Gypsy Church

7 New converts who were baptized yesterday. They sang Happy Birthday to them and gave words of encouragement to them as they begin their journey in the Lord. They truly celebrated these new converts.
Joyful worship and smiling faces as they gave their tithes and offerings. I was not able to catch the line of people dancing up to put their offering in the basket. The joy in this church is palatable. Since we were here last year they have outgrown their meeting place. People were standing in the hallway, and sitting on the floor and there was no airconditioning and only one window open. The service lasted 2 1/2 hours. PTL This is the church that has gone through so much heartache the past few years so it is wonderful to see how the Lord is blessing them. Weeping may last for a night, but JOY comes in the morning.

These little children were on stage as part of the worship, they were dancing. They are encouraged to come.

Wayne preached another anointed sermon tonight. He shared on the Power of the Resurection. It was so good and the people were talking back to him and applauding when he shared. They really do participate in all aspects of worship. It was so refreshing. We prayed with them at the end and gave a blessing. We so love to come to this little group of believers.
When we got back to Nehemiah Center we attended a birthday party for Tanya celebrated Georgian style. Her husband is from the country of Georgia. It was such fun. We are now exhausted and are going to bed. Tomorrow will be full. Not only do we have to prepare for the evening with the young people, but we have been asked by 5 people if we could counsel them so we have to try to work that in sometime. Please keep us in prayer all day tomorrow. Actually start praying tonight before you go to bed. We need stamina to finish this week of ministry and safety as we travel from place to place, most importantly we need the anointing of God to touch the hearts of the young people
CCF we love you and miss you and heard that Pastor Bill preached a wonderful message today. Lisa K. and Julie C. thank you for you notes of encouragement each day, they really have been timely and ministered greatly to us, thank you to all who are faithfully praying for us, we feel your prayers. And to our precious family, thank you for being willing to talk to us on skype so the time goes quicker and we dont' feel so disconnected.
Be sure to scroll down since I have posted 3 times with pictures today.
Grace and Peace, Wayne and Sherry

The favor of God

Worship team
The congregation

Wayne and Sherry with Pastor Edik Opalenik and Erzhika and son

This morning we preached at Ediks church and Wayne preached under a heavy anointing about what it means to Walk in the Spirit.
One young person told us he made 3 pages of notes on the sermon and that he was going to be sure to bring his friends to the youth meeting tomorrow night where Wayne and I will be speaking. It is amazing to us how God is giving us favor this trip. Every place we have spoken has been to hungry people who can't seem to get enough truth. Only God could do this. We give him all the glory and praise.
After service Edik took us to a lovely resturaunt for a lunch of lamb smothered in a sour cream sauce. We discussed the Bible School that we will be teaching this coming March and planned the topics and times etc.
We got home at 3;45 and had to leave again at 4 to minister to the gypsy church.

How to prepare a pig on a Saturday morning

We visited this transitional house for orphans on Saturday and while there they brought in this pig and put it on the table, then began to cut it up into serving sizes to freeze. The couple is Vascy and Maria his wife who oversee the work at the home. It was a great day of fellowship with them and the pig :>))))) How would you like to have to do this on your kitchen table ladies?
We also spent time with Pastor Vadeem and his wife, his church sponsors this home. Actually it is a working farm and when the children come to them, they teach them life skills and how to take care of themselves. The home houses 20 children and they stay for one year. Most of the girls arrive and look like boys and have to be taught how to be women. It is a very sad part of the life over here. But praise the Lord for the body of Christ who has risen up and started such places to minister to these precious kids. Most come to faith and become active in a local church and go on to live a full life with promise.

Saying Goodbye is Bittersweet

This week has been intense and fun all at the same time. Today we ended our seminar with teachings on parenting. Wayne did an excellent job with the Fathers Mandate followed by 22 Ways Parents Provoke Children to Anger and then finished with Progression of Teen Rebellion and ways to overcome this problem. The teachings originally came from Joe Propri, Wayne Mack and Gary Esso. All of them of course are with Wayne's personal spin but are excellent teachings that touch the hearts of the people.
When we finished the class asked if they could share some things with us and then proceeded to testify on how this week has touched their lives and brought conviction from God. We were very humbled to say the least. They then presented us with the doll that is in the picture below. Please click on the pictures and it will enlarge them for you. We always have mixed emotions when we finish a week of teaching. Because of the nature of our seminars, we have a lot of one on one time with each attendee so we become like family to a degree. This group asked if they could have our email address so they can write us and continue some of the counseling they started. One Pastor from Rivne asked us to come next winter to do a seminar in his church. We will be in touch with him to further those plans.
Tomorrow will be busy and start early. One of the local pastors has requested us to come and spend some time with him so he is picking us up at 9 a.m. and then at 4 we will be traveling to a nearby village to minister to young couples and then have a picnic. Of course the weather has changed and the temperature is going to be in the 60's. We did not bring warm clothes so this will be a challenge. Please pray for the temp to go higher. All things are possible with God.
On the home front, our hot water heater has decided to go south so our moms are having to deal with getting it replaced. Thankfully we had a good plumber we could call.
Have a blessed night and we will try to post again tomorrowThank you to all of you have written us and commented on our posts. When away from home it is nice to hear from those we love. Love to you all. Wayne and Sherry

Last Day of Seminar

Beautiful Gifts to say thank you


Saying goodbye Couple we counseled

Cuter in Person
She was pouting because her mom would not allow her to stay to hear PW preach.

Interacting wth the people

Methodist children, youth, our class

Kamakazi Mosquitos and Glory from God

We have had an interesting two days. First of all Monday night there were horrendous storms that came through with high winds, lots of lightining and thunder and cooler temperatures. But mosquitos come with it. They are huge and black and sting like fire. They like to dive bomb you, like Kamakazi Pilots, while you sleep and are unsuspecting. So it was a restless few nights. This morning Wed. we woke up to no power and no water. Have you ever tried to wash up with only a tea kettle full of water? Well I am here to tell you that it is possible. As I was getting ready to take the cold water out of the fridge to wash our hair, the power thankfully came on. So that is the human side of this journey.
Now for the good stuff. Yesterday was an intensive day of ministry but God showed up and blessed in such a mighty way. In the morning sessions Wayne taught on Sources of conflict. We broke for lunch which was busy also as we met with a young couple. Then in the afternoon we had workshops. The first one was on the Process of change. The second one was on the Role of the Wife. In the evening Sherry taught on Biblical Communication and Resolving conflict and then had an hour and a half with the singles who were attending the seminar. She taught them on questions to ask before you consider a serious relationship with someone. They had tons of questions and we ended with prayer for each one. We ended the day counseling another young couple and did not finish up until almost 11 p.m.
Today has been one where we have felt the presence and anointing of God all day. This group of people are so hungry and full of life that it is pure joy to minister to them. It is energizing. Wayne taught on the Role of the Man and then the afternoon sessions have been something else. We had what was suppossed to be a Q and A session for one hour. Almost 2 hours later, because they were so excited, we finished and then moved on to the next workshop which was on Biblical Finances. The people were so excited and interested, and had tons of questions. The actual teaching took 40 mins, then we worked on making a budget and then the people started with the questions. They would not let us stop. So we finished 5 minutes before dinner. At the moment Wayne is teaching on the Peace and Joy principle from Joe Propris book and then I will go down and we will start teaching on the parenting part of the seminar.
Our schedule is also getting very full. We have added a meeting with a local pastor on Friday night and a night of ministry on Sat. where we will minister to the young families at two Methodist churches and have a picnic.Next week we will be doing 3 youth ministry nights and a night of ministry and fellowship with a team of people who are working with students. Oh and don't forget Sunday we will be ministering at a local church and most likely our daytimes will fill up before the week is over. That is the way it works over here. We love it though. I will finish posting in the morning and hope to post pictures also. Blessings and thanks for all the prayers. It is making a huge difference it the lives of these people.

Hungry People

Today was our first day of teaching and it went very well. We are so excited about the hunger in this class. It was fun to teach them because they were literally pulling it out of us. Wayne taught on the Purpose of Marriage and Sherry taught on 10 Principles for a Strong Marriage. As we prayed earlier today we felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to offer elective workshops in the afternoons when they had free time scheduled. We thought perhaps a few would want meet, so we made up 6 different workshop titles and said that if 6 people signed up for any of them we would teach them. Well they got out of their seats and ran to the table and before we knew it all of the spots were filled and they wanted to know if we could also offer something for the singles in the group. So they have chosen to give up their free time to be taught. We are humbled and excited to see what God is going to do with this group of people. Keep up the prayers please. You are all a very vital part of this ministry and prayer coverage is the reason we are being so effective. We love you all, Wayne and Sherry

Divine Diversity

Our first day of official ministry has ended and we as usual stand in awe of our precious Lord and His wisdom. We spent the day with our Methodist Brothers and Sisters in Christ. The one thing that stood out to us is the fact that these are serious Christ followers. Their traditions and style of worship are very different from our own church, but still very real and from the heart. God is His wisdom uses diversity to reach all those He has called to Himself.
Wayne preached the morning service at the Uzghorod Methodist Church and the evening service at the Kamyanista Methodist church. Both services were crowded and the people were hungry for the word. We have ministered in both churches in the past and have enjoyed the people very much. Each time we are in the Uzghorod church the Lord prompts Wayne to preach on unity, and this time was no exception. He preached a powerful sermon from Psalm 133 and John 13:34. This particular church has a special call on them to bring the body of Christ in Uzghorod together. The pastor they have had for over 9 years has just moved to America but while he was in Uzghorod he was used of the Lord to bring much unity. In the evening service Wayne preached on choices. The church in the village has many young people and so this message was timely for them. Each church has services almost every night and all of them are well attended. The people love to get together and worship and study. PTL for His amazing work.
After the evening service Pastor Vasili and Alya his wife prepared us a dinner of blinskies and watermelon. We must have eaten at least 10 blinskies each. They are a flat pancake which is very thin and you fill them with either jam, meat, cheese or honey. They are delicous.
We were going to post some pictures today but when we arrived home we realized the camera was still in the Pastors van, so the pictures will be posted at a later date. Hopefully before the week is over.
We start our seminar today sometime. Ukranians are not as detailed as we are so we are not sure of the time yet, but people are starting to arrive by train and car. We will have 14 couples attending from out of town if they all arrive. We will let you know this evening when we post of the days happenings.
Please continue to pray for safety for us as we travel by van to different places in the area. The drivers all want to race in the Grand Prix and use our travel to destinations as their qualifying runs. This of course is a tongue in cheek way of saying they drive like mad men.
Blessings and Love, Wayne and Sherry

It looked like Milk

Well today has been very relaxing and our jet lag is about gone. This morning we decided to venture out on our own without a translator and head to the grocery store. So far so good. Taxi took us to the right place and understood he was to wait for us. We zipped through the store picking up identifiable items to put in our cart to munch on and remembered we needed to purchase some milk. Standing in front of the dairy section we were trying to decide which kind of milk to get since the names were all in the Cryllic language we could not sound them out. Anyway we were looking for skim milk but only saw 1% 2% or 3.5% on the bottles so I picked up the 1 % and Wayne said we should get another bottle to save a trip later in the week. Ok so we did and headed to the checkout. I could taste the huge bowl of cereal in my mind that I was going to eat when we got home. So far so good. Poured the cereal in a huge bowl, opened said bottle of milk and noticed it seemed a bit thick but being the brave soul I am I tasted it and guess what? It was not milk...it was yogurt. I love yogurt but am not quite sure that I like it on my cereal. Lesson learned...alwayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyys take a translator to the store.
Have a blessed night. Pray for us tomorrow since we start our intensive ministry. Wayne will preach two times tomorrow and then home to prepare for mondays seminar.
With Love,
Wayne and Sherry

Bags Borders Bureaucracy Blessing

How do you like the title? It describes in a nutshell Wayne's experience today trying to get his bag across the border. First of all he was at the border but it turned out the airline told him to go to the wrong border. Somehow he managed to call the driver who was bringing the bag and found out where to go. So he and his translator got in the cab and drove over 20 miles to the pedestrian border and the stern matron at the border refused to allow Wayne to cross, meanwhile the guy with the bag was on the other side and they refused to allow him to cross, so here they are both trying to reason with the border patrol (Bureaucracy). After a lengthy discussion with the woman who kept saying no no no.....the captain came over and asked Wayne what the problem was and he also said no after Wayne explained. So Wayne who is jet lagged and had lost his American patience by this time said politely but firmly....I would think you would want to cooperate with a guy who just wants to spend some money in your country? Well with that the man relented and found a woman on the other side and said she could bring the bag across. So the blessing in all of this besides the fact that he took a translator with him is that we now have said bag and are happily using the items within.
Have a blessed day.

Safe Arrival

We arrived safely and on time. Of course as with any trip there were a few unexpected things. The ticket agent at Cleve. Hopkins mislabeled our luggage so when we arrived in Kosice yesterday our luggage did not. Somehow it had ended up in Vienna. We have always wanted to see Vienna. But it looks like we will have to do it vicariously through our suitcases. :>))) Anyway to make along story short mine came in an hour later on a different flight so the driver said he would wait with us, Waynes however did not arrive until midnight so today he will have to get to the border where the delivery person from the airport will meet him and the exchange will take place. Sounds like some kind of espionage or something.
Our apt. was ready so at least we could settle in and have a good restful evening. Vasiko and Tanya met us at the door so it was like coming home. I wish you could all see this lovely facility. It was a gift from an American donor so it is very comfortable and modern. We are truly blessed to be able to stay here.
We have 28 coming to our seminar. Perfect number for us to be able to get to know the attendees. Please pray for them as they travel and pray specifically that each one will encounter God while here with us. Thanks for the prayers.

Pruning and other things

It hard to believe that it is almost time for us to leave. We are getting very excited.
The Lord has been teaching us much by taking us through the deep waters of life and showing us what is most important. Our church has been going through some pruning which while not much fun is a good thing. While pondering John 15 the Lord opened my (Sherry) eyes to v. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. He pointed out to me that I was focusing on the wrong thing by focusing on the pruning....He said very clearly, focus on the result....more fruit. All of a sudden excitement filled my spirit. Can you even imagine what God is going to do in your life the next time He prunes you? I am waiting with expectation for the fruit that will come. God is so good. I hope this encourages you as much as it did me.
We leave in 5 days. Wed at 2:30 we fly out of Cleve and will be on our way Lord willing. We will start ministry on Friday night and then on Sunday we will minister at 2 different churches. Our seminar starts Monday morning and ends on Friday evening. The next week we will be doing 3 mini premarital seminars in 3 different cities, Uzghorod with 4 churches participating, Khust, and then Mucachivo (sp) ministering to older teens and young adults. Please pray for us during this time since we will have some unsaved attending. We are told the young people have many questions and so we will allow time for Q and A's.
Specific prayer request;
Our mothers health and safety, safety for our daughter and family, our church family, Pastor Bill as he takes care of the church while we are gone. Also please start praying for our next trip which will be in October when we will go to Latvia and Romania.
God bless you all and thank you for your prayers and support. We will start posting as soon as we get Internet connection which should be on Thurs. evening.
Wayne and Sherry

God is so good

We stand amazed at the goodness of our God on a regular basis. Since we sent out our newsletter, we have received all the money we need for this trip. Our tickets are purchased and our room is paid for and we will have some money left over to use for our Lativian/Romanian trip in Oct. we think. Where God sends He provides. We learned this lesson early in our ministry when we were in School. We would lay out our bills on a table and pray specifically for God to provide the exact amount for each one. It was such a faith adventure as we would time and again get mail from someone saying I have no idea why I am sending you $10. 54 but that is the amount God put on my heart today. And you know what? It would be the exact amount for a bill that was due. One time I remember praying for 3 postage stamps because I did not have enough money to buy them. That afternoon I got a letter from a friend in Florida who included 3 stamps with a note saying, why 3 stamps? I am just being obedient. Sometimes an extra job would open up and it would pay the exact amount we needed. God is so good and has a great sense of humor. So no matter what you are dealing with or what your need is , whether physical, financial, or emotional may we remind you to just ask Him, he cares and is able to provide your every need above and beyond your wildest imaginations.
Please continue to pray for us as we prepare. We are being tested by God in many areas right now to purify our hearts. It is good, but not fun to be shaken. Oh the joy of knowing Him as He reveals Himself to us in this season.
We would love to hear your stories of how God is working in your lives also.
Blessings to you all,
Wayne and Sherry

Testing

We have noticed over the years that whatever we are going to be teaching on, the Lord takes us through a situation to have to walk it out before hand. I believe the reason is so that we can teach from experience, not from intellect. Our topic for our Aug. seminar will be on Resolving conflict. Yes you guessed it, we are being tested. Thank you Lord for your wisdom in preparing us.
Thank you to those of you who have been praying for us, we can feel the prayers as we get ready. Have a wonderful weekend.
Blessings, Sherry

Once Again

We are once again planning another mission trip. We are scheduled to go back to Uzghorod Ukraine from August 11 - 27. It always amazes us at how quickly time flys in between trips. We have been so busy since we got home from our March trip. Our counseling ministry has increased, we have taught at a Biblical Counseling Conference, done a funeral, participated in and led the day of prayer at our church plus the normal pastoral things. We love being busy and we love serving the body even more. There has been such a sweet spirit at our church and the Lord has been wooing us into HIS presence more and more. We pray that you all are experiencing a greater sense of His presence also. Press in brothers and sisters, the time is short until His return. Lets be busy about kingdom work.
Love, Wayne and Sherry