Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Outreach at the Ukrainian Sports School


For the past 2 years I have been asking God to save athletes and coaches at this sports school. I have run on the track weekly to build relationships with the hope of sharing the gospel with them.

My friend Maxim and I spend two days a week hanging out here. We have had several opportunities to share the gospel with coaches and athletes. God is working! Please pray for revival!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Nelson Newsletter January/February 2008

Greetings in the name of Christ from sunny Ukraine! It has been a relatively mild winter by Ukrainian standards and today the sun is actually shinning. Yea! We don't see the sun very often in the winter, even if the temperatures are mild. "Mild" means the highs are in the lower 30's instead of lower 20's or less. We anticipate spring with great enthusiasm! Here are some things God done with us over the past month.
Awaken Conference
Danelle, Merry and I traveled to Germany for our Great Commission Europe conference (Awaken) held the first week of the year. Over 200 European believers gathered in a scenic remote setting to hear from God and be awakened to His story, His mission and His love. GCE staff David and Mindy Henson did an excellent job organizing this conference! Julia is a good friend we led to Christ five years ago in Russia. She came to the conference to grow, helped translate the messages and went home greatly encouraged!
Marshmallows! Hensons (center) Merry, Danelle, & Julia from Russia Evening Coffee House
English Club
God has been answering your prayers for this outreach to unbelievers! He brought five new people last week who squeezed into our tiny living room to learn English and study the gospel of Matthew. Four of these new folks are lawyers. Igor is a mechanical engineer who attends our club and has expressed a desire to get together outside of class. Please pray for God to soften his heart and save him.
Sports School and Maxim
We have been praying for two and a half years for the opportunity to speak to athletes at the sports school about Christ, without seeing visible results. Many times I have gone to the track to run and talk with the coaches and runners. I have shown an interest in their lives with the hope of them trusting Christ some day. Last week I hired Maxim to be my translator so that I could have deeper conversations with people. Max is a godly young man who has worked with our missionaries for many years. I will be building into Max's life as well as utilizing him to evangelize and mentor leaders. He shares my passion for the lost and discipleship in Ukraine. I will need to raise extra funds to cover his employment. Please pray about helping cover the extra $400 a month.  Please pray for God to use us to lead many to Christ, as well as start new churches. I am excited about the new possibilities! As always, pray for us to learn Russian! J
Merry's Future
We thank God for Merry and the special time we have had with her here in Ukraine. She has grown in Christ over the last three years, being an encouragement to us and her friends at KCA. She will graduate in May and plans to attend Georgia College & State University in the fall. Please pray for her to finish strong and be prepared for the transition to college and life in America.

We thank God for each of you!

Steve and Danelle