Merry Christmas

CHRISTmas! The most wonderful time of the year! The time I want to say thank you for your love, support and encouragement to me this year and the last 15 years. You are so dear and precious to me!
I pray that you will experience His peace and His presence in your heart during this special Christmas season. May your CHRISTmas and New Year be blessed and may each day in the coming year be filled with His perfect peace.

ENDINGS

July of this year was a time for me to say goodbye and leave the church plant in the Field of Miracles that was started in July 2006. God has blessed this work by providing a pastor and servants to carry on the work. Earlier this year I began to feel unrest in my heart that it was time for me to move on to a new work.
Endings? They are a natural part of our lives. For there to be anything new, old things always have to end, and we have to let them go. Letting go is always hard. We sometimes experience hesitation, sadness, resignation or regret. The hardest part for me was leaving the relationships with people. I learned at a conference years ago that a missionary is to M – Model , O – Observe, L – Leave. God showed me that it was time to leave. I can say that this has a "Happy Ending" because the Ascent Church will continue without the missionary. I am so thankful to each one of you and your faithful support and generous gifts that made it possible to plant this church in the city of Odessa. Please continue to pray for the Ascent Church that God’s light will continue to shine in the community and that many will be drawn to His light through the believers there.

NEW BEGINNINGS

As I was preparing for my Bible study back in the spring of this year, I read these words from Isaiah 43:18-19: “Forget about what’s happened. Don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out, don’t you see it?” I began to realize that the Lord wanted to do something new in my life. What He had accomplished in my life had been extraordinary, but He didn’t want me to cling to it anymore. He had something new for me and my ministry. Through the study of His Word, God began to challenge me to pay close attention to His leading in my life. I also read how Elisabeth Elliot talked about finding God’s will when we do “what’s next” and obediently respond to the normal duties of life. She said that one of the best pieces of advice she ever got was, “Do the next thing”. What was the next thing for me? I needed to talk to Pastor Bronislav and let him know that I felt the church was in good hands and that it was time for me to move on to a new work. He agreed with me fully and gave me his blessing to start a new ministry. About the same time that I talked with Pastor Bronislav, the first lady who came to know Christ in our church in the Field of Miracles visited our church in Odessa. Luda was very emotional and very concerned about her son who has to have kidney dialysis three times a week in order to stay alive. As we began to talk, I asked her about the town where she lives and if she had the encouragement of the church there. She told me that there was not a church in her town. I was listening and paying attention! As I continued in prayer and in Bible study, I felt the Holy Spirit impressing upon me that this was my new place of ministry. What was the next thing? I needed to speak with the new Senior Pastor for the Odessa region that is in charge of new church plants and ministries. When I began to share with him how I felt God was leading me to the town of Petrovka, he was amazed and his eyes lit up. He told me that God was at work in this town. It seems that the director of the Technical School in the town had asked some of our pastors to come and share lectures with the students on Christian Ethics. Pastor Michael felt that God was at work at the school and that we should join Him in His work. He gave me his blessing to begin work in the town of Petrovka. The next step was to form a team. In August, the Odessa Theological Seminary was interviewing new students. I met with four of the students who I challenged to be involved in the work with me. After praying and seeking the Lord’s will, three of the students agreed to join the team. One brother at the Ascent Church and one of the believers who lives in the town of Petrovka also agreed to join the team. My teammates are Lena, Nastya, Natasha, Oleg and Victor. We also have one family from the Yuzhney Church that will be involved with us from time to time, but they cannot commit to full time ministry with us. Their names are Sasha and Natasha and they have three children.
We hope to reach the 1,000 students studying at the Technical School with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We hope to minister to children and adults in the community, as well as orphans and widows. There are only four known believers in the town of Petrovka. We are committed to declaring the glory of the Lord in every relationship and person we come in contact with and to love them to Christ. Our team is passionately committed to bringing the presence of God into this community where there is little light. Pray for us!
We have been looking in Petrovka for the past three months for a building to meet in for our new ministry. Two weeks ago we found a house that we feel is in the right location with the size of the rooms bigger than most places we have seen. We have met with the owner of this house two times and we are now waiting for an answer from him whether or not he will grant us permission to rent. Please pray that God will open his heart to give us a one year lease. We are supposed to know his answer within a few days. If he doesn’t grant us permission, we will continue to look for another place.

NEW THINGS

Would you be willing to help us in start-up costs for this new ministry? Some of our needs are:
Equipment - Keyboard, guitar, microphones, mixer, speakers and accessories (stand for keyboard, carrying case, music stands, etc.)
Furniture – Tables, chairs, closets and cabinets
Appliances – Coffee pots, Tea pots, refrigerator, microwave, stove
Electrical wiring
Space Heaters
If you would like to help with any of the costs for new things, please send a check payable to: TEAM, P. O. Box 969, Wheaton, Illinois 60187-0969 and mark it “Project Petrovka”.

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Summer VBS

Thank you for your prayers for the Calvary ladies and their ministry with us July 22-29. We had approximately 60 children who were involved in our VBS. The children heard about Jesus each day through skits, songs and Bible stories. They were challenged to meet up, look up, join up, open up and fire up for Jesus. We ended the week with a special lunch and gifts for all. On Tuesday we had a special ladies meeting with the theme, “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life”. I invited all my groups of ladies and teenagers who study the Bible with me and my neighbors to come to this event. We had about 50 ladies total and 13 of the ones that I invited came. I understood that the seeds that have been planted in their lives were being watered. A few of these ladies had never entered a church before. Please pray that the seeds that were planted will sprout to new life in the lives of the ladies, teenagers and children.

Bible Classes

My Monday Bible study group started up again in September and we are completing our study of "Discerning the Voice of God" on December 5. My Wednesday group of ladies decided to join our Monday group because a few of the ladies were not going to be able to attend this year. One of the young girls in our group has recently come to know Jesus. Youla helped in our summer VBS the past few years and has been impacted by the summer teams who have come to minister together with us. She recently said to me, "Thank you so much for being my friend, teacher and guide into God's world". Pray for Youla to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please pray for Margarita, Natasha and Sveta to have a thirst for God and to come to know Him in the New Year.

This year I am teaching core value Bible lessons at the public school English courses on Wednesdays. I have a group of 15 young men and women who are studying at the university or already have jobs or families. I have freedom to share the love of Christ each week with this group. This past summer six of the ladies attended our ladies night and three of the young girls helped out with our VBS when our summer team from Calvary was here. Pray that the Spirit of God will open their hearts to His truth.

A New Baby

Rooslan and Valentina had a baby boy on October 25. They named him Vitalik after Rooslan’s father and after his brother who drowned at age 15. Sunday, November 27, Vitalik was dedicated at the Ivanovka Church. Please pray for the baby to get on a schedule and to start eating. He has lost a lot of weight and cries a lot. I am so thankful to the Lord for this family that desires to serve the Lord and to raise their son to love and obey God.

NEW YEAR - NEW STUDY

3:16 – That’s the name of the new Bible study we will be starting on January 16. We plan to invite new people to join us in this unique study of the most famous verse in the Bible. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Pray that God will send new seekers to this study from my groups at the public school. Begin to pray that God will soften the hearts of the ladies and teenagers who don’t know our Savior.