Story number 2 for 25 Dec 2002

(Russia)–Next, Christmas in Russia is a little confusing. We get more from Mission Network News Greg Yoder who’s spending Christmas in Irkutsk, Russia this year. “Peter, David Ouellette and his family have been working in Irkutsk for four years. David says Christmas is much different here. “For many years Christmas was practically not celebrated. The traditions that we think of Christmas are part of New Years. But, now with the Soviet Union not being in existence anymore more and more people are celebrating Christmas, but on January 7th, which is the Orthodox calendar.” Ouellette says December 25th is a working day in Russia making celebrating difficult. In terms of ministry, unlike in the United States, he says every day is a great day for evangelism. “Here everybody hasn’t heard already. So, yeah, there is opportunities and you can talk to people about it, but that’s pretty much the case all year ’round.” Greg Yoder, Mission Network News, Irkutsk, Russia.”