Praises – Rejoice with us!
Praise God our container has arrived in Ukraine! Please pray for the distribution which has begun.
Andrei Eliseev, who oversees the rehabilitation center of New Life Baptist near Ternopil, Ukraine, was fervently praying for another man to assist in leading the ministry. And God provided! Brother Gennady, who himself was once addicted to substances and freed through rehab stepped forward to assist. Both Andrei and Gennady rejoice in God’s provision of a Christian man who has a sincere desire to help others in the same way he himself has been helped.
BIEM’s missionary Bruce Tuttle announced that, on December 16, the Pastors Training Institute in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, graduated 10 students. Their training constitutes about 2000 hours of classroom training and 60 classes. Some of those graduating already have a clear direction for their ministries, but we know all of them have hearts willing to be used in God’s harvest fields!
Many of our church planters minister to needy places such as hospitals, senior care centers, orphanages and juvenile centers. One of the women at a psychiatric hospital which has opened their doors to brother Sergei’s ministry recently told him, "Before your arrival, it was so noisy (there are many mentally ill people and some quite violent), but now it's quiet, probably because you came with Jesus and everything calmed down. Jesus can soothe any storm. Praise God.”
Prayer – Pray with us!
In Central Asia, Pastor Righteous requests prayer. He has seen a number of Muslims come to Christ in recent days. The local mosque responded by stirring up a group of angry men to come and pelt the house with stones four days in a row. He and his 7-year-old son were nearly hit. He’s concerned for the safety of his family.
In Belarus, BIEM missionary Nikolai Ryzhuk continues to experience debilitating back pain. Please pray for grace for him to minister despite the serious discomfort, but also for a permanent remedy to be found.
In Western Ukraine, our missionaries Sergei & Vika Skripnik request prayer for their sons’ health. Timothy has difficulty breathing through his nose. The feeling is as if he has nasal congestion, but a doctor says the passages are clear. David has a skin irritation on his hands. They think it may be a reaction to the cold, although it’s never happened before.
The church in Desna, Ukraine, has renewed their prayer request for a talented believer who can take charge of the music in services. As believers have gotten saved and moved away to minister elsewhere, this has left a vacuum in the church’s musical ministry.