Team Kharkov Requests August 21st-28th

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path....The unfolding of Your words gives light;" (Psalm 119:105, 130a NIV)

Thank you for your prayers for all of us through this past week of saying goodbye to co-workers/friends/family, and getting me (Linda) moved to our company-owned apartment.  While there were some unexpected "turns" to the move (the movers not coming when scheduled), the Lord brought some wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ alongside us to help with carrying everything down from the old apartment and up three flights of stairs into the new.  Without their help, it would have been much later than 9:00 p.m. when we finished!

Please continue praying for us throughout this coming week!  Here's how you might come alongside us in prayer.

Sunday, August 21st - Pray for me as I get the final things done at the old apartment and garage, and seek to make the new apartment "live-able" for the young couple who will stay here with Shadow while I am gone from Wednesday to Monday.   Ask the Lord to cause everything to fall into place that things might get done easily.

Monday, August 22nd  Amanda and I will be speaking for 3 days at a retreat this week in the Donetsk region (about 2 hours south of Kharkov).  Pray for us as we use Monday and Tuesday to go over our translated lessons in preparation for speaking in Russian without a translator for our sessions.  Ask the Lord to quicken to our hearts and minds His Words, and to give us the ability to speak clearly and distinctly in Russian.

Tuesday, August 23rd  Ask the Lord to enable us to get everything done (copies of all the handouts, preparation of our homes) on this final full day in Kharkov before the retreat.  Pray He would grant us rest even in the midst of all that must be accomplished.

Wednesday, August 24th  Amanda and I will travel today to a retreat center in "Svyatogorsk" ("Holy City," shown in the photo above).  Pray for a sweet time of fellowship with one another and with the Lord as we make the journey.  Ask the Lord to continue to wash over our hearts and minds what He has put upon our hearts to teach.

Thursday, August 25th  We will be teaching from the book of Colossians this morning to about 80 Ukrainian sisters.  Pray the Lord enables both of us to speak clearly in Russian.  Ask Him to prepare the hearts of our sisters to hear His Words, and not ours.  Pray for the women as they spend time each day in small groups discussing what the Spirit has spoken to them.

Friday, August 26th  The theme of this women's conference is "Rooted and Growing In Christ."  Pray the Lord would cause His Word to take each of us deeper into Jesus, knowing Him more intimately as we allow His Word to penetrate our hearts.

Saturday, August 27th  This will be our last day of teaching during the retreat.  Pray the Holy Spirit will bring all that He has spoken through His Word the past few days to bear fruit in the lives of each one of us.

Sunday, August 28th  Pray for our time of fellowship this day as we worship and celebrate what the Lord has done through the retreat.  Intercede for each of the women who have come to have hearts, minds, and spirits refreshed and renewed through the "washing with water through the Word" (Eph. 5:26).

Monday, August 29th  Amanda and I will be driving back to Kharkov today.  Ask the Lord to grant us safety on the journey.  Pray for our Ukrainian sisters as they return to their families and homes today.  Petition the Lord to continue to cause His Word to change our hearts and minds in the days and weeks ahead, as He takes what we have learned and grants us opportunities to "put it into practice" in our daily lives.

We covet your prayers as we both assume new responsibilities that were once handled by Keith as team leader.  Pray He will guide our steps as we work more closely planning with our Ukrainian partners in ministry and volunteer teams called to minister in the Kharkov region.

IMPACTing the Kharkov region of Ukraine with the love of Christ!

Team Kharkov Requests August 14th - 20th

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that is yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)

I am reminded again and again that it is not my words that will penetrate, permeate, and plant the seeds of righteousness into the lives of others.  Rather, it is His Word, simply spoken, simply revealed through our daily lives in front of others that has the power to accomplish His purpose throughout the world.  Pray we will be faithful to proclaim His Word in every facet of our lives - our homes, our neighborhood, in the work place, within the body of Christ - for His glory, honor, and praise.

Sunday, August 14th  Pray for Team Kharkov members as we worship together at New Hope for the last time before Keith, Wendy, and Ryan depart for their new assignment.  Ask the Father to grant a time of sweet fellowship for the body of Christ at New Hope during this time of celebration of what the Father has planned for all of Team Kharkov and His people throughout the world.

Monday, August 15th  Amanda and I (Linda) continue to make preparation for the women's retreat in the Donetsk region beginning next Wednesday (August 24th).  Pray the Lord would grant those translating our materials wisdom as they put our thoughts (and His) into Russian.  Intercede for Him to cause the words to penetrate our hearts and minds so that we might relay them in the way He would desire.

Tuesday, August 16th  Pray for Keith, Wendy, and Ryan as they travel to Kiev today, and fly tomorrow to their new assignment.  Petition the Lord to grant them safe travel, and times of sweet fellowship with one another, with colleagues in Kiev, and favor with airline personnel tomorrow.   Pray the Lord would prepare just the right apartment for them in their new location and abundant blessings as they walk in obedience to Him.

Wednesday, August 17th  We praise God for the opportunities we have had in the past weeks to meet with pastors and Ukrainian ministers to begin casting a vision for future work in the Kharkov region of Ukraine.  Pray the Lord would work in the hearts of many men and women believers in this region, fanning into flame a passion for reaching the millions of lost in Eastern Ukraine.  Ask Him for wisdom and knowledge of His will as we begin making plans for future ministry.

Thursday, August 18th  Pray for me as well as my friends and co-laborers Amanda and Joe Ragan (who has come up to Kharkov to help) as we make all the final preparations for my move tomorrow to our company owned apartment.  Pray the seeds planted into the lives of the owner of my current apartment and of the garage I have rented the past year will bear the fruit of repentance in the future.

Friday, August 19th  Pray for those providing the labor for my move to the new apartment today.  Ask the Lord to give us an opportunity to share His Truth with the men who will be carrying my furniture and boxes of belongings up the 3 flights of stairs in the new building.  Pray for safety for all of us as I seek to get things at least "livable" before leaving next Wednesday for the Donetsk retreat.

Saturday, August 20th  We have received word this week of two of our personnel in the European affinity who have been diagnosed with cancer.  Please join us in praying for 7 year old Josiah, who is now at St. Jude's hospital being treated for leukemia as well as his mom, dad, and brothers, and Mary Ellen Ragains who will leave hopefully in the next week or 10 days with her husband Joel to receive treatment in the states.  Ask the Lord to grant all His healing, comfort, and strength in the storm.  Pray for family members as they walk through this time with them.

Thank you for continuing this journey down His path in the Kharkov region of Ukraine with us!  Your prayers and fellowship through email mean so much to Amanda and I.  We look forward to sharing with you how His plan unfolds in the days, weeks, and months ahead!  To God be the glory, honor, and praise!

IMPACTing the Kharkov Region of Ukraine with the love of Christ!

Team Kharkov Prayer Requests August 7th - 13th

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  (2 Cor. 10:3-5 NIV)

I have been convicted over the past weeks of my "retreat" at times from the front lines in this war for the souls of those outside my door, including friends, family, and those I have yet to meet.  I pray for them, I talk with them, I may even study the Word with them, but I don't always enter into spiritual battle for them.  As I read how Paul "struggled" for the Colossian believers in prayer, I prayed the Lord would grant me love and passion in my heart that would lead not just to pray, but to truly "struggle" in prayer for those I know personally that need to know Christ as Savior and Lord.    


I thank the Lord for those of you who "struggle" in prayer for us as Team Kharkov, as well as for the multitudes in the Kharkov region who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus.  May none of us grow weary in the battle that is before us each day for the spiritual lives of generations to come.


Sunday, August 7th  Pray for Keith, Wendy, and Ryan as they enter into their last full week in Kharkov before relocating to another field of service.  Ask the Lord to fill their days remaining with a sense of His presence, and sweet fellowship with many of their brothers and sisters in Christ in the Kharkov area.   


Monday, August 8th  Please continue to pray for our translators working on the materials for Amanda and I for a women's retreat in the Donetsk region.  Intercede for us as we begin learning the materials already translated, that we would be able to speak in the heart language of the women we will lead in a way that will encourage and renew them.  


Tuesday, August 9th Happy Birthday to our Eastern Ukraine colleague in Donetsk, Joe Ragan.  Pray for Joe as he ministers as a fellow single worker in a difficult location.  Ask the Lord to continue to raise up Ukrainian partners to work alongside Joe as he labors in His love in the Donetsk and Luganst regions of Ukraine.


Wednesday, August 10th  Pastor Vitaly Sorokun and his family are preparing to return to Kharkov after 6 weeks in the states.  We praise Him for granting Pastor Vee time to be renewed and strengthened after his months of illness last winter.  Pray the Lord will go before them in their journey, and grant them an opportunity for fellowship with our team members before they leave Kharkov.


Thursday, August 11th We have already begun making plans with two teams with a desire to come to Kharkov in 2012 to minister.  We praise Him for those He is leading to join with Amanda and I in working alongside our Ukrainian partners in ministry to reach those outside the doors of their church.  Ask the Lord to grant us wisdom and knowledge in making plans for future teams.  Pray He will cause everything to fall into place according to His perfect plans that every person in the Kharkov region will have an opportunity to hear and respond to Truth.


Friday, August 12th  Pray for me (Linda) as I pack up my apartment in preparation for the move into our company-owned apartment after our colleagues move next week.  Petition the Lord to provide the right men to move my belongings next late next week.  The move will require taking everything up 3 floors without an elevator.


Saturday, August 13th  Vladimir Andreavich, the retired senior pastor of the Kharkov region, shared with us last week his concern for the diminishing number of Ukrainian Baptist Union churches in this region.  In years past, after working alongside our personnel in this region, there were as many as 93 registered churches.  Today, that number has dropped to 73.  Please join us in praying the Lord would raise up young men called as church planters and pastors.  Pray the Lord would give us wisdom in knowing how we can come alongside our Ukrainian co-laborers to encourage and strengthen their ministry.  


IMPACTing the Kharkov region of Ukraine with the love of Christ!