Prayer and Praise

Well, my home blog page, at least...

In the hopes of making my blog easier (and therefore also SHORTER) for you all to read, I am consolidating all my many blog pages onto my home page "The View From Here".

So from now on, don't look on this page, but rather go to www.caranews.blog.com to catch up on my latest praise and prayer reports, Tree of Life news and my personal ramblings. THANKS! :)

UPDATES

Sorry I am often so tardy in updates here...as well as emails to you all...trying to catch up...

THE VAN

PRAYER              Well, let's see...muffler is fixed, starter replaced (muffler fell off because of new problem, not mechanic's work...fun)...not as expensive as I expected, but still money. Then I got the electrical fixed (supposedly) so that the windshield wipers and heater fan would work and then....I had a fire inside the dash with the wiring for the heater! I'm driving down the street and I literally see flames visible through the slats where the slider controls for the heater are (VW owners know what I'm talking about). So I'm driving and trying to blow this out! Crazy. I was successful and next week it goes back to the mechanic. Lest you think "why did she buy such a dump?" understand that it came highly recommended by people I respect (the previous owners)  and that the problems are really par for the course for an older car AND the price was a steal for here AND it was all I could afford (even MORE than I could really afford...I only have it thanks to the generousity of an anonymous donor and CCAG) AND it really does run well most of the time...its just I only need prayer when there are problems and so you all hear about it then! :} SO...please pray that the mechanic would be able to fix the electrical problem once and for all.

PRAISE           Praise the Lord, despite all the problems, in the last few months I have been able to use the van to do the following:

• Haul books, equipment and people to three conferences where I set up bookfaires for conference attendees 
• Help a fellow missionary get to and from doctor's appointments and finally go home (a town 5 hours away by car) after having surgery in Kyiv
• Haul books and equipment to the church bookstore
• Help the usual folks get home late at night, in bad weather or when they have lots to carry, etc. etc....

So all in all it has been a blessing!

AND Praise the Lord that when recently it had a radiator problem, the original owners were back visiting in Ukraine and the husband fixed the problem (that turned out to be simply a loose clip on radiator hoses).

 THE APARTMENT

PRAISE      Praise the Lord the landlord's paid for all the repairs in the office below after the busted pipe and didn't ask for any from me. I still haven't gotten the bathroom repainted as that hasn't been high on my budget.  THANKFULLY, there hasn't been anymore plumbing disaster's and the landlord finally even came and fixed the hot water faucet in the kitchen so we can use it again. (He fell through a roof recently and so was, obviously, unable to come!).

PRAYER REQUEST     Please pray, because I think my landlord is going to raise my rent. He hasn't for a long time and my rent is currently MUCH below the average in Kyiv (which holds spot # 121 in the list of most expensive places in the world to live!). So although he wouldn't be unfair in doing so, please pray because my budget is already pretty stretched as it is. I know that God will provide one way or the other, I just don't want to "have not because I ask not" as the Bible warns.

MY HEALTH

PRAISE     A good doctor was recommended to me by a few friends (both Ukr. and American). I went to see her and liked her right away. She speaks English fluently but had no problem understanding my Russian either. She recommended a good lab to go to for all my checkups (they don't do them in the office) and so I will get all that done next week (hopefully) and return to see her for analysis and further examination. 

PRAYER REQUEST    Please pray that I would be able to afford all the tests and/or have wisdom which ones I maybe don't need to do immediately.

THE CHURCH IN KYIV / TREE OF LIFE

PRAISE     I have stopped doing the bookstore every sunday and only do it once a month. That is less stress for me (since I am without any helpers now) and seems to actually be more efficient and practical for everyone else, too.

 PLEASE PRAY      It seems like their may be a young couple in the church that would like to take over the bookstore ministry, or at least in regards to the bookkeeping, etc. aspect of it.  It is a very needed ministry, people are always buying books, ordering books, asking about books etc. But I just don't feel like I can do all of it myself right now.

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES

The READ ministry opportunity didn't really pan out, but they are a great group of people so I am confident that God has good things for them still in Ukraine.

The trip to Kyrgistan, as of yet, hasn't panned out either! Please pray that God would provide both the funds and specific desire from God as to when I am supposed to (or not!) go there.

 COMPUTER     YIKES! I have had SO many computer, internet, etc. problems this last year...on top of everything else! ha! :} Please continue to pray that the guy who built it for me would have time to come look at it and fix it, and that it is fixable!

That's enough (more than!) for now...thank you all...love you and God bless! :)

If you read my main “The View From Here” blog, you know that things have been a little rough for the last few months for me. Things are such a jumble it is hard for me to really separate what is a Praise Report and what is a Prayer Request!

• My car has broken down again and is currently under repair. L Out of the blue the muffler just fell off again. L And (according to the initial diagnosis) it needs a new starter.  
• Please pray that the mechanic will determine that these are things that he is responsible for (since he did the last repairs, muffler, etc. that have now fallen apart again!) and if anything new that God will provide the funds for these repairs.
• THANKFULLY it ran for the bulk of the time when the team was here, which was a huge blessing, and when the muffler fell off it was in places (yes, it fell off in two parts, yahoo…) where I could pick it up so I didn’t have to buy a new one. 

• I woke up recently to a strange hissing sound. Upon investigation I waded into standing water in my hallway and bathroom. A pipe had burst and was spraying water everywhere. The direct spray blasting the wall had resulted in the cheap paint job on the walls peeling away. I shut the pipes off, but not all of them (I didn’t know). L And the result was the office below us was flooded. L A computer monitor, telephone and maybe more things were ruined. So far my landlord hasn’t asked me to pay for any of that (and I don’t think I should since it was a pipe that he was supposed to replace long ago).
• Please pray that my landlord would not ask for any money for this when I go to pay my rent soon and that nothing more like this would happen…at least for awhile! L
• Also pray that God would provide the funds, time and / or right people to repaint the bathroom. (Ukrainian building materials are so different than the US – usually poorer, weaker, etc. – that I am hesitant to try and paint myself for fear that the walls themselves will be damaged and break away like those in my living room that drop great chunks of plaster regularly!).
• THANKFULLY I did wake up (I’m a really sound sleeper, so that in itself is a miracle!) and so the damage in my apartment wasn’t worse.
• THANKFULLY the landlord’s haven’t yet asked for any money from me for this and so far in my 6 years living here in their apt. they have overall been very fair and honest.
• THANKFULLY it has been a few months since my last plumbing disaster. J  

The Tree of Life Staff

• All three of my employees have quit to take other jobs. We had a big feast and prayed, laughed and cried together on their last day. I am glad for them and see God’s blessing for them in these new positions. They all blessed me greatly by saying how they wouldn’t have been able to take these other jobs if it were not for the professional and / or personal growth they experienced at Tree of Life. I have lost other employees, but this time it feels different.
• Please pray that I would have wisdom of when or if to hire other employees and if so for God to direct me to the right ones.
• THANKFULLY they have all moved on to good new positions for them. I am blessed to have been a part of that. 

• I take medicine for an inactive thyroid and recently, at a doctor’s recommendation, increased the dosage – something he said probably should have been done year’s ago. I still need to get in to a doctor and get a full blood check and physical. It has been too many year’s since I have seen a doctor.
• Please pray that both the funds and time would be available to do this and that God would give me wisdom as to which doctor to see.
• THANKFULLY my health has been such that I haven’t needed to see a doctor in years! J
• THANKFULLY the increased dosage greatly relieved me of some extreme depression I was battling.
• THANKFULLY God knows which doctor I need to see and when. J 

• Our church seems to be making the transition to our new pastor , Ukrainian national Alyosha Satenko. The Markeys and Gourleys (our former missionary pastors) have been sent out by the church here as missionaries to Kyrgistan. Aloysha preaches in Ukrainian, so that has been a stretch for me as I speak Russian.
• THANKFULLY God is helping me to really understand more Ukrainian than I anticipated! I am enjoying the increased “consistency” in our services now (only 2 languages – Russian and Ukrainian, rather than than three…English being non-existent in the service now). It is actually easier than switching languages, etc. I love our pastor and his family and have long had a good relationship with them.
• Please pray that God would continue to guide me as to how I can help with the ministry of the church.  

• Although I don’t want to go into specifics here, if you read the news you know that our country is going through its own problems politically, etc.
• Please pray for righteousness to rule, corruption to be driven out and order brought to this country. 

• Mid September I will meet with a group from READ ministries regarding Christian book distribution in Ukraine. From the initial phone conversation I had with them, this contact seems really God ordained.
• Please pray for wisdom as I meet with them and for all of us to hear God’s voice regarding any possible partnering in ministry, etc.
• At the end of September I would like to go to Kyrgistan with a team from our church here in Kyiv. We will be going to Bishkek where our former pastor and his family are now living. I am really excited to be a part of the new work that God is doing there and the great openness that the people in the midst of this Muslim nation have shown towards the Gospel.
• Please pray for the funds for me to go on this trip and for God to pick the team, shutting the door for those that are not supposed to be there (including myself!) and to open wide the doors for those who He has chosen to be there.

ETC. 

• Also my computer just days ago crashed. I haven't had a chance to try and find someone to help try and fix it.
• Please pray that all the info on there is not lost!

PRAISE REPORTS!!!
SO many to report, I'll have to (for once!) be brief...

OPEN HANDS / TREE OF LIFE UPDATES 

• New office - we moved the Tree of Life office OUT of my apartment (YAHOO!) and into our new office, just two blocks away! 
• New book - "Married & How to Stay that Way" by Steve Carr is FINALLY received from the printers and on sale NOW in Ukraine!! OORAH! :)
• New van - Thanks to a generous donation, we have paid the first installment on a van to haul books. (Please pray, we still need $2000 more! Thanks!)
• NEW PROJECTS COMPLETED! - in March we had an AWESOME team from CCAG (you know who you are!). We had a marriage conference, donated new boots and books to an orphanage, and generally wrecked havock...uh...I mean "did ministry" throughout Kyiv. :) It was a great time and I was VERY encouraged.

PERSONAL UPDATES

• I am currently on a visit to the states that is turning into something better than expected! Once again my brother is drawing all our family together (we all got together last year for the first time in 20 years for his wedding) as he retires from the Marine Corp...even my sister is coming from NZ so I am extending my stay in the states to be with everyone.
• I have had the privilige of speaking at CC Arroyo Grande, CA and CC Monterey Bay, CA and was greatly encouraged by the love and support of the Body of Christ, there.
• I also got a realy blessing and spoke at Mrs. Shaw's first grade class at New Hope Christian School in Grants Pass, OR. Turns out I once babysit Mrs. Shaw's sons when I was in high school! And Mrs. Shaw and her family went to the same church as my family when I was growing up....that was a trip! :) If you really want to get choked up, have a roomful of first-graders pray for you! Awesome! :)
• Next I also had a great opportunity to speak to Andy Fry's social studies and history classes at GPHS. They asked GREAT questions and I really enjoyed it! The more I talked about Ukraine the more I realized how much I love it and how glad I am to be there for this time in my life.
• As always Calvary Church in Grants Pass, OR is taking care of me just wonderfully...blessing and encouraging, and we are trying to plan a youth team to come to Ukraine this summer....which leads us to prayer requests.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Please pray for wisdom how to spend the rest of my time here in America. There is always so many people I want to see, not enough time, and not enough money/car/feasible transport options to make it happen. (America is NOT the land of public transport like Ukraine is!)
• Please pray for a blessed time with my family. I love and respect them all so much and want EVERY blessing that God has possible for this time for all of us! He says that sometimes "we have not because we ask not"....so I'm asking! Thanks! :)
• Finances....people have been very generous and I have been able to get some much needed supplies, etc. But even just a few weeks in the US is SO expensive compared to Ukraine (all you who live here/there full time no this better than me!) and so it is always a drain on my expenses. Also a major supporter has cut their support significantly because of decreased giving to their fund. I am not worried, but many of you always ask (and even nag me for not giving details more often!) so here it is! :)
• "Travel mercies" as I am traveling here and there.
• My team back in Ukraine as they prepare for a VERY big conference. It was a little bit of a hard decision to stay here and not be with them to prepare for this conference. But I know that before any ministry, any "work", my family is my first priority and blessing and, honestly, I have not cared for them as i could/should have over the years and I would like that to change.
• TIME TO BLOG! :) I want to write more, and just haven't been able to make the time...

THANKS! More soon!

We have the new apartment! :)

Although the contract still has to be signed, we have agreed with the landlord to rent the apartment! The landlord was not willing to reduce the rent for the full amount that we offered, but countered with an amount that is manageable for us, and still quite generous on his part. Pray God would bless him for this! :)

Another huge praise report, (without which the landlord's willingness to rent would still be out of reach for us), is that God has provided in some very unique ways for the monthly rent for this apartment. More details on that in further postings.

Still, as any ministry, the work is continuous and so the expenses are, too. Please pray that God will continue to give us wisdom and provide as He sees fit. I really believe that this office is going to dramatically change the effectiveness of Tree of Life's ministry as well as my own personal life and ministry.

Thank you all so much for your prayers! We really need them. One big lie of the enemy (satan) is that your prayers don't matter or make a difference. Or that if you don't have hours to spend in prayer why pray at all? Or if you still have things you need to change in your life, you can't start to pray yet. Or..yadda yadda yadda. ITS ALL LIES! :)

Like every good father, God loves to hear from His children and wants to meet their needs. I don't exactly understand how it works that He already knows our needs but wants to hear from us anyway..(yes, I went to Bible School, I could give you a Biblical answer on this, but sometimes it still doesn't really fill my soul as to why I need to pray. Just being honest here!)...but I know that it is about fellowship...He wants to hear our hearts and so then for us to see that He DID hear, that He DOES care, and for our friendship with Him to grow...it is also about obedience. He has told us to come to Him with our requests and so we do. It's also about humility. Everytime I pray, it reminds me, God, and satan that I know that I need God for everything and that I know that I can do nothing without Him and that I know that He IS able to meet all my needs.

So...pray when you're sitting at a green light, or on the metro (for my European friends reading this), or waiting in line somewhere, or just whenever the thoughts of one another strike you! :) A thought can so easily be turned into a prayer simply by acknowledging God...."yeah, so God, you noticed I'm thinking about them, so help them out with this situation, let them know your presence and have your peace..." or joy, or strength, or healing, or whatever you know they need. And you know the greatest part? Just like a mom or dad whose little one asks for a "gambelburger" the good parents know to give the child a "hamburger" even though he didn't exactly ask for it perfectly correctly. (No vegetarian discussions here on whether or not its good to eat red meat, ok?) :)

God knows our hearts and hears our prayers and He says that .."you fathers - if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or for bread, would you give them a stone? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! If  then you all, being sinful people, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Yes, this is - in context - talking about giving the Holy Spirit, but the nature of God that it shows ,how He is good and generous and giving good gifts, this is true in every situation.

Anyway..sermon over. Tapes are available in the foyer. I gotta get things gathered up to go to Hungary..please keep asking Poppa for good bread for me in Hungary and I will be remembering you all, too. :)

PRAISE REPORTS:

• God has been providing financially in unusual ways and just in time. We are able to continue with the printing process for our  next book, "Married and How to Stay that Way". (Look for an update about this at www.treeoflifeukraine.blog.com Please continue to pray for everything surrounding this book. I believe it will be very helpful here in Ukraine.

As always, more important than the finances, is the way that God uses it to strengthen our faith. I can see my staff growing so  much in their faith when we pray for things and God answers. So,I hope all of you know that all those that pray for us are every bit as dear as those who are able to give. Thank you so much! :)

• Praise God for a great time in Rzhshchiv (finally I got the proper transliterated spelling of this very difficult name!). Christmas was great (look for an update on that at www.caranews.blog.com ) and the days after were restful.                                           

While there I literally woke up in the middle of the night with the following very clear, very succint message from God in my head: "You know that I love you and you don't doubt that. But you do doubt my acceptance of you. Unlike with others, with Me you don't have to keep working to try and be 'good enough'. In my love is acceptance."

You might think I'm crazy saying this. I didn't hear a voice, but it was clearly God. There was more that made it even more precious to me, too. This is not something new for me, and maybe not for you, either. But I needed to be reminded. And it blessed me that God is able to reach us however He needs.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Right now I seem to have more requests than answers, so I really appreciate you all praying with me and my little team at Tree of Life. But, thank the Lord, I do have great peace that all things will be answered in time. :)

• My dear friend's mother has cancer.

Anya, (who lives in Zaparozha, as opposed to the MANY other Anyas I know!)one of my weekly "pray/fast" partners - is in a really hard spot. It is almost certain that her mother will die soon.

Her mother is a new Christian, but has peace and is ready to meet Jesus. Anya's father and brother are not, and their relationships were already strained before her mother's illness. Anya has just graduated from University and was beginning to think about work or further study in another town or possibly another country. Of course now everything is on hold.

Please pray for her. She is an amazingly wonderful gal who loves Jesus and is gifted, smart and very dear to me. Please pray for peace for Anya, salvation for her family, and comfort for them all.

• My friend has been diagnosed with possible MS.

My friend is a foreign student and a former Muslim who is a fairly new Christian and has already been brought in for questioning about his "new religion" by authorities from his embassy so I  won't say his name here. God knows. :)

He has received conflicting reports regarding a health problem. Doctors have told him everything from a possible tumor to MS. I am going to try to get him to see a Dr. that I know who is very competent. As we seek an accurate diagnosis, please pray that that God would simply heal whatever it is, through either natural  or supernatural means.

• Please continue to pray for the new office. We will go look at it again on the 2nd and make an offer to lower the rent.

This will be the first "fleece" to see if God is in this. We are  asking for a reduction of almost 1/3, so this will really be God if the landlord is agreeable. After that we will see how God directs further. (See more info about this below in the previous prayer request posting).

• I will be going to Budapest on the 4th to pick up the van.

I will have to get one final document done and then wait there in Hungary for a few days before I can drive back with people coming from Kyiv. That's a long story, but basically, I didn't think it was safe for me to drive back alone and the only people that can make the trip with me can't be in Hungary until after the 9th.

There are a LOT of prayer needs for this trip, so here they are:

1. safety for me riding on the train to Hungary by myself
2. paperwork will go smoothly
3. van run well and safety while I drive in Budapest
4. weather to be good for driving
5. traveling mercies for those coming to meet me and their business in Hungary (getting new Ukrainian visas)
6. well, while we're asking for everything - why not that somehow God would find a way to use this trip to His glory, too!
7. the rest of the funds to pay this van off sooner rather than later

I am so glad that God says "you have not, because you ask not". So I'm asking of Him! Thank you for joining with me. :)

Sorry for the long absence...have just been so busy...but then I guess if I'm going to write anywhere, it should be here first, right? Ok, so put that down as my first prayer request! (Later - first praise reports).

PRAISE REPORTS

• The Bible study in Rzhivsh went great! It is really a small town, not a village (it has two "institutes", like technical schools, etc.). Nonetheless I was so surprised to see so many show up for a Bible study on a cold, icy night. The leaders said that there were about 10 (as I remember) of the regular gals who were in Kyiv for their university exams but that there were about equal that number that came for the first time! As I understood, some were not believers.

I taught from my favorite section of the book of Luke, the section about Zechariah and Elisabeth. Without retelling the whole thing - the point was to see yourself from God's perspective and not man's and be focused on God not our circumstances. Our circumstances can change in a minute (or 7 days as in creation, or 3 days as in the resurrection, etc.) but God remains the same yesterday, today and forever.

I was so surprised when after the study one of the missionaries said that she thinks that maybe that whole message was just for her! I hope that didn't mean it didn't touch anyone else! ha! :) But I was glad to know that God used it to minister to someone.

My translator / dear friend Katya was AWESOME, as always, and was there really to co-minister, not just translate. We had great prayer on the mini-bus on the drive there, and then once there Katya was able to talk to, encourage and pray with a couple girls after the study. She is a real servant and loves God.

• We have so many praise reports daily, it is hard for me to sometimes know what to say first. But in regards to specific prayer requests that have been posted here, there's nothing at this time. I WILL keep you better posted, though. Thanks for the patience! :)

PRAYER REQUESTS

• We have a lot of expenses right now. Please pray that God would provide "more than we can think or ask". I know He always does, but I also know that He says that sometimes we "have not because we ask not". So join us in asking God to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings from wherever it may come. THANKS!
• We have the opportunity to rent an office so Tree of Life Publishing could move out of my home. This would be a huge blessing to all involved and really help Tree of Life to keep growing. We are very cramped right now in the small room in my apartment and there is a fantastic opportunity right down the street from me.

Also, personally it is really hard to have an active "hospitality ministry" (meaning LOTS OF HOUSEGUESTS) and at the same time have regular employees coming to the same location everyday to work. We have two full-time employees that come everyday. Then there are staff meetings, when our designer that works at home joins us. Then there is the bookkeeper that comes twice a month...then meetings with translators, editors, printers...etc. etc. You get the idea.

My life and my home are both a little full and both of us need some breathing room.  Please pray  the landlord would be willing to lower the rent, and that God would provide the finances to commit to the extra rent money each month. For the One who created the earth with His breath, this shouldn't be a problem! :)

• I still need to go to Hungary to get our van and finish the paperwork. Please pray that this would all get finished soon, and specifically that I would within the next day or so here from the guy I need to meet there to do all this, so that I can plan.
• After Christmas (which I am spending with friends back in Rzhivsh) I am going to stay there and housesit for them. I know no one there and am really planning for sometime to rest, read, pray, fast and write. Please pray that this time would be guarded and I could really have time to hear from God from His Word to my heart. :)

•  I will be teaching a women's Bible study in Rzhivsh (a village a few hours outside of Kyiv) @ 10:00 am West Coast US time today. PLEASE PRAY that it would be God's WORD through my words that the women would hear. PLEASE PRAY that God would help me to only say those things that He wants said and that He would be glorified in the process.

A PRAISE REPORT already for this study is that there will be an interpretor (when we thought there wouldn't be one). AND that I didn't spend time preparing to do it myself in Russian and  therefore God was able to use the time better! (As He always does if we let Him!) See today's posting on The View From Here for the rest of the story on this one! :)

• WOW! Praise God and thank all of you who prayed for us for our conference!

The Baptists wives' conference was a HUGE blessing and success! They were REALLY happy about the variety of books and materials we brought (and it was obvious because they bought a ton!). :) Many were from towns or even villages  far from from Kyiv, and have little or no access to such resources. Most were pastors wives, so we know these things will more than likely be blessing more than just their homes, but whole congregations!

I was happy (and had to smile!) when I saw so many of the women get a book, step aside, get out their cell phone and call their husbands. (**cell phones are a lot cheaper here and everyone has them, especially because in some villages lots of homes don't have regular phone lines. Just a cultural note.) They would then start describing the book; author, publisher, content, etc. The call would end and they would smile and buy the book. :) We work hard to choose materials for each conference that will bless, encourage and support the ministry of whomever is at that particular conference. I guess we are doing ok! ha! :)

We were also really personally blessed because of the sweet fellowship at meals and in-between sessions getting to know these ladies that are completely out of our usual circle. Some really good contacts were made for future conferences, etc. that Tree of Life will be putting on in March. (More about that in blogs to come!)  :)

 Finally, I was really proud of my staff!! They worked well and everything came off orderly, beautifully, successfully! (See a previous Tree of Life blog to fully appreciate what a blessing this was!) :)  It was the most successful conference we've done, and yet we all agreed together on things we can still do better. Hopefully soon we'll have some pictures here to show you what it looked like. :)

• Continue to PLEASE PRAY about the conferences that we do. After this one we all realized that there is a huge need to serve through conferences. And as we get our van (another on-going prayer request) it will be even easier to do this.
• PLEASE PRAY that God would continue to provide the rest of the money for the van and that the paperwork would get finished without problems and in HIS timing! MY request is that it would be SOON! :) But I realize that "the way to make God laugh is to tell Him your plans" :) , so-o-o-o...just that it would be in His timing with complications for those involved in the paperwork process.

A Close Call:Some people asked me (somewhat skeptically, I felt) about the girl that we were afraid had been a victim of trafficking. I spoke with some acquaintances that work with an NGO battling trafficking in Ukraine and they said that her story was a true miracle. These are not folks that claim to be religious, nor were they using those words lightly. They said they are afraid what this girl probably had to do to be released and undoubtedly, (as they have seen before), it is due to the shame associated with these situations that she won't be saying anything to anybody about what really happened and will be putting on a face that all was fine.

PLEASE PRAY that God would protect this girl, (if indeed these folks are right in their assumptions) and that God would already be healing her from this situation. I hope to be in her city soon and am praying that if this is something the Lord wants, there would be an opportunity to speak to this girl. We don't know each other, I am a foreigner, and I don't live in her city, so the NGO workers think I would be a very likely person for her to feel safe to talk to. And if I had a "kopek" for everytime someone started a conversation with me saying ..."You're the first person I've ever told this to..." So PLEASE PRAY that if God wants to use me in this way that He would open the door and that I would have wisdom and His words, not my own.

"A Van in the Hand is Worth Two in Budapesht"...sorry, bad pun, but I couldn't resist. And yes, with the Russian pronounciation it is Buda-peSHt. ANYWAY...through the generousity of an anonymous friend we (Tree of Life) have purchased a van! Someone gave a large donation to where it was enough that the owners were willing to sell it to us and let us make payments to pay it off. We still owe approximately 2 thousand USD. They are missionaries returning to Canada and so they understand the way it is with finances (sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't!). So they are very flexible with when we pay it off. But PLEASE PRAY that we would be able to pay it off soon. It will be better for everyone.

Right now the van is still in Hungary and I hope for the documents to be finished soon so that I can go get it. PLEASE PRAY that this would all be resolved soon and that the drive back from Hungary would be uneventful! :)

In some ways I never wanted a car here. It just means extra expense and extra headaches. But we so often have to rent cars to haul books, etc. that when this one came available it just seemed a natural idea. So PLEASE PRAY for my safety as I drive in Kiev (think: people driving on the sidewalk to go around traffic jams...seriously!), parked on the street at night, etc. God has blessed us with this van, so He will keep it safe.

"Esho" Conferences!... "Esho" is "and still more" in Russian (of course spelled differently). We have another conference this weekend where we have been invited to do the book store. PLEASE PRAY for energy and strength, these conferences are really tiring. PLEASE PRAY also that we would be able to serve the group of Baptists Ukrainian seminary wives that we will be serving there that they would find encouragement in their relationships with the Lord through the books and materials that we will have on hand. This is a big privilege and I'm thrilled that Tree of Life is able to continue to serve a wider and wider spectrum of the Body of Christ beyond just the churches that are in our circle.

Hi All...

It's really late so this will be brief (lucky for all of you! ha!)... but seriously I desire your prayers for these needs here...

• A young girl from one of our churches is possibly the victim of trafficking. (All the details are in the previous post here). PLEASE PRAY that God would protect her and she would make some contact with her family here so we might know she is ok.
• My neighbor Pasha recently died of cancer. He went very fast and it is, understandably, devastating for his wife, Luda. I didn't know them very well but God graciously provided that I could sit and eat with them at the "wake". (More on this in an upcoming blog on The View From Here site). PLEASE PRAY that God would really comfort Luda and her family and provide for them now that an income is lost. PLEASE PRAY also that "what satan meant for bad, God would use for good" and there would be  an open door for further contact and communication between Luda and I. They are good people, and I would love for her to know the comfort that God offers.
• I have an opportunity to buy a much needed van. (See more details about this in my previous post here). It is a great offer and we could really use it. PLEASE PRAY. Because unless God provides the money there is no way we can get it. This is not a manipulative hint wrapped in spiritual words. I fully hope that if God puts the joyful desire (and ability!) on someone's heart who reads this to help us buy this van - great! We (Tree of Life)want to simply get the word out about our situation. But if no one has the ability, or the desire - that's cool! :) God knows and never witholds any good gift from us when it is His time to give. So...there ya go. :)
• Continued prayer for strength, health and wisdom. My new staff is awesome. Really helping me strengthen the foundation of Tree of Life and cleaning up a lot of organizational things, etc. So this is all good...BUT...it's a lot of work, too! PLEASE PRAY that I have wisdom to keep saying "NO" to all the peripheral distractions that are all very worthy, but not what God has called me to for this season.

Love you all! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! More soon....