Lviv News letter from Edmund Johnston.

LVIV NEWSLETTER – Edmund & Agnes                                                                                 November 2014

Know  therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;  Deuteronomy 7 v 9.

Greetings to all

We want to thank all for their continued prayer for the Christians at this time of war in the East of the country. We along with the Ukrainian people feel the value of perpetual prayer and remembrance of us all here in Lviv at the throne of Grace.  Russian presence in the East is very unsettling and gives great cause for concern.

During September and October we traveled south every Tuesday to Ivano  Frankivsk for a gospel meeting.   We were encouraged with an average attendance of 16 and many who are not yet saved.  Please pray for salvation.

In mid October we welcomed to Lviv our brother Malcolm Stanley (81) and Howard Pratt (72) from Winnipeg and Kirkland Lake, Canada .  Together they had one week of Gospel meetings in the assembly in Lviv where the gospel was preached faithfully to many unbelievers over the week and has left them without excuse.  We had many “outsiders” visit the meetings, as before we gave out many invitations.  The meetings were a blessing to the assembly and we continue to pray that God will work “Salvation belongeth  unto the Lord”

Before the commencement of the meetings Mickola (deaf and dumb) who has attended the meetings for the last 2 years wrote a note telling us he had “ passed from death unto life”.  Ruslan and I had visited him in his home a few weeks prior to this, reading with him John 5 v 24.  To God be the glory.

On the 7^th/8^th November we enjoyed our 4^th Lviv assembly conference.  Our brother Paul McClarty (NI) was responsible for the gospel meeting, bible reading (1 Timothy 2) and ministry of the Word of God.  It was a real joy and encouragement to us as he stayed in our home for the week.

Brother Howard Pratt shared in the gospel meeting on the Friday night when many unsaved were present.  The messages were clear and challenging and Christ exalting.

After lunch on Saturday we had a short time of singing some choruses with the children who were at the conference-along with the “big children” who also enjoyed the songs.

On Saturday afternoon Rene Samson (Nova Scotia), Malcolm Stanley and brother Paul McClarty gave excellent ministry on Prayer, Romans 12 and Deacons  1st Timothy 3 respectively.  This year we had 70 at the conference, 7 from Slovakia, many from Lutsk, Ivano and Lviv city.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing together the Word of God.

Sincere thanks to all, for your interest and support, both in prayer and practically.

Much  love  in HIM-  Edmund & Agnes.

Malcolm's Report #7 for Nov 6-8

Malcolm’s Report #7 for Nov 6^th to 8^th.

Thursday.

Ever since coming to Ivano Frankovsk, we have had a real interest in a village about an hour from Ivano called Petriliv of Peter Village. It is in a pristine valley with a large river running through it. In 2008 the river flooded and filled the valley. Most of the homes on the river flats were put under water. The school, further up the hill had water that filled the auditorium with over 4 ft of water. We were there with Flo Kancir the year after the flood and took relief for the people.

We made good friends with the Lady Mayor who is still the mayor and have visited each year since to bring clothing for the very poor people. The mayor sees that it gets to the right people. We see her first and then go to the small school and are always welcomed by the director and staff. They do not have an auditorium so we meet the children in the large hallway to the classrooms. The school has a kindergarten and they come to the meeting and stand and listen to the simple message of God’s love along with the other 20 or so older students. It is not a large school but is getting less each year as families move away to get employment.

As is usual in most of the villages, there are little funds to do anything with the infrastructure and so there are always things that are needed to be fixes or replaced. In this school, most of the children have no running water, so the request was made for a shower to be installed. A shower and hot water tank were purchased a year ago and it was still sitting waiting to be installed because of no funds to buy the pipe and fixtures. We bought these items for them and expect it to be installed very soon.

We left them school and headed to town to buy the necessary items for the shower and then went to the apartment to prepare to leave Ivano on Friday for the Conference in Lviv.

Friday.

We had planned to leave Ivano at 1pm for Lviv but as usual, some were not there until 1:20. Then we found that some had decided not to come at all!! We were not happy, as we had rented a bus and driver that would hold 30 or 40 people and we had only 7 or 8 in the end instead of 14. If we had not have had to take our van, so that Dan could return, we could have all gone in the bus.

Well we arrived in good time and got everyone settled in their room in the Baptist church we rent, and relaxed until supper. This is a large old church with 2 floors of bedrooms attached, all very nice. The first meeting started at 7pm with Howard and the invited brother from Ireland Paul McClarty. This was a good start to the Conference.

Saturday.

Breakfast was at the church at 8am. By this time, a car full of men and women from Slovakia had arrived. They were lovely people 4 young ladies and 3 men, all in fellowship in assemblies in Slovakia. Most of them spoke fairly good English, so it was easy to communicate. A group of the Christians from Lutsk also arrived and it was good to see old friends once again.

The meetings went well with a bible reading in the morning and ministry in the afternoon; Rene’ Samson from Nova Scotia, myself from Manitoba and Paul McClarty from N. Ireland gave the ministry. From the comments received, it seems the ministry was appreciated.

Supper was served and some went home. Our people from Ivano stayed overnight and all had breakfast at the church.

Sunday. I went over to the church at 9am and brought our people back to the Gospel Hall to wait for the morning meeting. There was a nice number at the meeting, both believers and those observing the meeting. After meeting, one of the brothers from Slovakia spoke an excellent message in English. His name is Daniel Moses. Then we had a little Sunday school and I spoke to the children.

After a good lunch, we said our farewells to those leaving with Dan for Ivano and those heading to Slovakia. Rene’ left with Dan and is leaving Ivano by train tomorrow for Romania, as he flies from there to Canada.

Howard and I leave tomorrow for Poland with Paul McClarty, who is leaving from Krakow for home.

More about out trip to Poland later.

God bless and thank you for your prayers, while we have been away.

Malcolm and Howard.

Malcolm's Report #6 November 2 to 4.

Malcolm’s Report #6. From November 2 to 4^th

Sunday was the usual trip to Lviv. The road really has improved but still some terrible pieces to repair.

A good number were at the remembrance meeting with nice participation by the brothers. I spoke in teaching afterwards and then Edmund spoke to the 3 children present. They are trying to encourage more children to come as there are only 2 who have family in the meeting but 2 others come from an unsaved home.

After a good cold lunch we headed back to have a meeting at 6 pm. with about 14 out to listen.

Monday we headed to see 2 schools near the Romanian border. The road was so bad, I felt like turning back. We visited a school in Bukovets on the way to the other school in Virhovina. We were welcomed royally and spoke to two groups of children in their dining room as they do not have an auditorium. The children all listened intently as well as the teachers. We left a couple of boxes of clothes, as this is a very poor area up in the mountains.

We then went on to Virhovina, the school we have visited for years and have helped with many projects such as new washrooms and heating in their gym. We heard some of the horror stories of the visits of school inspectors. I hope these people are some of the government employees the new government talk of removing. One of the incidents concerns battery operated smoke alarms that were donated to be put in the dormitories. When the inspector saw them, the only comment was, “where did you get the permit to install them?” No comment about how good it was to have them.

By the time we got home, we had been gone 12 hours and I was completely bushed because of the driving, especially as most of the home trip was in the dark.

Tuesday we went to the orphanage in Yablunuv or Apple village. The administrator was away but the assistant greeted us and we spoke to about 100 children who listened again very well. We left several boxes here of winter clothing as this school is in the foot hills and gets cold weather too.

We returned home and had our Tuesday afternoon meeting with a much better number of 18 or so adults and 6 children. There was a little noise from the children but the Word was preached and there were some present who were new and not saved. Arrangements were given for those going to Lviv for the Conference on Friday and then home to have a good talk with a saved man who is having some problems.

Wednesday. This was our last long trip before leaving for Lviv on Friday to Sniatin to the two homes for mentally challenged boys and men. We met at the men’s home first with the director who does a wonderful job for these men. The home receives nothing for renovations or renewal of any of the buildings but he is always finding money somewhere to replace rotten windows and doors. He had just had over 100 mattresses donated but had no pillows. He knew of the same number of pillows available and so we helped him to get them.

He then gathered about 20 staff and we gave a word again to these people. This director is one of the most willing to get them together and attends as well. We believe he may have trusted Christ.

We headed to see the saved priest we had met before but he was away with the wife and family. We had boxes of clothing for the very poor people in this village so took them to the home of Hallia, a sister, who will see that he gets them. She had prepared a full meal so we ate and then left for town over horrendous roads.

Of all the days to be invited out for supper, today was NOT the day we needed two meals. Well we had to go and visit our interpreters mother for supper. What a spread, fit for a king and no appetite. We did our best but there was enough to feed 3 more people, I’m sure.

So another full day we trust was for God’s glory.

Malcolm and Howard, 

Malcolm's Report #5 for Oct. 29-31. Nov.1.

Malcolm’s Report #5 Oct 29 -31. Nov.1

Wednesday.

Thankfully, the snow that fell last weekend has gone and except for mud is some holes, things are quite nice. We still need a jacket as it is still cool.

Today we spent time in town, going to the ½ way House as we call it, where children are brought, waiting to be rehabilitated from their poor or unfit homes to, either an orphanage or other family members. This time, there was a real difference, as usually there are school age children, this time there were over 20 pre-school children. The administrator was not there but the children were all gathered and very attentive. One of the senior girls was very good at keeping the little one attentive while I spoke to them for 15 minutes. We left them 3 boxes of clothes and gave them all candies.

We then went to visit our landlady to pay up until the end of the year. She wanted to increase our rent by 20% but after I said we would have to look for somewhere else, she relented with 10% increase. We do have a very good location with good security, on the ground floor and for the vehicle, which  makes it a premium location.

Thursday,

We planned to go and visit a Christian Pentecostal family in a village about an hour away. Dan and Eric had met Uri and Oxana some time ago and we have tried to keep in touch. They have 4 children, the youngest on 3 months old. They have managed to secure a pristine little farm home for only $7,000. Uri was saved in prison and has gone on very well for the Lord. He had just gone back to Poland to work so that he can pay of his loan on the house.

We picked Oxana up in a nearby town where she had gone to buy medicine for the baby and then made our way to the “farm”, for that is really what it is, with a pig a goat and 20 or so chickens. There were 2 VERY shy neighbour girls, who had looked after the baby.                                      Oxana asked if we would like coffee, we agreed. First came borsht soup followed by pork and buckwheat (which I can’t stand), a plateful of garlic and last but not least, coffee! 

I mentioned it would be nice to have a children’s lesson with the 2 girls. Well WHIZZ they were out the door. 10 minutes later they came back and I barred the door and we gave them the lesson. 11 and 13 years old and probably never been to Sunday school.

Friday.

On the way home yesterday we heard something rubbing on a tire. We found the splash guard in the fender had dropped down so booked it into the garage for 9am this morning. It was an easy fix but then they decided to fix the read shock that has given us problems. Well there was only one man who could weld and he was busy for over an hour.                                                                                     We left and went to get a table we had bought for our apartment and brought it home and set it up. We came home had supper and read a little and for the first time since her, went to bed early.

Saturday

As we have written earlier, the Christian woman Dana recently lost her son, so we wanted to visit her and give our condolences. While there, we asked what happened with her unfinished kitchen. She informed us that she had run out of money to put in the kitchen counter and sink and had no running water in the kitchen.                                                                                                                              We will not weary you with the details, but the person given responsibility to complete the job, absconded with the remaining money leaving Dana and her husband to have to loan money to close in the outside doorway that was left without a door.                                                     As we had been given funds for such eventualities, we felt we should get her an inexpensive set of cupboards. We were able get a 6 ft set of upper and lower cupboards and stainless sink and taps on sale for under $200.00 plus $40 for a carpenter to put them in today! I will try to remember to take pictures when they are all finished.

After we left there we went to our dear lady Natalia, who is in the last stages of MS we fear. She is a dear lady who is ready to meet her Lord. Her mother gave us lunch. We prayed and left them with money for the adult pampers Natalia needs daily. They cost over $10 per bag here.

We spent some time with Ola, Sasha’s mother and had tea and homemade cheese cake and then came home to get ready for meeting in Lviv tomorrow. 5 of us will be going tomorrow.

Thank you for praying for us, our trip is over half over and there’s much still to do.

Malcolm and Howard.