WORD OF THE DAY - Monday 17 September 2012

 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

Итак всякого, кто исповедает Меня пред людьми, того исповедаю и Я пред Отцем Моим Небесным; а кто отречется от Меня пред людьми, отрекусь от того и Я пред Отцем Моим Небесным. (От Матфея 10:32-33 Russian)

Отже, кожного, хто Мене визнає перед людьми, того перед Небесним Отцем Моїм визнаю й Я. Хто ж Мене відцурається перед людьми, того й Я відцураюся перед Небесним Отцем Моїм. (Матей 10:32-33 Ukrainian)

Dear heavenly Father ~ thank you for the unbounded joy that we experience on this new day that brings evidence as fresh and clear as the morning dew that you are our Only God, the great giver and sustainer of life in all its forms. As it is within your great plan for us, we ask according to what little we know about the future to grant us more of your wisdom so that we will understand ourselves better, but mostly so that we will be able to know how to communicate your perfect plan of salvation to those who do not yet know Christ as Lord. Give us courage so that we will never take the foolish way of denying our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ but will always stand firm in the promises of our faith. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 

 Yesterday morning, we had our usual 3 boys for Sunday school class taught by Galina. We received an SMS message from Tatyana their usual teacher during the class period. She has a son working in New Jersey, so she has gone to visit him for a couple of weeks. We have a small English lesson for the boys and we are teaching them to sing Jesus Loves Me in English. They already know it is Russian. We had 16 present yesterday for our worship services. Omo led the opening prayer with Galina translating. Pasha led the church around the Lord's Table. Olamide led the closing prayer. After the worship, the 3 boys Dima, Zhenya and Vitaly, recited their memory verses. Dima and Zhenya are sons of Pasha and he helps make sure they do their memory work. Vitaly is their good friend and doesn't have anyone at home to help him with the Bible. He even caught the bus and came by himself yesterday. He's the tallest of the three boys. Later during our fellowship, we had time to have a little visit with our visitor Alexander (Sasha) who lives 2 hours away and comes when he can. Next week he plans to attend the seminar that is put on each year in Feodosia which is in the Crimean region of Ukraine. Galina presented the boys with prizes for saying their memory verses. Omo, who is a university student, is far from home in Nigeria and we gave him a little toy also which he gladly received.

WORD OF THE DAY - Sunday 16 September 2012

For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (1 John 3:20 NKJV)

ибо если сердце наше осуждает нас, то кольми паче Бог, потому что Бог больше сердца нашего и знает всё. (1-e Иоанна 3:20 Russian)

бо коли винуватить нас серце, то Бог більший від нашого серця та відає все! (1 Йоаново 3:20 Ukrainian)

Almighty God, our dear worshipful Father in Heaven ~ we give you the greatest thanks for granting us the indescribable gift of life on this new Lord’s Day. Give all followers of Christ our Lord the wisdom and courage to overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way of their attendance with other Christians. Help us not to be overly self-destructive or hyper-critical of ourselves since we know that Christ died for our sins and we have obeyed His gospel message. We pray in Jesus precious name, Amen.

 We spent a big part of the day yesterday looking around the city for some items that we needed to take to the boys. Natasha had requested some basic necessity type items - toilet paper, bathing soap, cleaning supplies, paper towels, etc. Part of the boys training is to learn how to take care of their space. We took socks, lined and graph notebook notebooks, paper for teachers, plastic files, pen and pencil pouches, ping-pong balls and a paddle, and of course Snickers. They really need some underwear, and we are anticipating a shipment of those from dear friends in the USA. The boys and Natasha were really excited to see us. They have had a tough week getting back in the groove of school which is rather the same around the world.

They truly made us happy when every boy recited his memory verse and made a little comment about what it meant to him. Those comments easily become fodder for criticism from your friends, but they know they are in the same boat and don't become too critical when another boy makes a mistake. Natasha said she had extra duty as the acting Director of the Boys Home since Vladimir was out of town. She told the boys what they had to do, and she said they acted very responsibly.

We really like these boys! In the beginning, we had a review of our first English lesson from last week. We assigned our memory verses for Saturday and had time to visit with each boy. As we made the long walk back to the pontoon bridge, we had to walk past a goat herder who was letting her goats feed on the grass by the side of the road. Galina was not too excited to ease by these 59 critters with various horns. We then had the pleasure of passing a goodly number of cows that were under a watchful eye from somewhere. As we got close to the bridge, we noticed a family loading all their fishing gear in the back of an old station wagon. The son/grandson was loading the boat on top of the car and we said to each other at the same time, “he looks like Sasha.” He looked at us with a little smile and we knew it was Sasha the Korean boy who used to come to our Children’s Bible Classes in 2009 when we met on Frunze Street.  He is now about 6 feet tall and towers over the rest of the family. We could only exchange greetings since they were anxious to leave and our taxi showed up.

Each day brings some special surprises as we serve our Lord Jesus Christ in the harvest field of Ukraine. Thank you for the prayers. 

WORD OF THE DAY - Thursday 06 September 2012 from Nikolaev, Ukraine

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

научает руки мои брани, и мышцы мои сокрушают медный лук. (Псалтирь 17-35 Russia)

мої руки навчає до бою, і на рамена мої лука мідяного напинає. (Псалми 18-35 Ukrainian)

 O LORD our God, dear heavenly Father ~ we bow in your presence with hearts bursting with thanksgiving for all your merciful blessings on this new day. Give us the wisdom we need in order to have compassion on those whom you have mercy. Forgive us for the times when we have turned a deaf ear to the cries of those in deep despair. Help us to initiate contact with those who are open to your great love and kindness. We pray in Jesus name, Amen. 

 We were anticipating a great meeting with our new group of 4th year English students at the University, and we were not disappointed. This group will be the best we have had so far. Of course that is what we said about the previous ones and it was certainly true. When we walked in the door of the University, the first person we saw sitting in the rotunda area was Dasha, one of our previous WEI students. She is a first year student at the university and should do very well in the English language program. After we started walking up to the 5th floor where our room we use is located, Lesya came down to meet us halfway. She is the faculty member that these students must answer to for their work and grades. Once upstairs, we learned that two teachers in the program were cut and that is why Lesya has such a large group. We expected 30, but 1 was out sick and 2 were working. We used this first session to get acquainted with these new people and let each one tell about themselves. Several have travelled abroad and told about that. Two of the young women enjoyed time in America over the summer, even though their work was very difficult working at a hotels and restaurants. They were able to save some of the money they earned and came back with positive feelings about America. Other students told about the places they would love to go if they ever had the chance. New York, Chicago and Los Angeles topped their lists, and Germany came in second with Great Britain third. One poor girl touched our heart by telling how she would travel to Moldova if she could travel to another country because that is where her grandparents live. At the conclusion, I shared a handout with them about the Bible and offered a free New Testament to each person. We only had to carry a few back to the church office. These students and faculty members were delighted to receive the ballpoint pens with the light and imprint of a thought about Jesus Christ. Charles Campbell, our friend and brother from Montgomery, Alabama sent these for us to give away. In the evening, we only had 4 of us for the Wednesday evening Bible study. As Olamide says when we asked him from America how many were present, he would always say it seemed like a crowd to me. Thank you for the prayers.