Team Kharkov Requests November 13th-19th

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.  And they recognized that they had been with Jesus."  (Acts 4:13)

Almost every day I am confronted with my inability to speak fluently in the Russian language.  It is especially frustrating when I encounter an opportunity to take a conversation to a more spiritual level.  Yet I know each time an opportunity presents itself, the Father is at work.  I only have to go forward with a boldness enabled by the the Holy Spirit, trusting Him to take my "uneducated, common" Russian to speak whatever He desires into the life of that person.  They don't need to see me, nor hear my words, as much as they need to recognize that I have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus.  May each of us pray the Holy Spirit would grant eyes open to see those He is causing to intersect our path each day, hearts filled with a boldness to proclaim the love of Christ through our words and actions, and the "aroma of Christ" to permeate even the most hardened heart with Truth.

Sunday, November 13th  Today New Hope Russian congregation will meet for the last time in the building in the Saltavka region of Kharkov.  Pray for this body of believers as they seek the Lord's will and His plan for them corporately and individually.  Ask the Lord to enable each one to keep their eyes and their hearts focused on Him, trusting Him to fulfill His promise to "cause all things to work together for good to those who love God...." (Romans 8:28 NASB).

Monday, November 14th Pray for me (Linda) as I share the meaning of American Thanksgiving with students in two English classes led by Nadia Morokovetz this evening.  Ask the Lord to use this as an opportunity to open doors and hearts for spiritual conversations.

Tuesday, November 15th  We praise the Lord for how He is working in the lives of Natasha and Amanda as they study "Experiencing God" together.  Pray He will continue to reveal Himself and His will for each of them as they come near the end of this study.

Wednesday, November 16th  Two years ago, believers in the town of Zmeeov bought a building that had been burned out from an electrical fire with a vision for reconstructing the building for their church.  We praise Him for the provision of finances to buy the materials to put a roof on the building.  Pray for pastor Yuri Poshtak and the men in the church as they labor together to put the roof on the building before winter weather sets in.  Ask the Lord to allow them to complete the work safely.  Pray those who live around the building will be impacted by the labor of love these men invest in their church, and drawn into fellowship with this body of believers, and with the Lord Jesus.

Thursday, November 17th  The Father continues to work through the power of His Word in Romans as we discuss it in The Book Club each Thursday in the lives of each one of us.  This week, please petition the Father to speak His Truth into the hearts and minds of Ludmila, Marina, Tatiana, Sergei, Sasha, Vika, Zhenya, Vlad, Yuri, Natasha, Julia, Ira, and all who He brings into our fellowship.

Friday, November 18th  The day this is being written (November 12th), Amanda shared as she was walking her dog Bella this morning, her heart was prepared to meet and/or talk with people the Lord might bring across her path.  Tanya, a young office manager who lives in the same area and has a dog as well, and Amanda struck up a conversation.  She speaks perfect English, and had seen Amanda before in the area.  Pray for opportunities in the future continue talking, leading to sharing the Good News of Christ.

Saturday, November 19th  Pray for Amanda and I as we host a "Girls Night Out" this afternoon/evening for New Hope International students.  Ask the Lord to draw many of these young women to this time of fellowship, developing new friendships, and discussing future plans.  Pray He will work in all of our hearts to fan into flame a passion to go deeper in our relationship with Him through our fellowship with one another and the study of His Word.

We look forward to sharing with you the giving of thanks next week for how He answers our prayers and petitions!

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

Team Kharkov Special Request

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"


We learned yesterday that one of the churches with whom our personnel have worked for more than 11 years will no longer hold worship services for their Ukrainian members. The pastor and his wife will be attending services at another church and working alongside the pastor there, as well as continuing to lead English-speaking services.

Please be in prayer for the church members who have a desire to continue to worship together, but do not want to go to a different church.  Ask the Lord to guide and direct them individually and corporately according to His will.  Pray for this pastor and his family as they continue to seek the Lord's will for them in this time of transition.  Petition the Father to grant His people in this body of believers wisdom, trusting in His promise to give them "hope and a future."

Thank you for joining us in praying for these brothers and sisters in Christ.

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

Team Kharkov Requests November 6th-12th

"The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.  The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations."  (Psalm 33:10-11)

This morning, Amanda and I gathered together with over 100 Ukrainian women to unite our hearts together for the world-wide day of prayer.  Nadia Morokovetz, the women's ministry leader for Baptist Union churches in the Kharkov oblast, led our time of prayer for the nations by asking 6 or 7 women to pray for the needs of different regions of the world.  As I read the Scripture from Psalm 33, I was reminded of the futility of the nations to seek their own solutions to all the problems facing them, and the power that is ours as we lift our hearts in prayer to the One who has His perfect plans.  Pray we will continually seek His plans, the "plans of his heart" for our own individual lives, and for the future generations of the Kharkov region of Ukraine.

Sunday, November 6th  Pray for Amanda as she meets after church today with the youth of Christian Life Church.  Intercede for the Lord to lay His plans across the hearts and minds of the youth and this church as they seek to reach out to the youth in their community with the love of Christ.  

Monday, November 7th  Pray for Amanda and I as we seek to coordinate visits in churches outside the city where volunteer teams will be working in 2012, and look for new opportunities to encourage and work alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Petition the Lord to open our eyes to those opportunities, and to make clear His plans.  

Tuesday, November 8th  Amanda and her friend Natasha continue to study Experiencing God together each Tuesday.  We give Him praise for the opportunities Natasha has had on Thursday evenings to talk with Marina, a young woman for whom you have prayed who is recovering from lymphoma.  Both come to The Book Club on Thursday evenings, and Marina has been asking questions, and expressing a desire to believe.  Pray the Lord would grant her the faith to trust Him as Lord and Savior.  Ask Him to continue to draw her deeper into a personal, eternal relationship with Jesus.

Wednesday, November 9th  Pray the Lord would draw 5 - 10 International women students from New Hope Church into the study of "Breaking Free" that will be meeting 2 times a month on Wednesday evenings.  Ask the Father to break our hearts over the things in our lives that break His heart, and allow Him to bring the healing and restoration He desires.  

Thursday, November 10th  We continue with the study of Romans 9 tonight, and the Father continues to bring new students into The Book Club.  Ask Him to fill this place with His Spirit in such a way that those who enter will be overwhelmed with His love, and His holiness.  Pray we would be faithful to share the truth of the gospel with His words, and not our own.

Friday, November 11th  Thank you for your prayers for Amanda and I, along with some of our colleagues, as we met last week in Kiev.  The Father blessed our time of getting out onto the streets and sidewalks of Kiev to initiate conversations with Ukrainians.  Pray for each of us to continue to be intentional each time we walk out the door of our homes, looking for those we will encounter during the day that He is drawing to Himself.  Ask Him to enable us to speak clearly in Russian the words He would use to begin new relationships in the marketplace of our lives.

Saturday, November 12th  Membership in Baptist churches, as well as the number of Baptist churches in Ukraine is declining.  Intercede for church leaders and believers throughout the nation as they seek His face, and His plan to give each Ukrainian the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.  Pray for hearts willing to be radically obedient to His plans, and His will.

Prayer is the foundation for all the Father desires to do in and through our lives.  May we, like the psalmists, cry out to the Father from hearts that are filled with a passion to see His Name proclaimed throughout the nations.

Together, with you, we are  IMPACTing the Kharkov Region of Ukraine with the love of Christ!

Team Kharkov Requests October 30th-November 5th

"But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can't do it!" (Jeremiah 20:9)

We have some dear friends, Zhenya and Natasha Molodchy, who exemplify this passage of Scripture so well!  I have never been with them when they were not telling me about opportunities they have had to share with others the Living Truth.  And their question, when we talk with them about what we are doing, is always:  "and how are you able to share the gospel with them?"  I always come away from our times of fellowship and prayer with His Word burning a little hotter in my heart, looking for those people He will put across my path that need that same Fire in their lives.

Part of the Lab we Amanda and I will be involved in the next 5 days with colleagues will involve taking Christ in us to the streets.  We don't know yet how our leaders will guide us to use those times, but my heart's desire is for His word to be burning so fervently within me that I cannot hold it in!  May He fan into flame a passion for Him that consumes all within us that is not of Him!  Pray we will all find ourselves overwhelmed with the desire to share with each and every person we see in this coming week some part of Who Christ is in our lives!

Sunday, October 30th  New Hope will have International Student Day today in their 2:00 p.m. service.  This church is strategically located in the Saltavka region of Kharkov, and next to 2 universities, and thousands of apartments.  In the past, students from 20 or more countries have attended services on this day.  Pray the Lord would draw the nations to New Hope today, and lead many of the students to join them in services throughout this school year.  Ask the Lord to raise up many Ukrainian believers in the Saltavka region to grow spiritually and go out into the region through New Hope.

Monday, October 31st  Pray for Amanda and I as we continue meeting with colleagues until Wednesday evening this week in a Lab designed to help each of us get back to focusing on keeping the Main Thing (Christ) the Main Thing!  Ask the Lord to use this time to encourage, restore, and renew all of us as we gather.  Pray for Mike and Linda Ray, our team supervisor and Eastern Ukraine leaders as they facilitate and lead our group in Kiev before traveling on Friday to lead a Lab in Romania for personnel there.

Tuesday, November 1st  The Father is granting many opportunities for Zhenya and Natasha to take the Word into prisons, rehab centers, as well as other places we are not free to mention right now. (They are shown in the picture with their 2 children Jon and Masha - Zhenya in the white shirt, and a friend in the striped shirt.)  Zhenya is also missions pastor at Christian Life church in Kharkov.  Pray for the Lord to grant them wisdom and knowledge of His will for the many doors that seem to be opening in their lives for ministry.  Intercede for their financial needs to be met by the Father in ways that magnify His glory.

Wednesday, November 2nd  Amanda has been invited to be a part of the leadership team for the youth group at Christian Life Church. Pray for this small group of youth as they haven't met at all in a long time and are trying to get started again. Ask the Father to give them direction and to empower Ruslan, who is the youth leader, to move boldly into the role of leadership the church has given him.

Thursday, November 3rd  Amanda and I are scheduled to arrive back in Kharkov around 12:30 today, then host the Book Club this evening for English conversation and Bible study.  We praise Him for all He is doing in all of our lives through our discussion of the book of Romans.  Pray for Amanda as she leads the Bible study tonight, beginning Chapter 9 of this book.  Ask the Lord to give her the energy she needs after a long trip, and the words He desires to be spoken into the lives of each person coming.

Friday, November 4th  Nadia Morokovetz, women's ministry leader for the Kharkov region, has asked our team to conduct leadership training for women in ministry in this region in December.  Intercede for us as we seek His wisdom and discernment to know how the Lord would have us conduct this training in a way that inspires and encourages the women leading groups throughout the region.

Saturday, November 5th  Baptist women in the Kharkov region, including Amanda and I, will gather today at Central Church in Kharkov for a day of prayer for the country of Ukraine.  Pray this will be a time for each of us to encounter the Father as we lay the needs of this land before His throne.  Ask Him to take the prayers of His precious daughters and move the mountains of unbelief in the hearts of multitudes in this land.




Zhenya and Natasha - opportunities they have to go into usually "closed" places in the Kharkov region to share Truth; "School without walls" 9-16 students, amy just coming out of rehab; meeting with women at rehab center through Red Church;