Our Wonderful Wedding

May 28, 2011 was the happiest day of my life and the beginning of a lifelong journey for me and my wife Svetta. We had been waiting for a little over a year to get married, because of some issues in Russia. But the year of bitterness made the day we finally were able to pledge our lives to each other that much sweeter.

About 120 friends and family gathered to celebrate with us at High Sierra Fellowship in Minden, Nevada. It was a fun and casual wedding, with a potluck reception right after. Svetta looked so beautiful as she walked down the aisle with her “American father” Glen Shore. Glen and Svetta developed a close relationship after meeting in Russia when Svetta translated for Glen on a mission trip. Since then Glen and his wife Arla Dell have become sort of segregate American parents to her. This is a day we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives. I am excited to say that this blog will now show Nathaniel and Svetta Houlmiere at the top.

Now we are free to move forward in our ministry, and I can wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. Our desire is to start traveling around Russia doing seminars and teaching people how to get into God’s Word in a way that will change their lives and the lives of those around them. We will also be heavily involved with Light of Hope Church and Children’s Center, and all the ministries ICM (Russia) is involved in.

Please keep us in prayer as we get started on this journey. We have a lot to do to get started in our ministry together. The last two years I have been getting settled in Russia, and now I am looking forward to moving forward more in ministry. We need a lot of prayer for wisdom, guidance, and leading of the Holy Spirit. And if you feel lead by the Lord, please help us by becoming a part of our ministry either through prayer or financial support. If you would like to receive our newsletter, be on our prayer update, or send support send us an email and check out the information on the right. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Taking communion for the first time as husband and wife :)
The gang.
Us, my sister Jennifer, my brother Marcus, my mom Edwina.
Us with Garritt and Wendi.
Us with Rich.


My mom, Svetta, and I. My dad couldn't make it.
Now the real fun begins! :)

Friends Visit From Severodvinsk

This last week we were blessed to receive a team of our friends from Severodvinsk to our Light of Hope church. We had a great time!! We have a great and close relationship with the church there going back many years. The team consisted of their worship team, dance team, Alpha team leaders, and pastor Victor. The alpha team leaders lead a seminar on the Alpha program and we hope to start using in to evangelize and disciple new believers. On Sunday the worship team lead us in a time of deep, exciting, and Spirit filled worship, and pastor Victor lead us through the parable of the sower and the different type of ground in Mark 4, teaching how , as Christians, the fruit of the Kingdom of God can be produced more abundantly in our lives. Monday was a holiday and no one worked, which allowed Victor to continue teaching about what the true fruit of the Kingdom of God is. The church was full and people were blessed by Victor’s deep yet simple and understandable teaching of God’s word.
I am continually blessed when I get to spend time in fellowship with Victor and the people from his church. It is a great example the effect the solid, balanced, and inductive teaching of God’s word can have on people. The people in his church are strong, well founded, understanding, and fruitful children of the Lord. This example is encouraging to me and is what I hope Light of Hope will become for the city of Cherepovets. People are hungry for this kind of teaching of God’s word. Teachings like freedom in Christ, Grace, true fruit, true worship, and the basic foundations of the Faith, are in really short supply! People are beat up and tired from the legalism and unbalanced teaching that is prevalent in Russia today. However the people’s faith is strong, real, and waiting to be fanned into life by the Spirit moving through the word of God!
Sunday night we had a great time of fellowship as the team form Severodvinsk and many people from Cherepovets, totaling about 28 people, crammed into my apartment for a time of tea, fellowship, conversation, and even an impromptu worship season. We were able to put together a full band. I found a transformer for my amp, which we were able to use to plug in a base guitar and a small drum machine, once Alexey was able to rig us a way to plug it in. We had a guitar player, base, drums, a shaker (made from a plastic water bottle filled with rye grains), and I played the spoons. It was a great time. We partied way into the night as only good Christian folks can.
I look forward to more times like this as we work together to further the Kingdom of God. Please keep both churches in prayer that the Spirit would continue to work through His word. Pray that we would be able to implement the Alpha program here in Cherepovets. Join us in praising the Lord in all He has done for us, and ask that we would be open and responsive to His boundless grace. Thank you!

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Christmas Celebration in an Orphanage

Every year the Light of Hope children’s center goes to some of the nearby orphanages to do a Christmas celebration on the 7th of January. This year a team of both Light of Hope Children’s center workers and people from the Light of Hope church went the orphanage in the nearby town of Suda. There was a short skit about how every New Year brings changes in our lives, and how those changes are brought by miracle of Christ’s birth.

We have been going to this orphanage and the children have been listening to the story of Jesus’ birth for several years. Every year they are filled with joy and excitement to remember this miracle and to spend time in fellowship with us. After the skit we spent time playing several games with the kids and handed out presents. The time was fun and filled with laughter.

We are thankful to the Lord for the privilege of sharing a little piece of our hearts with these kids as we bring them the good news and love of Jesus. We are blessed to be able to take part in the lives of these kids. Thank you for making it possible for us to minister to these kids through your prayer and support. Please join us in prayer for the souls and hears of these children abandoned to the care of the state. The Lord desperately desires that every one of these kids would come to a saving knowledge of Christ; that is what we hope to give these kids.



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Basics of the Faith

Heb 6:1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, (2) of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

One of the key words of this verse is again. The writer of Hebrews knew that the people he was writing to had already been taught in these basics of the faith, and where ready to move on from the milk of the word to more mature matters. Unfortunately many people are not even taught these basic principles of the faith, and I marvel at how the enemy has been able to cause so much division over these topics. But our goal at ICM Russia is to teach people the word and how to study the word, as we try to make a stronger and healthier church.

Please join us in praying for the group of people that we are taking through the basics of the faith based on Hebrews 6:1-2. We have already taught on repentance from dead works, faith toward God, and the baptism of the Spirit. Next, we will be teaching the baptisms of repentance, and water. Abner, Valentine, and I are taking turns as we cover each of these topics. Please pray that we will be filled with the wisdom of the Lord and that those that come will have open hearts to receive, as well as the wisdom to understand. Pray that these people will be able to grow from what they learn and that they would be stronger in their faith.

The group that has been coming is mainly elderly ladies, who have been Christians for a long time and either this is new for them or they have been taught in some sort of false doctrine and are confused. It is amazing that they have been going to church for years and still have not been taught the basics of the faith in a way that they would be able to grow or be able to defend against the lies of Satan. There is a big problem here in Russia in that people do not know the word and in turn don’t know the God they serve. It is sad. Pray that this group of ladies would be able to grow and strengthen the church. I believe that groups like this will lead to the strong and healthy church we are trying to build.

On a slightly different not, please pray for revival in Cherepovets and that the Light of Hope church would become exactly that to this city. It is pretty obvious right away when you come to Russia that most the Christians are older, and most of them women. I believe it is one of the signs of not a very strong and alive church when there is not a variety of people: young, old, male, female, rich, poor, or any other variety. Though Light of Hope is small, I see this variety already, and I only hope that it will continue to grow. We believe that with your prayer and support we will be able to live up to our name and become a strong and lively church, a beacon of light to the surrounding community.

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Remodeling the Center

For the last six months we have been remodeling the Light of Hope Children’s center. It had been a long time coming. The walls were starting to fall apart and the kitchen was not adequate. When we started the project we did not expect it to take so long, but it was hard to find reliable people to do the work, especially with our budget. We finally decided we will have to do it ourselves. I helped when I could, doing things like drywall, taping, wallpaper, and painting. Vanletine has done most of the work. He, with the help of Abner and me at times, did the ceiling, the plywood on the walls, the door trim, and so on. We have ordered and received our new kitchen cabinets, and soon Andrey will be putting them together and installing them.

Unfortunately we have not been able to receive kids during this time either. However we soon will be finished and be opening the doors to the kids in the area again. We used time to pray and reflect on how God wants us to move forward in our ministry at the center. And after much prayer and thought we have decided to restructure the entire ministry. We will no longer be focusing on the social-work aspect of the center as much. We have noticed that most of the kids no longer really need nor appreciate the material help we have been giving. When we started to realize and pray about this, Olga was given this verse

“Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.” Psalm 142:4.

We realized that we had lost sight of what these kids and their families really need. More than material help, they need someone to care for their souls. Therefore, we will continue to help those families truly in need, while changing our focus to more spiritual needs. We will be trying to teach the kids skills for life as well as instilling in them a knowledge of Jesus, hoping and praying that this knowledge will grow into a personal relationship. Our hours will be different. We will be planning our time so that when the kids come we will be doing something, whether it be doing crafts, a bible lesson, teaching them how to cook, and so on. We are excited to see the fruit of our new direction. Thank you for your support and prayers. Please continue to join us in this much needed ministry. We need a lot of wisdom and guidance as we take on the spiritual battle for the souls of these kids and their parents.

New walls and ceiling :)

Here are some specific prayer requests:

• That we would have the wisdom to care for their souls


• That the kids would have open hearts


• That we would have the wisdom and discernment to help those in need


• That the Lord would bring us people who can volunteer and help with the kids


• That we would be able to also reach and minister to the kids’ parents


• That we would have the finances we need to run center, and the wisdom to know what to do with it

The new kitchen, I will add more pictures when they are up.

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