Work

HI All,

I'm sort of in a revival of updating the blog. I had, what I'm SURE you'll agree is a great idea: a prayer list.

What follows is a partial list of the people that we have regular contact with and for whom we need your prayers. All of these are open to spiritual themes and discussions but we seem stuck in the discussion phase...

Anyway, so you don't overload I'll give you ten names and a little about these people so you can join us in our work by your prayers:

Yura and Luda Serikov- The orignial Sauna Guy, Yura has become a good friend. Once when we were all together and 'God' came up (as he often does when we're hanging out) Luda told the story of a life after life experience she had while undergoing an appendix operation. I would say the Serikovs are willing to be convinced that there is a God and that he loves them. Pray for their eyes to be opened; for steady construction work for Yura who's dealing with the weak economy; for recovery from a minor operation for Luda. (Yura is in the picture on the left- This was taken recently when I went skiing with him and Volodya Tikomirov.)

Volodya Kompanyets and Volodya Tikomirov(in the picture on the right) these are two more of the Sauna Guys- The first Vova is a jet aircraft engine mechanic and sharp, sharp. He's an 'orthodox' believer, which means he can live however he wants as long as he calls himself 'Orthodox'.

The second Vova is an electronics repairman and is sharp, sharp. He doesn't know what he is, religioulsly speaking, but has expressed a desire to know what God wants from him and to live right.

Pray that these guys get more and more hungry...

Ilya G- It's funny we don't know his last name. Ilya is a professor at the University where we teach English and we've known him for a year. We have wide ranging spiritual discussions by email and we see each other from time to time at the U. He has a lot of arguments against Christianity: "If Jesus is real why do Christians kill other people?" I think he means things like war. Anyway, he's a new father and I think, humanly speaking, if God works in his life it will be through his needs as a father and husband. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to reason him into repentance.

Galina and Enver- Our two oldest friends in Kiev, they live one floor above us. Galina is an avid reader of Christian books we give her and she also shares them with others. Getting from avid reader to the assurance of salvation is really our prayer for her. Enver is a Georgian who credits Stalin with bringing order to Soviet society. He smiles a smile that says, "You poor, naive person" whenever I bring up life after death. He's in his 70s so he thinks about dying, he just wants to avoid any topic that might suggest a Judgement Day.

Pasha and Halya- These two ladies we met on the street selling potatoes and cottage cheese when we first got here. We have great relationships with them. They've read verses from the Bible and other books but we are clueless as to how to take this to a higher level. These two ladies are 'salt of the earth' quality and we would just like them to experience true joy in Christ.

...and last? Sasha the van driver and (11th) Vitalic the taxi driver. Two guys who we've really been blessed to know because we can trust them completely with guests coming and going. We've talked with both about Christ and Vitalic, at least, is open. Sasha is just a great guy but smiles that same, you-poor-naive-person smile as Enver.

We are confident that these guys have good hearts and that God could really work there.

Well, thanks for reading along and praying for even one of these people.

Until next time