Rejoice!!!

    We come to the end of another year, and marvel at the wonderful things the Lord has performed through the mission efforts in the former Soviet Union. The Lord has blessed the work in Ukraine with new converts, new churches, and new buildings now in progress. The most significant work of the Lord has been the new work in Siberia. This mission field that has opened up to us by the divine hand of the Lord has been very rewarding and has also brought about changes in our mission operation. We now have- in just a few short months- a full time pastor, a full time missionary, and a beautiful church building in the city of Yagodnoe, Siberia. The pastor is the result of a man and his wife (Br. Vadim Gorelov and Sis. Alena) living in Yagodnoe in constant prayer asking God for direction for their lives. The missionaries (Br. Vadim Matyuha and Sis. Lena) who answered the call of the Lord are now in Yagodnoe. The building was a miracle of the Lord – purchased from the Orthodox Church that normally fights any Christian work. It all began with the Lord speaking to my heart about an unreached people in the coldest part of the world.

    Br. Gorelov is a native of Yagodnoe, and his wife is a native of a northern Siberian tribe.  Br. Vadim Matyuha and his wife are natives of Ukraine. Br. Matyuha was my faithful worker and interpreter since 1993. After making 2 trips with me to Siberia, Br. Vadim and his wife felt the call of the Lord to work as missionaries there.

    Our mission operation had been in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, from the very beginning in 1992. We had desired to make the move to Zhitomir, where the first church in Ukraine is located, for some time. When Br. Vadim answered the call to the mission field we felt it was the time to move. Our entire mission operation is now located in Zhitomir where Br. Valeriy Shevchuk is pastor and oversees all our churches in Ukraine.

    So with all of you we rejoice – rejoice for the day of Grace, made possible by the birth of Jesus Christ, rejoice for what God did in bringing Salvation to the lost.