These folks have also joined the church planting team for the Church on the Shelter. They arrived at the end of the summer having traveled in a box all the way from California. We welcome them aboard and we thank our CA friends who donated them and sent them on their first trip overseas. When the church plant is ready to begin children's ministry, these colorful friends will be ready to do their part. 

Since we blogged last month about the radical changes that are taking place with Spiritual Renewal of the Donbas, the steering committee has met again to hammer out the next steps for the ministry. On December 6, there will be an infusion of new life and blood into the ministry as a new membership and board are decided upon.  At the end of February, a big reunion of the mission's church planting training students will be held to promote the ongoing work of the ministry and to encourage the recruitment of new students for a new training program that will begin in 2009.

Keep these upcoming events in your prayers. If you missed last month's update on this ministry, simply click on the picture above.

Praise: Charity is staying busy at BFA with her senior studies and activities. She is also busy filling out college applications, and recently took part in a street musician outreach in Basel. Pray for her to have the strength to meet all of life's demands as she strives to finish well.

Praise: Yura and Lena, the couple that were supposed to come to Donetsk as part of the church plant and couldn't because of a social services decision, have come to believe that the Lord's leading was not wrong but rather their timing was incorrect. In other words, they believe that they will someday be moving to Donetsk to work in the church plant full-time, but that time will be later. Who knows... maybe next year. The important thing is that they have come to have peace regarding the Lord's leading in this aspect of their lives.

Prayer: For now, Yura has a two-day per week job that enables him to be in Donetsk to help with the church plant outreach. Before leaving, the men on the team prayed over Yura, appointing him as the leader in my absence. Pray for him in this role to have courage and steadfastness.

Praise and Prayer: Oleg and Lena, the couple that came to Donetsk when the wife almost died from a severe post-operative infection, are doing better. The wife is recovering and slowly gaining back strength. She still has a long way to go and doctors say the physical aspects of her recovery may take as long as 6 months. The emotional and psychological recovery may take longer.  Oleg, has worked hard to bring the rented parsonage up to snuff and moved into the house just a couple days before we left the states. He is hoping to find work in Donetsk and minister on the church plant.  He is currently seeking the Lord's leading.

Praise and Prayer: Construction of the foundation for the first phase of the church on the shelter began on Monday of this week. A warm and dry fall would be helpful in getting the work done before winter sets in and complicates building efforts.

Prayer: The church planting crew for the church on the shelter plans to begin an Alpha course evangelistic Bible study on Tuesdays beginning on Oct. 7. Pray for those from the community that will be coming.

Prayer: After celebrating the Frank's anniversary, we will be spending three weeks promoting the ministry in AZ and CA. Pray for receptive minds and generous hearts as we seek funding for the first phase of the church on the shelter.