PRAISE
Abe came home from the workshop this month just feeling blessed by the response of people. 47 people said they wanted to move deeper into their Christian lives, and many of them are committed to sharing what they heard and learned about making worship services welcoming and dynamic. Thank You Lord for moving in the hearts of people!
Abe has accepted a short-term commitment to teach a course at the seminary I mentioned last time. He is happily preparing for that! He feels it is an opportunity to touch the lives of a younger generation and challenge them.
He also has finished repainting all the trim on the house we live in and doing repairs as needed. He feels greatly relieved to have that taken care of before winter.
And many good reports from people who are evangelizing and starting Centers of Hope. (The sign in blue and yellow says:
Welcome to Center of Hope—on their official opening day)
PRAYER
Abe will speak on Saturday at a pastors conference. Pray that he will be in tune to where they are at, and that he will both encourage and challenge—but challenge in a way that will not burden them but give them more freedom to do their ministry well.
Saturday also we will both be in Kyiv to process visas again. This should be a straightforward process, but Kyiv has been under attack and when sirens go, all government offices close. And Abe has to be at the church at 12:30 to speak. Pray that the Lord would go before us.
On October 7-9 Abe will hold workshops again. The extra challenge is that he is going to try to provide training on two levels during the same time. This is to save on time, energy and money, but takes a great deal of organization! Vera will be very active in participating, especially with the established group. Pray for clarity for both of them and the rest of the team as they work together on this.
And a very related issue is Abe’s translator Andrei. His city continues to be under very heavy attack. It is possible that he cannot even come to the next workshop, which creates extra stresses on the whole team. Andrei has faithfully been with Abe for 10 years and often leads part of the sessions, or oversees them. But honestly, as important as that is to us, that he be there, it is so much more important that he and his wife are safe. He is now cut off from his parents who live in a village. He expects them to be forcibly evacuated soon. Needless to say, his stress levels are very high. He is a Godly man with a servant’s heart.
The following verse is especially in my mind this week:
When you don’t know what to pray—this is the beginning verse from Ephesians about our spiritual armor. It is a spiritual battle. Yes, we have a physical war. But the critical battle is spiritual. Pray for our many good “soldiers” here, men and women who go out and share the Gospel and bring comfort to the sorrowing, chaplains who go to the front lines to bring hope. It is a time to be strong—but not in our own strength because that will never be adequate.
But our God is.
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