Prayer Letter

November 17, 2014

Dear Pastor and Prayer Partners,

“I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.”

  It is amazing how the Lord works in our lives to bring to pass His will for our lives!  So often we don’t understand, but His way is perfect and His timing is always on time.

  

When Jessica and I surrendered to go to Ukraine 10 years ago, never once did we think or consider that we would ever go anywhere else.  We thought surely we will be lifetime missionaries.  We had surrendered our lives to preach the Gospel in Ukraine and we planned on being buried there.  But God had different plans.  We can plan and organize our lives the way we think He would want them, but nonetheless we must still be surrendered to His plan and His will for our lives even when it doesn’t go with our plans.

  When we came home from Ukraine this time, something different took place in my heart that I had not experienced before.  Every other time I had come back to the States, not only did God give me a peace and a desire to go back, but I really wasn’t happy being here because I knew God wanted us in Ukraine.  I just wanted to be back in the land of our calling.  This time, every time I have sought to buy plane tickets, God has hindered me and not given me peace.  At the same time, He has given me a desire to come back to the USA and serve here in the land of my fathers.  Every time that I would pray about God’s direction for our family, it seemed that God directed me to verses about Jacob and the Patriarchs going back to the land of their fathers.

  

   For such a long time I wrestled with God about this, telling Him that I was a “lifetime missionary”.  Finally I started praying about where God would have us serve.  God laid on my heart a particular church.  They are a good, solid, Fundamental, Bible believing church and their former pastor surrendered to the mission field of South Africa and announced his calling to the church in March.  This is the same month that God brought us home.  I started praying that if God wanted me to pursue being the pastor of Victory Baptist Church, that He would have the former pastor to call me, and I really had no reason to expect him to call me.  The very next day, he called me.  From that moment I started pursuing being the pastor of Victory Baptist Church.  I did not share this with many people because I did not want to share this until God confirmed that this was what He was doing. 

About 2 weeks ago on November 2nd we candidated, and this past Sunday, November 16th, they voted to have us come as their pastor’s family.  We have whole heartedly accepted for God has confirmed over and over again in our hearts that this is what he wants for our family.

   It is really quite amazing to me how God has worked out all the details.  As God was starting to move us to pastor, God was moving in the hearts of Mark and Donna Kuenzi to go to Vvedenka, Ukraine.  Our prayer was for them to come work with us and their plan was to be our co-laborers. I shared with them what God was doing in our hearts and he said although it wasn’t what we had planned, God has called them to go and we are going to go.  In fact, Mark and Donna are already in Ukraine.  They left on November 6th.  They have already had 2 Sunday services.  They had 6 Ukrainians out for the first service, which is very good since they do not have a car to pick people up with.  We have told Mark and Donna that our van (currently in Western Ukraine), our house, the church building, everything there we own will all be left for them.  This is our best means of helping them do the work that God has called them to and also to help them continue the work which God allowed us to start.  God has made it very evident that He has called them to Ukraine and that He has called us to the States for such a time as this.  Despite the difficulties they have faced and the ongoing violence in Ukraine very close to where they are at, they have said “God has called us and we are going to go.”  Mark and Donna have left for the field with almost no regular financial support.  They have sold most of their possessions and their houses and plan to live off of this money, trusting that God will provide a more permanent means of financial support.  The reason I am sharing this with you is because I would like you to prayerfully consider supporting the Kuenzi family in our place, as they will be continuing the ministry that most of you have already supported through us for the last 7 or more years.  They are being sent from our sending church, Grace Baptist Temple.

   We will be transferring into the pastorate by the end of this month, so we ask that you would discontinue our support the end of this month. Our email will remain the same.  My telephone number will remain the same for at least another month.

   Again, we would like to thank you for your faithfulness to pray for us and support us financially over the years of our ministry in Ukraine.  We have grown to love you all and to greatly appreciate each of you as you have teamed up with us to get the Gospel to Ukraine.  May God richly bless each of you as you continue to faithfully serve our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 Eric, Jessica

Anna, Lydia, Samuel, Daniel & Abigail

Prayer Letter

January 14, 2013
 

Ministry

  

We have only been here 2 months but already there is so much to fill you up on!  Since returning to Ukraine, the Lord has opened up the doors for us to do 3 Bible lessons.   A young lady named Nastia has hers on Wednesdays.  She listens intently and has started sharing what she is learning with her grandmother.  Her grandmother wasn’t very happy when she first started attending a “cult” and I think she was even more unhappy.  Even with that, Nastia said her grandmother almost came to church on Sunday with her!  Be praying for this family.   Nastia’s mom comes to church, but Nastia and her sister live with her grandmother.  This past Sunday, Nastia’s sister was allowed to come.  We think this is mostly because Jessica started an English class after church.  That may be, but she will be hearing the Gospel from Sunday School, church and in Jessica’s English lesson. 

The second person who asked for Bible lessons was Olya.  She comes every Friday afternoon.  A man named Vasily is the third.  His lesson is Friday afternoon before Olya’s.  Both of them seem interested, but especially Vasily.  He always has questions and he has talked to me about how he feels God is working in his life. 

We have had a good group of adults and kids coming to the services, most of whom are not saved.  Please be praying that those coming to services and to Bible lessons, who are unsaved would be convicted of their need of salvation.

New Year’s Eve we had a special service.  Ruselan, the man I did Bible lessons with, and his wife Katia both came.  Their sons have been attending regularly, but they have only come once.  Katia also came to our Christmas service.  The boys, Bogdan and Nikita, were in our Christmas skit and also played in our bell choir.  She has said she would like to meet with us as she has some questions about salvation, but she has just started a new job so said she is too busy now.  Pray for the salvation of this family.  What a testimony it would be if they were saved and serving the Lord!

Family

The Lord has greatly blessed our family since we have returned.  We received our registration with minimal problems.  This means we are free to stay here in Ukraine for a year.  Our passports expire soon after so we most likely will not be given another year extension.  Another big blessing is a VAN!  After living here years without a reliable vehicle, we were greatly appreciating the little, blue car the White’s left us, but our family is quickly outgrowing it.  Also, I was having to make several trips before and after services to transport everyone.  The van has saved me many trips.  Even with the van, sometimes I have to make more than one trip.  The Lord provided the van at the perfect time!  After paying for the church building, we have been saving most of our love offerings for a van.  We greatly appreciate the many sacrifices you made! 

Shortly after we arrived in Ukraine, we found out that Jessica is expecting!  She is now over 13 weeks and the morning sickness has lightened up a lot and she is not as exhausted now.  She will be visiting the doctors soon and I know would appreciate your prayers.

Link to Update

Jessica made an update talking about our visas and the White's registration.  You can read that here.  Thank you for your prayers!

Visas and Church Fines

Just a quick update to ask you to be praying for the White's and also our little church in Ukraine.  We received news that the White's were told they had broken the law and would be required to go to court and pay a fine.  The church would have to do this as well.  Lina said the fine could be anywhere from $300 - $1,000.  The reason?  When you go into Ukraine, you are required to register. When they went to re-register this time, they were told they had broken the law because they had not UN-registered before their last registration expired.  This is something new and we ask that you will be praying for them and also pray that it will not cause problems for us when we go to register.

Concerning our visas, we have sent in the paperwork and are just waiting to see if they will be accepted.  Pray that God allows everything to work out as we have been hearing of other missionaries who have had their request for visas denied.

Last Bible Lesson

Tonight we will be having the final Bible lesson with Slavic.  Up to this point he has said that he "already knows" everything that we are showing him.  We are asking that you pray for him that he will not rely upon an experience and baptism for his salvation, but only on the blood of Jesus Christ.  Pray that God will show him his need of salvation and for me as I present the last Bible lesson in this salvation series to him.  The lesson will be around 10 AM EST.

Health Update

For the past month or so our family has been hit with some serious health problems. First Jessica's asthma started getting worse, then we had off and on severe stomach problems. We thought it could be something we ate, next we thought it was a flu, but have found out that we most likely have a parasite called Giardia. From what we have read, they usually die off without medication in about 6 weeks. We are using garlic daily to help get rid of the parasites and hopefully keep away any colds. Thankfully, after having to cancel 2 Sunday services and holding 1 at our house due to the need to be near a toilet, we are all starting to feel a little better. Jessica's asthma has also gotten much better. Before she was having to use her Ventolin inhaler to the max of the recommended dosage (2 puffs every 6 hours), and many times she was still struggling, wheezing and coughing 2 hours later just counting down the hours until she could use it again. Thankfully, she barely has to use one puff a day now! We are into our rainy season and people have almost stopped burning, so that probably helps her greatly.



Thank you so much for your prayers and please continue to pray that we can completely get rid of this parasite.

Prayer Request - Baby Sammy's Papers

Eric spoke with the doctor today and at first she said that Sammy and I would have to come to the hospital and stay for two days. She wanted us to call an ambulance to take us to the hospital, then have all the paperwork written out like Samuel had been born today instead of last week. Eric told her that, first of all, there was no reason for us to go to the hospital and second, we weren't going to lie. So, she called her head doctor to see what to do and now he is calling his head doctor. They are supposed to call us back tomorrow. Sometimes it's so frustrating having to abide by the rules and regulations of the country. Legally, we have the right to have a home birth, just not many people know that. When we were trying to get Anna's paperwork we had a little bit of trouble too and called the American embassy. They told us that there was nothing they could do for us. Please be praying as we'd rather not have a long, drawn out battle. We have proof that I was pregnant, witnesses to the birth and saved the placenta and his umbilical cord when it fell off. We would also like to keep our ties with the hospital good for future pregnancies, as it was hard to find a hospital that would accept me. One thing I am thankful for is that they can't see me before Tuesday and at the moment, I have a very bad cold that I caught from the girls and they would probably try to separate me and the baby.



Thank you for your prayers.

Jessica

A Week of Blessings

On Thursday, June 17 at 12:27 PM (5:27 AM EST), Samuel James Curtis was born. Both mother and baby are doing well. To read more about the many answered prayers concerning the birth of our son, visit Jessica's blog. We ask that you pray that we will receive his birth certificate, passport, etc. without any problems.


That same day, God answered another prayer request by providing a 9-seater van for our family and church.

Another praise is that we were finally able to get a hold of Oksana. She has not been to services or Bible lessons for the past two weeks and we have not been able to contact her. We were beginning to wonder if she was through with Bible lessons and avoiding us. Today, Lina talked with her and we found out that she has been out of town. Lord willing, she will be starting up Bible lessons again on Monday. Please be praying for her salvation as she has had a hard time letting go of her Orthodox heritage.

Lastly, a prayer request. On Sunday Vladamir Vonovich (the elderly gentleman who was recently saved and baptized) told us that his wife who had alzheimers had passed away this past week. He has been taking care of her for many years now and recently had not been able to attend many services because of her increased need of care. Please be praying for this man and his family. I wish that we could say that she was saved.

On Sunday I had the blessing of baptizing Maxime, the first Ukrainian I had the opportunity to lead to the Lord. We look forward to seeing how God will use this young man for His honor and glory. Yuri and Christina have also said that they would like to be baptized, but were not able to make it because of Yuri's health. Please pray that Yuri, Christina and Vladamir will soon follow in baptism.

Also, tomorrow our church is having a "Family Day". We have rented out a room with two ping pong tables and look forward to spending time with family and friends. More than that, we are praying that God will work upon the hearts of the many attending who are not saved.

Trying and Strengthening

The past few months have been an exciting, trying, sad, and strengthening time for our church. We've been excited about the professions of faith made, the spiritual growth amongst the believers, Yuri and Christina choosing to get married...but like always, when God is working, satan is also at work. We found out a few weeks ago that during all of this, Tamara had been trying to practice fortune telling, healing, and other forms of witch craft amongst the believers at the church - sometimes even during the middle of the services! We pulled her aside and talked with her, showing her from the Bible that this is not of God. She still insists that it is a "gift" and has not been back to church since. Pray for her, as only God knows her heart. Through it all, we have seen God work on the heart of the believers and strengthen our little group.

Bible Lessons

We have sent Ruselan his first through-the-mail Bible lesson. We ask that you will be praying that the Holy Spirit would work upon his heart showing him his need of salvation as he reads the Bible.

Also, Tamara's mom (Baba Shura) has agreed to start Bible lessons. We were supposed to start today, but she was sick. We are planning on meeting with her next Wednesday at 3 PM (8 AM EST).

On Sunday, we had two new visitors to church, a man named Constantine and a woman named Oksana. Both have expressed an interest in Bible lessons, but we have not been able arrange them with them yet.

We have been excited and waiting to tell you about an answer to prayer for a few weeks now, but have been unable to because our computer has not been working.

For more than a year now, we have been praying for a man named Vladamir Vonovich to get saved. Ever time someone questioned him about his salvation, he always pointed to his good works. He agreed to do Bible lessons. It did not seem like we would ever get through them. His wife is sick and bedridden, so he was not able to attend when he couldn't find someone to watch her. When we only had one lesson left, he did not come for at least 4 weeks. What a blessing it was on December 6th when he bowed his head to accept Jesus Christ at the end of the lesson. Now if you ask him about his salvation he will tell you that it is ONLY through the blood of Jesus! Thank you for your faithful prayers for Vladamir.

Today, Eric had the opportunity to visit Tamara's son, Ruselan, in the prison. When Eric, Tamara and Lina got there, they almost didn't let them in because of the holidays. Praise the Lord He made a way! Ruselan was very humble and open to talking with them. He feels like no one cares about him and has been very grateful for all the help we have given him. He does have a wife and two boys, but since he has been in prison his wife has lived with other men and hasn't visited him in a long time. We had given him some food and a Bible earlier (here the prison does not provide food). He said he was reading the Bible, but didn't understand anything. He said that he was interested in continuing to meet with us and willing to take Bible lessons through the mail. Please be praying for Ruselan.

Alexander

Eric arranged to meet with Alexander at 2pm. At 2, Eric called him and Alexander said that he had to do some paper work on his car but still wanted to meet with Eric sometime. Eric is going to call him and invite him to church on Sunday. Please be in prayer for this young man.

A Call in the Night

Tonight as we were settling in for the evening, Eric received a call on his cell phone. All the guy said was, "Eric, call me back and I will explain who this is." Eric called him and the man said that his name was Alexander. Eric had met him in the market while passing out tracts and had talked with him for quite some time. Before he left, Alexander asked for Eric's phone number. Now about a month later he calls with a question, "Why doesn't God hear my prayers?". He called himself a Christian and said that he believed in God, but does not attend a church. Eric told him that the only way God will hear our prayers is through Jesus Christ and unless we are saved through Jesus Christ we are considered the enemies of God. Eric is planning on meeting with Alexander tomorrow. Please be in prayer for Alexander that God will continue to work upon his heart and for Eric to have wisdom as he meets with him.

A Woman Seeking the Truth

One of our church members has been sick for about the past week and after evangelism today we stopped by to drop off some medicine, juice, etc. When we got to her house, there was a lady named Tamara there. Tamara is earnestly seeking for God and talked with us for about an hour. She told us that she was Russian Orthodox (like Catholic), but she also practiced (what sounded to us like) different forms of witch craft. She also told us that she had studied with the Jehovah Witnesses for a few lessons then told them that they were welcome to come visit but could no longer bring their materials because she did not believe that it was truth. She told Eric that she would tell him the same if she thought he wasn't preaching the truth. She was very anxious to talk with us and will be coming over tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM. Please be praying for her. She kept saying that she just wants to know truth. She said she has lived about 53 years and still does not know what life...especially hers, is about. Please remember to be praying for Tamara and also for Eric and Lina as they talk with her. He is going to try to get her to take Salvation Bible lessons.

The last week has been an exciting and full week. Bible lessons on Wednesday and Thursday. Evangelism on Friday. Church on Sunday with Bible lessons following. Praise the Lord He keeps us busy. This is actually a pretty normal week for us. Though we need and desire your prayers every week and day, we are especially asking that you be praying with us today (Wednesday) and on Thursday. We will be finishing up Bible lessons with Elena today. She claims to be saved, but I have not heard her testimony. I believe she may simply be religious. Also, Yuri and Christina will be finishing their Bible lessons on Thursday. Christina doesn't claim Christianity but Yuri claims to be saved. Every time he shares anything remotely close to a testimony it doesn't line up with what the Bible calls salvation. Please pray for these three as we finish Bible lessons. The Bible lessons are very pointed and they bring a person to a point where they must make a decision. All have paid very close attention to the Bible lessons. Please pray that God would allow them to get saved.

Also we asked you to pray for a lady named Tatiana. On Sunday she came to church again. As we closed the services she saw that Vladimir was going to take Bible lessons and was interested in staying and taking them with him. When we finished she said it was very interesting and that she wanted to continue lessons. Please pray for both her and Vladimir. They are both religious, but I don't believe either one of them is saved. Right now they are only at thee beginning of their Bible lessons, so please pray for them every Sunday as we continue to expound the Scriptures to them concerning salvation that they might truly get saved.Elena
Christina & Yuri