more than more 20 times. 18:34 And one of the places, 18:35 I've visited is a place that you know all about 18:38 Dzerzhinsk. 18:39 Dzerzhinsk. 18:41 Yeah, very polluted city tell us about that. 18:43 Yeah Dzerzhinsk polluted, 18:45 it used to be the pollution capital 18:49 for the old Soviet empire. 18:51 Is where they made their hellish chemicals. 18:55 And when you go to Dzerzhinsk You see there the, 18:59 the disease, the cancer and so forth among the people. 19:03 As you know by the grace of God 19:05 we built a church in Dzerzhinsk 19:09 God has used the Carter report to build churches 19:12 throughout the old Soviet Union. 19:14 We built a church there. 19:16 And all day every day 19:17 I wish you had been there with me 19:19 this time to see the faces of the people 19:22 to hear the music. 19:24 The church was founded 25 years ago, 19:27 it's still standing strong thank you Jesus. 19:31 Yes, praise the Lord 19:32 To the glory of God. 19:33 Yes, that's wonderful because, and talking about pollution 19:36 there's so many cities on to in the former Soviet Union. 19:40 Where Nuclear dumps where you know 19:42 they were just dumped. 19:44 And so many cities there, 19:45 so many people sick as you said, 19:47 with cancer and other terrible diseases. 19:50 And I want to say to the people watching this telecast. 19:54 Don't think, what you believe 19:56 doesn't affect the way you live. 19:58 Easy atheism is one the greatest curses 20:01 in the history of the world. 20:04 It almost destroyed the hearts, and the souls, 20:08 and the bodies of the Russian people. 20:11 Beverley we're going to talk 20:13 in the next part of our program. 20:15 About your noble, 20:17 we're gonna leave that to the talk on Ukraine. 20:20 But when I went to Dzerzhinsk, 20:22 I was so glad to meet with their people; 20:24 their love almost just followed me up. 20:27 But my heart goes out to them, 20:28 because of the terrible suffering 20:31 and their great needs there. 20:32 Could you tell us about some of the needs? 20:36 Beverley, I will try 20:39 I'm sure there are so many but. 20:42 I think of the young people. 20:45 Some of the most beautiful young people, 20:48 you'll find anywhere in the world. 20:50 But they need help, 20:52 we're thinking by the grace of God 20:54 if we can raise the money. 20:55 Are putting on a, I use Congress in Russia. 20:59 And going there and putting on meetings, 21:03 and winning young people, not only old people 21:06 but we're going to have a concentrated effort 21:10 to reach young people for Christ. 21:13 Because in Russia, 21:14 it's been relatively easy to get the babushka, 21:17 some of the old people. 21:19 But the young people and own Christian young people. 21:24 They desperately need help at this time. 21:27 By the grace of God we want to go back, 21:29 and work especially for our young people. 21:32 We must do that, by God's great. 21:34 We've got to raise the money Beverley. 21:36 And you know, 21:37 I'm just a no pastor with his wife. 21:42 You called me old too, but I guess I' am. 21:43 No, no, no I' am just an old pastor 21:45 with his young wife. 21:47 But raising the money is not easy. 21:51 We don't get any support of course, 21:53 from the organization. 21:56 But thank God, we get support from God. 21:58 That's right. 21:59 And God's people. 22:01 And usually, we've always found that 22:02 when people hear of the need, or see the need. 22:06 They come to our help. 22:07 And I'm sure that will happen again. 22:11 Can I ask you a question. 22:12 Yeah, 22:13 In the last segment, you spoke about the orphans. 22:17 Now in a program on Ukraine, 22:19 that's going to follow this program. 22:21 We're going to talk about the children of Chernobyl. 22:26 Do you remember when we went on the Trans-Siberian Express. 22:30 Yes, I'll never forget it. 22:32 You know, we went from Moscow to Vladivostok 22:34 11 time zones. 22:36 Eight days on the train. And no shell 22:41 Just a little thing to wash a face in. 22:43 Do you remember the children in Siberia? 22:47 Who came to the train starving? 22:49 Yes, I remember that. 22:51 Can you tell me about that. 22:52 Well, when we stop there. 22:54 Like we stopped at every station along the way. 22:56 At any time of the day and night. 22:58 Yeah, Two O'clock, Four O' clock in the morning. 23:00 These children were there and they were well, 23:03 you know that every dirty, grubby, 23:05 little children God bless them. 23:07 And, the lady in our carriage told us. 23:10 A Russian lady said, 23:12 "That, every time a trying stops. They come. 23:15 Because and number one, 23:17 they get the warmth of the train. 23:20 And then people give them bread and give them cheese 23:22 or any food that they might have left over." 23:25 And so we had some food left and we gave it to them. 23:29 But that was sad, because 23:31 Do you remember, how cold it was? 23:33 It was freezing, it with freezing 23:35 I wish it had been freezing 23:36 it was 30 or 40 degrees below freezing 23:39 Yeah, yeah. 23:40 But they say, "Children are hungry every day, 23:42 they come to the train to get warmth and to get some food." 23:48 I didn't know if you know this. 23:49 But I have discovered that, 23:51 these children who were all orphans 23:54 and deserted children were deserted, 23:57 because of the demon in the bottle. 24:01 Yes, yes I do remember. 24:02 Remember? The Vodka, and the parents 24:06 because they were atheists gave up on life 24:10 and they turned to the demon in the bottle or the vodka. 24:14 And they were drunk all the time. 24:16 And the children were driven out onto the streets, 24:20 were minus 30 and minus 40 degrees. 24:24 That was one of the reasons they were so many orphans. 24:27 Because either, both parents had died 24:30 or there was one parent. But they were alcoholic. 24:33 And I couldn't look after the children. 24:35 So, they were given to the orphanages. 24:37 So alcoholism has, has destroyed millions 24:41 in Russia and Ukraine. 24:43 It's one of the greatest curses in the history of, 24:46 of the Russian people. 24:47 And in the history of America, 24:51 America go to day is no longer the great Christian nation 24:55 she used to be. 24:57 Because, forces of atheism, and secularism, 25:01 are starting to tear the heart out 25:04 of this great nation. 25:06 And the results you can see it all around the, 25:09 the breakdown of society. 25:12 But Beverley you asked me before. 25:14 What can we do? What can our supporters do? 25:19 I think we are a move ahead by the grace of God 25:21 and try to run this bigger evangelistic campaign 25:24 for the young people. 25:28 My heart sometimes fails me 25:30 I think we're going to get the money for this. 25:32 But God is never, never failed has he. 25:35 Now he has not. 25:37 We've run campaigns all around Russia Moscow, 25:41 Garonne in St Petersburg over Nick Coots in Siberia, 25:47 Cazan. Do you remember Cazan? 25:50 Yeah, well, I didn't get to Cazan because, 25:52 I had a health problem. 25:54 But tell us about that because, that was 25:57 That was Muslim city 25:58 Yes. 25:59 But she came with me, later on Cazan. 26:01 Yes, we did you came with me to Cazan. 26:04 It was a Muslim city. 26:06 And we saw hundreds of Muslims baptized in the river. 26:10 In front of the mosque, people say it can't be done. 26:13 Just to get back a moment when you said, 26:16 you know we're getting older of course, we are. 26:19 Why not have a perhaps a training school. 26:22 Yes 26:24 For the young people because, 26:26 so many of them are eager for years. 26:29 Yes, and this is now the Bible better 26:31 and had to present it to our listeners. 26:33 This is a great idea. 26:36 Years ago, we ran a school evangelism 26:38 for the Russian pastors. 26:40 We had every Russian, and every one of their pastors. 26:43 Come into a central place. 26:44 At the Christian Cultural Center established 26:47 by 3 ABN and we had a grade school of evangelism 26:51 And it was very successful. 26:52 Super successful, 26:54 we need a school of evangelism 26:57 for our young people. 26:58 Absolutely 27:00 Don't you believe this? 27:01 All from my heart. 27:03 I love the young people here 27:04 I spend a lot of time with the young people. 27:06 Teaching them how to communicate, 27:08 with God how to pray because my, 27:10 they didn't know about prayer. 27:12 And had to commune with God. 27:15 And so I love the young people. 27:17 And we need, I just feel impressed like 27:19 you did to do something for them. 27:21 Not to do less but to do more. 27:22 Yes 27:23 My friend won't to be a partner. 27:25 Want to be Beverley's partner and want to be my partner. 27:28 We've been telling you about the Russian experience. 27:32 We, we've been telling you about 27:34 what atheism can do to our nation. 27:36 How it can destroy the nation. 27:39 And in many ways, 27:40 even though Russia has had a period of peace 27:43 and prosperity and freedom. 27:46 That time is passing. 27:50 The freedoms are going. 27:52 It is time now, to work for the Russian people. 27:56 Please write to me John Carter Post Office Box 27:58 1900 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:02 In Australia write to me at the address 28:03 on the screen to next time. 28:06 God bless you. |
Revised 2016-04-04