Mary Slobodian: 1931-2014

On July 22, Mary Slobodian, wife of BIEM founder, Peter Slobodian, passed into eternity. She went to join her husband, Peter, with the Lord, peacefully at her residence in Gladstone, Missouri. She was 83 and is survived by 3 children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Funeral services are as follows: Matthews Mortuary 690 East 56th Street Brownsburg, Indiana   46112 Phone: (317) 852-4296

Viewing at Noon on Saturday, July 26

Funeral Service at  1 PM Saturday, July 26

Interment at Lincoln Memory Gardens, Zionsville, IN

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. -Psalm 116:15

Special Prayer Needs for Ukraine

Special Prayer Needs for Ukraine

Special prayer needs Ukrainian believers asked us to convey.(Updated 3/19/2014)

1. Please pray for civil peace in that nation. Citizens in the West and in the East of Ukraine need to return to a state of living together peacefully and participating in one unified society.
2. As people see the failures of human political leaders, pray they would realize the need to put their hope in the Lord. This is a prayer for a revival that would turn Ukrainian people to God.
3. Pray that exterior powers would refrain from interfering with the internal affairs of the nation during this difficult time.
4. In light of the many changes in government offices, please pray for the country’s internal structure to be rebuilt and stabilized.
5. Another concern is the number of people who are carrying weapons. Criminal elements were operating during the unrest, taking advantage of the distractions. Pray for law and order to prevail.
6. Pray that this situation would result in opportunities for God’s people to evangelize. This would require being able to draw people’s focus off of politics—not easy to do these days.
7. Please pray that whatever government or leaders God allows to remain or come into power, that Ukraine would continue to have freedom to preach the Gospel and do missionary work.

Thank-you for joining us in praying for the people and the nation of Ukraine!

Kiev Seminary Sees Good Enrollment for Fall

Our seminary in Kiev, Ukraine, has seen a good enrollment of new students this fall, including 4from the country of Belarus. We praise the Lord for this ministry and for every student it trains!

Evangelistic Campaign being Planned in Peru

In Peru, new church-planter Jaime Ovalle requests prayer for an evangelistic campaign beingplanned for November. Pray for power in preaching and for the salvation of souls!

Young Orthodox Priest Causes Problems at Bible Meetings

In Komarivka, Ukraine, a young Orthodox priest has begun attending the Baptist churchservices and is causing problems. He accuses the locals of teaching heresy and refuses to stop coming until he converts them all to Orthodoxy. The missionary doesn’t want to throw him out physically, but requests prayer that God will open this young man’s eyes the same as He did to young Saul.

Young Believer Brutally Attacked for Christ

In one of the restricted lands where our missionaries work, a young woman was brutally attacked a week after her baptism. She had to flee her hometown. Please pray for her health, safety, and adjustment to the new area. A male new believer, Ali, has been threatened by family members. Please pray for these and others taking their first steps on the Christian path in these hostile lands.

Islamic police question neighbors of BIEM national pastor to accuse him

One of our active former Muslims in Central Asia is Pastor Eagle. He has seen good spiritual fruit with souls turning to Christ. However, the local police are questioning all the neighbors about him in their efforts to find any accusation against him. Pray for him and his wife. Meanwhile, Pastor River has 5 groups to which he ministers. They baptized 10 people this past summer! Read the full report in November's BIEM’s of Light

BIEM makes initial delivery of Bibles to Arab Christians

BIEM is excited to have made an initial delivery of Bibles and related materials to former Muslims in order to assist them in evangelizing a particularly restrictive nation. (Forgive the vagueness; we’re being elusive for a reason.) May the Lord use His Word to save souls! Read the full report in November's BIEM’s of Light

Central Asian Pastor chased through street by angry Imam

A Pastor in Central Asia reports that on the way town they met the village Imam in the street. He grabbed a club, and five other men with clubs chased them through the village. Laughing, River said, “They wanted to beat us to death; they ran really fast, but we praise God, we ran even faster. They did not catch us.” This Imam is the same one who was very angry at his daughter for being arrested with believers a while back. River said his rage stems from the fact that his entire family has left Islam and trusted Christ and been baptized. He is the only one left in the family to repent. Please pray for this man to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and repent. Read the full report in September's BIEM’s of Light

Goal: 30,000 Bibles by years end

Please pray for God’s blessings and empowerment on our project to distribute 30,000 copies of His Word before the end of this year. People need to know what Christ has done for them! Read the full report in September's BIEM’s of Light

Container of supplies is released by customs

Since last month, the 40-ft. shipping container of supplies for which we requested prayer has been released by customs. Distribution has begun.  Thank you to everyone who gave and prayed. Read the full report in September's BIEM’s of Light

400+ salvation decisions made by children and teens in summer camps

Although we haven’t yet received all the statistics from each camp, enough reports have arrived that we can rejoice about 400+ salvation decisions made by children and teens in various camps where BIEM ministers. Praise the Lord for these new names “written down in glory”! Read the full report in September's BIEM’s of Light

BIEM sends thousands of New Testaments for Muslims in Russia

Pastors in the Moscow area have written to thank BIEM for the gift of thousands of New Testaments in the Uzbek, Turkmen, and Kyrgyz languages. Muslims from all of these nations (which were once part of the USSR) have settled in Moscow for work. Praise God for willing workers, for whom these New Testaments in native languages are vital tools. Read the full report in August's BIEM's of Light

Russian Church baptizes 12, 6 of whom were delivered from drugs and alcohol through rehab center

Thanks to a donation from a supporting church, the property which houses the rehab center in Ternopil, Ukraine is fully paid for. Meanwhile, the church in Nahabino, Russia baptized 12 last week, 6 of them men delivered from drugs and alcohol through their rehab center. We praise God for this and trust that He will continue redeeming lives once ruined by various addictions. Read the full report in July's BIEM's of Light

16 graduates complete their studies at Kiev Theological Seminary

In May, 16 graduates completed their studies at Kiev Theological Seminary. These students came from Russia, Georgia, Belarus, and of course Ukraine. This item is also a prayer request for the graduates as they return home and go into various ministries. Taken from June's BIEM's of Light

God opens another field for BIEM in Latin America

Many friends of BIEM don’t realize that our founder, Ukrainian-born Peter Slobodian, received Christ and began serving the Lord in Argentina. He and his wife Mary occasionally returned to Latin America to visit friends and to evangelize in Spanish. Now BIEM has accepted an opportunity to boost church planting in Latin America, the continent of our roots. The “beachhead” for this evangelistic thrust is Peru. In that country, there are two fundamental Bible schools for national believers. The students receive a solid foundation of Bible knowledge and training in church-planting. However, after graduation these men face an uphill struggle. Despite ministerial training, they must work secular jobs simply to survive.

Enter BIEM. We have experience providing limited-time support to approved nationals to help them plant churches. What we don’t have is a Bible school in South America. Conversely, there are quality schools, but not a program to assist graduates. In this win-win scenario, the schools already there will provide the education, plus recommendations concerning graduates, and then BIEM would financially aid such men for two years while they focus on evangelism and church-planting.

This model is reminiscent of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” When the goal is spiritual fruit for God’s glory, it’s unimportant who planted or watered (or who taught, and who financed). We merely want to see souls saved to the glory of God.

Why limit the support to two years? This time period was recommended to lessen the risk of nationals becoming dependent on American dollars. Another advantage is that U.S. churches who want to take on such a project don’t need to pledge support forever. In 24 months, their commitment is done. Even if the church planter ends up working part-time after the initial two years, in the worst-case scenario his church is two years farther along than it would have been.

The first candidate, Segundo Rodriquez, has already been accepted and is busy on his field in Peru. The second man that we aim to help was saved out of drug addiction. He has already started a church in his mother-in-law’s home, which is in a drug-ridden area of Urubamba. (At the moment, he drives a taxi to earn a living and can’t concentrate on church-planting.) The third and fourth men hope to work as a team in the Peruvian interior.

Of course, accountability is crucial. These church planters will be answerable to a team of five advisors (three Americans and two Peruvians) who teach at the schools in Trujillo and Urubamba. In addition, BIEM board member Pastor Andy Counterman will oversee this program as part of his regular ministry trips to Latin America.

The pluses are abundant: trained workers, endorsements, favorable economics, a system of accountability and oversight, local advisors, and good stewardship. If this program functions as well as we hope, then we can expand it into other Latin countries.

We praise God for another way to serve God and to grease the wheels for world evangelism!

[box type="info"] The church planters in South America will receive different amounts of funding, depending on whether they are single or married, and living in the jungle, a town, or a city. One-time gifts for this initiative can be designated “BIEM South America.” Just 10 churches giving $70/month for two years starts a church. Can you help? (Of course, gifts from individuals are also welcome.)[/box]

Giving God the Glory, The life of Peter Slobodian now available

The year 2011 marks BIEM's 30th anniversary. What better time to publish the life story of our founder, Dr. Peter Slobodian? Giving God the Glory is the fascinating true story of how the Lord plucked one man from a poor Ukrainian family and an obscure background to touch souls on multiple continents with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you love the Lord and marvel at His works, then this is the book for you. Order your copy today!

BIEM's Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center Waiting List Grows

BIEM's Drug & Alcohol Rehab Center is currently at capacity with men whose lives have been hurt by addictions.  The Rehab Center now has a waiting list that is continually growing with more and more men who want to change their lives for the better.  This is not done on their own power, but through the power of Christ in their lives.  Instead of the hopelessness of their addiction, hope is giving through a personal relationship with Christ. Current recovered addicts are making bunk beds with their own tools to accommodate as many men as possible.  There is also a need for a similar women's Rehab Center.  Will you consider giving to these needy ministries?

Praying for South American Pastors

OUR HISTORY IN PERU:

About ten years ago several pastors were actively teaching in the Bible College and Seminary in Trujillo, Peru. I had the privilege of being able to participate in this process. It was then that I met three of the five present advisers we use to get national trained men into the BIEM pipeline. I was invited to become a board member of BIEM soon after this Peruvian teaching opportunity. This sparked the expansion of BIEM into the S.A. field. Prior to this, BIEM was busy in Eastern Europe.

After presenting the idea and getting board approval, the process was presented, revised, given to the advisors in the field (now five in Peru) and fashioned as a prototype for this area of the world. Several mandates were incorporated:

• There must be local approval of any candidate;
• The advisers would not have the ability to make the final choice of candidates, but would defer to the board;
• Candidates must be a graduate of a recognized school in the targeted country (hopefully, expanding from Peru to other SA countries);
• Funding would be for a two year block for a church starter who would continue to pastor the church and continued support for the church starter who felt gifted in this position (upon review and approval).

Accountability would be in three tiers:

• The missionaries and teachers on the ground in the target country;
• Trips to the field by BIEM board member(s); and
• By BIEM itself with financial accountability to all who contribute. We pray that the program in SA will prove to be accountable and accepted by all who come under the burden to accelerate the gospel in this very open field.

This is the real advantage of the program: a national pastor/church-starter can be fully underwritten for about 500 dollars per month. They know the language, the country, the diet, the laws, etc. There is no language school, cross-cultural adjustments, and, they minister where their homes and families are. This is a win, win, win situation.

OUR PRESENT SUCCESSES:

BIEM started with five candidates. Of that group, one man, Segundo Rodriguez, is in church starting and evangelism as well as a teacher of his own countrymen. He came to BIEM fully supported. The second man Joel Gamboa ministers in Trujillo in a drug-infested area of the city. He is a graduate of the seminary in Trujillo and was driving a taxi to feed his family. The third man is Luis Escobar. He is a graduate of the school in Trujillo and is starting a church in Tarapoto, a high jungle city of 68,000 souls in central Peru. The fourth man is David Toribio, ministering in the south-eastern city of Puerto Maldonado near the borders of both Brazil and Bolivia. Here, David wants to start a Baptist Church with a 10 believer core. The fifth man is Parcemon Jiminez. JP is pastoring in a Baptist church in Zarumilla, Peru. He is another graduate of the seminary in Trujillo and, like the other men comes highly recommended by his peers. Future goals include expanding the influence of his ministry into Ecuador, specifically, the city of Machala. We already have the next man in BIEM’s pipeline for support. His name is Ruben Quispe in the Cusco-Calca area of central Peru. Ruben wanted to be a Doctor before God called him into the ministry. He also trained in Trujillo and has taught in the Bible college in Urubamba (the second school that we consider men).

OUR PRESENT GOALS:

In August, BIEM will again have a presence in Peru. This will be a trip to gather more men for the future underwriting program. Also, there will be an onsite evaluation of three of the existing works. Time will be spent in Trujillo and Urubamba interviewing and gathering solid recommendations.

OUR FUTURE VISION:

As churches and individuals get a burden for SA, BIEM stands ready to provide an accountable avenue for church expansion using graduates who are native to their land. The cost benefits are obvious as are the cultural benefits. This endeavor compliments the work of other men and mission boards and is in cooperation with several other Baptist groups for the stated ends. The target is needy, the men are trained and recommended by both peers and missionaries, the cost is very reasonable, and the goal is achievable.