«And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work» (II Cor. 9:8)
| archive of letters | June-July 2000 |
SEP/OCT Greetings in Christ,
We would
like for you to consider helping us in a matter that has been on our hearts for some time
now. We have found an old two story house in an ideal location, which we could convert
into church hall, apartment, print-shop, and office. For the last 6 years we have been
meeting in a hotel conference room. We have had many happy moments there but a hotel
carries with it certain associations to the locals here which are adverse to a local
church. Hotels here in Kiev cater to crime and prostitution more so than to tourism. We
have $ 5,000.00 set aside towards this end and will need another $ 15,000 to both purchase
and remodel the building and grounds. If need be we will sell our van to approach that
amount to at least purchase the property and then make repairs as the Lord blesses. At
present we are spending annually over $ 4,000 for rent on garage, apartment and hotel
costs. This money will all be put into the ministry. Not to mention the limitations of
renting at a hotel. Even at this time the hotel has not been able to provide us a separate
room for our children’s classes and nursery. Unless things changed dramatically in the
economy there is no possible way for the poor saints here to raise such funds. They truly
need your help if they will ever have a local church building. Please earnestly pray and
give a special offering as the Lord directs your heart.
Many visitors have been attending services thus lifting our spirits and encouraging those who are members. On Sundays we gather at 9:30 for a half hour of fellowship and have tea to get acquainted with new folks and discourage tardiness. Since all of our members depend on the city transportation system to get to services, often they straggle in on Sunday mornings. This is a common bad habit in all of the former Soviet Union Republics. The warmer atmosphere is a good change since Ukrainians, in general, tend to be suspicious especially of their own countrymen causing them to be off-standish and skeptical. In fact, they have a popular saying here which goes: “My hut is on the outskirts of town therefore I haven’t heard a sound.” Fears still abound here as in former times, because being involved could possibly mean being punished. Communism never united this nation nor made them trustful of one another.
One young woman, Oxana, trusted the Lord on a recent Sunday morning service. She has been coming with her mother Rayisa, who is saved and has been witnessing to her. Pray for her growth in Christ. This Sunday we will be having a baptismal service in the icy Dnepr River for brothers Malik and Brima. Brima is a refugee from the country of Sierra-Leon and has been attending church over the last 3 years off and on. This man does the best he can in spite of a stroke which has disabled him and his wife is a drunkard on top of that. Malik has grown tremendously in the word and has already hazarded his life and freedom for the Lord’s sake. Many of his family already know about his conversion and are angry with him. He has been coming out with our group preaching in the city’s center called “Liberty Square.” Sister Katerina has stopped coming to services as a result of the constant pressure from her Orthodox in-laws who have used every measure to persuade her from coming to our “sect.” Their last attempt has been to threaten to oust her from their home and this was too much for her. Her husband who has no backbone remains neutral to all of this. Sadly this is often the case here in Orthodox Ukraine.
In the village of New Podol 4 elderly sisters (Lydia, Vera, Natalia & Natalia) have followed the Lord in believers baptism who were saved through our labors. In the village of Zamglai we held a baptismal service and baptized three more (Vladimir, Alexander and Tanya). Vladimir is the town’s School Director and along with Alexander, he walked the sawdust trail during the “99” tent revival. About 60 villagers came out to see these baptized and heard the gospel preached on the lakeside. Pictures of this and our tent meetings can be seen at our web site:
www.i.com.ua/~avkj1611/mis/mis.htm
Washed in the blood
of the Lamb,
Edward and Dina Keough
