Woodland Hills Church of Christ

NEWS FROM PROLETARSKY

June, 2002

   June was an exciting month in Proletarsky.  On June 8^th we had our fourth annual Ladies’ Day with a more than capacity crowd of 165 ladies.  Twenty-five congregations from southern Ukraine were represented as the ladies enjoyed a day of worship and fellowship.  Our ladies worked very hard for several months to plan the worship, food, decorations, and fellowship to make this a very special day for all.  We were especially excited to have one of our teen girls leading the singing and the others present to help with decorations and serving food. 

     This was a month of homecomings as Alicia Mostovich arrived on the 18^th and Gene and Mary Parker flew into Kiev on the 19^th.  We went to Kiev to meet the Parkers since their plane arrived in the evening and they had to spend the night.  It gave us a good opportunity to visit with them and plan our work for the remainder of the year.  It is great to have these good friends and workers for the Lord back in Donetsk.

     Lynn began a study with Nadia Andreevna, whose daughter, Tanya and granddaughter, Christina have been members of the church for some time.  Nadia has always been friendly to us but has never allowed any conversation about the Bible.  We were all surprised when she agreed to see the Jule Miller filmstrips.  She seemed to really enjoy the films and announced that she planned to attend worship with her daughter.  She has come three times now and we pray that this will continue.  We will continue to study with her and pray that God will open her heart.

     Ray continues to study with several Jehovah’s Witnesses.  One of the young men even called the headquarters in Lvov to question some of their practices.  He has not received an answer yet (and probably won’t!). We pray that these young men will see the truth and be willing to accept it.  The Jehovah’s Witness denomination is enjoying great success in Ukraine right now.  In June, there was an area-wide meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in a local soccer stadium.  More than 10,000 attended this event, baking in the hot sun.  Many of these people are sincerely trying to serve God; they have been deceived by the man-made organization headquartered in Brooklyn, NY.  In our congregation, two of our recent baptisms are former Witnesses and we hope and pray this is only the beginning. 

     We have a young lady in our congregation named Alexandra who teaches the small children.  She lives with her mother and her father recently left them.  They have a small house in the country and all the chores and responsibilities that go along with that.  Alexander Mitrofanov has organized some help for this family in the form of cutting wood and cutting hay for their goats to eat in the winter.  Alexandra’s mother (Luba) has recently shown some interest in studying the Bible and this example of Christianity in action has made a good impression in her. 

     Saturday June 23^rd and Sunday the 24^th were wonderful days as we saw two ladies accept the Lord in baptism.  Alla is the mother of two girls who attend Lynn’s English class for children.  The girls began attending Bible classes on Sundays and told their mother that she needed to come too.  Alla and her neighbor, Larissa came about a month ago and Alexander Mitrofanov began studying with them.  On Saturday the 23^rd, Alla made the decision to put her Lord on in baptism.  After a final class with Alexander Mitrofanov on the following day, Larissa followed her friend’s example and was baptized into Christ.  These two ladies are a wonderful addition to the congregation. 

     June 27^th through the 29^th the Proletarsky church had a gospel meeting or, as they call it, a campaign.  We had classes for all ages at 10 am each day and lessons in the evening.  We enjoyed the preaching of Charles Evans, his interpreter, Igor and Roma from the Lake Street congregation.  All three men did excellent jobs and encouraged the church. 

     On the first night of the campaign two young people from the Azotney congregation were baptized.  Ray, Charles, Igor and Nick have all worked with that congregation and were delighted to see these young people desiring to serve the Lord.

     Sunday the 30^th was another day of rejoicing as Raisa and Larissa were both baptized.  Raisa  attended the campaign every night and studied with some of the men during the day.  It didn’t take her long to know what she needed to do.  Larissa and her two-year-old son, Gene have been attending worship for about a month and she was thrilled to learn the truth.  Later that day, another lady from the Azotney congregation came to be baptized (the mother of the young lady who was baptized on Thursday).  What a great way to end the month!

     This is the time of year when we miss Memphis – at least we miss the air conditioning.   We have had temperatures in the 90’s every day with little rain.  Gardens are beginning to suffer as much as we are.  Actually we miss you all the time and thank you for all you help and prayers.  May God bless you for sharing in the work here in Ukraine.   

     “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

                          II Corinthians 5:17