It’s essential to pray to the True God, who hears and answers prayers.” This was our Bible lesson for over 100 students and their teachers in a public school. Yes, you heard it correctly – in a public school! The doors are still open to teach English and share Bible stories with students and teachers. We have a few schools that are asking us to come and teach! Last week, we were talking about Elijah, whose prayer for fire on his offering was answered, unlike the prayers of the false prophets. Teachers and students have shown their interest in these teachings. After class, some boys asked when they could come to church. The following Sunday, seven more boys from this school attended the Sunday service! Please pray for God to send someone long-term to teach English and the Bible in public schools.
We are very grateful for the bakery ministry, which helps us reach adults and provides treats for the outreach ministry, refugee families, orphanages, schools, and children in need. Thank you for your financial support because part of it goes towards providing treats for our outreach ministry! You would see the joy in children’s eyes! Please pray for us as we go to share the Gospel in one of the tribal orphanages this week and organize a children and youth camp at the refugee camp on the border with Myanmar. May God bless you and strengthen you to shine His light on the people around you!
Greetings from our church in Thailand! We pray to the True God because we believe He answers!
Sisters, grace and peace to you and may you be multiplied! I am eager to inform you about the ministry that we are carrying out in the name of Jesus Christ among the Rāglai tribe. We have been working there for over 3 years, and God immediately urged us to pray for this family, where 7 people have already been baptized, to become a family of evangelists. Not all of them can read, and not all of them understand the Vietnamese language, but in this family, we have a friend (the guide) named Chung, the husband of our sister in Christ, Hien. He convinced almost everyone in the family to be baptized. We conduct Bible lessons in this family, and at our last meeting, Chung announced his desire to receive holy water baptism. If the Lord permits, we will go to them next Saturday and perform the baptism.
Near their home (200 meters away), we run a children’s playground. We play active games with the children, read the Word, pray, bring Bible coloring pages, treats, and clothes. And at our last meeting, Chung joined us; as a guide, he came to this family and told them about us, about how we pray, and thus brought these children and the family closer to us, near the playground we run. In Chung’s family, we dug a well with you, cleaned it up, installed a pump, and now they can have water in their home. Soon, we will buy and install a reservoir. We thank you, precious ones, for your indifference and the loving work of Christ in the ministry of God’s Gospel. Together, we can do a lot. From our hearts and souls, we thank you for your prayers and support that you provide to us. May the Lord reward you 100-fold!
Many women in refugee camps struggle to provide for their children. While believers may have found peace for their souls, material prosperity and stability for their families remain significant challenges. Due to the level of illiteracy among women, earning a living is not easy to accomplish. They want to give their children what they themselves did not have, both in terms of health and education. Many of these mothers did not finish school themselves, but they are now paying for their children’s education.
Getting an education in the camp for mothers with children is impossible, but thankfully, they can learn a trade. Tailoring is a very successful profession in the camp! Women learn to sew, cut fabric, and make clothes. Tailoring is a skill that anyone can learn, regardless of their level of education. It only takes a few months for a person to learn how to cut, sew, and start earning a living.
By learning tailoring, many mothers have brought smiles to their children and their entire families. We want to purchase 100 sewing machines at $150 each and provide women in refugee camps in northern Uganda with the opportunity to earn for their families. Thank you for participating in our joint ministry!
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!
