BIEMs of Light:  August 2003

Praises – Rejoice with us!

v            Praise God for answers to prayer in Magadan where Missionary Tim Smith was burdened to pray that God would intervene somehow in this summer’s celebration of “Beer Festival” and “White Nights”.  Every summer these holiday’s result in a huge drunken orgy and the deaths of several young lives.   This summer the city officials cancelled both holidays stating a concern for the city’s youth!   Another praise from Magadan is that just the day before the arrival of the Pasachnik’s, a family coming from Ukraine to help in the work, God opened the door to buying a place for them to live.  Up until that point there was simply nothing available at a reasonable price.

v            The public school in Komarivka, Ukraine asked the church there to participate in their 30^th anniversary celebration!   This provided an amazing opportunity to sing and clearly present the Gospel to many of the area’s inhabitants.    Praise God for such an open door!

v            God has greatly blessed this summer’s camping programs and has answered the prayers of those of you that have given to and prayed for this important outreach.  God also answered prayer for good weather as most of these camps were able to be conducted in ideal temperatures.  Praise God for a missions group from Lakeshore Baptist Church in Grand Haven, MI that participated in these camps.  Many young people have been saved and other important decisions have been made.  In one camp alone BIEM sponsored near Lutsk, Ukraine 60 young people trusted Christ!

v            Praise God for a steady harvest of souls, which is clearly evident from the baptismal services that are typically conducted during this time of year.  Baptisms in this part of the world are very public and evangelistic since they baptize in rivers and lakes.  The church in Fetesti, Romania recently baptized 20 people!

Prayer – Pray with us!

v Please pray for BIEM’s military ministry in Desna and for Karina, the daughter of the missionaries laboring there, Vitaly and Vika Sychev.  God has miraculously opened the door for Karina to receive free medical care through a children’s hospital in Philadelphia which is hoped will enable her to walk.  Vika and Karina are in the US for the procedures that will take at least 6 months.  Please pray for funds that are needed to cover their travel expense from Ukraine.

v The teenage daughter of the military base commander in Desna has recently come to know Christ and is regularly attending the church meetings there.  Please pray for her father and some important meetings coming up which may have an impact on his command.  Since the results of any change in leadership could dramatically affect our work there, this is an urgent prayer need.

v Please pray for Margie Canaday the wife of Fred Canaday our field director in Romania and Moldova.  Pray that doctors would be able to find the cause and treat the swollen lymph nodes that she has recently experienced.

v     Pray for spiritual growth, fellowship and refreshment through the Barnabas conference taking place the last week of August in Romania.  Nearly 50 will be attending this conference for BIEM Romanian and Moldovan national missionaries and pastors.