2 years of war – 2 years of destruction. The situation in Lviv is stable. Air raids occur on average 2-3 times a week. The most difficult situation is in Dnipro and Odessa. There are frequent rocket attacks and explosions in the city. My family and church are fine. There’s a lot of work, but that’s good. There’s no time to be bored. Our work with people started with social assistance, but now there are more and more spiritual matters, prayers, mentoring. We see significant spiritual progress. Oksana is treating her shoulder joint. It’s painful, but we hope the treatment will help.
There’s also a lot of work in the church community. We serve refugees, visit hospitals, and assist wounded soldiers. The construction of bomb shelters continues. The work is progressing faster than I can gather funds. I’m glad to see the changes. Another payment is due in 3 weeks. I believe that God sends us everything we need at the right time. It calms me and brings peace to my heart. Please pray that we can start planning a new ministry. It’s a children’s educational center. We plan to provide education for children and teach them the Bible, drawing, art, and foreign languages.
I don’t know when was the last time I slept more than 5 hours, and yesterday I didn’t even have time to do my hair. Welcome to the realities of missionary life! This month has been very intense. Tribal wars, jungle trips, dances, earthquakes. Teacher training, baptisms, small groups, and printing 400 T-shirts. Three youth camps, three teams from abroad, and tons of laundry in between. The bread is ready, the soup is boiling, the laundry is waiting for me to sort it out – and I set a timer for half an hour to send this email in one breath before the kids come back from school. Because in the evening, I’m not a missionary, I’m a mom. And my favorite form of service is serving my family.
Miroslava celebrated her 11th birthday on January 6th (in the morning). She went to a remote village for service (in the evening). And on January 7th, she got baptized! As I mentioned before, this month we were able to hold three youth camps in the villages of Asas, Obura, and Atuka – huge thanks to the team from Seattle who selflessly served the Papuans during these three weeks, despite all the discomforts of jungle life. They were very joyful, and that alone became the best preaching! There was much repentance in every village, and those who already knew the Lord experienced another renewal of their relationship with Him.
When we brought Ksyusha, she was 4 years old. Her parents refused to believe that they had problems. Blaming and scolding everyone, they couldn’t understand why their child was taken away. In the end, they finally realized their problem and agreed to undergo rehabilitation.
They admitted that it took them almost a year to attend the ‘Children’s Ark’ to realize the need for help. In addition, the grandfather and grandmother began to visit the girl after they learned about the problems in the family. They began to support her and her parents. After completing rehabilitation, Ksyusha was finally taken home, and now they are a happy family!
This story became a motivation for other parents to accept help and follow the advice of our specialists. Dad with Ksyusha often come to us, now as guests and for holidays. And we have a lot of them! Svetlana is the head of the music studio. And she has a great ability to help build relationships between parents and children through creativity. By giving roles, small poems, learning songs together with the family, we see how the parents unfold. In this image, it is easier for them to say something, so they can express themselves, express their thoughts. Most often, parents look closed, but on holidays they open up and can communicate better.
One mother approached me after one of the holidays and said: ‘Thank you very much, we really enjoyed it. We never imagined that we could have so much fun with the children.’ It’s one thing when you have fun in an alcoholic state, but here they have the opportunity to see another life. Thank you all for being with us!
It is a great joy to give oneself to children, to be with them, and to share everything you have! I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to serve them!
Lisa has reached St. Petersburg, and she is being prepared for a bone marrow transplant. Our ministry continues, and we visited three children’s homes, a hospice, and paid special attention to pediatric oncology. There are many children there today, of different ages. Arseny, 8 years old, needs help, as his mother is raising him alone. They live in the district, and there are no funds for existence, as his mother has been lying in the hospital with her child for 5 months.
Currently, Arseny is on hormones and is very depressed, but when I come, we can find a reason for joy. It is very difficult for him, and he has a bone marrow transplant ahead. His mother asks for help and asks to pray for them.
There is good news about Savvily (in the photo), a boy born without knee joints. I wrote about him earlier. He is preparing for baptism in our church. I have known him for 5 years, and we have been working with him all this time, and now there is a result. Two months ago, his mother passed away, and the church is now his family.
I am grateful to God for the opportunity to serve these children, and for you who give us this opportunity, praying for us and helping us materially. We need your help! Service in Omsk
Today, heavy rain is falling again, and we are about to embark on a short-term mission to Laos, where we work, spreading the Word of God through evangelization, printed materials, and providing food. This time, we have decided to travel by mopeds (1200 kilometers round trip, 745 miles) as renting a car proved to be very expensive – $700.
After Laos, we will go to celebrate the Communion with our brothers and sisters from the Raglai tribe. There, we will also organize a children’s playground with active games, coloring of biblical stories, singing, and prayer. Praise God, the Lord reigns, and His Word is spreading. Our team of evangelists is growing, and the ministry is expanding.
Recently, we visited an orphanage (120 kilometers from our home, 75 miles) on mopeds. Thank God there was no rain, and we returned dry. However, riding such distances on a moped is tough. The back hurts, it’s drafty, but the Lord provides strength. Praise God.
We realized that we need a minibus for our ministry. I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to support us in prayer so that the Lord blesses our endeavor. We already have one-third of the necessary funds. The cost of a TOYOTA INNOVA car is around $10,000.
We are also considering the opportunity to serve in neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Thailand, bordering Vietnam. We are confident that the Lord is glorified through our needs and prayers.
Sincerely thanking you, beloved, for your support and cooperation in the Lord’s work on New Grounds.
This ministry is a marathon. It’s a race without an end. The war doesn’t end. It’s a big disappointment. But we continue to fight. And the next 3 days our church will fast and pray for peace for Ukraine. Please remember us in your prayers. Also, people who need our help don’t end. It’s very cold -17 degrees Celsius (1 Fahrenheit) at night. And so people really appreciate the warmth of our church building. Please pray for our ability to continue to accept people. The payment for heating and electricity has significantly increased. And we feel this pressure. And of course, we continue to build a bomb shelter. We have prepared a room of about 40 square meters. And now we are installing metal structures.
Please pray that God gives wisdom and help in this responsible work. As I said: our ministry is a marathon. Thank you for running this marathon with us. I am very grateful for your support! It is so necessary and so valuable! Thank you for being present and participating in our ministry. Running alone is hard. Running a marathon together is joyful.
Please pray for us.
Pray for my health. Apparently, fatigue, stress, and of course, the virus want to stop me and the ministry. Due to illness, I sleep poorly and feel very weak.
