Yes, a new year. What does it mean for Ukraine? If the war stops today there are months and years ahead to rebuild all that has been destroyed.

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Nor is there any indication that it will stop soon. We just spent several days with Dan and Priscilla. Conversations inevitably turn to war. It cannot be any other way. Where they live (near Kyiv) war planes sometimes fly overhead. People see missiles or drones taken down by the anti-missile artillery nearby. Refugees live with them who anxiously watch the news or talk to friends or relatives still living in a city where there is daily bombing.

Centers of Hope—the hope we have to offer people in a war-torn country. That is what will bring people through. Right now—there is more and more anger as Russia continues to destroy and wreak havoc. Russia continues to threaten Kyiv, now with drones that fly in low at night so they are hard to detect, and plunge them into darkness for hours, even days. Often without heat or water. That anger makes their determination to resist even stronger, but, we cannot live by anger. Hope in the Solid Rock—yes, that we can live by.

One of my review verses today was Psalm 71:14 “But as for me, I will always have hope. I will praise You more and more.” I stopped and read the whole chapter. It made that verse even more meaningful than ever before.23

PRAISE

  • Abe and I had a beautiful break over the holiday season. I did not spend more than 15 minutes on my computer the whole time! A rarity indeed. We are very aware of our need for times of rest in the midst of the tensions of this war and the new ministry before us. Thank you, Lord, for encouraging us to celebrate!

  • We received this from the mayor of our city yesterday:

God is on our side...🙏
Flowers bloomed in the city of Rivne in January, and in Russia there was an abnormal frost and cold that had not been seen in the last 100 years.  In the next 7 days, an arctic mass is approaching Russia, and a sharp cooling is expected.

While Russia tried for months to intimidate Ukraine and Europe with a cold winter, during which "we will all freeze", abnormal warmth came to Europe.  The invaders wanted to freeze us this winter, but the weather outside the window shows that God is with us!
We will win!

  • I’m sure few of us prayed specifically about the weather, and yet millions of people are praying for Ukraine. And God hears our prayers! I took a photo of one of our little primroses blooming right now in our unseasonable warmth. Glory to God in the Highest! I had read a couple days ago that people all over Ukraine except in the beleaguered east that is under attack, would be receiving electricity all morning that day until 2 PM when schedule outages would again start up. All because of this gift of God!

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  • Abe had a good session last week with about 70 people. There are about 20 couples who actually came with a budget and solid plans to start a Center of Hope. We are still sorting through all of that. (The photo shows some of them practicing using John 3:16 to lead people to Christ.) Only two people had gotten saved in December from this group—but today we just had a report that a couple in one city had gotten saved!

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  • And we expect many more such reports by the time of the next workshop! Heaven is rejoicing!

PRAYER

  • Pray for these people whom we expect to be Center of Hope leaders, that their vision will increase and that already in these early days of beginning to work with people God would give fruit.

  • Pray for the salvation of souls in Ukraine!

  • Pray for more workers for the harvest! More openings for Centers of Hope!

Do you enjoy a challenge? As we step into this New Year of 2023 and you examine the direction you want your life to take (or continue on) for these coming months consider this quote from Quiet Talks on Prayer by S.D.Gordon:

“The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray. . .  They are the people that put prayer first, and group other items in life’s schedule around and after prayer. . . . These are the people who are doing the most for God; in winning souls; in solving problems; in awakening churches; . . . in keeping the old earth sweet awhile longer.”

My desire is to be a person who prays, not just talks about it. I pray you will be “great” in God’s eyes in new ways this coming year!

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