Friday, June 28, 2013

EAST ASIA UPDATE


Wanted to let everyone know that Team Brillhart arrived safely to base camp in East Asia without major incident.  Had a few flight delays but arrived around 6am East Asian time on Thursday morning.  After some much needed rest, we spent most of the day with our leader going over the itinerary for the next couple of weeks, learning basic language nuances, and reviewing cultural / religious norms.  Tomorrow we'll go into a nearby village to perform some vision assessments and provide glasses as necessary.  On Sat & Sun we'll help run an English camp for students and then it's back into the villages.   

Pray for "Lucy & Desi" (can't pronounce or spell their real names) - a couple we met during a scavenger hunt around the city today.  We plan to invite them to join us for Karaoke on Saturday night so we can spend meaningful 1:1 with them.

Key lesson learned on Day 1 - speaking louder with a funny accident does not help people understand you better. 

Please pass along the update.

Thanks,
Jeff

Thursday, June 27, 2013

MALAWI MISSION UPDATE (Day 5)


Malawi Mission June 27, 2013

Today we had breakfast at the Lawrences' home once again and then headed out to Lake Malawi.  The team has worked hard everyday, and this is a little break before we return home.  Along the way we stopped at an area with many small shops of vendors selling wood carvings.  The team shopped for an hour or so, finding their souvenirs for friends and family, or for their own memories.  We then drove to the Lake, in an area known as Livingstonia (named in honor of David Livingstone).  There is a resort hotel where we can enjoy the beach, gaze at the lake, and take a pleasant lunch of ground beef burgers, ground chicken burgers, or the lake fish known as “chambo”.  In the past we have done an overnight stay, but there was not time during this trip.

We then made our way back to Lilongwe, had a nice dinner of Indian-style food prepared by our hosts, and went back to the guest house for the evening.  I also settled accounts with Janet Lawrence.

It has been a wonderful mission trip once again.  And the Lawrences gave many helpful ideas for a trip next year: they are leaving Malawi, and there is no host missionary for next year.  I will be exploring a way to work with our Malawi friends on the Church Planting and Evangelism Team to put together a trip for next year.

We depart for home tomorrow and should arrive in Norfolk Saturday evening.  This will be my last update for this year’s mission to Malawi.

Ray Smith

MALAWI MISSIONS UPDATE (Day 4)


Malawi Mission June 26, 2013

This final ministry day saw the teams once again in the two villages of Kololo and Chisindo.  The VBS work went very well.  In Chisindo in the afternoon some 33 women showed up to view the puppet show. VBS finished as a women’s ministry!  The teaching sessions also went well.  In Kololo Stephen asked if there were any who had not accepted Jesus; four women raised theirs hands.  Stephen and his interpreter presented the Gospel, and all four prayed to receive Christ.

At the end of the afternoon, each small team presented their financial gifts to the churches.  The pastor in Kololo was speechless, and the congregation was overcome with thanks.  It was the same in Chisindo.  There is no assigned pastor in that church, but the village chief is a Christian who attended all the teaching sessions, and he accepted the gift on behalf of the church.  Once again they were overcome with joy.  All of us were so delighted to be able to minister to the churches in this tangible way.

After sharing our experiences of the day and hearing a devotional from Jessica, we broke up for the evening.  We will be heading for the Lake to do some shopping at the woodcarvers’ and exploring the beach.  Perhaps the monkeys will entertain us in the trees near the beach.

I asked the team tonight how the trip had been for them.  All agreed that this trip is truly something special among the mission trips at First Baptist.  The connection with the people, the coworkers, the openness to the Gospel…  But I had warned them already: Africa gets inside you.  My prayer is that a taste for ministry will get inside them, and that all of us will return home with boldness to share our faith, especially as we share our experiences.

Ray Smith

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

MALAWI MISSIONS UPDATE (Day 3)


Malawi Mission June 25, 2013

Today we split into our two teams and went to the villages. The Southers took Hannah, Elizabeth, Maggie, Caroline, and Samuel to Kololo. There they taught adult Bible studies based on the True Love is Faithful material and did VBS for the children. Several were able to go out on hut-to-hut evangelism. Samuel and Caroline went out together in the evangelism groups, and, now with some experience and confidence, they presented the Gospel to a house where five people listened to them.  All five prayed to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Jessica and Stephen left Elizabeth in charge of VBS for the morning as they taught the True Love is Faithful material.

It was a parallel program in Chisindo. Sheila and Vicki conducted VBS with Caitlin, I taught adult Bible studies similar to the other village, and Haley and Hunter went out on hut-to-hut evangelism.  There were a number Christians that they met, and the girls gave them encouragement.

We discovered that the church in Chisindo needed some financial assistance for doors on their church (there are none). In Kololo  there were needs for some grass to plant and for some pole trusses for the roof.  I spoke with our team and told them no pressure, but if anyone wanted to give to these projects I would take up a collection.  Between kids and adults we gave 30,000 kwacha (about $85) to each church, meeting the need in Chisindo and surpassing the need in Kololo.  Is that great or what?!

Our final day of ministry is tomorrow. We are looking forward to see how God will bless the people as we work in the villages.

Ray Smith

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

MALAWI MISSION UPDATE (Day 2)


Malawi Mission June 24, 2013

The team visited the Chinsapo neighborhood in Malawi for a two-part ministry. The True Love Waits team went to a small Baptist church to present their teaching material.  The rest went out with interpreters in small groups into the neighborhoods to meet people and share the Gospel.  The True Love Waits program was quite well attended.  There were about 25 young people present, average age about 24 years old.  Attendance varied over the morning, and was as high as 32 at one point.  Our team was AWESOME.  With both Stephen and Jessica Souther taking part, Hunter, Hanna, Haley, did a great job of explaining the importance of setting our standards of personal purity according to scripture.  And Samuel gave the invitation at the end.  Kodak moment: as he presented the Gospel using the Roman Road, with verses read by his interpreter, he asked them to turn to John 3:16; in unison, all the Malawian youth quoted the verse in Chichewa.

The neighborhood teams met many people and had several chances to share the Gospel.  Sheila Arnold helped a woman plaster her wall, and she was touched that her visitor would do more than just sit & talk.  In the afternoon they were joined by the youth from the True Love Waits program for more neighborhood evangelism.

The afternoon went similarly, with the Southers and I presenting a “True Love is Faithful” program for couples with some 20 people attending.  During a question and answer session Stephen handled questions and offered some views on divorce, with input from Jessica.  He was quite remarkable.  I presented material on dealing with temptation.

It was a very fruitful day, and all returned tired but in high spirits for all that had happened.  After dinner and craft prep for VBS, and a brief devotional, we all turned in for an early morning (breakfast to be at 6:30 am).

Parents, your children did you proud!

Ray Smith

Monday, June 24, 2013

MALAWI MISION UPDATE (Day 1)


    We divided today into two teams. Ray, Sheila, Vicki, Haley, Hunter, and Caitlin worked in Chisindothe first time for any of us in that village; Stephen, Jessica, Elizabeth, Hannah, Caroline, Samuel, and Maggie worked in Kololo. The teams helped with the church services in the small village churches at both sites.  Stephen had to prepare on short notice to preach the sermon, and he spoke on the good Samaritan.  All went well, and the pastor of the church told him that he emphasized points that were good for the congregation to hear. It was much the same in Chisindo. There is no pastor for that church, but it was clear the God is raising lay leaders, which is the plan and always the hope for these village churches.  For many of the youth is was their first experience in an African village.  Everyone enjoyed the warmth of the Malawian people.  The same teams will work at the same site on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pray for us in our ministries.  Pray for continued health and safety. Monday, we will teach True Love Waits in a local congregation, possibly drawn from several churches.  Those not involved will be able to engage in evangelism in nearby neighborhoods.  It will be great day.

Oh, Caroline’s luggage has arrived.  She has taken this time without her stuff in relaxed stride.

Ray Smith

MALAWI MISSION UPDATE (The Arrival)


Malawi, June 23, 2013

We arrived in one piece. To give you a full update, we had a great trip to JFK in a small tour bus with seating arranged in a circle. This actually allowed us to bond together as we rode, slept, and played some card games.  We flew out to London on three flights about on hour and a half a part. There was some confusion in London as we tried to link uppartly my fault due to being unfamiliar with Heathrow Airport. But we did find each other and spent part of the day in central London. We toured the Westminster Abbey, but there was time for little else. We saw but did not ride the London Eye. And of course there was the Parliament and Big Ben. We left London at 8:00 pm for Malawi. We arrived before dawn in Nairobi, but our plane out was delayed nearly 2 hours.  We arrived in Malawi to discover that all but one bag had arrived with us. Caroline’s bag was not on board. We are hoping it will arrive today on the flight, tomorrow at the latest.

The Lawrences and Maggie met us at the airport and took us to their home for lunch. Maggie was all smiles to see the teamand Hunter Bingham. We then went a short distance to the guest house and settled in.  After dinner at the Lawrences, we returned to get much needed rest.

The shortening of our trip has resulted in changes in our ministry plans. We will be two small teams in two villages. This means Stephen Souther will have to share in Bible study teaching. He is feeling a bit overwhelmed so little time to prepare. I have offered to help as he may ask. Pray for Him in this. I know he will do fine, but is feeling so hurried.

All of us are sleep deprived; pray for our rest and recovery from the trip. Pray for Stephen.  And do pray that we will all jump in to our roles in ministry. Spirits are good.  I type this in a great hurry. More to follow.


 


UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 7 & 8)


Dear Prayer Warriors,

Slava Bog!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  The Lord has blessed your Ukraine missionaries in more ways than we can adequately describe.  We have seen His hand at work in every aspect of our mission journey.  We want to thank you for standing in the gap for us through your faithful prayers.  We continue to ask you to pray for us as we make our way back to America over the next few days!   

On Saturday our team had a relaxing day which was so needed and so enjoyable.  Our days throughout the week have been quite long with most days starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending at around 9:00 p.m.  So our break on Saturday came at a wonderful time.  Our team was able to do some shopping in Zhytomyr buying mostly yummy things to eat, chocolate, etc.  In the afternoon, we had a BBQ or "shish kabob" as the Ukrainians call it.  All of our interpreters and host families gathered by a river to enjoy douzhe douzhe smahchna (very, very delicious) food and the best creme puffs you have ever tasted!!  Yum!!  It was a special afternoon of amazing Ukrainian food, fellowship, laughter and lots of pictures.  We can't wait to share them with you!

Today, of course, is Sunday and it was a full and glorious day of ministry beyond what we could ever expect.  When we woke up this morning, Pastor Vasily shared that at 1:00 a.m. our precious sister in the Lord, Valia, had gone home to be with Jesus.  Valia is the sweet saint of God whom we visited, prayed over and sang to on Thursday.  Valia blessed our team on Thursday as she shared her love and even prayed for us though she was extremely ill.  Our hearts were saddened and tears flowed when we heard that she had died.  At the same time, we were rejoicing that the Father had healed her just as we had prayed.  Valia is now whole and in the everlasting arms of Jesus Christ!  Pastor Vasily asked if we would participate in the funeral and sing several of our songs in his church at Studenytsia.  We were so humbled to be a part of Valia's celebration at 3:00 p.m. today.  Pastor Vasily's small church was packed with many people from the village who knew and loved Valia.  Many of those in attendance were unbelievers and so it was a humbling experience to share a message of salvation from God's Word along with Pastor Vasily at Valia's funeral.  Please pray that God will quicken their hearts and that they will repent before it is too late.  What a blessing to know that Valia had repented and that she was now in His very presence!

Well, earlier this morning our team led worship and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ at a new church plant that came out of Central Baptist Church in Zhytomyr.  Today was Pentecost Sunday which is celebrated in Ukrainian churches 50 days after Easter.  It was so humbling to be able to share a message on the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church and the fact that Jesus promised that He would send His spirit and that He would convict of sin, righteousness and judgement.  Shari Griffin shared her personal testimony and of her salvation encounter with the Lord.   And as God's invitation was extended and as our team sang "Lord Have Mercy", a precious 11 year old girl came and knelt with the Pastor and repented of her sins and asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior.  Of course tears were flowing from not only our team but also from many of the people in the service.  This church plant is meeting in a high school each week and today was only their fourth service. What is so glorious to know is that this precious young girl, Snizhanna, was the first person to repent and come to Christ in this new church plant.  There was a great celebration in heaven over Snizhanna's salvation!!  We ask you to pray for this church plant which will begin a "VBS" Camp this week.  May many children and adults be spiritually impacted throughout their Bible camp.

After the funeral service for Valia, our team led worship tonight and shared the message of Jesus Christ at Central Baptist Church in Zhytomyr.  Pastor Hrapak of Central Baptist is a great friend of Pastor Vasily.  His daughter, Marina, has been one of our interpreters in the past.  Pastor Hrapak and his wife, Luda, are also hosting four of our missionary girls this week.  

So tonight was a wonderful and blessed time with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ at Central Baptist.  Hannah Stagg shared her entire testimony in Russian.  It was easy to see that God was communicating His heart through this young woman of God.  In addition, Mike Kynett shared a powerful message on the Holy Spirit on this special day in the life of the church.  Though no one openly repented, we sensed that God was speaking to an older woman who came and knelt and wept during the invitation.  To God be the glory for His sweet spirit today and all week long.

Again, thank you for your faithful and earnest prayers.  You have been part of this journey from before the time that we left America.   We cannot imagine not having you daily lift us up to Jesus.   What's more  awesome, is that there are 224 people of all ages who indicated that they had repented in part because of your sincere prayers.  We most definitely have been impacted by God and His work in and through us this week.  We are truly not the same! To God be all glory and praise!

So thank you for keeping up with us in prayer.  Please also pray for us as we make the journey home Monday and Tuesday.  We love you and bless Jesus Christ for you each.  May we all live God's mission in order to reach one more precious soul for Jesus Christ.  

Slava Bog!
Your Ukraine Mission Team

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 6)


Dear Prayer Warriors,

Jesus said, "Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest."  

Ukraine is known for its rich soil.  In fact, during WWII and the German invasion, tons and tons of this rich dirt was transported to Germany.  Because of its rich soil and because of the need for food throughout the year, most people living in the villages grow all of their own vegetables and produce their own meat, milk, etc.  It is so common for us to see people, mostly women, stooped over and tending their gardens as we walk through the villages.  Their hard work takes a toil on their bodies as evidenced by their dirt embedded and weathered hands and the many physical impairments with which they suffer.  They know, however, that they cannot afford to do anything less if they are to survive and have plenty of food on the table.  

As servants of Jesus Christ, it is even more important and imperative that we are out in the "field of souls".  Jesus said the "harvest is plenty but the laborers are few"!  God has called and commissioned us all to go and take His message to a lost and dying world.  Do we bear the "mark" of the mission as evidenced through getting our "hands dirty" and doing whatever it takes to make an eternal difference in the lives of many people?  Oh may you and I be on mission with Jesus Christ and be about rescuing those who are on the path of destruction and eternal separation from God.

Our team has had a wonderful week filled with long yet fruitful days of ministry.  Yes, we are tired and it seems as though our rest seems shorter each night.  Oh but the joy of planting spiritual seeds of faith and the knowledge that God is using and working through us to be a part of seeing Him gather the harvest of souls is a blessing beyond description.  Truly, the spiritual soil is extremely rich in this region of Ukraine.  We have seen God's handiwork in our two VBS camps, in our Bilkivtsi church camp and in our evangelistic services.

Today was our last day for our VBS camps in the villages of Glybchytcia and Berezihno.  All week long the Lord blessed us with a great host of children whom He brought to hear the greatest truth of all…"For God so loved".  In Glybhcytcia the Lord brought 75 children today.  Our missionaries reviewed with the children all that they had learned this week.  What great joy it is to know that they have memorized John 3: 16 and the truth of God's love for their souls.  As we shared with you yesterday, 70 children indicated that they had repented.  Our team spoke to them today about their decision and how that they had a spiritual birthday yesterday.  Once again, our leaders shared today the plan of salvation with the children and for those whom the Lord might be speaking to about repenting.  What a joy it is for us to share that one little precious girl stood up and came up to the front to pray with one of our interpreters.  Praise the Lord for Tanya who is now a child of God!  After she finished praying, all of the children celebrated with Tanya with a roaring applause!  Hallelujah!

In our VBS camp in Berezihno, the Lord brought a combined total of 18 children and teenagers today.  It was such a blessing for our missionaries to know that all 18 of these young lives had indicated that they had repented yesterday.  Sherry Goth commented on how blessed she was to see the spiritual transformation of a 17 year old boy who became a leader among the other students and children as the week progressed.  There is no telling how God will use this young follower of Jesus Christ!  
Without question the Lord blessed our VBS camps. As you can imagine, it was certainly difficult to say goodbye to the children.  There were many tears and hugs with the conclusion of our week with them.  One thing is for certain, we will one day see many of these children again in heaven!  Glory to God for His love that reached down and touched these precious lives.  Please pray for Pastor Vasily and his leaders as they follow up with these children.  Each of the children received a Bible story book in Ukrainian along with information about a bus ministry provided by Pastor Vasily.  Pastor Vasily will be picking up as many children as possible to come to the Studenytsia church that he leads.  Pastor Vasily also spent time talking with the teenagers about coming to a church camp which will be held in the next few weeks.  We are so thankful for God's vision and the strategy that He has given Pastor Vasily for reaching this generation for Jesus Christ!  Please earnestly pray for Pastor Vasily and his servant leaders as they labor for souls and make disciples.

Because yesterday was the final day of the church camp in Bilkivtsi, our FBC Norfolk missionaries and a portion of our Calvary missionaries went to the town of Malin to invite people to our evangelistic service tonight.  In fact, after lunch our entire team joined together and went into the streets, markets, hospital and neighboring houses to invite people to come to our service. 

When we began our service tonight, we were so delighted to have approximately 50 plus people in attendance.  Our team gave out many, many invitations today and we were certain that God brought the exact number of people He had intended to be with us to hear His truth.  Our team sang for the Lord and in fact we knew He was singing through us as we lifted our voices to Him.  Aline Kidd and Tami Stagg shared the powerful love of Jesus Christ and their salvation testimony to the people who attended.  I (John) had the joy of sharing God's Word once again and when the time of invitation came, 8 adults prayed the "sinner's prayer".   As they were praying, I could not help but imagine the celebration that was taking place in heaven over these precious new children of God!  It will never get old seeing people come to Jesus Christ!  Amen!!

We have had a great day and look forward to a much needed and deserved day of rest tomorrow.   Our team will be able to relax and refresh tomorrow with some free time in Zhytomyr.  We will also have a BBQ with our host families at the river.  On Sunday our team will lead worship and share the good news of Jesus at two Baptist churches here in Zhytomyr.  Please pray for God to move in and through us once again as we exalt and lift up the name and gospel of Jesus Christ.
As always, we love you and thank you for your earnest and faithful prayers.  We look forward to sharing with you on Sunday all that God has done!  Until then, may we all live God's mission in order to reach one more precious soul for Jesus Christ.

Slava Bog!
Your Ukraine Mission Team

Thursday, June 20, 2013

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 5)


Dear Prayer Warriors,
"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118: 24.  We praise the great I AM who was and is and is to come.  Our Lord and Savior is changing lives in Ukraine.   We give glory to the Lord for all He did today!

We know that you were praying for our team today as we shared the plan of salvation in our VBS Camps and church camp.  In our morning VBS camp in Glybchytcia the Lord brought approximately 80 children and some adults too.  We are so overjoyed by God's handiwork as 70 children and 1 adult indicated that they were repenting and trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord.  Hallelujah!  In the afternoon VBS in the village of Berezihno the Lord brought 26 children of which some were teenagers.  After the gospel was presented by our missionaries and the invitation was given, 21 of these children repented and received the gift of salvation through Jesus.  Glory to God!  In the church camp in Bilkivtsi, our missionaries from FBC Norfolk presented the gospel of Jesus Christ to a large group of children.  When the time came for the invitation to trust in Jesus alone for their salvation, approximately 10 children indicated that they were repenting and trusting Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  To God be all the glory!  We know there is such rejoicing in heaven over these who received God's precious gift of salvation!  

We ask you to continue to pray for tomorrow's final day of the VBS camps.  Our missionaries will be reviewing with the children the decision they made today to trust in Jesus.   In addition, our leaders will be sharing with all the new believers about the important next steps that are necessary in growing in Jesus.   It is important to note that most, if not all, of the children have memorized and can quote John 3: 16.   We know that God's Word will never return void.  Please pray for the spiritual growth and development of these children.   

Once again your missionaries walked many miles today to invite people in the village of Glybchytcia (morning VBS location) to our evening evangelistic service.  This fairly large village has a strong Orthodox church influence, yet our team was greeted with friendly smiles and appreciation for our team coming to sing and to share with them.  Yes, we had some negative responses and in fact, one lady said she was planning to get the ear of the village mayor and see that nothing like what we were doing with VBS and the service would happen again.  So many of the staunch Orthodox members can be quite mean with their response.  However, we are reminded the Jesus has all authority over all of creation.  We know that throughout history there have always been governments, dictators and people who have tried to snuff out the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We also know that their efforts are always in vain.  Jesus has all authority over all flesh and nothing will ever
stop our Savior and His truth.  

So the wonderful news is that after inviting many people to our evening service, the Lord brought approximately 150 people tonight.  We praise the Lord for how He spoke through our team, our songs and though those who shared their testimony of salvation. The Lord clearly communicated His love and amazing grace through Cody McClellan, Michelle Brown and Kira Rothenberger.  Each of these servants were God's vessels to declare to the many unbelievers in the audience that Jesus Christ is "the Way, the Truth and the Life".  God was once again glorified through their witness.  It has been so powerful to see the Lord boldly speak through each missionary as they have testified and witnessed for the Lord!!!  Amen!

Tonight, I (John) had the privilege of preaching a sermon from Luke 16: 19-31 on the rich man and Lazarus.  If you have note read this passage from God's Word or, if it has been a while since you have read it, then I encourage you to do so.  Oh how Jesus wants people to repent before it is eternally too late.  Jesus paid the price for our sins so that we could have His free gift of salvation.  God loves you and me and He is not willing that any should perish but only wants all people to repent.  Do you know Him?  If not, turn to Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins and asking Him to be your Master and Savior.  You will never regret the decision to follow Jesus as your Lord. 
After the message, Pastor Vasily, extended God's invitation to repent.  We praise the Lord that approximately 15 children and 5 adults stepped forward and knelt down to repent and trust in Jesus as their Savior and Lord!  We give all praise and glory to God for these new brothers and sisters in Christ!

Please pray for the spiritual follow up on the children, teens and adults who have repented over these past few days.  Some time ago, Pastor Vasily had been praying about reaching out to the two villages of Glybchytcia and Berezihno where we have been hosting the two VBS camps.  This week has certainly been an answer to the many prayers given by Pastor Vasily and the three churches he leads.  Through the VBS camps and the evangelistic services and the numerous decisions that have been made thus far, it so obvious that the Lord is at work.  In both last night's service and tonight's service, Pastor Vasily extended the invitation to those in attendance and to those who repented to join him this next Sunday in Studenytsia.  Pastor Vasily plans to have a bus come by to pick up as many people as possible and take them to church each Sunday.  So pray for God to provide more leaders and servants who will come along side Pastor Vasily in the awesome task of discipling and reaching these new believers and seekers.  

I just have to share with you all how humbled and blessed it was to hear of the prayer services that Pastor Vasily and his church have had prior to our arrival to Ukraine.  He shared that his church has been meeting and praying for this week of evangelism and for all of us.  Several weeks ago his church met on a Friday night and had a prayer service that went from 9:00 p.m. until approximately 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. in the morning.  Oh, we are seeing what can happen when God's people pray.  Folks, God is at work here in Ukraine! The prayers of God's people here in these villages and the prayers offered by all of you in America and wherever you may be in the world is making an eternal difference.  Please continue to earnestly pray for us as we journey with Jesus as His witnesses.   Pray for our strength, health and most of all for God's anointing as we share Jesus with many, many people tomorrow!

May you and all of us live His mission with a sense of greater urgency and purpose each day.  We love you all!

Slava Bog!

Your Ukraine Mission Team

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 4)



Dear Prayer Warriors,
Dobry Den.  Today is Wednesday and your Ukraine Mission Team had a glorious day of ministry.   We cannot express enough to you all how much we appreciate your faithful prayers for us.  We really can see God answering your prayers each day.

Once again our team had two great VBS camps in the villages of Glybchytcia (morning) and Berezihno (afternoon).  In Glybchytcia, the Lord brought 85 children today.  This is so amazing since there were only 26 children the first day.  In the afternoon VBS in the small village of Berezihno, the Lord brought 26 children.  Once again, we have seen God bring more children to these VBS camps.  Today's lesson was on the life of Jesus including His birth and miracles.  The children also heard the parable of the Prodigal son that Jesus told and which clearly communicates the Father's love and His desire for all people to repent and come "home".  Please pray for Thursday's VBS camps as our leaders share how Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.  Tomorrow we will present the gospel and the children will have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!  Thank you in advance for your prayers.
  
During the afternoon, the FBC Norfolk missionaries had a special time of leading songs of worship and also shared a drama message about Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and God's deliverance and protection.  God is using our Norfolk missionaries to share God's great love through Jesus Christ to all of the children who are coming to camp.   Tomorrow's message will be on Daniel and the Lion's den and how God once again brought His deliverance.  Jesus Christ came to deliver all of mankind by dying on the cross for our sins and tomorrow the children will have an opportunity to turn from their sin and turn to Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord.   Please earnestly pray for God to open the hearts of these precious young souls as the message of Christ is shared.

Prior to the afternoon church camp in Bilkivitsi, our entire team had the privilege of ministering to one of Pastor Vasily's church members who is homebound and very ill.  Valia is a precious servant of God who, in the past, has cooked meals for our team but is now bed ridden and on many pain medications.  Our entire team gathered in a small back room of Valia's small house and had a beautiful time of praying over her.  Truly the tears flowed from our eyes as we covered Valia with our prayers and as we asked God to heal her and comfort her.  After our time of prayer, our team shared one of our Russian songs ,"You are Holy, Lord".  As you can imagine, God's presence was so overwhelming as we all were worshipping our Savior with our sister in the Lord.  Yes, tears were flowing and it was one of the most blessed moments we have experienced this week.   God truly inhabits the praise of His people and the praise of those who are suffering like Valia.  We ask for you all to pray for Valia and for God's touch upon her weary and hurting body.  He is Jehovah Rapha and is more than able to heal our sister in Christ here in Ukraine!  Amen!

As part of our mission each day, a portion of our team walks throughout a village to invite people to our evangelistic service which is held each night. Today our team walked throughout the village of Berezihno which is the same location as that of our afternoon VBS camp.  This village of about 500 people does not have a Baptist church but actually has both a Russian Orthodox church and a Ukrainian Orthodox church.  Though we were met with some resistance to our invitations, our team had a blessed time as they invited many people to come hear the greatest news…Jesus saves.  Tonight's service was once again a very precious encounter with our living Savior as He glorified Himself as we sang, shared testimonies and proclaimed God's Word.  We were so thrilled to see that about 50-60 people attended our evangelistic service.  God spoke through Alicia Hanaczewski as she testified of her spiritual journey and how God brought her to the point of repenting of her sins and following Jesus Christ.  Oh the beauty of the Lord that radiated through Alicia.  Tears once again flowed.  In addition, Hannah Stagg shared her testimony of God's saving and glorious love.  What a blessing it was to hear Hannah give her testimony in Russian.  Hannah is a Russian and Music major at Texas A & M and is in her second year of learning this beautiful language.  As she spoke, God moved with power through her words and heart.  There was such a hush over the crowd as she glorified God.  Following our song, "He Still Saves", Mike Kynett shared the gospel message of Jesus from key passages found in John 15, John 10 and John 3:16.  What a powerful and pointed message God spoke through Mike.  Pastor Vasily extended the invitation and there were approximately 7 people who prayed the sinner's prayer.  Halleluah, What a Savior!  There is great rejoicing in heaven over these who turned to Jesus Christ!!

Folks, sharing Jesus Christ and seeing people make the most important decision in their life will never ever get old.  If you know of someone who has never repented and received God's gift of salvation, then please pray for them.  If you have not yet shared Jesus with them, then why not today?  You and I have been given God's greatest gift, His one and only Son.  Oh, may we not keep Jesus to ourselves.  May we be bold for Jesus Christ and live for His glory and tell His story to those walking in spiritual darkness.  Let's live His mission until the day He calls us home or until He takes His bride home to be with Him.

Until tomorrow, know that we love you and thank you for being on mission with us here in Ukraine as you intercede on our behalf.

Slava Bog!

Your Ukraine Mission Team

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 3)


DAY 3
Dear Prayer Warriors,
It has been another wonderful day here in beautiful Ukraine.  The Lord has definitely blessed us with beautiful weather too!  God is so good!

Our team had great morning and afternoon VBS camps in the villages of Glybchytcia (morning) (not Nova Borova as I thought) and Berezihno (afternoon).  In Glybchytcia, the Lord brought 60 children which is double the number from our first day.  In the afternoon VBS in the small village of Berezihno, the Lord brought 20 children.  We praise the Lord for opening the doors for us to share the message of Christ in these new villages.  Today's lesson was on how sin entered the world and the fall of man through Adam and Eve's disobedience.  We know that Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God."  Please continue to pray for our leaders as they share more of God's plan of salvation with these precious young lives.  

During the afternoon, the FBC Norfolk missionaries led a group of 50 children in the church camp at Pastor Vasily's church in Bilkivtsi.  The children are studying the amor of God and today's lesson was on having the shoes shod with the gospel of peace.  They heard of episodes in Jesus' life where He loved people and how He spread message and brought His peace to them.  Tomorrow, the children will hear the story of Daniel and his friends and how they were protected by the breast plate of righteousness. Please pray for the Lord to continue to speak to these children as they hear the message of Jesus and as they grow in knowledge and in application of His Word.

A portion of our team went to the small city of Nova Borova and once again knocked on doors to invite people to our evangelistic service tonight.  As we shared yesterday, Pastor Vasily has such a heart for reaching people for Jesus Christ and helping other Baptist pastors in the Zhytomyr region.  We were so overjoyed to help Pastor Alexander spread God's love through this powerful outreach opportunity.  Pastor Alexander has a small Baptist church of about 16 members and these servants are nearing the completion of renovating an old house to be their first House of Prayer (church building).  We ask you to pray for Pastor Alexander and his church as they reach out to the many, many lost people in this small city of about 7000 people.

The Lord was so faithful to bless our evangelistic service tonight in Nova Borova.  There were approximately 120 plus people in attendance.  Slava Bog!  We sang seven of our Ukrainian and Russian songs and from what we could tell, the people were truly blessed by our offering of singing in their language.  Mary Purington and Jodi Harrity shared their testimonies and without a doubt we could have given an invitation after hearing of God's amazing love and forgiveness found only through Jesus Christ!  Folks, there is nothing like sharing your story with people around you.  You may feel inadequate to witness to someone but God will definitely use you and your testimony about how God transformed your life.  Who do you know that needs to hear your story?  You don't have to be in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world for God to use you and how He eternally changed you.  People need our Savior and He will use us in their lives as we share His love and message…right where you are today!!

During the time of preaching of God's Word, I (John) shared a message from Matthew 7: 21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'  Many people think that good works, church attendance, etc. should allow them to enter heaven one day.  The Word of God is clear about salvation…."For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves , it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast." (Eph. 2: 8-9)  The Orthodox Church here in Ukraine teaches a works oriented salvation.  Their doctrine teaches that the more you give to the church and the more you do good deeds will earn you into God's favor and insure your place in heaven.  Sadly, many people you speak with in America believe that good works is their "ticket" to heaven.  This is why we need to be faithful in sharing God's message that Jesus is "the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man comes to the Father except through Me" (Jesus). Amen.  

Well, the Lord heard your prayers for us tonight.  As the invitation was extended during our evangelistic service, we are so overjoyed and are praising God for the 16 who indicated that they were repenting and giving their life to Jesus Christ!  There is great rejoicing in heaven today!!  Please pray for the many who were changed and the many others to whom God planted seeds!  We never know this side of eternity all that God did tonight but we are confident that Jesus and His truth was so evident tonight.  May God send His Spirit upon all who heard His Word and voice!  "Father, we praise You for all You did and are going to do as a result of Your work tonight! Amen!"

Tomorrow we will continue with our two VBS Camps and Church camp.  We will also have some of our team inviting people to our evening evangelistic service in the village of Berezihno (our afternoon VBS camp is held here).   Pastor Vasily shared with us that to his knowledge there are no known believers in Berezihno which is a population of about 500 people.  We truly believe that God is working through our VBS camp and we also believe that He will change some of the parents who will attend tomorrow evening.  So please increase your prayers for us around 6 p.m. local time (10 a.m. CST/11 a.m. EST) as we begin our evangelistic service.

As always, we thank you for your faithful and earnest prayers.  We cannot imagine not having your prayer support. We love you all!  Have a blessed day in Jesus Christ as you live His mission.

In Christ Alone,
Your Ukraine Mission Team

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” Jesus (John 17: 20 NLT) 

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 2)


Dobry Den (Good day!) from your missionaries in Ukraine.  This has been a very special day for your Ukraine Mission Team.  The Lord has heard your faithful prayers for us as we served Him and shared His message of salvation all day long! 

Our day began with a wonderful breakfast fit for a king…and quite honestly the way our Ukrainian families feed us is like we are kings! :)  All of our meals are "douzhe, douzhe smachcneh" (very, very, delicious!).  I think if it were not for the super amount of energy that we use leading VBS, the miles walking in the villages inviting people to our services and the evangelistic service each night, that you might not recognize us!  Ha!

We are so overwhelmed by the grace and love by our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Ukraine!  "Thank You, Lord for their sweet spirit and for their gracious hospitality!"
 So today was the first day of our 3 VBS camps.  In our morning VBS Camp, a portion of our team had the joy of serving the Lord in a new village that Pastor Vasily has had a vision for reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Our team met in the local community building or "club" in this small village of Nova Borova

The Lord used our team to present today's first Bible lesson on God's creation.  Throughout the week, each lesson progresses through God's divine plan for mankind and His redemptive work through Jesus Christ.  We had 26 children on this first day.  The children were challenged to invite their friends for our Tuesday VBS.  Please pray for every effort in reaching out to these children who need to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

 After a delicious lunch, our VBS team began two afternoon camps with the first one being held in the village of Berezihno (which is a new village for outreach.) This VBS Camp had 18 children and used the same curriculum as was used in the morning VBS camp.  We challenged these children to invite their friends to this afternoon camp and can't wait to see what God does in these children this week.  

In addition to this afternoon camp, a portion of the FBC Norfolk team began their first day of church camp at Pastor Vasily's church in Bilkivtsi.  These children are from all three of Pastor Vasily's churches-Bilkivsti, Studynistia and Kaminy Brid.  What a blessed day it was as the FBC Norfolk team along with other servants from these three churches led this camp of 50 plus children.  The entire theme of the week is on the armor of God and its' application in their young lives.  We look forward with great anticipation as God speaks and touches these children.  

 We praise the Lord for His favor on all of our camps in these area villages.  We know that these are extremely important opportunities for the Lord to plant seeds and for Him to even bring some of these young hearts to faith in Jesus Christ. Please join us in praying for God to not only bring more and more children this week, but also for Him to eternally change their lives, their parents and even their villages with His message of salvation.
 While the morning and afternoon VBS camps were taking place, the rest of our team headed to the small city of Ihrshansk to invite as many people as possible to our evening evangelistic service.  This small city has a population of about 5000 people and most of them are lost without Jesus Christ.  Because of their great spiritual need, our team spent the morning and afternoon talking to people and passing out invitation cards for this special service that was held in the local cinema.  Pastor Vasily has such a heart for helping other Baptist pastors in this region of Zhytomyr and so our team's efforts were welcomed by Pastor Sergey in Ihrshansk.  This small city or large village has a strong Greek Orthodox influence and of course we were met with some resistance, but all in all, most of the people  we invited were open to us.  

Well, God is so good and you have to know that He heard your prayers because as we drove up to the cinema building there were many people already waiting for our arrival.  When we started the service there were over 200 people in attendance.  Wow!  What a joy it was when our team began to sing and the presence of the Lord began to inhabit our praise.  The Lord greatly used your missionaries as they testified and exalted Jesus Christ.  All of the many days and hours of learning our songs in Ukrainian and Russian have been blessed of God too. We continue to hear from the Ukrainians how well we sing songs in their language.  We know anything we have done or been able to do is because of God's faithful anointing and blessing.

 As the service continued, the Lord greatly used Addison Hockman as she shared her journey with Christ and even how the Lord had used Shari Griffin in her conversion when we were serving at FBC Norfolk years ago.  Oh how the Father moved in and through Addison as she testified to the many lost people in attendance. God also used Gail Kynett as she shared of God's grace and her conversion experience through Jesus.  And after a beautiful song, "He Still Saves" by Mary Purington and our team, Mike Kynett, proclaimed the simple but powerful message of Christ from John 3: 16.  At one point in his message, Mike had all of the people repeat the words of Jesus Christ and had them insert their name in the place of "for God so loved the world" to "God so loved Inna etc".  Folks, to hear these people quote this verse with their name inserted was overwhelming.  Without a doubt, God planted seeds in many hearts and lives.  

 When the invitation came, over 50 boys and girls, teens and adults came forward indicating that they were repenting and turning their lives over to our loving Savior.  What a mighty God we serve!   After the service, an elderly follower of Jesus Christ told us through the interpreter that she had been praying a long time for God to touch her town.  In addition, Pastor Sergey shared with Pastor Vasily that this town for so long had been very spiritually "dark".  He said that during the service he sensed God lifting that darkness and doing a new work in this town.  So please pray for God's Spirit to continue what He began tonight.

Pastor Sergey then gave some information about his church to these new believers.  In the days to come he and his church will be following up with these precious lives.  Again, your prayers for the follow up process is of greatest importance.  We know Satan would love nothing more than to confuse or distract what God has done and is doing in these lives.

 Well, following this service, our team continued ministering to many, many children and teens by teaching them about and helping them with making salvation bracelets.  Just think about it…children going around town explaining to others the significance of each color of the beads on this gospel witnessing tool!  Wow!  To God be the glory!

 So prayerfully you realize even more what your faithful prayers mean to us.  God is at work in and through you just as He is in and through us here in Ukraine.  We ask for your prayers for us and for our physical and spiritual strength.  The days are very long but the joy of the Lord is always our strength!  We will continue our journey on Tuesday and will be in a new village tomorrow evening for our evangelistic service.   Please pray for us at 6 p.m. local time which is 10 a.m.CST and 11 a.m.EST.   Until our next update, remember that we love you and thank the Lord for your faithful and earnest prayers.
 In Christ Alone,
Your Ukraine Mission Team
 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” Jesus (John 17: 20 NLT) 

UKRAINE MISSION UPDATE (Day 1)


DAY 1
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Slava Bog!  We are indeed praising God for His amazing love, grace and for all He has done here in beautiful Ukraine.  Your missionary team has truly sensed your faithful and earnest prayers over these past few days.  We are all so humbled by the Father's blessings and His gracious way of ordering our steps on our missionary journey with Him.
The Calvary missionaries had such a remarkable and uneventful trip from Beaumont all the way to Kiev, Ukraine.  Even every piece of luggage arrived-which has not happened in recent years!  We also praise the Lord for the safe arrival of our First Baptist Church, Norfolk missionaries who experienced some delays out of Virginia due to inclement weather.  Although the FBCN team had an unexpected adventure with flight schedules and changes, they safely arrived this afternoon (Sunday) with all of their luggage as well.  What a mighty God we serve!  He is in total control and nothing will stop His mission nor His missionaries to fulfill His call!
After a much needed evening of rest, our morning began with the team leading worship and sharing the love of God in the village of Studynistia at the Baptist church that Pastor Vasily leads.  It was a joy to begin this week off with our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been praying for us for several months and who are praying for our team this week.  The Lord was ever present as we joined our hearts together in celebration of Jesus Christ.  Our team sang five of the songs we have been preparing and could really sense God flowing in and through us.  
In addition to our songs, some of the Ukrainian believers shared songs of praise and even sang "How Great is Our God" in English.  What a blessing it was for us to hear them praising the Lord in both their native language as well as in our tongue.  We also were so blessed by the small children who quoted verses of scripture and sang some beautiful songs to the Lord.  Of course, our eyes began to well up with tears from these precious young servants.  We were also blessed to hear Sherry Goth and Emily Brieden share their testimony in the morning service.  John shared the love of Christ in his message, "Lost and Found" from Luke 15: 1-24.  It was a joy to have Jane, (Vasily's wife) interpret for our team as well as Inna who phonetically wrote out the translations to our new songs in Ukrainian and Russian!  Though there were no obvious decisions we sensed that God spoke to people and that seeds were planted.   
Following a delicious traditional Ukrainian lunch (WOW) our team traveled to Pastor Vasily's church in Bilkivtsi to prepare for our Evangelistic Service which was actually held in the local community building at 4 p.m.  Our missionaries divided into 6 teams along with an interpreter for each group and went from farm house to farm house inviting all we met to our service.  Though some declined our invitation we were blessed with many, many positive responses.   Walking and inviting people to our services in the villages is one of the most wonderful joys of our mission journey.  We truly sense God's favor each time we invite them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, our efforts of inviting these precious lives to our evangelistic service was immensely blessed of the Lord.
As the Calvary team was just beginning to share in song, the FBC Norfolk team arrived from the airport in Kiev in time to proclaim Jesus Christ and His salvation message.  The Lord also blessed our outreach by bringing 90 people from the village to hear the greatest news of all…Jesus saves!   It was also a joy to hear God speak through Mark Young and Rhonda Mack as they shared their testimony of salvation.   John once again shared the Word of God.  We are so happy to report to you that when the time of invitation came for people to repent and invite Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord, that 8 adults and 7 children indicated that they indeed had repented.  Slava Bog!  There were young and old alike who repented.  We also celebrate that one of the young adults who had attended the morning service opened her heart up to Jesus Christ.  Her name is Victoria and she was actually one of the volunteer interpreters who went with one of of teams as we walked through the village to invite people to our service at 4 p.m.  Our God is such an awesome God!  
So that's our first full day of ministry!  We've had our delicious dinner and now it is time to get some good rest tonight!  The Norfolk team is especially happy to finally be able to rest after several challenging days of travel.  Please pray for our team of 18 followers of Jesus Christ as we begin 3 VBS camps tomorrow as well as travel to a small distant city with a population of 5000 where there is a great need for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Every opportunity to touch the hearts of children, teenagers, adults and the elderly is an opportunity for the Lord to change the eternal destiny of these precious souls.  Without a doubt, we can expect some opposition from Satan during this mission journey.  But we are so reminded that Jesus said that "all power and authority has been given to Me".   Amen!
We know that you are praying for us and we also know that Jesus is praying for us and for those "who will believe in Him through our message". (Jn 17: 20) There is nothing that can or ever will deter or stop His gospel from being spread here in Ukraine, Virginia, Texas and the entire world.  So wherever you are in the world today, join us in living His mission to declare to the nations that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". (Acts 4: 12)
We love you and thank you from the depths of our hearts for your faithful and earnest prayers.  
In Christ Alone,
Your Ukraine Mission Team
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” Jesus (John 17: 20 NLT)