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October
08, 2007
Grace and Peace to You!
We began studying through the book of James lately in our meetings.
James gets a bad wrap for being so slow to believe Jesus was the
Messiah. It’s amazing that he and all the other four of Jesus’
brothers didn’t believe until after the resurrection. But
after his conversion he became a powerful leader of the churches
in Jerusalem. In God’s economy somehow the last will be first.
This can give us patience in witnessing to people and praying for
people who seem so slow to believe.
With the new baby, Olya and I are more limited in time but life
goes on. Jacob has been gaining weight and is now at a healthy weight
for two months. Thanks so much if you have been praying for him.
We had one last chance camping trip so any who attend our meetings
could have one last opportunity to go. The Black Sea was chilly
but clear and as always it was good to get some perspective on life
by being out in nature. We looked at some of Jesus’ prophesies
about the future.
If you had been following the elections for the Ukraine Parliament
you know it had been a close race with back and forth results. In
the final determination, the “Our Ukraine Party joined together
with Yulia Timoshenko’s Party to secure victory, and so the
“Orange Revolution” coalition has rejoined with a second
chance for true reformation.
I asked my students what they thought about politics and many felt
only a new president would help Ukraine.
I asked about corruption and basically they felt corruption was
too deep to really be changed. But on the other hand, all but one
considered themselves optimistic about the future of Ukraine. I
asked “What does Ukraine want to say to the rest of the world?”
and they said “hello!” Personally, I believe a spiritual
awakening is the only answer for the deep seeded corruption and
problems such as alcoholism. If revival could happen in Nineveh,
it could happen in Ukraine.
This week Ukraine celebrated Teachers Day and the Lord put it on
my heart to have a special evening for English teachers basically
to encourage them. If you are a teacher, you know that teaching
in public schools and even colleges is more challenging than ever.
The teachers seemed to enjoy it and hopefully will come for other
meetings.
I was invited to teach two classes at a Christian based college.
We prayed about it and felt it was God’s will. The classes
are major opportunities to introduce non-believing students to the
Bible and the gospel. I am already busy and it’s a step of
faith to add more, but I trust God will give the necessary grace
as needed.
This week I will travel to Kiev to go to a pastors/leaders conference
and also to apply for a new passport. My present passport is ragged
and it causes hang ups at airports. I will also try to finish a
seemingly endless music recording.
Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for Dasha who prayed for salvation. She is very young
but already is familiar with much of the Bible. Pray she continues
to be a great example to other youngsters in Sunday school.
2. For Sergei and Nikita who prayed for salvation. Please pray that
they will have a hunger for God’s word, for worship and for
fellowship with believers.
3. For Svyeta and her family who have started coming on Sundays.
She is open to receiving Jesus and I hope her family will follow
suit.
4. For the teachers who came to the teacher celebration this Sunday…That
they will seek to know the greatest teacher of all, Jesus Christ
as savior and lord.
6. For my upcoming trip to Kiev: The pastors conference…please
pray that the Holy Spirit guides the sessions and speaks to everyone’s
hearts. Please pray for a smooth process in obtaining a new passport
and eventually visa. Please pray the music CD will be finished already!
Be Blessed in Him!
Rick
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