Thursday, January 19, 2017

Dan Perez's Report for Dec 2016.

Dan Perez's report.

 During the month of December Edmund and Rulsan came from Lviv to Ivano for two Tuesdays for the meeting both Edmund and I took part. Before the meeting we met for a meal with a few others from the meeting.
In both these meetings there were a good number out and some new people, this is not always the case so it was good to see.  One of these new people was one young woman that I had invited out before but this was the first time she had come, she came with her mother. She can speak good English but is busy with work, her mother wants to learn English so she was interested in coming. I do hope that God will use His word to speak to their hearts and to all that come to these meetings!
I received a call by one of the ladies that come to the meetings about a relative of hers that needed some help, it ended up taking all day. He is an older man and has a home but his brother kicked him out for no good reason, so he has been living in the street for I think a few years.
He really needed to go to the hospital because he has been bleeding from one of his legs and it was very swollen. The hospital was one were you have to pay but  they would not take him because he smelled so very bad. When I picked him up I had to put a plastic cover over the seat sto protect it!  We look him to the sauna and asked if he could use the shower, they said he could. When he was done I bought some cheap shoes and got some clothes for him from the boxes.
I paid the lady for the shower and bought her some chocolate for allowing this man to use the shower, she did a nice thing! I did have time to talk with him about the gospel and he had some questions and listened very well.  We finally made it back to the hospital and will be there for some time, he was very thankful  for the help he received!
Another lady called me asking if I can take her friend to the doctors, she had surgery on her foot so I said I would. Heather from Wisconsin was still here and decided  to go with her to help her walk and keep her company while waiting for the Doctor. The hospital conditions are not very good and the wait could be very long plus this women speaks very little English, for Heather to want to do this was very nice and brave of her, do hope God will use that time for His glory!
Once again another lady called and invited me to a school we have visited many time which is in the village. I had two invitations to see some of the traditional holiday plays that the school was to have. The students do very well with remembering  their lines and poems. The first visit I had to cancel because the van was being repaired in the shop. The teacher was very disappointed that I could not make it and said I should try to come. She said I should really try to make it.  So the interpreter and I took the bus to the school in that village. I was able to speak to two classes before the play; they listened well and seemed to enjoy that time. There were no teachers in these classrooms so we (the interpreter and I) were like their teachers and they seemed to have preferred us over their regular teachers.
There was a priest there on both visits and we and some of the teachers had lunch together and had a good talk. We started talking about teachings of the Bible that were wrong, I had to be careful about what I said, so I focused of how some of the things other religions do is not necessarily bad but they are still in their sins and for some, Jesus sacrifice is not enough which then leaves them  still in their sins. Some did agree and the priest listened very carefully. This priest was very nice and friendly, and he was the one that drove us back to Ivano. He asked me what is the focus of our group, what teaching? I told him Salvation,  people need to know their sins can be forgiven through faith in the finished work of Christ. He liked it and said that it was very good. This was the first time a priest said to me" it was my pleasure to meet you"  and he also asked if I can pray for him and his family, he has 5 children.
The Van needed some repairs; there was a strong smell of gas that was coming through the vents. You really do not know how dependent you are on these vehicles until something goes wrong. So far all seems to have been repaired and working fine, Praise God!!
At the end of the year I bought food packages for some of those that come to the meetings, some do not come very often but they still have children. The food package would help them through the holidays so they can have a New Year's dinner. It also open doors to get to know some better and brings  Christ's Salvation message to their home! Do pray it can be used for His glory!
I DO WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR PRAYERS THIS PAST YEAR! ALL WHO HAVE SENT FUND THAT HELPED TO KEEP THIS WORK GOING ANOTHER YEAR! THOSE WHO HAVE SENT BOXES OF AID TO REACH THOSE WITH NEEDS THIS PAST YEAR, THANK YOU ALL!!

In Christ our Lord! 
Dan.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Report from Lutsk Ukraine.

Timothy Sloan reporting from Lutsk, Ukraine.

Fanny Crosby, one of the greatest hymn writers of all time wrote “To God be the glory great things He has done”. Publish in 1875 it is recognized as a wonderful hymn of praise and adoration of God. Here in Lutsk, Ukraine as we look back over 2016 we can utter the same words as we recall a year of blessing in salvation, believers baptized and added to the assembly, a Sunday School with 80 children and an assembly united and active in the Lords work. You might well ask “How is it done?” 1. God has blessed us and we appreciate His presence and blessings, 2. Consistent and persistent hard work in our locality and 3. YOU – your prayers are really valued.



Answers to prayer

1. Two saved recently

2. 5 who recently got saved were baptized,

3. 4 received into fellowship in Lutsk and 1 in L’viv. Dima, was saved in Lutsk on 12th July 2015. He lives and works in Ivano Frankvisk (2 hours’ drive south of L’viv) and was baptized there by brother Eric Fowler. There is no assembly in Ivano Frankvisk as yet so he has been temporally received into the L’viv assembly. Do continue to pray for the work of the Lord in Ivano Frankvisk.

4. Sunday school in Lutsk with over 80 boys and girls,

5. UCC – Ukraine Child Care teaching the scriptures to 100 children every day at the Gospel Hall,

6. We opened a Christian Book shop in the basement of the hall. It is opened 6 days a week from 09.00 to 19:00. We sell all our literature below cost and it is amazing how many poor believers from different churches come and ask if they could distribute some literature in their villages. We never turn anyone away empty handed.

7. Since January we have printed and paid for 60,000 Gospel tracts, 50,000 “Who we are and what we believe” and 50,000 Safety Certainty & Enjoyment. We have bought 10,000 Woven Bags with John 3:16 in Ukrainian on both sides, 10,000 Bibles and New Testaments and received 33,000 Calendars for 2017,

8. All 33,000 calendars have been given out. We know that God has promised to bless His word.



Please pray for

1. The 10,000 woven carrier bags we bought from China in 2016 have been so well received on the streets of Lutsk that we plan to buy a further 10,000 bags with a different verse for 2017.



2. We plan God willing 2 conferences in 2017. Our new Easter Conference commences Friday April 14th to Monday 17th and our 14th summer conference commences Saturday 8th July to Lords Day 16th. The speaker expected is brother Ryan Coleman (Hatboro Gospel Hall) Pennsylvania, USA).



3. The Norwegian owner of the orphanage building in Lutsk which we long to buy contacted me yesterday 12/12/2016 and has asked me to put in a serious bid for the building before New Year. We will do this even though we do not have the funds believing that if God wants us to have it He will provide. We appreciate your prayers.



Rhoda and I are excited as we look forward to 2017 God willing. We have 5 teenagers and a number of unsaved who faithfully attend Gospel meetings. Pray for their salvation. We value your prayers and trust that the Lord will richly bless you.

Yours in Christ, Timothy & Rhoda Sloan



Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Dan Perez's Report for Nov 2016


Editors note.
An explanation may be in order regarding Dan going to some other European countries. A visitor can only stay 3 months at a time in Ukraine. They must then leave for 3 months before returning. Dan chooses to go and help some assemblies in these other countries for 3 months rather than return to his native USA. These small assemblies really enjoy and appreciate his time with them.
Moldova/Ukraine, 11/2016
     While in Moldova I had the chance to visit a boy’s College dormitory. These are boys in their late teens that are taking a trade like oil drilling, electrician or some kind of construction. The first visit was very difficult, there were about 15 or 20 of them there, two of them spoke Russian and as I was speaking they were just talking over me. It came to the point where I asked the interpreter whether I should continue;  so he then took over in Romanian, the language most of them there understood and I just stepped away.
We both felt very strongly the arrows of our adversary seeking to stop that which was planned to give glory to Christ our Lord! We went again the following week and there were different students and this time more about 30 or so and no one speaking Russian this time. This time they all listened very well and I was surprised at the difference in their attentiveness over that last group, I do hope it can be used to speak to their hearts!
  The assembly there had a Conference with speakers from Romania and Germany who did most of the speaking. The assembly building is small so the place became packed from wall to wall in a short time. The breaks and meals were taken outside in the cold but sunny weather.
 The passage of discussion was in Colossians chapters 2 and 3. Unfortunately I was not feeling well so I spent most of the time outside with the kids.
I got ready to go back to Ukraine, but this time I took a very different route. I was able to get a ride from Moldova into Romania, which was a great help! From here I took a bus pretty much across Romania and through the Carpathian mountains, it took 17 hours to get to the border of Ukraine. This was a new border crossing for me and I was very nervous about them trying to make things difficult but it ended up as one of my easiest and pleasant crossing. When the officer gave me back my passport he said, “Welcome to Ukraine and enjoy your stay”, I think this was the first time I was greeted this way, it felt good!
This part of Ukraine borders three countries Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. I walked across the border into a small village. I was then told there are no buses here and I would have to walk three kilometers to the nearest bus stop, so with one suitcase, one large backpack and one small one, I started walking across the village  to the bus stop. Once I got on the bus I thought it would be 1 or 2 hours to the town where I was going called Uzghorod but it actually took another 5hrs.!!  The purpose of coming to that town was to visit two assemblies that I heard were in this area. I had a number and called and the next day was invited to dinner by this Christian family. One of their daughter's can speak good English and was the interpreter. We had a long discussion for many hours late into the night. Most of the talk was about the Church, her function, her purpose, and her development. We then talked about the gathering together and assembly truth. I spent most of my time with this small assembly of about 10 and this very nice Christian family! The other purpose I came here was to visit a Christian book store. This place was a big warehouse of books in Ukrainian and in Russian. It is a German organization that prints Christian materials in other languages. Books from Macintosh, Darby, Kelly and so on, I was very surprise to see such materials printed in Ukrainian and Russian. My Time spent here was very good and I was very blessed to meet such a family!
 Then came my 10 hour bus ride back over the Carpathian mountains to get back to Ivano. As we were going uphill the bus was going so slow I thought we were going backwards, however I did make it to Ivano safely,  Praise God! I was met by Dima at the bus stop in Ivano and was very glad to see him, we then walked together to the apartment!
While I was away Eric and Margie Fowler were here carrying on the work and then Malcolm and Wade were continuing the work which meant having weekly meetings and visiting institutions, bringing aid that was sent by Christians in North America along with the gospel message. Was good to see Malcolm again and Wade for the first time. Heather Anderson from Wisconsin was also here visiting the Christians in Lutsk, Lviv and Ivano.
We all went to the mid week meeting in Lviv where Wade gave a very good message about Christian character. Gill and Helen Plourde were also staying in Lviv at this time. 
 After the meeting we said our goodbyes. Malcolm and Wade flew out the following day and I came back to Ivano.
Please pray for the work and for us workers, for guidance and strength and for Unity! Also for this Christian family and the small assembly that I visited, that God would protect them and preserve them.
Thank You for your many prayers!
In Christ our Lord! Dan Perez
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