NEWS FROM PROLETARSKY
Donetsk, Ukraine
February, 2003
Dear
Christian Friends,
As
Paul said in Philippians 1:3, we thank God every time we remember you!
As
we are thawing out from a snowy winter, we know that most of you have had your
own recent experiences with snow and winter weather.
Hang on, we’ve nearly made it to Spring!
Although
winter has historically been a slow time for the congregation in Proletarsky,
2003 is off to a very exciting start. In
the month of February, 3 more individuals decided to give their lives to Christ
and have put Him on in baptism. (Their
pictures can be found below.)
We
hope and pray that when we look back on the entire year of 2003, we will be able
to say that, once again, winter was a comparatively
slow time for the church!
Nellie
has been attending services for a few weeks along with her granddaughter.
Her sister, Luda, has been a member of the church since last fall.
Since that time, she has been very active in sharing her faith and as a
result, her mother, son, daughter, son-in-law, and now her sister have all
become a part of our Christian family. (In
the picture of Nellie to follow, Luba is the lady with the big, furry hat in the
right of the picture.)
Alexei
is a young single man who has had some problems with drug dependency.
He has managed to bring this problem under control and wants to live a
life pleasing to God.
Just
last Sunday, Oleg gave his life to God.
He has a wife and young son and wants very much to be a good spiritual
leader for his family.
Please
remember these new brothers and sister in your prayers, that they may grow and
be influences for good on their families and friends.
It
takes more than a little snow and ice to get our teenagers down…the youth
group meets every Saturday, but on the 8th of February, they had a
service Saturday. We all met at the
building and divided up into small groups.
Several people delivered food to our elderly adoptees; one group visited
a teen-age sister who has not been attending; some of the smaller-(so as not to
fall through!) young men climbed up on the roof to clean off the snow and put
down a layer of plastic sheeting to prevent leaks.
After all the work was done, we met at Lynn’s for a devotional, where
she had prepared a delicious spaghetti dinner for all.
The young folks had so much fun we nearly had to run them off with a
stick!
In
February, we began a new series of lessons on Saturdays, which are being taught
by one of our teens, Ivan (see below). He
has a real talent for teaching and he has put a lot of preparation into this
series of lessons. His parents and
brother, Nick, are faithful members of the church and we are truly thankful for
each one of them.
We
are indeed thankful to God that Ukraine is currently experiencing a time of
religious freedom! However, it is
never easy to be a Christian. A
young sister in her twenties was telling us this week about the pressure she
feels from her Russian Orthodox family. Her
sisters are having children and want her to be their ‘godmother’.
They don’t understand why she has ‘forsaken’ their religion and are
offended that she won’t accept this position.
Most people here still view anything other than the Russian Orthodox
Church as a new, foreign cult.
Next week we are expecting to receive 5,000 pieces of advertising to help
all of us to ‘start talking’ to the folks around us.
This advertising is similar to a business card with a landscape
background and invitation to services on the front and a 2003 calendar on the
reverse side.
As we mentioned last month, we were able to increase the number of our
adopted seniors from 10 to 25, beginning in the month of February.
This is almost as much of a blessing to those who get to deliver the
groceries as it is to those who receive them.
Many of the seniors are moved to tears when they receive a few staples to
help them stretch their tiny pensions to the end of the month.
The social services department of Proletarsky has worked with us to find
those who are most needy and they too have been very appreciative for the help
the church has been able to provide.
We
are ever thankful for all of your encouragement and participation in expanding
the borders of the Kingdom in Ukraine. In
Christian Love,
Lynn and Ray
Nelya_ba.jpg
Aleksei_.jpg
Oleg_bap.jpg
Lena_san.jpg
teencla1.jpg
teenclas.jpg
Woodland
Hills Church of Christ