WORD OF THE DAY - Saturday 26 January 2013 from Mykolaiv, Ukraine

We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:69)

и мы уверовали и познали, что Ты Христос, Сын Бога живаго. (От Иоанна 6:69 Russian)

Ми повірили в Тебе, ми знаємо, що Ти — Божий Святий». (Йоан 6:69 Ukrainian)

Most holy, righteous, merciful and gracious God, our dear heavenly Father ~ we give our most sincere thanks on this new day for our very lives and most of all for your mercies that never end. Grant us deeper wisdom as we seek to be more effective in telling others about Christ Jesus our Lord in a more convincing manner so that people will learn how to believe and obey the Savior, our sustaining Bread of Life, in order to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We fervently pray in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

 Yesterday morning the snow began to fall and continued all through last night. It was a very welcome and beautiful sight except for the times when we were walking and the winds were blowing and the snow was drifting. It reminded me of back when I preached on my daily radio program from Crookston, Minnesota a few decades ago, a DJ who signed me on, would also give the weather and he loved to say the snow was "blowing and drifting in the valley". 

After we made it safely to our bus stop, we flagged down a marshrutka and had our usual interesting ride to the church meeting place. We had just taken off our coats, and in walked a surprise visitor. Our good friend Igor Mykhalchyshyn, a very bright goal oriented young man who completed our WEI Advanced course stopped by just to pay us a visit. We always enjoy learning about the next hurdles he intends to cross. We call him the President of Ukraine and have no doubt that if he continues to work at the same pace, he can achieve that or other important goals in his life.

Because of the heavy snows and strong winds, several of our students called to cancel. When it came time for our students Julia and Nastya to arrive, and it was almost twenty minutes past their time, and they didn't call, we were concerned about them, but suddenly they walked in the door huffing and puffing, shaking the snow off. These wonderful young women whom we met at the University are stellar examples of good students. Most importantly, they are learning so many valuable lessons from the Bible - the most important book in the world. As we continue through the World English Institute course, they improve their English - which is already sharp, as we discuss their deep questions and thoughts. 

Since Nastya and Julia arrived late, we were only halfway into their lesson when one of our other very bright students arrived. Andrei has completed the seven lessons in Book One - which doesn't mean anything the Internet teachers, but it is the first important milestone for our students who look us in the eye as we study about English and the Lord our God. As usual, these bright stars like to fully discuss the deeper meaning of Biblical texts that form the basis of our WEI studies. 

We had other things to accomplish at the "office" before we could head for home in the evening. We are so very thankful to God that our meeting place is warm this year since the head over the property agreed to put the thick plastic sheeting over the windows. It was already dark, but still snowing lightly when we walked over to the bus stop.

This morning, we just learned that we will not be able to visit the Boys Home due to the weather. We called Natasha who lives out on the same peninsula near the Boys Home, and her husband could not even get out to work. The snow drifts are very high around some parts of the city. We agreed that Svetlana, the secretary to the Director, will stop by our office tomorrow afternoon and pick up the duffle bag we purchased for Dima who will be moving to another facility next week.

 Thank you for continuing to remember us in prayer.