My heart rejoices and is filled with joy, which I want to share with you. On January 6th, we had the privilege to proclaim the Good News. Together, we held two Christmas performances in two villages, in Kovalevo – where we live and in the neighboring village Ivanovka.
In Kovalevo the holiday took place in the house of culture with more than 50 people, most of them children with parents. For more than an hour the Gospel was proclaimed in a playful way, and it was accepted by both children and adults, we gave gifts, calendars, Bibles and the Gospel.
In the afternoon we went to the neighboring village Ivanovka – and we were surprised that 160 people came for the holiday, 103 were children and 56 adults. The Lord again, like many years ago, made a miracle. When we arrived, we had 105 gifts left, so we began to meet the children at the door and count them.
And here it is a miracle from the Lord – 103 children came, and there were enough gifts for all the children and, the remaining two were given to the elders. These days only a few people believe in miracles and selfless motives. But through doing good, we showed people the real reason of Christmas!
On this beautiful and wonderful day, the Gospel was heard by more than 200 people, and your participation was crucial here. Thank you so much. May God reward you for your diligence in spreading the Gospel!
Peace and grace to you, dear friends! In 2014, God blessed the church with 3 houses, in one of the villages in the Omsk region. Soon it was decided to use these houses as a ministry of mercy and create a shelter for the elderly, the disabled and those who have absolutely nowhere to go. Colossal work was done in the building: windows were inserted, floors were laid in some rooms, water was installed, and the heating system was repaired.
Despite all this, the buildings remain unfinished. Currently there are 26 people, 15 of them are between the ages 50 to 70 years, 8 of them have physical disabilities: amputation of limbs, partial loss of speech and coordination.
Many of those who stay here do not have any documents or formalized pensions, which means there is still a lot of work ahead.
The main problem of the building is the old and leaking roof, which flows from the ceiling along the walls – and that’s why we cannot do the interior decoration of the rooms.
To replace the roof, we need wood (board, timber, crossbars). Roof tiles and a drainage system are also needed. We also need volunteers and are ready to do it ourselves. For all this we need to raise about $4000.
We pray to the Lord for the sacrificial, caring, and heart-giving partners in the work of the Lord.
The Lord prompted my heart to describe the life of Vladimir, he is 61 years old. We met him on Christmas Eve in 2017. We were on our way to the worship service, and suddenly we saw a man crawling along the road. We stopped and picked him up. He was crawling because he had lost both legs after a car accident in 2016. As we found out later, he was crawling to the railway, where he wanted to commit suicide. The Lord destroyed the plans of the enemy and he didn’t do it. In the accident, Vladimir not only lost his legs, but also all his documents were burned at the same time.
He comes from the Donetsk region and because of the conflict, everything is destroyed there, and the requests sent to the archives remain unanswered. This is how he lives – without legs, documents, and pension. All that remains is, to trust in the grace of the Lord and the sacrificial hearts of His children. Once every 2 months, we need to take him to a paid clinic for examinations and to pump up fluids that have been built up from the patella. Vladimir needs a wheelchair or protheses, in addition to this a monthly medicine expense. He needs bandages, ointments and pills but without documents, none of this can be obtained for free.
When he began to live with us, he was a very rude and was disappointed in people, refused to receive help and lived with the idea of dying. But today, Christ is changing his heart, and he is already beginning to invoke the Name of the Lord in prayers.
Vladimir and all 19 people living here (9 of them are disabled and many have similar stories) are very grateful for your participating in the life of the “Bethesda”.
Peace and grace to you, dear friends and the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Here is some information about me: my name is Eugene, I am 40 years old and married to Marina for 12 years. During this time, the Lord blessed us with four beautiful children: Polina (8), Simon (6) years, Yefim (4) and Yana is 3 years old. We are expecting our fifth child.
In 2005, while being in the rehabilitation center, I heard the joyful news about Jesus and I accepted Him as my personal Savior. At that time, Alexander Kulpin was leading the ministry and under his leadership, my life began as a Christian. Subsequently, we became friends, and God has been leading us together for many years. From Alexander, I took over the ministry of Mercy “Bethesda.” Thanks to your participation in this good ministry, the work didn’t stop to this day.
In 2017 during winter we had a baptism. One brother of Bethesda, who is partially paralyzed, made a covenant with God and was baptized. Today, we have three more who pray and prepare for the baptism in summer. We currently have 26 people. Fifteen of them are between the age of 50 to 70 years, eight people have physical disabilities: amputation of limbs, partial loss of speech and coordination. Many of those who live here do not have any documents or receive pensions. There is still a lot of work to do. But our goal is not only to assist people with physical limitations. We pray and work to create and organize, an active children’s ministry in the village and our local community.
During the summer we organize playgrounds. Praise the Lord, the administration of the village is friendly towards us. We organize Christmas concerts and Easter concerts, with the help of brothers and sisters from the Omsk communities. In the Christmas week, we held 2 events, presented 130 gifts and shared the Gospel with over 250 people.
We thank God, for what he has already accomplished, for the development of His work here in Omsk land and we continue to pray for His help in order to bear fruit.
During the fall, the construction of a sauna began, because there is nowhere to take a shower and we prayerfully ask you to help us. There is already a foundation, the basement is laid out and the lumber has been purchased. We need the interior and exterior material of the bath complex. This requires us to purchase basalt wool, siding, a furnace for heating and pipes – all materials are will cost approximately $2000. Thank you for your prayers and material service. May the Lord reward you for your help
The house of mercy “Bethesda” gets more and more attention. We have people coming to us who seek help from the Lord. The Lord also lets Christian families move from the city to our village. To this day we have 3 families who have acquired house with the help of the government through the one-time maternal support. Together they have 12 children. Praise the Lord.
Vadim and Olya came to the Lord through the ministry “The Road Home”. They have 5 children now and when they arrived at “Bethesda” we offered them a ministry but they declined. But the Lord kept working in their hearts and blessed them with finances and a desire to help. Now they are helping us coordinating projects with Evgeniy and Maria.
The local administration was planning on closing the school and kindergarten here but our brothers and sisters had arrived with 12 children. We currently have 15 people who reside here in “Bethesda” and are establishing a relationship with God. Half of them are disabled, one without legs, four a partially paralyzed and one is blind. The ones who are capable of working help us out with the disabled ones.
It will be winter soon and we don’t have a shower or a heated restroom. During summer, we heat up the water in the sun and shower in an outdoor shower but in the winter, this doesn’t work. To build a shower and toilet from pipes, bricks and cement we need $3000. We will build everything on our own.
I recently met an old friend here. He is 63 years old and disabled. Around 20 years ago we were in prison together. He taught me to pray “Our Father who art in heaven…” I came to Christ later in and this stayed in my life since then. Now he found shelter here in “Bethesda”.
With all our hearts and souls, we ask you for help. We pray for you, for the abundance of God’s blessings, in your life!
