Odessa Mission
June 2005 Newsletter
Nosh Ftoroi Gode Nachinalsa!
(Our Second Year Is Underway!)
"I thank my God every time I remember you." Paul wrote. "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel...." (Phil.1:3-5).
Ira and I want to take this opportunity to echo that sentiment. On May 22, thanks to all the Lord is doing through you, Kind Road Christian Church celebrated its first birthday! Several individuals in the KRCC family warmly expressed their appreciation for all that has been accomplished this past year and many memorable trinkets were exchanged. It was truly a special day all around. There were three people that have made a big difference here at KRCC and I especially chose to thank: 1) Rayeesa for her dedication to evangelism within the Gypsy community, 2) Valya for her faithful attendance and fervent prayer support, and 3) my wife Ira for her impact through the worship and kids' programs. However, we also want you to know how much we appreciate each of you because you're the real reason we could celebrate KRCC's first birthday. We praise God for your faithful commitment to Jesus Christ and continually pray God's richest blessings on you and yours. From all of us here at KRCC we just want to say: "Thanks for everything!"
At the end of our special service, fourteen people officially placed their membership with KRCC. Although we've had several congregational meetings in the past, the June 8th meeting is the first official one and I plan to delegate ministry opportunities, institute tithing requirements, and establish systems of improvement and accountability for all of our new members. Please remember to especially pray for members like Oxonna and her 12-year old daughter Valya who probably live too far away (two hours by train) to make good on any serious ministry commitments. Surely, though, with your steadfast prayer support, God will keep building a rock-solid foundation for KRCC that will pave the way toward spiritual health and abundant fruit for many years to come. Paul concludes verse six of chapter 1 with these comforting words: "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Amen!
It's certainly encouraging to see our children continuing to actively serve the Lord in various ways and in a variety of venues. Their Easter Program at the school for kids with scoliosis was a HUGE success and we're rather optimistic about any future ministry opportunities there. On that day, the gospel was declared to about 150 students as well as ten teachers. Please keep the director of the school, Valerie Ivanovich, in your prayers. He and his wife have been to our home for dinner and we really seem to have a great relationship. He's about 50 years old, very intelligent, and extremely personable. He also seems pretty open to the gospel too. Personally, if converted, I think he would have extraordinary potential as a Christian leader, and with his position, he could influence many people for the sake of the gospel. Since no other church has ever done anything at that school, it seems God has lead KRCC to them and provided a golden opportunity there. Furthermore, Larissa who is a member of our church, recently got a job at the school. In fact, Valarie immediately gave her the lead post in the kitchen because of my recommendation. Not only is it apparently working out well for everyone, but also Larissa even mentioned the fact that she's already praying daily with the entire staff under her care (about twelve people in all). Also, as of two weeks ago, another Larissa who used to be the KRCC secretary is now Valarie's secretary. So Valarie Ivanovich has surrounded himself with Christians and it's hard not to see God's perfect will coming to fruition in all of this.
Please keep praying for little Galya and Kostya, siblings who were both baptized against their mother's wishes. Their mom Victoria is into eastern mysticism and she gave me a Hare Krishna book for my birthday. She also gave a book of astrology to Ira at some point. So, the devil is scheming away as usual and unfortunately Galya and Kostya are right in the middle of all this. Though they decided to temporarily withhold the baptism info from Mom, they were planning to tell her when they felt the time was right. Of course, KRCC encouraged them to seek God's direction as they worked toward that goal. However, a 20-year old "friend" of theirs named Dennis attended KRCC with them a few weeks ago and saw our display with their baptism pictures on it. Well, he immediately told their mother about it and the kids were both severely beaten and forbidden to continue attending KRCC. In fact, the bruises are still visible. However, because of their spiritual growth and desire to serve Jesus, Mom had no choice but to acquiesce and they've been faithfully attending church ever since. Someone once said: "Where faith goes, God follows." As always, when God decides to fight, He wins. One thing to note here is that Dennis, on the Sunday he visited KRCC, asked to speak with me privately about a couple of things. During the conversation he not only said that his job was to protect the kids and he would take the kids from KRCC if necessary, whatever that meant, but also revealed some very disturbing "facts" about their mother. So, following the kids' return to KRCC, I let them know what Dennis had done but not what he said. Of course, after Mom got wind of that, Dennis quickly became "the menace" who no longer shows his face at their apartment anymore, and according to Galya, Mom is just irate because she has no control over the situation. Let's all pray that Victoria will eventually turn to the only One Who does.
Love and thanks to all of you, John