First off, sorry for the long title, we probably put a few too many things into this update but here we go!
22 Years Later
We must start by praising God for giving us a strong christian marriage. Christina and I met 22 years and 9 months ago on the campus of Shasta Bible College in Redding, California. Little did we know the plans God had for us at that time. We married on June 14th 1997. We thank God for His grace in our marriage, for giving us 5 children, one grandchild and a son-in-law.
I am particularly grateful for Christina’s constant support, help, and service to our me and our family! Please pray with us that God would give us the grace and wisdom we need to raise our children to fear God. A strong faith is vital for a strong family and a strong family provides a good foundation for ministry outside of the home.
Pastor’s Conference
Around 700 church leaders gathered in Bela Terskov, in Central Ukraine for the All Ukraine Bible Conference. We also had participants from about a dozen other countries join us. Praise God for the great speakers who delivered excellent Biblically based sermons. This conference provides an opportunity for many pastors and church leaders to find encouragement and edification, to see an example of Biblical expository preaching, and to fellowship with other pastors.
Visiting Cherkassy
After the conference I drove a few hours east to met up with Christina and our two youngest in Cherkassy. Christina and her family came to faith in Christ while living in Cherkassy. It was a blessing to visit Gospel House Church and share God’s Word with them on Sunday morning.
Anchor School
This past year our four children here in Ukraine attended Anchor School. This new experience for them blessed us all. The school provided the children with a great Christian education, opportunity to work in a classroom setting, and a much-needed schedule. Anchor School freed up time for Christina, because she was no longer busy with homeschooling, and gave her the opportunity to start serving at the Women’s Center.
Praise God for a good ending to a good school year!
Women’s Ministry
Christina continues to teach the women in our church once a month at our Women’s Fellowship and serve at the Women’s Center. New clients often come through the front door of this pro-life ministry. Recently a blind woman came to the center and Christina was able to talk with her. Although she is from a village outside of Odessa, the Center has been able to keep in contact with her by telephone.
Last month I also taught a Good Soil training seminar in the Women’s Center. We had 17 volunteers take the training. They will use the chronological Bible study course to work with new clients at the center.
Summer Projects
This summer we are working to publish 3 books that we have translated and prepared for publishing. The first book we will be publishing is Bev DeSalvo’s books “Return to Joy”
We will also publish my two books in Russian, “What If… How to Kill Worry and Anxiety Before They Kill You” and “Is God Calling Me to Missions? 10 Questions to Help Determine Your Calling”
Additional Prayer Requests
- Pray for our church leadership that God would give us wisdom in leading the church and that God would raise up more godly leaders!
- Pray for Eastern Ukraine, recently fighting there has increased and more soldiers have died.
- Pray for our churches in the Russian separatist controlled areas of Eastern Ukraine that are under significant pressure from the government.
- Pray for possible baptismal candidates
