Let us not become tired of doing good, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
Делая добро, да не унываем, ибо в свое время пожнем, если не ослабеем. (К Галатам 6:9 Russian)
LORD God, Creator of all life and everything that is visible and things invisible, including things we do not know to look for ~ Give us wisdom to recognize what is truly a good thing to do, along with strength, courage, humility and perseverance to take action that will bring honor to Christ our Lord. Help us not to lose our vision of our superior purpose. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Yesterday was another blessed occasion to worship God in spirit and truth and to welcome our newest brothers into God's family here in Nikolaev. We presented a Russian language gift Bible to Stepan and Nikolaev. Our brother Nikolai Ivanovich Gagarkin was with us yesterday and he was able to greet our new brother Nikolai Ivanovich Tkhor. We decided to refer to them by their last names since they both have the same first name and middle name. They were both born here in Nikolaev and both had fathers named Ivan. Galina and I smiled big later in the day that in this new church planting, we are attracting more men, which is the opposite of most plantings that most of us have experienced where it seems that all we have in the beginning is women. I always recall the accounts in the New Testament of the influential women who helped launch some of the congregations back in the First Century. For a long time in Magadan, we prayed for some men who would come and help Ivan and Nadya, Olga, Galina, Nellie, Valentina, et al. Then, God blessed us with several good men there who teach, preach, lead singing and do many things for the church. We are blessed here in the beginning at Nikolaev with these willing men, now we pray for some women to keep them focused on the straight and narrow road. After our worship we had a little celebration to honor our new Christians. Since it was such a very cold day and everyone had such a difficult time getting to our meeting place with all the snow piled on the streets and sidewalks, we stayed and talked for about two hours. Then, strangely the temperature warmed up and the snow began to partially thaw creating that not so friendly condition of “black ice” on the sidewalks and streets. We could barely keep from falling down and we were very relieved to hear after we got home that our folks had made it safely to their homes. Late yesterday the temperature had risen to +3 C / 37.4 F. This morning it is -13 C / 8.6 F. All over the world, God is reminding us that His providential care of creation remains in force and man must continue to perform our responsibility of populating the earth with humans who will wisely subdue and rule over the earth. We continue to teach these new Christians about our precious faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Делая добро, да не унываем, ибо в свое время пожнем, если не ослабеем. (К Галатам 6:9 Russian)
LORD God, Creator of all life and everything that is visible and things invisible, including things we do not know to look for ~ Give us wisdom to recognize what is truly a good thing to do, along with strength, courage, humility and perseverance to take action that will bring honor to Christ our Lord. Help us not to lose our vision of our superior purpose. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Yesterday was another blessed occasion to worship God in spirit and truth and to welcome our newest brothers into God's family here in Nikolaev. We presented a Russian language gift Bible to Stepan and Nikolaev. Our brother Nikolai Ivanovich Gagarkin was with us yesterday and he was able to greet our new brother Nikolai Ivanovich Tkhor. We decided to refer to them by their last names since they both have the same first name and middle name. They were both born here in Nikolaev and both had fathers named Ivan. Galina and I smiled big later in the day that in this new church planting, we are attracting more men, which is the opposite of most plantings that most of us have experienced where it seems that all we have in the beginning is women. I always recall the accounts in the New Testament of the influential women who helped launch some of the congregations back in the First Century. For a long time in Magadan, we prayed for some men who would come and help Ivan and Nadya, Olga, Galina, Nellie, Valentina, et al. Then, God blessed us with several good men there who teach, preach, lead singing and do many things for the church. We are blessed here in the beginning at Nikolaev with these willing men, now we pray for some women to keep them focused on the straight and narrow road. After our worship we had a little celebration to honor our new Christians. Since it was such a very cold day and everyone had such a difficult time getting to our meeting place with all the snow piled on the streets and sidewalks, we stayed and talked for about two hours. Then, strangely the temperature warmed up and the snow began to partially thaw creating that not so friendly condition of “black ice” on the sidewalks and streets. We could barely keep from falling down and we were very relieved to hear after we got home that our folks had made it safely to their homes. Late yesterday the temperature had risen to +3 C / 37.4 F. This morning it is -13 C / 8.6 F. All over the world, God is reminding us that His providential care of creation remains in force and man must continue to perform our responsibility of populating the earth with humans who will wisely subdue and rule over the earth. We continue to teach these new Christians about our precious faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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