Team Kharkov Requests September 18th-24th

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all good things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Cor. 9:8, NIV)

As I write this I am sitting in a room filled with 8 Ukrainian women, each of whom came through drug/alcohol rehabilitation and are now actively involved ministering to women who are struggling with the same addictions from which they have found freedom.  One of the churches represented has a flyer they use that shows pictures of 10 or 15 men and women in "before" and "after" pictures - before and after Jesus Christ transformed their lives.  Their beautiful faces are shown in the photo below.

We are gathered in a small city outside Kiev for a 2 1/2 day conference for Christian rehabilitation center leaders, both men and women, from all over Ukraine.  As I listen to them share their hearts and their stories I am reminded again of the abundant blessings of the Lord in my own life and, in reality, in the lives of each of us.  Many of the almost 100 people here work without pay in rehabilitation centers and churches because they are compelled by the love of Christ to help others find freedom.  They find He is their provider, filling their lives with all they need, so they may "abound in every good work" He calls them to.

Our desire as Team Kharkov is much like the desire of each of these beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ.  Through your prayers, we have the opportunity to encourage, teach, and come alongside our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are passionate in their desire to be instruments in the hands of the Lord in their homes, their cities, their country, and the world.  We praise Him for His answers to your prayers for us, and for the people of Eastern Ukraine!

Please join us again this week in prayer for the following:

• Churches throughout Ukraine will celebrate "zhatva" (thanksgiving for the harvest) on Sundays in September and October.  Pray the Lord of the Harvest will use each and every one of these celebrations to open the hearts of nonbelievers who might come for this special time.  Intercede for believers to recognize the Lord's desire to use their lives each day as light in the darkness of this world, leading others to Christ.
• Pray for me (Linda) as I travel on Sunday (Sept. 18th) to Budapest for an annual post-cancer check up.   Ask the Lord to grant me opportunities for sweet fellowship with Him as I go each day to different doctors for annual tests, and for opportunities to share Him with those He brings across my path.
• Pray for Amanda and Natasha as they continue to study of "Experiencing God" each Tuesday.  Petition the Lord to use this time of fellowship to encourage and grow both in their relationship with Him, and with one another.
• Ask the Lord to clearly direct our paths individually and corporately as we seek His face concerning future ministry in the Kharkov region of Ukraine.  Pray we would know which opportunities are from His hand for this time.  Ask Him to grant us both Ukrainian "partners" in our individual work, and as a team.
• Pray for Amanda as she leads the first meeting of "The Book Club" English group on Saturday, September 24th at 3:00 p.m.  Ask the Lord to give us wisdom as we seek to transition this group that has met and read the Bible together for 5 years to meeting one evening a week instead of Saturday.  Intercede for those who are coming and seeking the Lord to continue meeting with us at a new time, and in a new place.
• I praise the Lord for the opportunity to meet with many rehab center leaders from all over Ukraine.  Pray the Father would raise up Ukrainian brothers and sisters in the Kharkov region with a desire to minister to those in bondage to drugs and alcohol.  Ask the Lord to give me wisdom and understanding in knowing how He might choose to use me to encourage and help those He calls to minister to those in addiction and their families.

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

Team Kharkov Requests September 11th-17th

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore."  (Psalm 16:11)

How often I have sought out joy and pleasure in the things of the world, or in relationships with others.  Yet we are reminded in Psalm 16 that it's only in His presence, only when we are in a vital, intimate, Father/child relationship with Him that true joy and pleasure are found.

As I write this, Amanda and I are in the "capital" of western Ukraine, L'viv, with some of our IMB colleagues preparing for a short women's retreat that will be held tonight and tomorrow.  Many of those coming have not yet understood His desire for them to take hold of His "right hand" and find the joy of life He has for them.  May the coming days bring fulness of joy into our hearts as we watch Him transform not only the lives of those who have yet to believe, but even our own lives as He makes known the path of life He has planned for Amanda and I individually and corporately.

Over the next week, please join us in praying the following:

- Each of us will relive the moments of 9/11 this Sunday, remembering where we were and being reminded of how our lives as Americans were forever changed by the actions of a few persons on that day.  Ask the Lord to cause those memories to draw many back to Him, the only One who can grant us peace in the midst of the uncertainty of this world.  Pray our own hearts will be filled with conviction and passion concerning what He would have us do in our daily lives to accomplish His purposes today, and each day to follow.

- Pray for Amanda and I as we spend a few extra days in L'viv with colleagues seeing some of the historical sites, and processing many of the things that have transpired in the past few months.  Pray the Lord would truly make known His plans for us as we prepare for ministry that will begin in the coming weeks.

- We will fly back to Kiev on Wednesday, September 14th, then Amanda will take the train to Kharkov.  Pray our journey back toward the east will be a time of sweet fellowship with one another and with our Lord.  Intercede for Amanda as she makes preparations for the first Book Club meeting on the 24th, and seeks the Father's will concerning ministry with youth at Christian Life Church.

- Pray for me (Linda) as I attend a conference for church planting through recovery ministry outside of Kiev September 15th-17th.  Ask the Lord to open my eyes and my heart to His desire concerning recovery ministry in the Kharkov oblast.  Pray for the Ukrainian men and women who will attend, asking that they would be encouraged as they seek to minister to the multitudes of those addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Your petitions to the Father on behalf of the people of the Kharkov region of Ukraine, and Amanda and I as "Team Kharkov," mean more than you will ever know to us.  He is moving mountains in accordance with your prayers, and we are blessed to experience fellowship with you through your ministry of prayer for us.

Team Kharkov Requests September 4th-10th

"Then Jesus told them this parable:  'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep."  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.'"  (Luke 15:3-7, NIV)

Thank you so much for your prayers for Amanda and I during our time with our sisters in Christ from the Donetsk region.  Of the 67 women who attended the camp, 4 were not yet believers in Christ.  We were rejoicing with the angels in heaven as 2 of these women made decisions to repent and follow Christ.  

     Shown in the photo on the left, Ira (on the left) repented at the end of the 2nd day of our camp.  In the photo on the right, Galya, with our colleague Joe Ragan who preached during our Sunday worship service, received Christ as Savior at the end of the service.
     Each of these women had been prayed for, witnessed to, and ministered to by women from the Baptist church in their city.  Your prayers, joined with those of believers in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, moved their hearts to say "yes" to the invitation to the camp, and to Christ Jesus as Lord!
     Thank you for your prayers in the past, and for hearts willing to pray for what the Father desires to do in the future in and through the ministry of Team Kharkov - Amanda Dillon and Linda Gray - as we walk in obedience to Him!


Sunday, September 4th  Amanda and I will attend Christian Life Church in Kharkov today.  Their missions pastor, Zhenya Molodchy and his wife Natasha are great friends and co-laborers with us.  Pray as we continue to visit churches in the Kharkov region, seeking to know the plans the Father has for us, and for future volunteer teams.  Zhenya has been and will be helping us in meeting with pastors and church leaders in preparation for teams and future ministry.  Pray for Zhenya, Natasha and their children as they serve the Lord with joy in the Kharkov region.


Monday, September 5th Pray for Amanda and I as we prepare conference material for a women's conference in Western Ukraine.  Ask the Lord to lead us both as we write what the Lord lays upon our hearts from parables concerning the mercy of Christ.  Pray we will both be attentive to hear His voice, and that our hearts would be prepared to speak His Word.  


Tuesday, September 6th  Pray for Pastor Vitaly Sorokun and believers at New Hope Church as they prayerfully seek to reach the Saltavka region of Kharkov.  Praise the Father for the passion he has given Pastor Vee to disciple and see the believers in New Hope filled with the same passion for sharing Christ with those outside their doors.


Wednesday, September 7th  Amanda and I will travel today to Kiev for the first part of our journey to Western Ukraine.  Pray for times of sweet fellowship with one another and with the Lord as we make the 6-hour drive from Kharkov.  Ask the Father to grant us safe travel on the roads.


Thursday, September 8th  Pray for us as we fly from Kiev to Lviv, Ukraine  for a women's retreat Friday and Saturday.  Ask the Lord to bless our time of fellowship with colleagues in Western Ukraine.   Intercede for Amanda, Linda Ray, Donna Akers, and myself as we make final preparations spiritually, emotionally, and physically for the time of teaching.


Friday, September 9th  Petition the Lord to prepare the hearts of each one attending the women's conference in Lviv today.  Ask the Lord to speak His Word clearly and succinctly in a way that leads each of us to be changed through the power of His Word.


Saturday, September 10th  Pray the Lord would move in the hearts of the women in the conference who have never made a decision to follow Christ.  Praise Him for His faithfulness to His promise that His Word will never return void, but will cut to the very marrow of the bone, the very core of our being, to bring about eternal change.


Each and every day we draw closer to the return of our Savior.  We do not know if it will be today, tomorrow, or a 1000 years from now!  But for multitudes in the world, today will be their last day, their last opportunity to hear and receive the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your prayers for those who have yet to hear, and for us as we seek to be instruments in His hands, for His glory!


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

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!