Update in Mukachevo

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

Moving to Mukachevo, Ukraine

Dear Friends, 

God has called me to move to Жива Вода Мукачево, "Living Water" a new church plant in Mukachevo, Ukraine. I will be leading the evangelism team, helping with our English club, helping with our outreach ministry in the gypsy camps, teaching once a month, and starting a men's ministry here. My apartment was furnished in Lviv, but here I will need to buy my own furniture. I am in need of a washing machine, dryer, microwave, 2 beds, a sofa and a couple of chairs. I will be hosting our new worship leaders and another young man that will be on our team. If you can help with any of these or help with the moving expenses, please contact me via private messaging here. God Bless you and your families. Please be praying as I go forward to serve!....more to come!

Thank you! for your prayers, I so appreciate you lifting me and the work God is doing here in Lviv up in prayer. Prayer changes everything!

Prayer Requests

1. physical wellness, have been sick with a virus that seems to be hanging on forever

2. seeking God in what ministries He wants me to be apart of here at New Horizons Lviv

3. for our men at New Horizons to step up to lead the church

4. our discipleship school on Wednesday nights so exciting to see what God is doing!

5. for people God has put in my path, for the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts to accept Jesus

6. for me to continue to grow in the grace, love and mercy of our God

7. for eyes to see what Jesus would see and the courage to reach out in faith

8. for a larger church building to hold our services so more people can hear

9. for continued finances to support life here in Lviv and for our church

10. for more people to join us in the field

11. for more people to support us in prayer

12. for God's will to be done here in Lviv and Ukraine

13. for a young man Dima, a Ukrainian missionary, called to Lviv to reach children for Jesus.

14. for the Word to go out and for the people of Lviv to open their hearts to Jesus.

 15. for three men who I work with at church, Vova, Vitalik and Volodia, to hear the call God has put on their lives to serve Him and to embrace it with everything they have.

Today in Ukraine there is much unrest, protesting, fighting, and even deaths. The people here are looking for freedom. Sometimes we take our freedom for granted. I want to ask each of you for your prayers for Ukraine. the people and their leaders. Pray that the people of Ukraine will diligently seek God in this time, that God would give the people protection, pray for peace, for freedom from tyranny. Pray many will come to Jesus for everlasting life. I was reminded the other day that we are citizens of heaven, we are merely passing through, to spend eternity with our Father. May God bless you and your family, thank you for your support, your encouragements and your faithful prayers! -Greg

Merry Christmas! wishing you and your families more of Jesus today and throughout the year! May Jesus be the reason we celebrate everyday and out of the abundance of His love may we share him with others. Thanking God for you today and for your love for and service to our Savior Jesus!

 

Hello, it's almost Christmas! This will be my first year celebrating here in Lviv, Ukraine. Most Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7th, so I am excited to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior twice! This Christmas I want to invite you to put off everything that would take time away from you celebrating Jesus' birth and spending time with Him. We get so busy we can forget what is most important this time of year. 

Wishing you all His best gifts this year! May the Lord shine on you and your families and brightly through you to others. Much love in Christ, -Greg

here are some Christmas pictures of past celebrations in Lviv

please continue to pray for Ukraine, I'm not sure with the revolution going on what this Christmas will be like here in Ukraine.

Protesting in Ukraine

I want to ask for your prayers for Ukraine today, for it's people that want to be free from tyranny and apart of the European Union, for it's leaders that are trying to hold on to power and old ways of doing things, for people during this time to rely on Jesus, for them to come closer to him and seek him in their time of need. Please also pray for peace, for safety of the people as they protest. For the government and riot police to show tolerance to the people and not to hurt them as they have in the past. You can follow the EuroMaidan stories here