Dear Friends,
I trust this
letter finds you well. Thank you for your participation and
interest in the work of CM & ISAAC.
“Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God's will is--his good,
pleasing and perfect will.” Rom 12:2
Thank you very
much for your prayers for my time in Moldova. God answered
wonderfully. I enjoyed my time teaching the addiction module
to a group of 12 female social work students. Please pray that
male students will also want to serve God practically, as many
areas need trained men. We were able to make three trips to
rehab centres which they said “radically changed their view of
addiction ministry.”
Praise God for
the healing and freedom that the Moldovan rehab leaders
experienced through the recent Genesis training conference.
Concluding comments include: “It feels like being born again.”
“I’ve got new energy and clarity of vision.” “My
relationship with my wife has restored it’s freshness like
when we were first dating.” (Although his wife was not able to
attend.) “A great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”
The issues that held me back in the past hardly bother me
now.” Praise God for the work of His Spirit and the answers
to your prayers. This was the third conference that Ruslan,
the New Life rehab dir, and I have taught on sections of the
Genesis programme. This time we decided to focus on the people
who had already participated in at least one of the previous
two conferences. This meant that we just had 14 people (of a
possible 30) but they all came prepared to seriously deal with
hindrances in their relationships with God and others. The
safe, caring atmosphere in all the triplets enabled each of us
to receive healing and release we needed. An additional
blessing was the onsite tennis court, which got a lot of use
in the break times. I was pleasantly surprised that so many
were prepared to have a go for the first time.
Please pray for
continued good health. After the long train ride back home to
Kiev on Sun, I woke that night with an upset stomach. Praise
God that it didn’t start while travelling. Also I need to find
another reliable dentist, the one I was previously using in
the in the church run clinic had to close down when our church
lost the use of their office building and ministry centre.
Praise God for
the two Genesis groups which have started on Tue and Thur
evenings in our church with a total of about 20 participants..
I will be leading one and Yulia the other with helpers from
previous courses. Please pray for sensitivity to see and
cooperate with how God is working in each person’s life. I
also plan to start a level two group in October
Our next Ukraine
ISAAC team meeting will be held here in my Kiev flat from the
18-19 of Oct. Tref will come from Reading, Oksana from
Nikolayev Marina and Dnepropetrovsk. Please pray for wisdom
for our plans for the way ahead. I am hoping to arrange a
trip to St Petersburg and the Caucasus later this year to
continue some of the Genesis training that has been started in
those regions.
Different
celebrations are being held by Evangelical Churches as part of
the 90th anniversary of the Pentecostal movement in the former
Soviet Union. The first Pentecostal Church was started
through the work of a Russian born immigrant to the USA, who
later to settled with his family in Odessa. He opened the
first Pentecostal church in int fSU inNovember 1921. By 1926
Pentecostal congregations appeared in almost all regions of
Ukraine as well as in the central regions of Russia, the
Urals, the Caucasus and Siberia. In 1930 Ivan Voronaev and
most of his associates were arrested and exiled to Siberia.
We have many
preparations at Christian Hope Church to mark the 20 year
anniversary of its formation from the 28th and 30th
of Oct. A lot of investment has been made to the building over
the summer so now more Sunday school rooms are in use and the
main hall is decorated nicely. While we praise God for the
freedom we still have to witness and serve Hm but we also need
prayer for courage and wisdom to use it effectively.
Thank you for
your valuable prayer and support. God is a work in wonderful
ways and it is a privilege to share this encouragement with
you.
Alison