Woodland Hills Church of Christ

News from Proletarsky

            We hope 2005 is off to a good start for you and that you are spiritually and physically well.  We returned back to Donetsk on January 13, after an awfully short month home in Memphis and Arkansas.  It was great to visit with family and friends and generally have a little taste of the good old USA! 

            Although it had been a mild winter to that point, last week brought winter temps and SNOW!  We don’t remember the last time it got above freezing, so those few inches of beautiful snow just get dirty and turn into ice, making transportation a real adventure.

            Speaking about transportation, we have been talking about the need for a van for the church.  For the time being, we decided to rent the services of a good acquaintance, who lives nearby and drives a van during the week.  We have been having a vanload for the last 3 Sundays and plan to begin a route for mid-week services.  One of our dear sisters with health problems walked 50 minutes, one-way in snow to get to prayer meeting.  May God bless us all with the same desire to gather together with our Christian family and praise and worship Him!

             In spite of the weather challenges, we purchased and delivered Food for the Needy the last weekend of January.  There had been 3 recent deaths, so we’ll be adding some new folks to the route.  We told people about the van ministry, but many of these folks are not healthy enough to get out of their apartments.  Perhaps some will feel like coming once spring arrives.

            Since returning, we have been looking in earnest for a suitable facility for the proposed children’s home.  We have tentatively located a building and, we made an offer on it next week.

As with most things in Ukraine, we are not playing a waiting game. Lord willing; we will be asking you for material help with that in the very near future. 

            Please continue to pray for Christina.  She is showing great improvement this past week, but will need to stay in the hospital at least one more month.  We have received funds from a good doctor in Georgia and purchased a 100 liter water heater for the hospital.  There has been no hot water available in the bathrooms and only warm water in the sinks in the morning.  Maybe that will help Christina’s spirits some.  It is just a drop in the bucket of their needs, but at least it is a hot drop. 

            On January 30^th, six members of our youth group participated in a Bible Bowl competition with the Budyonovsky congregation.  All participants are winners as they all gained a greater knowledge of the book of Matthew.  However, Proletarsky took home the trophy and we are very proud of our young people!

             We are happy to welcome a new sponsoring congregation this month:  the South Trail congregation in Sarasota.  We look forward to getting to know these good folks better as we work together to spread the good news about Christ in Donetsk and Ukraine. 

              This begins our seventh year in the Proletarsky area and we thank God for all the wonderful people who have prayed for us, sponsored our work and been so encouraging through out the years.  We pray that God will give us wisdom as we continue in His service.

 Ray and Lynn