40 Days of Prayer | Day 30 Ukraine and Russia

Day 30 – Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine

Date entered by ABWE as a mission field: 1992
Major ABWE ministries: Church planting, leadership training, evangelism, MK education

ABWE’s goal in Ukraine is to establish a national church planting movement through evangelism, discipleship and leadership training. Working with several local Baptist churches, ABWE assists their Ukrainian partners in planting new churches.

Resource and training centers are being developed across the country to help meet church planting goals. Medical care and instruction is being given in village clinics as an evangelistic outreach. Join us in praying for the 97 percent of Ukrainians who are lost.

Prayer Requests

Rick and Carol Ferrari

Rick serves as the Ukraine North team leader. The Ferrari family has been greatly involved in the Gospel Life Church in Kharkiv.
The Gospel Life School of Church Ministry has begun the school year. During the past five years, they have offered 47 courses with more than 80 students at various levels. The goal is preparing church workers, leaders and missionaries.
They have renewed their involvement with the Rogan church that recently celebrated its20th anniversary. The Rogan church has been involved with several church plants.
They have also started working with the Chugiyiv church, one church plant with which they have assisted. Rick is setting up the school year for the School of Church Ministry in Kharkiv and plans to include the Kairos course for Missiology, as they are seeking to encourage the churches to move from “receiving” churches to “sending” churches.

Mike and Rachel Gustafson

Pray for the Gustafsons as they work with their church youth and the Christian basketball League.
Pray for Mike in his discipleship and mentoring ministry as chaplain of the Kyiv Theological Seminary. He is also serving on the Church Ministries Institute (CMI) of Eurasia board.

Shane and Lonna Jobson

The Jobsons are based in the U.S., and now plan to be involved in short-term outreaches and ministries in Ukraine.
Pray for wisdom and provision for their ministries.

David and Penny Winget

Dave and Penny serve in church planting in Kharkiv.
They had the opportunity to assist in ESL ministry in Hungary this past summer and Dave led the chapel services, sharing the Gospel with about 80 students, mostly unbelievers. Pray for the church’s follow-up with these contacts.
They have begun working with a new church plant in the city of Chuguyev, an hour away. They will be helping the young leader of this church, Artyom. Pray for the growth of this new church.

Holly Friesen

She is helping to organize a pro-life ministry in Odessa, with plans to open a pregnancy care center in the fall of 2012.
Pray for the Lord to provide committed volunteers with a heart for reaching out to the lost in the community through this ministry.

Judd and Becky McClarren

Becky is a medical doctor and they recently returned from a ministry trip working in the village clinic ministries.
Pray for direction as they determine their ministry focus and provision of their support.

Doug and Karen Phillips

Doug serves in Russian translation ministry and has been deeply involved in the translation and production of The Story of Hope, The Way to Joy and Good Soil seminar training materials.
He has also worked on the translation of How Good is Good Enough by Andy Stanley into Russian.
The Phillips are currently on furlough and need to raise support to be able to return to Ukraine and their ministries there.

Caleb and Christina Suko

Caleb serves as the Ukraine South team leader, as well as vice president for public relations at the Church Ministries Institute.
Pray for the CMI’s U-Can Do It! campaign to raise prayer and financial support for Ukrainian evangelism, church leader training and cross cultural ministry training.
Pray for Christina as she homeschools the four oldest of their five children and leads the women’s fellowship at their church.

Ted and Debra Welch

Pray for Ted as he teaches courses and seminars at the CMI, and for he and Deb as they assist their pastor in ministry at several orphanages.
Pray that the kindness and love shown to these children will open their hearts to the message of the Gospel.

Miriam Wheeler

Praise the Lord for Miriam’s recovery from pulmonary embolisms and thyroid surgery this summer and return from furlough on Nov. 11.
Dr. Miriam serves in clinic ministry in 10 villages. Pray for strength and wisdom in traveling and treating patients, and for many to respond to the Gospel. Pray for the many patients with whom Miriam and her pastor have had opportunities to visit regularly.
Pray for encouragement and growth of those who have accepted Christ.

Bruce and Carol Bagley

Bruce serves as the Eastern Europe coordinator, encouraging and working with the Eastern European country team leaders.
He is also serving as interim team leader for the Russia and Mediterranean teams. Pray for new leaders for these two teams.
Bruce and Carol are based in the U.S., but are concluding a three-month stay in Ukraine this week.
Pray for wisdom and guidance as they serve the country teams in Eastern Europe.

John and Jacky Taylor

John serves as the president of CMI, which has students in 15 different locations in Ukraine and Moldova.
Praise the Lord for the provision of a new academic dean.
Please join them in prayer as they seek to introduce a broader network of individuals to the CMI ministry, and to raise new committed supporters and one-time gifts through the U-Can Do It! campaign.
Pray for John and Jacky’s continuing involvement at the “Hope for People” church in Odessa, for John’s leadership of the CMI and his PhD studies, and for Jacky as she leads a ladies’ small group in their home and teaches in the ladies’ meetings at church.

Russia

In the years since ABWE has moved to Russia, God had been at work. He brought several young dedicated Russians and Ukrainians to assist in church planting. There are now six new small groups that have been organized with the express purpose of seeing them grow into a church.

Two more experienced families have moved here to pastor struggling works that were on the verge of dying. There is now slight church growth taking place, instead of a net loss each year. A church-planting movement requires a number of trained and motivated leaders.

God has allowed us to open a Bible institute that has already functioned for four years, with more than 20 courses taught. Many of the students are already involved in ministry, and this training has helped them to be more effective. Others who have just begun are looking for their niche in ministry.

Prayer Requests

Bill and Denise Braun

The construction of the half-way house for recovering drug addicts is proceeding well. The funds for completion are all pledged. Pray that the weather will stay good so that construction can continue.
The Brauns’ house construction is continuing. Pray for the timely completion of both construction projects.

Leon and Donna Duell

The Duells are now based in the U.S., working with leadership training and church renewal in northcentral Pennsylvania and continuing to support the CMI in Russia.