Ukraine Update: March

Hello Friends, Families, and Brothers/Sisters in Christ!

March has been a great month here in Ukraine despite everything that has been going on lately with the Coronavirus. I praise the Lord that I am healthy, and rejoice in the salvation, hope, and life that He has given me. This month has been filled with new people, news, and praises; so let’s jump right in…

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Residency Permit

Praise the Lord! I now have my Residency Permit so I can stay for a year. All I have to do is just renew it each year (without having to get a new Visa)!

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Language and New People

Language has been going steadily. I am understanding people better, and can speak simple sentences, but I still have a long ways to go and a lot to learn.

One of my focuses is trying to get out and be around Ukrainians more. Volleyball is a great way for me to meet new people, but most importantly right now, to be where I can hear Ukrainian constantly spoken. Also, I love getting out and playing sports.

Up until about a week ago I was also setting up my net at this spot near my apartment a couple times a week and playing volleyball with some of my local friends and anyone else who wants to join in. But due to stricter quarantine rules and the seriousness of Covid-19 in Ukraine right now, I have stopped the volleyball for right now.

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Victor

This is Victor. I was out in Lviv Center a couple weeks ago practicing my Ukrainian with people and giving out Gospel tracts and Picture Bibles in Ukrainian.

Before I had gone out I had been praying, asking God that He would give me divine appointments, and lead me to people who were open to the Gospel. I had asked some friends back home to pray as I was heading out, so they were praying as well.

So I had been out for around 1 1/2 hrs and was about to start heading back, when I saw Victor sitting on a bench. I went up, introduced myself, and started talking with him. He invited me to sit next to him, so I did, and he told me about himself and his family in Ukrainian.

It turned out that he wasn’t even from Lviv, but a different city about 60 miles away. He just came to Lviv because he had the day off and it was a pretty day. We talked for about 20 mins, then as we were ending the conversation I gave him one of the picture/comic Bibles that I had with me telling him that I wanted to give it to him for free.

Because in the same way, Jesus came and died in our place so that he could offer eternal life to us for free, and all He wants us to do is BELIEVE on Him and ACCEPT the great gift that He is holding out to us. He was really appreciative and asked if he could buy me a coffee.

As we were walking to the coffee shop, he told me in English, ( Turns out he knew English fluently as well as Ukrainian,Russian, and Polish) ” You know, I had a feeling that someone was going to to come and talk to me today.” I thought to myself ” Wow! God has worked this all out for me to meet him today and share the Gospel with him!”

Anyways, we spent almost 1 1/2 hours in the coffee house and I was able to share the entire Gospel to him from beginning to end. He was locked in. I’ve never had someone listen as intently and focused as he was. After explaining the Gospel to him in many different ways, using many stories and parallels from the Old Testament then connecting them with Jesus, I asked him ” Do you understand this?” He looked me straight in the eye and said “Everything”.

He had to go after that because he had a train to catch, but before he left we exchanged contact info. I just praise God for providing such an amazing truly divine appointment! Please pray for Victor that if he didn’t believe the Gospel then, that he would believe it.

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Out and About in Lviv

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March Prayer Letter

Here is my March prayer letter. It is a PDF so you can print it out.

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Things to pray for

• Pray for more understanding, learning, and speaking in Ukrainian.
• Pray that God would stop Coronavirus and that we would be able to start the Youth Meetings back.
• Pray for Victor: That if he did believe the Gospel that God would grow,encourage, and mature him, and if not, that he would believe the Gospel and trust in Jesus for his salvation.

All Praise,Honor, and Glory be to God!