Friday, February 27, 2009

Nelson Newsletter – February 2009

Hello dear friends! How are you holding up? Our world is changing rapidly and leaving many of us uncertain, afraid, and anxious about our future. Isn’t it comforting that we know the One who holds the future in His hands? “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 Satan attacks our faith to destroy it. “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16. We too sense these attacks on our faith, and covet your prayers! Thank you for praying for us, as we fight the good fight of faith here in Ukraine. Here are some recent answers!

Marriage Conference We had ten couples and a few singles attend our one day marriage conference. God answered prayer by preparing their hearts to receive the word of God. Danelle and I both taught, and there were good questions and a lively discussion at the end. Ukrainian marriages desperately need instruction, encouragement, and good role models. Maxim Rakovich translated the teaching, and we plan to put them on our simple church website where anyone who speaks Russian can listen to them, it is also in English. Timmy Powers and others have done an excellent job with this website which reaches out to all the countries of the former Soviet Union. Check it out! www.simplechurch.com.ua
Sasha Neskuba is a young lawyer who began attending our English club last year. Last summer I shared the gospel with him personally. During that time, I asked him, “Sasha, if you were to die today, would you go to heaven?” He said he knew that he would not go to heaven. He thought some day he would become a Christian, but he still had more questions. Then, two weeks ago, his roommate had a dream in which Sasha died. After hearing the dream, Sasha remembered our conversation from last summer, and knew he would have gone to hell if he really had died. That day he asked Jesus to save him! Please pray for his spiritual growth.
Running Camp will be held the last two weeks of June! We are in the process of planning a camp for high school students interested in running. Alan Parish, a coach and teacher from Rome, Georgia, is coming over in March to meet with Coach Vladimir Fedoretz and I to plan the camp. Please pray for the Spirit of God to lead us and draw many to new life in Christ as a result of this camp.
Please pray for us as we continue to study Russian so we can be more effective. Pray for revival in Ukraine; a movement of the Spirit to embolden each Christian to love the lost and share the gospel.
We hope you enjoyed our latest ministry video – Running to Win. You can watch it by going to this site: http://2macaroon.com/mv08/SN_08.php
We thank God for you and pray for you often!


Steve and Danelle