Today we need healing, and therefore we turn to you for prayer support, believing in the power of prayer. Three years and 4 months we are doing work in South East Asia (Vietnam). We have suffered Dengue fever, my wife and I at the same time. There is a worldwide pandemic, and despite this, we remain in the country.
But, during this period in which The Lord protected us, my wife Irina visited the emergency room three times. We were helped every time (droppers and medications) and the problem seemed to go away, but after a while, the problem returned. Apparently, due to the fact that we are foreigners, we were not properly treated, hoping that we will soon go home and there we will be cured. We contacted different hospitals and various specialists. Some even said that she had a micro stroke, but in the hospital, they didn’t even talk about it, just provided first aid and sent her home.
Thank God, the Lord gave us a brother, a doctor from Moscow, and he helped Irina, looked at all the tests, pictures, prescribed her medications that maintained her health. And he also advised us to come to Russia to be examined and treated. Therefore, please remember us in your prayers. We flew on March 30th to Russia, and here Irina became again sick with Dengue fever. God gives strength to endure all things for His glory. Pray for a fast recovery and for a safe return to Vietnam. With sincere love…
Past ministries in Asia remind us of early spring. Although the
Turkish authorities took a tougher position with the Islamization of the
population countries and demonstrated their constant course in this direction, resorting
to an extraordinary act in Istanbul, they turned the church St. Sophia into a
functioning mosque.
Authorities deported Christian ministers from the country and without any explanations and are denied entry to Christians who work in Turkey. For example, a sister is married for more than 15 years and lives with her husband and child currently cannot extend her residence permit, and questions are raised about her deportation from the country. The interest of the Turkish population to become Christian does not decrease, especially among young people.
One of the students told me he was convinced Muslim, but then a miracle happened and he is now a child of the Lord! The city Gotse Delchev, which is in the southern part of Bulgaria is mostly inhabited by ethnic Turks. The Lord visited these people and in recent years more and more people turned to the Lord. Today they already have a church which is visited by a lot of young people. A house that is rented Sunday services, does not fit them all. Together we raised funds and bought a piece of land now pray that the Lord will send funds for the construction of the building. It has become obvious that the power of the divine fire flares up among the population of this region. We would be glad for any support in this ministry and in these countries!
Typhoons, floods, and landslides are natural disasters in Vietnam that happen yearly. But last year was worse. More than 250 people died. People lost livestock, crops, houses. Forecasters said that the typhoon will damage all areas, but one area has suffered more than other areas. We prayed constantly about it and had the great desire to be there to help people in their trouble, but we could not get there since it is 560 miles from us. During our bible study, God prompted me to mention this need again and on Sunday after the meeting, our brother Vietnamese (Seann) called and said, “I’m here, at the disaster area.”
So we flew there the next day and rented a bus, bought 220 grocery sets and clothes went on a 6h trip. When we arrived at a place that provided for the distribution of essential items we saw that there were more than 500 people. We met people who walked for 9 hours to get some food from there. Many volunteers have been called here to help. We added the Word of God to our gifts. We shared food and by faith with joy. In all three communities that we visited, we shared the word of consolation, sang hymns, and prayed. Here we clearly felt what it means to be more blessed when giving rather than receiving. “
Inspired, we return home. Dear friends, we are grateful for
your prayers, for your support, for your hearts, and that we can spread the
gospel of God’s grace through a work of mercy and a labor of love. Yes, the
Lord will reward you!
We met a family, who is living in the “city in the cemetery”, at the end of 2018. They have 5 children. The first meeting was very tense, the little girls looked at us from around the corner, it was clear she was not trusting us. Their hut is made of tin. It’s hot in there, but it gives them a roof over their heads. We started bringing them food, singing songs, and playing with the kids. Then we invited them to the local church.
I remember one summer when we came, and two little girls were very sick, were sneezing, had a fever and a runny nose. We asked Chao’s mom how we could help. To which she responded by folding her hands, to show, that we could only pray to God. This touched us greatly.
Our friend Thau lives nearby, he is suffering from leprosy, has no fingers and toes, and is 75 years old. We have been friends with him for almost 3 years, we always visit him. Together we pray and sing hymns. The last time I saw him was 5 months ago and I thought, “Will we meet again?” When he heard my voice, he crawled to my lap and hugged me very tightly – we are brothers.
When we pray and sing psalms together, we sing in Russia and he sings in Vietnamese. He also plays the harmonica. We pray for his health, for strength, and for his testimony to the world.
God is shaping our team in Vietnam by bringing in new people from different nations like Ashim (Uzbekistan) and Daria (from Kazakhstan). It so happened that at the end of 2019, they came to Vietnam to spend the winter here and give birth to a child. Ashim assisted his wife in giving birth without the participation of doctors. Daria is a believer and she almost immediately found our church in Nha Trang. In the last 6 months since we know them and they heard the Word of God, their life changed for the better. When we met Daria, she was often crying about her relationship with her husband. We invited them to go through the “Open Heart”. They agreed, and we taught them what a biblical relationship is.
They also have a son, Ramzan, he is 3 years old, he prays in the congregation, sings hymns, and we see how this touches Ashim. Daria told us that Ashim is becoming different and softer. Praise the Lord. We recently traveled to a neighboring province with part of our team. Thanks to such trips, God brings people together. We see how God is working and we ask you to support us in prayer for the Ashim’s family. We believe that he will become a true believer.
Dear supporters, we thank you from our hearts for your support during this difficult time. Our strength comes from the Lord!
More than two years ago, we met Yum, a Vietnamese. She speaks Russian and considers herself a Buddhist but is open to the Word of God. We gathered in her office, prayed, and read the Bible. Yum even went with us on our mercy ministry. In 2019, she married a Russian man, Alexander. We also began to read the Bible with him. 4 months ago, they had a daughter – Angelica. The other day Alexander came up to me and says: “Can Angelica be baptized?” I explained to him that baptism should happen at the will of the person who is being baptized and showed him in the Scripture that the Lord blesses children and prays over them. Now we will pray and bless their daughter in church. Please pray for this family.
During the quarantine, God gives us a special ministry. We go to people’s homes because they are afraid to come to church. We sow the Word of God and baptize the believers. Today we have 13 families in fellowship and 20 more people of unbelievers who accept the Word of God. The Lord constantly adds saved people to the church.
Dear friends, thank you for your work, love, prayers, and support. We are grateful and pray for you.
