Woodland Hills Church of Christ

Greetings from chilly Donetsk! Thankfully the heat in our buildings was turned on in mid-October, as the temps have been quite cool (low 20’s to high 30’s tonight). We had our first snow Monday night and it was beautiful, although it soon turned to slush on Tuesday. Those of us, who hadn’t already done so, were pushed into digging out our winter gear.

We had a non-weather-related accident in the month of October. On the 22^nd, Lynn fell and broke a bone in her right hand. In spite of the cast, she hasn’t hardly missed a beat and got a good report from her doctor today. Although it is quite inconvenient, we are grateful it wasn’t any worse than it was.

We started the month of October off with a bang as Chris Swinford held a weekend meeting for us on the 3rd through the 5th. Chris and his family are former Donetsk residents and he was in town for a few weeks teaching at Ukrainian Bible Institute. He was kind enough to spend some time with us and encourage the Proletarsky congregation on the topic of using our spiritual gifts in the local congregation.

We are elated to report 3 baptisms for the month of October. The first was an older lady, Valentina Ivanovna, whose son is a former Russian Orthodox church official. He, too, occasionally attends our worship services and we hope to see him become a member of the church as well.

Vikka, the granddaughter of one of our members, was baptized on the 11th of October. She is a sweet young lady and a great addition to our youth group (first attached photo with her grandmother, Svetlana, also a Christian). The third baptism is also a teen-ager named Tanya (see second attached photograph-Tanya is on the left front). Tanya is an orphan and different relatives and neighbors help look after her and her older brother. One of our families lives near Tanya and invited her to services. Tanya has been attending since the summer and decided she was ready to put on Christ in baptism. We are so pleased to welcome these new sisters into our Christian family.

The Magistralny congregation has a new meeting place! Our trust in Vanya was not in vain; he was able to locate a three-room apartment near the train station for the Magistralny congregation to use as a meeting place, beginning Sunday, November 2. This apartment is the answer to our prayers. It is conveniently located to several lines of transportation and rent is not unreasonable ($75/month). However, this congregation is made up mostly of older folks and teens and their contribution is very small. Perhaps some of you have a desire to help in this way. We are grateful to Bro. Bob Brewer who has agreed to pay the first four months’ rent and we are seeking additional assistance.

Several members of our youth group have been meeting with the young people of this small congregation on Sunday afternoons. They have always met in one room of a public library, which is technically illegal. It also has limited the possibility for them to meet together except for 2 hours on Sundays. We hope to work together with Magistralny to help them grow spiritually and numerically, while our youth are gaining valuable experience working in the kingdom.

We are looking forward to the new year and prayerfully making plans for the work of the church. The men of the congregation have selected leaders to be responsible for various areas of work including: evangelism, visitation, fellowship and special events. Beginning this coming Sunday night, we will begin a special series of lessons to better train and equip the church to reach out and teach the lost.

We are deeply grateful for your prayers and encouragement. Please remember the church here and the following individuals in your prayers:

Anna & Ira – Anna, a double amputee is gravely ill and in constant pain
        Ira is her daughter and caretaker
Lena – this week Lena and her 3-year old daughter Alina, were kicked out
        by her husband and in-laws. Lena is one of our children’s
        teachers and currently living with her sister.

In Christian Love,
Lynn and Ray

Heb. 4:16