BIEMs of Light: January 2003

P raises - Rejoice with us!

v     After a long bureaucratic battle, BIEM Missionary Sergei Levitsky - our minister among the street children in Kyiv, Ukraine - has finally been able to get an internal passport for Bogdan.  It is our prayer that once all 10-year-old Bogdan’s lost documents are replaced, Brother Sergei can put him in an orphanage off the streets, where he now lives with his alcoholic mother Raya.

v     Despite fierce persecution from the families of some of the school teachers in Zgurovka, Ukraine, the director of the orphanage and his wife appear to have warmed to the Gospel and are even reading the Word of God!  Please pray for the ministry of Vitaly Yurchenko and Luba Dzhumik in this hard field.

v     God has recently opened the door for Bible lessons to be taught in elementary school #9 in Fastov, Ukraine, where previously the assistant principal was opposed to the work.  We thank God for Lydia Yegorovna, a teacher in the school who supports the Bible teaching because of the testimony of our missionaries who attended her class years ago during the Soviet persecution.

v     The Lord continues to bless the ministry in Facaeni, Romania, as the works in those villages are overflowing. A building has already been purchased by the Fetesti Church to house this congregation.  Please pray with us that God would provide the $200/mo. needed to continue the work in Facaeni.

v     At Christmas time a total of at least 580 people attended services in Fetesti. They were also able to give parcels to more than 350 poor children as well as to 375 children that they are working with in and around Fetesti. Also they presented a Christmas concert at the Town Hall where more than 100 attended, including many of the towns most influential leaders.

P rayer - Pray with us!

v     Please pray that the doors will remain open this year to preach the gospel. Several laws have been proposed or passed in the former Soviet republics that could severely limit missionary activity.  New visa requirements in Russia have already created difficulty for several ministries.  A new law proposed in Moldova would make all but the Orthodox Church illegal.  In Belarus, new legislation has already effectively outlawed Baptist and other missionary activity, and a similar law is being considered in Ukraine.  Please pray for the gospel to continue going out in these needy countries this year.

v     Please pray for the Lord to provide $9,000 to purchase a piece of land for a new church building in Lutsk, Ukraine.

v     Join us in asking the Lord’s blessing on the January school sessions in Kyiv and Moscow, plus the upcoming February training sessions at the Bible institutes in Romania and Moldova.

v     BIEM’s Romanian ministry is growing far more rapidly than funds are coming in.  Iulian Stoian in Tsanderei needs your support.  Slavic Axente, presently receiving $100/mo., needs an increase in support to care for his wife and 6 children as he pastors two churches started this past year in the very communist area of Transnistria, Moldova.  Danuts Blaj in the northwest corner of Romania needs another team member as he is also facing the loss of his job at the telephone company where he has always worked full time while pastoring.

v     Join us in praying that funds will come in for a church building in Fetesti, Romania, where $24,000 is needed to complete the first phase of construction in early spring.  The building project in Duralesti also needs your prayers for completion as the remaining $20,000 might become available.

v     As we praise God for an enrollment larger than expected for the two schools where we are training believers in Romania and Moldova, please pray with us that the Lord would send an additional $50/mo. to support this work.