PRAISE
We have been in Oxford a week and have had wonderful opportunities to meet different people and interact with different groups.
A great joy. We moved to Oxford some 34 years ago expecting to stay here at least 10 years or more—and then the Berlin wall fell, Communism began to crumble and God called us on after only two years to live in Ukraine (which was still the Soviet Union then). So we’ve had long contact.
We went to the prayer meeting at St. Ebbe’s Headington last night. A monthly event I believe, and how wonderful to see not just “old people” (like us?!) but a wide range of ages all keen to pray for the needs of the church, community, and missions. It was so refreshing! We came home invigorated.
And we begin to feel a bit more rested. But realize we must be gentle on ourselves and take opportunities for restoration. We’ve walked a lot. Rested well at nights. Enjoyed the house and garden where we are. Oxford is of course a city of history and architecture and beauty. We just enjoy the atmosphere—and the memories down through the years as we return here periodically.
And praise God our Ukrainian documents have been sent off and should arrive here by the end of next week so that we can take them to Poland to be processed.
PRAYER NEEDS
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As you pray for Ukraine and the people, pray for believers in the family of God who are struggling spiritually through all of this devastation. Priscilla wrote about a couple in their church who seem to have turned back to drugs. We know other believers who struggle with fear, and with anger, and with hatred. And then the questions come “Where is God?” And so for many, many believers it is a challenge to move forward with God and grow in trust—or turn away from Him. Pray that God’s Spirit will be faithful and that through the struggles people will enter into a deeper relationship with their Lord and Saviour, seeking Him in new ways, realizing that they are not abandoned, that God is with them even in the valley of the shadow of death.
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Dan and Priscilla are trying to prepare for a fresh wave of refugees from the east who will be seeking shelter for the cold winter months. Pray for them as they consider how to expand accommodations and meet this new challenge. They already have 6 refugees living with them, but there are none at the church right now.
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Which brings up the next issue: heat for the winter. Russia has cut off the power from the big nuclear reactor you may be reading about. It supplies 20% of the electricity for Ukraine, and they have cut off other sources also. No one knows how stable the gas supplies will be. On a positive note the government has said they will not increase the utility rates for the winter (however we are told everything else has doubled in price). Pray on the practical level that there would be resources for energy during the winter.
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Finally, pray as Abe continues to work through ideas and plans for the Centers of Hope. This will of course be an ongoing prayer request as we come closer to our return to Ukraine. Pray the Lord would open his mind and thoughts to clarifying this vision and communicating it to the people who will be involved.
Already a couple weeks ago I received such an encouraging note from a very dear friend (I have several steady encouragers in my life who have been there for—years.) I will quote part of what she wrote: “Ahhh soon you will be back ministering to those dear ones who our Father has purposed for your lives to touch! I am happy for you!
“It’s precious to be led by One who loves us so deeply. It’s what the new faces you will meet…will be looking to see in your daily walk!...
“This passage struck me today….hope it ministers to you!
Isa.58:12. ‘Those from among you shall build the old waste places, you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of streets to dwell in.’
“Happy rebuilding and restoring the hearts of many to know the love and forgiveness of our Lord and Savior!”
Follow up about being repairers of the breach:
“The word breach today is most often used to describe an infraction or violation of a law, obligation, tie, code, or standard unfulfillment…. During Isaiah’s time, it most likely took on the connotation of something that was broken, ruptured, or torn condition, a place showing rupture, split, or fissure*. While the definitions are much the same the first describes a more sanitized meaning where we would go to court, whether civil or criminal, and handle the issue. Isaiah speaks more of something more visceral and observed as being irreparable but must be repaired for life to be meaningful. As impossible as life may seem at times, we serve a God who is a repairer of the breach and who has called us to be repairers of the breach.” (https://deborahsdescendants.com/tag/repairers-of-the-breach/)
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