The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God illuminated it and the Lamb is its light. (Revelation 21:23)
Most Kind and Loving God, our Father in Heaven ~ Thank you for granting us the surprise gift of life on this new day that we enjoy because of your great love. Enlighten our minds as we bring our thoughts into the discipline of Christ’s perfect doctrine. All our hopes of eternal life are certain because of the huge sacrifice made by the Lamb and our obedience to His will. We long to see the face of the One who made this exalted hope possible. In Jesus name, Amen.
Yesterday- Friday, we spent much of the day in search of various items we need for daily living and preparing for today’s Children’s Bible Class at 2.00 this afternoon. On Thursday we had the privilege to take Ilya and Nazar to the McDonalds for one final treat before they headed back home. Their train and bus ride to Slavyansk took almost 22 hours. We were relieved to learn that they made it home safely and the boys were already reporting about their mission trip to the entire neighborhood. In addition to preaching at the church in Svyatogorsk, Viktor also teaches classes at the Gorlovka Bible Institute. One of the pictures shows some of the many wares available on these makeshift shops that pop-up on the side of the road just about anywhere you can find some spare room. Ukrainians love to buy, sell, trade, barter and anything else that involves working with people and goods and services. Having spent a major part of my life as a salesman of various products and ideas, perhaps that is why this is all so attractive. We have been praying for a way to reach these busy masses. They don’t seem to have time for anything that doesn’t pertain to these daily pursuits and their beloved children and grandchildren. Yesterday while I was waiting for a lady at a little stand to fix us a greasy lunch of a hotdog and fried pie, the thought occurred to me that this place and a few others like it in various parts of the city, is precisely where we can meet the people. You know how successful some of the booths we have had at state fairs, county fairs, and the like? Well, why not have a booth right in the middle of this entire ruckus. I have in mind an aid-station with a cross symbol (not red) that will offer anyone a drink of water along with some information about the church, salvation and perhaps some free New Testaments – if I can round up all that we need. Our preliminary investigation revealed that each vendor makes their own little stand and rents the space from the owner of the building where they want to set-up the stand. We don’t know prices yet, but I think it will be well worth the price and the effort. We meet many people in these markets, and what an ideal place to meet more people who will stop by for a drink of water and receive a taste of the Water of Life. I’m not giving up on regular newspaper advertising and flyers, but we want to give this our concerted effort, and hopefully when other workers visit us, they can help us man the booths. We will need more than one around the city, due to the nature of this type of activity, and the fact that Nikolaev is a very spread out city. In fact, the street we live on is called the longest street in Europe. We have not been able to walk from one end to the other yet. Thank you for the fervent prayers for this work in God’s harvest field of Ukraine.
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