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UKRAINE NEWSLETTER
February
9, 2003
Dear Christian Friends;
We pray this finds you all healthy and happy. We were blessed to enjoy 6 weeks in the USA (December and January) visiting with family and friends. You are so good to encourage and help us all through the year, but there is nothing like being there. We enjoyed the time we were allowed to spend with some of you and to recharge our batteries.
When we arrived "home" in Donetsk a little more than a week ago, we were warmly greeted by the brothers and sisters here, but that was the only warm thing we found. There was an ice pack on the ground a couple of inches thick and in the time we have been here, every other day or so another inch or two or more were added to it. Temps are staying below freezing, so it’s just adding up. Although the streets are snow/ice covered, traffic and life grinds on. As I told one of the brothers in America, we can still get milk and bread.
Things are going well with the church here. Since our December newsletter, there have been 4 more precious souls added to the church.
Luba is a 50-something lady whose daughter, Alexandra, has been a faithful Christian for a few years now and teaches the youngest children. Luba and Alexandra live in the country and you may remember how we told you last summer that some of the men of the congregation went to help them when their husband/father left them. Seeing Alexandra’s Christian example, experiencing real Christian love and studying with Gene Parker and others finally wore Luba down and we are thrilled to be able to call her our sister.
Victor and Lena are both young twenty-somethings who are newcomers to our congregation. Lena has a young daughter and we look forward to getting to know them better.
Sergei is our sister Katya’s boyfriend and he is a Russian living in Germany. He studied with Katya and one of our brothers when he was here last summer. When he came to visit again over the holidays, he made the decision to become a New Testament Christian. It is with mixed emotions that we have learned of the engagement of Katya and Sergei, as they plan to marry in the spring and move to Germany. We will be sad to lose Katya, but we rejoice with her and Sergei.
We praise God for each of these new babes in Christ!
In spite of several inches of snow Sunday, we had a good crowd of about 70 come to worship in our nice warm church building. The insulation that Brother Gene had installed the past summer makes a difference and we are thankful to have such a comfortable place to meet.
We have a sister, Anna, who is diabetic and a double amputee (both legs have been removed). She is in very serious condition at this time. We ask that you remember her and her daughter, Ira, who is her primary caregiver.
As you know, we "adopted" 10 very poor senior citizens last fall. Pensions are very low in Ukraine and if a senior doesn’t have children to help take care of him, it can be very difficult to get by. Each month we bring our adopted seniors a care package consisting of several staple items, costing roughly $5 per person. The Marmaduke, Arkansas congregation (Ray’s home congregation) decided they would like to adopt an additional 10 seniors, so we will be visiting with 20 seniors each month hoping to make their lives a little easier and letting our Christian lights shine. (Matthew 5:16)
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the many gifts of money, medicine, prayers and moral support given to us while we were home. We never cease to be amazed at your generosity toward us. God had truly blessed us.
In Christian love,
Ray and Lynn
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Woodland
Hills Church of Christ