As I sit here in Ukraine trying to think of what updates to
tell you I keep hearing, “NEPAL, NEPAL, NEPAL, NEPAL� ringing in my ears, it’s
rainy season again, my kids in the village of DungDunge, are they okay, do they
have rafts to keep them safe in the rivers? Are they getting enough to eat,
what about my family in Kathmandu, is Rita still working on her English, is
Real still as rambunctious as ever, and Rosanne still as cheerful and giggly as
I remember? How are their hearts doing, do they have the funding keep their
ministries going supporting the widows and children they encounter, how are the
ChurchBoy’s Football team doing? Are more boys coming to know Christ through
Reuben’s incredible ministry? I miss them all so very much I cant quite put it
into words, I feel as though a part of my heart is still there with them and I
simply cannot wait to go back and feel it beating once again. Continue praying
for their ministry please.
My teammate Bethany’s family has funded building a
school in the rural Dungdunge village where we travelled. The children there
had to walk 3hrs one way to school and then 3 hrs back home daily, crossing the
river up to 14 times. God has amazingly provided a way for a school to begin
being built in the area and the ground breaking has already begun- praise the
Lord!
Reuben has his hands in many other projects that need prayer as well
including building an orphanage as well as starting regular Bible and computer
classes for locals in Kathmandu. Pray for the finances needed to keep these
ministries going and for strength and endurance for Reuben, his family, and his
ministry partners. The Joy of the Lord truly is Reuben’s strength and we felt
it in an overwhelming way when we were there with him. If you want any more
information about Reuben, his family, or his specific ministry needs please
feel free to contact me or Reuben himself at: [email protected]
All that said, Ukraine is still a very incredible place
where Gods needs are very prevalent and God has been doing amazing things in
L’viv while we’ve been here. English night last Thursday went better than any
of us could have anticipated, more visitors came and we had an amazing dialogue
centered around our theme of “transformations�. It was awesome to see how God
directed the conversations naturally turned and after the night was complete.
I
had a mind boggling conversation with a man who desperately needs the Lord. For
the man’s privacy I’ll call him Bob. Bob came up and directly asked me, “so you
said that each of you on your team had experienced radical transformations in
your lives through the work of Jesus, tell me about yours� Basically he said
give me your testimony- so for the next 1.5hrs I got to share with this man
about who Jesus is in my life and the truth of His Word. This man had many
things confused about the Bible and was not convinced that it truly was the
Word of God and could be trusted. He believed there was a God but that Jesus’
salvation story was way too tragic to be true. The entire conversation was an
interesting one and took many twists and turns as I poured out all the truth I
could over this man in the time that I had. At the end of the conversation
another man approached our group who spoke very little English, so naturally
Bob stepped in to help translate between me and this new individual. Turns out
his other man was having breathing problems so I asked if it would be okay for
me to pray for him that God would heal his breathing problems. He said yes and
that he also needed prayer for God to provide a job for him because he was
jobless. I said absolutely I’d love to pray for you. While this interaction was
going on Bob stopped me and said, “I’m sorry can I tell you something� I said
Yes of course, Bob said, “Do not pray for me, I do not want you to pray for
me.� I was very taken aback and asked him why and he said, “I want to think for
myself about what I believe, I do not need your prayers, I do not want you to
pray for me.�
Wow I had no idea how to respond to this, never in my life have I
had someone so directly look me in the eye and say “do not pray for me�. I
simply said that’s your choice and went back to the conversation with the other
man we had been speaking to. In my mind I was thinking…..wow there’s obviously
a HUGE spiritual battle going on inside of this man, the enemy does not want
him to know the TRUTH of the gospel, but Jesus clearly wants him in the
Kingdom. We did not coerce this man to come to our English night, he came on
his own accord and I believe and will continue to believe that God has HUGE
plans for this man who now professes no need for God or prayer, but in the near
future WILL profess God’s unfathomable Love and how desperately Bob needs Him
in his life.
Will you partner with me to pray for Bob and for Nepal and for the
other Ukrainians we encounter this week, and for our two Vietnamese friends who
currently profess Buddhism but I believe they will also come to know the Lord
as their Savior soon??? Please pray with me right now for these requests….your
prayers are important and make a difference.
OK I was about to post this blog but checked my facebook
really fast before I did, one of the most amazing girls we’ve met on The Race
wrote this blog (Her name is Lina)…and as I read it I’m in tears…if there was
any doubt as to why we do what we do on The World Race…this blog IS THE REASON….read
it…and pray J
Lina if you’re reading this we love you so much more than you can imagine, and
amazingly God loves you even more than that!! So SO So thankful that we met
you.
tell you I keep hearing, “NEPAL, NEPAL, NEPAL, NEPAL� ringing in my ears, it’s
rainy season again, my kids in the village of DungDunge, are they okay, do they
have rafts to keep them safe in the rivers? Are they getting enough to eat,
what about my family in Kathmandu, is Rita still working on her English, is
Real still as rambunctious as ever, and Rosanne still as cheerful and giggly as
I remember? How are their hearts doing, do they have the funding keep their
ministries going supporting the widows and children they encounter, how are the
ChurchBoy’s Football team doing? Are more boys coming to know Christ through
Reuben’s incredible ministry? I miss them all so very much I cant quite put it
into words, I feel as though a part of my heart is still there with them and I
simply cannot wait to go back and feel it beating once again. Continue praying
for their ministry please.
My teammate Bethany’s family has funded building a
school in the rural Dungdunge village where we travelled. The children there
had to walk 3hrs one way to school and then 3 hrs back home daily, crossing the
river up to 14 times. God has amazingly provided a way for a school to begin
being built in the area and the ground breaking has already begun- praise the
Lord!
Reuben has his hands in many other projects that need prayer as well
including building an orphanage as well as starting regular Bible and computer
classes for locals in Kathmandu. Pray for the finances needed to keep these
ministries going and for strength and endurance for Reuben, his family, and his
ministry partners. The Joy of the Lord truly is Reuben’s strength and we felt
it in an overwhelming way when we were there with him. If you want any more
information about Reuben, his family, or his specific ministry needs please
feel free to contact me or Reuben himself at: [email protected]
where Gods needs are very prevalent and God has been doing amazing things in
L’viv while we’ve been here. English night last Thursday went better than any
of us could have anticipated, more visitors came and we had an amazing dialogue
centered around our theme of “transformations�. It was awesome to see how God
directed the conversations naturally turned and after the night was complete.
I
had a mind boggling conversation with a man who desperately needs the Lord. For
the man’s privacy I’ll call him Bob. Bob came up and directly asked me, “so you
said that each of you on your team had experienced radical transformations in
your lives through the work of Jesus, tell me about yours� Basically he said
give me your testimony- so for the next 1.5hrs I got to share with this man
about who Jesus is in my life and the truth of His Word. This man had many
things confused about the Bible and was not convinced that it truly was the
Word of God and could be trusted. He believed there was a God but that Jesus’
salvation story was way too tragic to be true. The entire conversation was an
interesting one and took many twists and turns as I poured out all the truth I
could over this man in the time that I had. At the end of the conversation
another man approached our group who spoke very little English, so naturally
Bob stepped in to help translate between me and this new individual. Turns out
his other man was having breathing problems so I asked if it would be okay for
me to pray for him that God would heal his breathing problems. He said yes and
that he also needed prayer for God to provide a job for him because he was
jobless. I said absolutely I’d love to pray for you. While this interaction was
going on Bob stopped me and said, “I’m sorry can I tell you something� I said
Yes of course, Bob said, “Do not pray for me, I do not want you to pray for
me.� I was very taken aback and asked him why and he said, “I want to think for
myself about what I believe, I do not need your prayers, I do not want you to
pray for me.�
Wow I had no idea how to respond to this, never in my life have I
had someone so directly look me in the eye and say “do not pray for me�. I
simply said that’s your choice and went back to the conversation with the other
man we had been speaking to. In my mind I was thinking…..wow there’s obviously
a HUGE spiritual battle going on inside of this man, the enemy does not want
him to know the TRUTH of the gospel, but Jesus clearly wants him in the
Kingdom. We did not coerce this man to come to our English night, he came on
his own accord and I believe and will continue to believe that God has HUGE
plans for this man who now professes no need for God or prayer, but in the near
future WILL profess God’s unfathomable Love and how desperately Bob needs Him
in his life.
Will you partner with me to pray for Bob and for Nepal and for the
other Ukrainians we encounter this week, and for our two Vietnamese friends who
currently profess Buddhism but I believe they will also come to know the Lord
as their Savior soon??? Please pray with me right now for these requests….your
prayers are important and make a difference.
really fast before I did, one of the most amazing girls we’ve met on The Race
wrote this blog (Her name is Lina)…and as I read it I’m in tears…if there was
any doubt as to why we do what we do on The World Race…this blog IS THE REASON….read
it…and pray J
Lina if you’re reading this we love you so much more than you can imagine, and
amazingly God loves you even more than that!! So SO So thankful that we met
you.
love,joy,happiness
one angel or even a group of cool awesome angels like mine. Some of us
just don’t see them ’cause of stereotypical way of thinking. World gives
it’s own standarts, you know. They don’t believe in such amazing things.
Materialists would ask ” The real angels with wings? Oh, come on!”, and
I agree. Sounds really weird. Most of modern people believe only in
real things. But angels are real. You can feel their warmth and energy
through their hug. Their smiles make you smile and bring the real calm
in your soul. You start feeling needed. Without any doubts. My angels
inspire and fill me with a fresh air of hope and love.
family. Even not every member of it. There were just two people I could
honestly call “my guardians”. My mom and grandma. They always care and
give me wise advice, but still sometimes I’ve had a feeling of an empty
soul. I’ve never had a truly understanding person. The one who’ll
understand every single part of me. Most of people I know say I have
lots of problems and minds in my little orange head so I can hardly open
to someone new now. To show my real face, every mind-insect of my head.
six of them in my life now and each of them is real. Few weeks ago I’ve
met some superpeople with super-mega-huge hearts and extremely warm
souls. Bethany, Carly, Chelsea and Chris. I’m extremely grateful for
you.
I’ve met them I start feeling full of happiness. There are some special
people who’ll live forever in my head whatever happens. Even though, we
are from different parts of the world, I always keep you in my heart.
Me & Lina 🙂
