Praises – Rejoice with us!
Last month we requested prayer for Customs agents in Ukraine to release our 40-ft. container of humanitarian aid. Praise God for encouraging progress. It has been released from the port city of Odessa and is now in the control of the Customs in Kyiv. Please pray that the Customs in Kyiv will soon release it so that the aid can be disbursed.
Two new core groups of young believers have been organized in predominantly Muslim lands of Central Asia, as well as three Bible institutes that will operate on a modular basis. Praise God for opening doors and touching hearts!
Andrei Eliseev, the minister who oversees the Christian Rehabilitation Center near Ternopil, Ukraine, praises God for working in the life of a man named Vitaly. Due to substance addictions, doctors did not even expect Vitaly to live. But believers brought him to the Rehab Center, where he has been nourished with healthful food and the Word of God. He is now making good strides, both physically and spiritually!
In December, Pastor Nicholai Velichko of Kyiv, Ukraine, underwent surgery to remove a tumor. Many friends of BIEM prayed for this pastor emeritus of the Baptist church called Temple of Salvation. Praise God, the surgery went well, and doctors expect a full recovery.
Prayer - Pray with us!
Due to long-standing tradition, many lands in Eastern Europe celebrate Christmas on January 7. Holiday festivities continue into January. So please pray for evangelistic outreaches that churches continue to make during this holiday season. Pray as well for the January session of our seminary in Kyiv where BIEM is training nationals.
In western Ukraine, our missionaries the Skripniks wrote about a young girl named Zhenya. This girl and her brother love to come to Sunday school. The family is very poor. As the church helps them with some legitimate needs, the Skripniks request prayer for Zhenya’s family that God would open the hearts of the parents to the Gospel.
One of BIEM’s missionary couples in a large Russian city report, “My main need right now is to build a team of devoted laborers to start new small [Bible study] groups.” As always, the fields white unto harvest outnumber the workers. Please pray for more active believers.
On January 29 the Slobodians’ grandson Noah, who has medical issues related to his heart transplant, will be undergoing a procedure where surgeons bypass his stomach so that the nutrition he currently receives through a tube will go directly into his intestines. Please pray that this surgery will go well and improve processing and maintaining of nourishment.