PRAISE 

• We talked to our grandson Jesse a few days ago. He is the one for whom we’ve asked prayer as he virtually had become an invalid. Praise God he has been steadily improving over the past few months! He figures his strength is about 80% and he managed to finish his seminary studies and will graduate in March. Meanwhile he has taken on an internship at a church in Brisbane. And God has provided reasonable and pleasant housing for them for the next year in a very tight housing market. Thank you for holding him up in prayer for these many months when he went from someone who seemed to be dying to almost fully functioning again. (No, I don’t think doctors ever knew what was going on.) The picture is Daniella(top), his wife of 3 years, his sister Miriam, who has fought a battle with an immune illness since she was 16, and is excited to be leaving for a ministry opportunity in another part of Australia soon, having finally gained enough health to stretch her wings. And then there is baby Quintus, another sister, Marie, and of course Jesse. Their smiles in this photo are representative of their joy in Jesus and how He is working in each one of their lives. And I will add a note to say his parents (Daniel and Priscilla) hope to return to Australia for his graduation—and to see their precious children and grandson. (Daniel also has a sister who is getting married. A good very family-centered break!)

• Over the last week Abe has received reports of at least 10 people being saved through the people he is working with now! What a joy in Heaven!

• And meanwhile we get regular reports from the men Abe has worked with for a number of years as they continue to reach out, hold evangelistic Bible studies, and train new believers to follow Jesus. Praise God for faithful committed people!

 

PRAYER

• Abe left today for the next workshop to be held tomorrow and Thursday (18^th and 19^th). He has spent hours in preparation. Pray for him as he teaches and trains. Pray for receptive hearts. And always hearts that are passionate for Jesus. In the end we are not talking about what people can do, although the Lord needs people as His instruments. But we are talking about what the Holy Spirit can do through them as they have faith to reach out and touch lives. One of their initial assignments was to prayer walk the area where they are ministering, praying for people, businesses, schools, and for open hearts. And we want the Centers of Hope to focus on prayer, in all of their people contacts whether individually or in groups, or in church services. Pray for the Lord to move. Abe feels after this workshop we will have a better idea of who exactly is committed to having a Center of Hope. And even so there will be a 3-month trial period to make sure each couple or family is on track.

• Sasha was not able to get his car repaired in time for this workshop so another man came to drive the team to Kyiv. Abe just called me. He found out that this man, Ihor, did not actually own the van. It belongs to someone who has emigrated and wants to sell it for what sounds like a very reasonable price. And so, the issue comes, should we buy it? It would most likely be a situation where Sasha would actually buy it with money we loan to him and which he would repay to us over a period of several years. Evidently several people have counseled him to get rid of his own van. This is just a thought. Please pray for Abe to know whether it has merit, and if so, that all of the pieces would fall into place.

• We are still living in our house. We still don’t have a lease. We had not had any word from our lawyer at all. But this has been a holiday time so… Well, today one of the ladies who represents our landlady (who lives in Russia!) showed up at the door after Abe left. She asked if we actually wanted to continue living here, which I confirmed. So she said Abe should contact our lawyer. Abe won’t do that until he gets back. When he is doing ministry he is singularly focused on that. So, continue to pray that the Lord would work this out to His glory.

• Final prayer request. I go into Kyiv myself tomorrow to the eye clinic where I had surgery for a detached retina a couple years ago. I had a few disturbing symptoms in my other eye a couple weeks ago. They have settled down somewhat, but I will go and see if anything is happening. Eye sight is precious isn’t it? I still have distorted and somewhat limited vision in my right eye. Which of course increases my desire to be careful about my left eye. At the same time, I know full well I’m in the Lord’s hands.

Russia

You may know there was another attack across Ukraine last Saturday. Many electrical stations were damaged. And more horrendous, an apartment building was hit in the city of Dnipro, and 45 people were killed. Civilians, some of them children. Ukraine is braced for ongoing attacks, and ongoing devastation and attacks on power stations. The roar of generators was very loud yesterday when Abe and I went downtown as more and more businesses have them. The Ukrainian people, led by Zelensky, stand strong with no intention of backing down. “We are free, we are strong, we are together,” is a recorded message I hear on the phone when a call does not go through. People consider freedom worth fighting for.

Today I also saw a message that our province has received equipment to protect against the destructive killer drones Russia sends and to enforce our border with Belarus. This equipment is from Poroshenko, our former Ukrainian president. Ukraine is not just waiting on western help. Many wealthy Ukrainians are contributing to the cause.

This has become rather long. I’m hoping that as I get some of the paperwork and communications under control I can write a bit more frequently again, and less in length. I’m very aware of how limited we are as human beings in what we can effectively pray for. I always hope that when you read these messages, rather than saying a “blanket” prayer over them all, that the Spirit will give you one or two items to focus on, even to pour your heart into.

I will leave this message for you, posted by our church a couple weeks ago. We have men from our area, from our church, who are on the frontlines.

Lord, bless the 64th brigade and all the running of missile defense, air defense systems!  🙏🙏

They want to plunge us into darkness and chaos again!
God will help us get through these attacks!
We went through almost a year of war, resisted, got stronger, grew!
The Lord continues to build His Kingdom even under fire!

Ps.  17:8-10: "And protect me,
like the apple of His eye!
Hide me under Your wings from those people who want to destroy me,
from mortal enemies who surrounded me.  They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly.”

Church, we continue to stand in prayer for our cities, for our army, for our government!

Peace and tranquility to all!

Published: 17 January 2023

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