Thank you for all your prayers, encouragements and financial support. I could not begin to be here serving without you! I so appreciate your heart for missions!
My time in Lviv came to and end as God was preparing me to move to Mukachevo, Ukraine to help plant a new Calvary Chapel Church called Lviving Water Mukachevo. The city of about 120,000 people is located in the southwest corner of Ukraine about a 4 hour train ride from Lviv. We are close to the Hungarian and Slovakian borders and the Carpathian mountains surround us. Mukachevo is in a valley and the Liatorytsia river runs right through it. Not always has the city been part of Ukraine, in the 1800's it was apart of Hungary. Mukachevo is mainly made up of Ukrainians but we also have many Russians and Hungarians people that live here. If you ask what language we speak, well it is a matter of what language people start out with. It could be Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian or a more local language made up of a little of all three. I think from talking to people here most people speak Russian but that is up for debate. People here are open to different languages and are not concerned with just speaking Ukrainian.
Our church, Living Water Mukachevo, is located in the center (downtown) on a busy walking street. We currently have about 11 people. I am currently leading our English club on Wednesday nights. We meet from 5 pm to 7pm. This might sound early but the sidewalks roll up in this little city at 5 pm and most businesses are closed by 5pm. To be out after 8pm is considered late. It's definitely a slower pace here than I am used to but I love it. I still want to get up and go to Wal Mart at 6 am. The shopping is good here with a central bizarre and another huge open bizarre at the end of town that has fresh vegtables and fruit along with harware and things for the home. You have to sometimes search for things from several different vendors but it is nice to get to know more people and have the chance to share with them why I am here :)
We are working with a team from New Life Church in Kyiv to do childrens ministry outreach programs and camps in the gypsy villages near Mukachevo. We provide bible teaching, worship, crafts, lunch, and medical care. There are four gypsy camps with groups of children from 40 to over 200. This is my first week working with the children and it is amazing. To see their faces light up when we sing about and tell stories about the Lord is truley awesome! We are planning to reach out to even more gypsy camps as our Mukachevo team grows. We have 3 new missionaries moving here to serve this next month.
Thanking God for all He has provided for us so far! Amazing how He works, always in awe of God and His faithfulness and great love for us!
Needs:
Winter clothes, coats, and shoes for the gypsy children (all sizes)
Toothbrushes, toothpaste and small towels for the children
an 8 passenger van to transport teams to the camps to serve (aprox $5,000)
a laptop computer for the our worship leader and his team to use
a portable air conditioner
a sofa and two chairs for our apartment (sofa will be a sleeper so we can host more guests)
Prayer Requests:
For continued provision to host the two Ukrainian men in my home as they help start the church and for provisions to host more Ukrainian men who want to lead the church.
For the adults and children in Mukachevo to open their hearts to Jesus
For the the children and parents in the gypsy camps to open their hearts to the Lord.
For God to provide all we need here to start the church, spiritually, physically, and financially.
For His Spirit to fall fresh upon us daily!
Please pray as God puts together a team here to plant the church
For our team members, Joel & Katya, Vanessa, Tolik, Janice, Vova, Marilyn, and Greg
Please pray for the teams that will come and for more people to catch the vision to come and help us here in Mukachevo spread the Gospel.
Please pray for us as we teach the youth from the Pentecostal Church in Mukachevo as their Pastor heads to the states for two years.
Thank you all, May God shine on you and bless you and your families. Lifting you all up in prayer :)
-Greg
