“And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.”
Mark 13:10;
This year has gotten off to a good start with a lot of exciting events, travels, and activities that were held for the sake of the gospel. As the Lord extends the religious freedom in Ukraine, the ministry in other places had to be carried out discreetly, with a lot of risks, prayers, and special awe.
Has Christmas Arrived?
Dear friends, thank you for praying for the youth camp LOST. In a Christmas atmosphere, Christians and non-Christians young men and women reflected on the biblical essence of Christmas, and had an opportunity to listen to the messages. And of course, they also sang, prayed, fellowshipped, and shared Christmas gifts. Young people were offered to give themselves an honest answer to the question, “Has Christmas arrived into my heart, or is there still a cold winter?”
Gospel through Sports at SKY Camp
We’re thankful to God for the opportunity to hold a youth camp on the topic “True Relationship with God” at the Carpathians, in January 2020. During the week, the participants of the camp had a great chance to ponder on the gospel as never before. Of course, they were skiing, hiking, singing, praying, as well as having corporate worship and a lot of interesting games… But the most important thing was that the teens could restore a genuine relationship with God, and those who have already known Him could make their relationship with Christ even stronger and receive encouragement by sharing the gospel with others.
Praise the Lord for that!
Youth Camp
“And the Word became flesh …” John 1:14;
In the village of Polyana, Svalyavsky district, the Carpathian region, a youth Christian camp for orphans, for children from low-income and disadvantaged families of the Rivne region and adolescents from the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions took place. The purpose of the camp, which was organized by our workers along with the Second Presbyterian Church from Memphis, USA, was to get children familiar with what Christmas is all about, establishing them in the truth – why Jesus Christ came to earth and in what way actually it relates to us.
Ministry to the Teachers and Students
At the invitation of the school’s administration, our employee, Ruslana, Kovalchuk held the exhibition “The Life of Jesus Christ in the paintings of the world’s sought-after artists” for 115 children and teachers of a public school from Odrynki of Sarnensky district, Rivne region. Also, the magazine “Word to the teacher” was presented to the teachers, and they agreed on further cooperation.
Winter Session of the College
At the end of January, a session of the Rivne Bible College “Word of Grace” was held on the subject “Introduction to the Old Testament.” This topic was taught by the pastor from Kharkiv, Vladimir, Kosenko. A journey into the Bible world of the past is always exciting and reveals God in a special way. Recently, three of our students have created new families. Praise the Lord! A family is a place of service, sanctification, and glorification of God. We wish all our newlyweds to be blessed by God!
Unreached People Next to Us
Thank you to everyone who prayed for the New Year’s trip by the youth team from Ukraine to the non-Christian people whom we have been serving for several years. Finally, God allows us to see the fruits and hear about His works. After the following camp, one of the teenagers asked the ministers how to repent; the thing is that one girl has read through the Bible a few times already; one woman speaks up boldly and openly about the work of God and the miracles in her life. Please pray for this people group as well as for the ministers who continue to put a lot of effort into the service and try to show their love to these unreached people.
Thankfulness for the Trip to South Asia
A young couple from Rivne finally came back from their two-month trip which was aimed at helping local ministers. Praise the Lord that they brought many impressions and prayer needs from the people who are still unenlightened by the light of Truth. You can read the report of this trip on our website, where we intentionally changed the name of the author since such activities are prohibited in that part of the world, and our ministers hope that God will use them for missionary work in the future.
Awakening in the Middle East
Recently, a few of ministers, who are familiar to us, was honored by the Lord to disciple and baptize a large group of believers from a country in which the church is cruelly persecuted. So, they all got together on the territory of another country. It’s difficult for them to get a Bible back home, and there are no pastors, so Christian broadcasting from abroad plays an important role. Please pray that the faith of the growing underground Church will be strengthened.
China Needs our Prayers
We ask you to pray for the believers who are in China so they will be courageous and active in sharing the gospel. Those ministers, we constantly pray for, do not lose heart, although they already experience tough situations with transportation and food. In their city, there are also cases of this virus. The police tell everyone to stay at home, so people try to mop the vestibules of their buildings with chlorine, and the pharmacies ran out of the disposable masks, and people are not allowed to leave the city without a special permit.
Peoples of the North Being Reached by the Word
The Lord abundantly blesses the service in Yakutia. During the winter, when the earth is hardened because of the freeze, it is a perfect time to get to remote villages by an off-road vehicle, driving on the surface of frozen rivers and lakes. Outside, there is the freezing cold from 40 to 50 degrees . With the permission of the village administration, our ministers get to hold numerous meetings with people at the community centers, libraries, and schools. Many people have their first experience with Jesus Christ.
