July, 2003 

Let us begin by telling those of you in the Memphis area that you have been in our prayers and thoughts since your big storm. Many of you were affected and we hope the recovery time is not too long or costly. We can not even imagine what you have been through. God bless you as you continue with repairs.

July is vacation month for many people in Donetsk. A number of our regular members have been at the sea or mountains, but attendance for worship has still been good, with many visitors. The weather has been good for vacations. While we have had rain almost every day, that is only for part of the day and it has been sunny and pleasant the rest. This has been the coolest, wettest summer we have seen since moving here. 

July 6th was a great day. One of our young men, Radik, celebrated two birthdays on the same day. He turned 10 years old, but, more importantly, he was baptized into Christ. His father, Oleg, was baptized in May and grandmother, Tamara, in June. We are praying that the three of them will have a good influence on Radik’s mother, who came to witness his new birth, but has not been willing to attend otherwise. She seems like a very nice lady, but has no interest in God, yet. By the way, Radik is the reigning Ukrainian Karate Champion for his age group!

We had originally planned to have a week at camp with our teens the week of July the 6th. A few days prior to departure, the camp notified us that they would not be able to accept us. In spite of the delay for our camp, we finally found a place and left Donetsk early on Monday the 14th of July. Because of some schedule conflicts with the date change, our number was smaller than expected, but we still ended up with 19 teens and four adults. Since Ray was the only adult male, we had to put one of the older teen boys in charge of part of the boys. That worked out fine. The facilities in camp here are more like an old college dormitory. We had part of one floor, five rooms with three to six people in a room, with only beds and a closet. None of us had ever seen this camp before arrival and our first impression was to return to the bus as quickly as possible and head back for Donetsk. Nikka, Tanya and Ray made a list of important things, such as curtains for the windows (we were on the first floor), light bulbs and locks for the doors. Nothing could be done about the uni-sex bathroom, except planting a guard or yelling loudly, “woman or man here” when the door opened. Jumping ahead, I am happy to report that by the end of the week, the kids were begging to stay another week. 

Each day after breakfast, we had a devotional and split classes. This gave the girls a chance to have some experience at teaching, as they had the first 15 minutes for a short lesson. Lynn also had a chance to talk with the girls, as Ray talked with the boys, about some things which we felt were important for them to hear at this time. The girls did excellent jobs in their lessons and the boys prepared good devotional talks for morning and evening. Each evening Ray spoke to the combined group.

Each day we planned games, swimming and fellowship time. The scavenger hunt created the most excitement as teens ran all over camp hunting all kinds of items from the signature of the cleaning lady to a live frog. We ended the week with a “shashleek” (shisk-a-bob) picnic, a talent show and skit presentations.

The highlight of the week was the addition of a new sister to the Lord’s church. Rita, who has been attending Budjonovsky congregation for some time, was baptized on Wednesday afternoon. She has been to camp with us every year and we were thrilled to see her desire to serve the Lord. A big thank you to all who helped finance our camp.

Please continue to pray for our diabetic friend, Anna, and her daughter, Ira. Anna has not been doing well and seems to be getting weaker all the time. She is having a hard time with her blood pressure and the doctor can’t seem to find the answers. Ira spends almost 24 hours of each day with Anna and needs our prayers for her health and patience.

Our food program for old and handicapped people continues to grow. We have added 5 names this month which brings the total number of individuals helped to 30. Most of these people have the first impression of great surprise. One lady said that she had been a member of the Russian Orthodox Church for many years and had given regularly to them, but after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, they had never helped her. Even though most of these people can’t come to worship themselves because of their age or handicap, they come in contact with others and will tell of the kindness of the Lord’s people. 

The opportunity to help these needy people is a blessing for the church at Proletarsky. Each month they hear stories of people who receive tiny pensions for whom these monthly commodities make a significant difference.

Each month we are spending approximately $6 per person. This month’s package included: 2 lbs. each of the following: flour, sugar, rice, buckwheat, cooking oil, milk, sardines, cookies, fruit, tea and bullion cubes.

Every month, we vary the contents of the packages slightly, sometimes substituting in basic over-the-counter medications.

Ray continues to work with the Magistralny congregation. Each Sunday afternoon he goes there with some of our teens to help develop a teen class. They are in great need of a new place to worship and the search is on to find a flat for them and money to pay the rent. Right now they worship in a library and are limited in time and space. They have 25-30 people each Sunday and no room to grow. We don’t know yet what apartments rent for in their area, but in our part of town, the rent for a suitable apartment would probably be in the neighborhood of $100 per month.

We love you all and miss you very much. Thanks for all your support and prayers.

Ray and Lynn

Photo attachments include the following:
1) Our new brother, Radik with Marina
2) On the road to camp
3) Coming back home, photograph taken on the ‘state line’
4) Our new sister, Margarita