How amazing it is that the Lord came down from heaven, became one of us, and brought us saving grace by His great mercy! How wonderful it is that His grace endures and the time for saving people has not yet been finished. How joyful it is that all of us can participate in His great plan of salvation of all the nations! Praise be to the born King! May His name be adored in our lives in the new 2019! We want to joyfully glorify our God for His wonderful deeds in different corners of the world. We invite you to read about the last month of the previous year and what it was for the Hope to People workers.
WHAT IS THE NEW MAGAZINE ISSUE ABOUT?
Our time Christianity and idols. This is the theme which is covered in the new issue of the magazine Word to a Teacher № 4/2018.
The Lord God created a man to be a worshipper. According to God’s design, the only and truly worthy object of worship for a man is His wise Creator and almighty Lord. In theory, it is the undeniable truth for Christians, but in practical life the place of honor on the throne of a man’s heart is often taken by a prideful “I” or greed, or an idol, or dependence.
This apparent or hidden idol requires sacrifice and worship. God says, I will not yield my glory to another.”(Is. 48:11). Here is a conflict, first of all it is a break in relationship with God and, consequently, conflicts with people: marriage, family, social life, etc.
CHRISTMAS OUTREACH FOR CHILDREN
On a blessed holiday of December 25th Ukraine celebrated Christmas officially for the first time. The outreach program for children at the Community of Good Shepherd in Rivne exceeded all expectations. A small church sanctuary for 200 people was overcrowded with children and young people and there were way more than 200 people. The most wonderful thing was that about 85% of all present there were new people. More than twenty of them were orphan kids from the orphanage where the church members and workers of the Hope to People have been working for many years.
The program was intended for children and then all were able to listen to the sermon. God blessed Pavlo Rudenko in a special way that day. He explained the meaning of Christmas news for about 40 min. Both parents and their children listened attentively. Later, many thanked for a clear explanation. It was the Lord. He heard us and gave us more than we expected.
YOUTH CONFERENCE
The new year of 2019 began with the Tenth Spiritual and Edifying Youth Conference on Heart Reset. More than 200 young people from different regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Germany attended it.
During the conference the Lord performed a lot of wonderful saving and transforming things in the hearts of many young people. We are thankful to the Lord for such an opportunity to invest into the hearts of young people for many years. By the way, some of them, who had been converted and awakened during the previous years’ conferences, received Bible education and now they are involved in preaching the Word.
This year’s conference was dedicated to exposure of modern idols which affect the hearts of many young people, including Christians, and which make lives of many young people useless, harmful, destroyed, and ruining. The main tool to influence hearts is Biblical preaching. Friends, pray for the young people, please. May the Lord be merciful to them and may He make them the instruments of grace!
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR CHILDREN
Our brothers and sisters in the South of Ukraine, Armenia, Central Asia are thankful to the Lord for the possibility to visit children and adults from non-Christian nations they serve to at Christmas time. It is God’s miracle that these families are open to hearing the Gospel! Please, pray that the families that were visited at Christmas by Christians will see and know the true Christmas gift, Jesus Christ. Pray for the ministers and their protection. We are very happy that Christ’s church from different cities and countries participated in fulfillment of this ministry. Many needy families have been blessed.
In spite of a serious illness and poor physical condition, our sister in Central Asia participated in the Christmas blessing and personally visited children she serves to, sharing the news about born Savior.
GREAT COMMISSION IN ASIA
To be a missionary’s wife means to become very independent when your husband leaves for a faraway country to prepare everything to move the family. It means to wait for the documents for many weeks, with little kids to go to the embassy for visas, to survive a long flight, carrying both a baby and baggage. But, at the same time, it means a great joy of seeing your loved one, of meeting new people, and of honor to serve them.
While waiting for a joyful reunion, our minister got a chance to meet young Asian men. Now they meet together for fellowship, he prays for them and hopes that God will reveal Himself to these people. Brother helps a local church. He asks us to pray for the friends who remain in their previous place of ministry, especially for those who are in prison.
Outreach Camp for Youth LOST
On January 8 -13, teens and young people were able to have a wonderful time at the outreach youth camp LOST in the Christmas atmosphere at the Carpathians (town Zhdeniyevo, Zakarpattia region). The main goal of the camp was to examine the Word of God. The participants also enjoyed skiing, a sauna, contests, interesting conversations, and a floor hockey game.
Thank God for the productive and exciting time at the Carpathians, for the opportunity to study His Word, for His protection in different situations, for His love and mercy to us!
We were learning to love God and neighbor. We learned that love is an action, not just a feeling, and we have to prove it by our deeds, not just by words.
