Praises – Rejoice with us!
The Lord has answered our prayers concerning our missionary pastors possibly getting conscripted into the Ukrainian army. On December 26, Ukraine amended regulations for the mobilization of conscripts. They introduced provisions to exempt clergy members from military duty! Hallelujah!
We previously shared that Eugene Buyko, who pastors the church in Bilogorodka, Ukraine, had reported that his congregation’s war-relief distributions had attracted many visitors to their services and that several had become regular attenders, including 3 refugee families. Praise God, the number of new families has grown to 6!
Praise God for a generous donation we received to construct brick walls for the first floor of a building under construction on the campground in Derman, Ukraine, which is also the location of a new church. Despite the time of year, there were enough breaks in the weather that this phase could be completed before the really harsh winter sets in.
When our missionaries, the Petrenkos, attended the opening of a monument in remembrance of fallen soldiers, they experienced bittersweet memories of young men who had accepted Christ at their tent camps. In fact, there are other instances of fallen soldiers who first learned of Jesus in our summer camps. Thank you for helping us reach youth for the Lord!
Prayer – Pray with us!
The Republic of Georgia’s new president is known for anti-Western sentiments. Please pray that Georgia’s leadership will not hinder Western-based missionaries serving God in that nation.
The next session of our Seminary in Ukraine will take place in January. Please pray for the safety of all who will be traveling to it during wartime and that these classes will deepen the students’ understanding of God’s Word and how to minister better.
Due to security concerns, we at BIEM cannot communicate directly with our national missionaries in Russia. This month Sam Slobodian plans to meet with them in a neutral country. Please pray for all the logistics to work out and that this rendezvous will go smoothly.
Like last year, for each accepted application, BIEM plans to provide $100 for local church members to buy warm clothes and Scriptures for loved ones in the Ukrainian military. So far, we have applications for over 500 soldiers, with more coming in. Please pray that this project will not only warm bodies but also point souls to the Savior. Remember, thanks to a generous donor, gifts to War Relief will be matched up to $100,000, so any gifts in this area will be doubled.
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