Greetings!

Dear friends and family!!

The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful fall. We battled to remember when it we had such a warm fall last. We are grateful for the warm season of fall and for the hot season of ministry. The Lord has blessed us with a very busy but exciting time. But in this update we will do something different, we will try to tell you some stories of the people we work with, so that you could rejoice with us in the work the Lord is doing in their lives.

Looking back at November

Missionary Training Program - Szymon:

We first met when he came to study at the training center. Nice young man but nothing outstanding, that all changed when we heard his testimony. He was a professional soccer player, was growing up as a defiant teenager in Christian home. Was disobedient to his parents, God and lived the life he wanted with alcohol and all sort of other things that the world has to offer. He would read his Bible only when his father would tell him to so that he would not bug him about it too much and then one day the Lord spoke to him through John 8:42-44 (⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.). That made him realize the choice he needed to make: to remain a son of Satan or to turn to the Lord for forgiveness and become a son of God.

This past year  he was seeking God’s will and it brought him to the missionary training center. From day one he has been growing in the faith and has been getting so excited about knowing God more and serving Him. It was such a blessing to see him grow and change! It is always a blessing to be around people who know their God and who want to grow in Him.

This week the Missionary training center program will be over and we will be sending the students off. We are sad to say good bye since they became like family to us, yet we are excited to see them go and see how they will continue to serve the Lord with their lives.

Looking back at November

Pridnestrovye (Orphanage):
As you know our Missionary training center graduate from last year is serving fulltime
in the country which is not recognized by the world. It has been hard but exciting to watch her
grow. She experienced a lot of trouble and opposition, she was betrayed by some of the people
she was working with etc. But by the Lord’s grace she persevered. There were times when she
was close to giving up, yet never did. She continued to trust the Lord. Just few weeks ago we
went to the orphanage and got to spend some time together. We were so encouraged by her
attitude. She said that things are tough and it seems it gets tougher and tougher but she said I
have peace and strength from the Lord to carry on. What a blessing to see a person who is in a
middle of a huge storm yet so peaceful and grateful to the Lord.
During the same trip I got an opportunity to talk to some kids. Want to mention one
girl to you. She is 13 years of age and she shared how she got to the orphanage. She said that she
was living with her mom and she had to drink water from the puddles because there was nothing
to drink and kill and eat the dog meat (not the hot dog, the street dog). The Lord has saved her
from hell of the future, since we believe she trusted the Lord for her salvation, and the hell of the
present. He brought her to a safe place where she was able to hear the Gospel. What a kind and
merciful God we serve.

Concluding thoughts

Concluding thoughts:
The list goes on…We feel blessed, privileged and honored so serve people like that.
We are grateful that the Lord blessed us through the opportunities of serving so many different
people in different settings. We are delighted to see people come to know Him and people
growing in Him. We are thankful to Him.

Current Prayer Requests - November/Dec

Please pray
For the preparations to leave for South Africa (leaving on the 10.12.2010 coming back on the
7.02.2010)
For our time in SA to be an act of obedient servanthood to Him
For the travels ahead of us with Mikael
For the process of the Church registration to be finalized
For us to continue to grow closer to the Lord as a couple.
Thank you so much for being such a part of our lives and ministries,
Arkadiy, Anneke and Mikael