WORD OF THE DAY - Thursday 14 July 2011 from Nikolaev, Ukraine

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)

А теперь во Христе Иисусе вы, бывшие некогда далеко, стали близки Кровию Христовою. (К Ефесянам 2:13 Russian)

Mas ahora en Cristo Jesús, vosotros que en otro tiempo estabais lejos, habéis sido hechos cercanos por la sangre de Cristo. (Efesios 2:13 Spanish)

Almighty God, our Dear Father in Heaven ~ Thank you for the amazing gift of life on this new day that brings more blessings along with trials to strengthen our faith. Give us more of your perfect wisdom so that we will more fully appreciate the glorious nature of the church of God which Jesus purchased with his own blood. Give all believers the indisputable understanding that all people on earth can now be entirely united with one another in the one Body of Christ. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Wednesday was another blessing filled day! We concluded our activities with the church after we assembled for our mid-week Bible study and prayer meeting when we walked down to the river. We heard Elena make her confession of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. She also confessed that "He died for my sins." There were many spectators down at the little beach near the Yacht Club. We tried to walk to an area where we would not disturb them, but many of them wanted to observe the baptism. Some were even capturing the event on their cameras and videos. One man in the crowd was from America and he came over to tell us how much this scene revived his faith in the Lord. We hope we will have another opportunity to meet with him while he is here.

Elena, between Olya and DB walks down to the river with a joyful heart over her salvation that has everyone rejoicing in the power of the gospel of Christ!

 Earlier in the day we were busy with our WEI students, Kesha and his wife Nadya. They suggested to study with us together, so we met with them in the room we rented for the recent WEI campaign. It is slightly cooler than our regular room, so I used Jon's desk and let them doodle on his pad. Everyone misses each of the 4 teachers we had with us. They all worked with great energy and sharp focus on our mission.

Olamide came by and we worked some with him on his Advanced Course lessons.

Then we had a good time of studies with Dasha and Olya the teenage girls who add so much spark to our daily activities. They wanted to be with us for the baptism and Olya made a video of much of the event.

We had another very productive session with Tatiana and her son Kyrill. While I was teaching them, Tatiana's husband Andrey was studying with Galina. He needs more help with English since he resorts back to Russian in his conversations. Kyrill left yesterday by train to return to his work in Kiev. He is a very bright young man and we will continue studying with him utilizing the convenient World English Institute on-line lessons.

Wednesday night Bible as we prepared for Elena's baptism. Thank you for remembering this rich harvest field in your prayers.