Hi Everyone,
*
We are finished here in Romania and had a timely and productive time. We are still praying for the couple who had separated, please pray that the husband comes to full repentance. We have counseled every 2 hours this past week and are emotionally drained. Please pray that tomorrow as we travel that the Lord will refresh us. The couples here in Romania are young and have been really shaken up by the couple who look like they are headed for divorce. They were very receptive to our ministry and we heard from almost every one of them that they don't want the same thing to happen to them. So we spent lots of time helping them put up hedges to protect and strengthen their marriages.
*
We leave here tomorrow at 7 a.m. and will be in the Ukraine by dinner time. We hope to have daily internet access there so hopefully the updates will be a little more informative. Wayne's back is still hurting so please keep praying. Also for those of you who do not know our dear friend Joe Propri has had a stroke over the weekend. Please keep him and Debbie in prayer and believe for a full recovery.
*
God Bless You all. Much love, Wayne and Sherry
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday Morning
Our ministry Monday evening was well attended. This time we had over 12 couples who came and we taught on factors that destroy marriage and things that build marriage. It opened up lots of questions which led ot more teaching opportunity and then we set up appts. for the couples who wanted to meet with us. We ended up with non stop apts through Thursday scheduled every 2 hours.
*
We are very encourged that the couple who had seperated are coming to us for counseling each morning for 2 hours. Please pray for them that they are able to do what is necessary to reconcile and save their marriage.
*
We will leaave here on Friday and head to the Ukraine. Please pray for us as we travel since Friday will be a very long day with plane as well as car travel. We will begin ministry on Saturday.
*
We miss everyone and have so enjoyed receiving your messages and covet your prayers. I
will try to update again in a few days.
*
Blessings to all, Wayne and Sherry
*
We are very encourged that the couple who had seperated are coming to us for counseling each morning for 2 hours. Please pray for them that they are able to do what is necessary to reconcile and save their marriage.
*
We will leaave here on Friday and head to the Ukraine. Please pray for us as we travel since Friday will be a very long day with plane as well as car travel. We will begin ministry on Saturday.
*
We miss everyone and have so enjoyed receiving your messages and covet your prayers. I
will try to update again in a few days.
*
Blessings to all, Wayne and Sherry
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday evening
Mom and Dad called home this afternoon to check in. All is going well. They were able to meet with some people this afternoon and minister to them. They will be counseling every two hours Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving around midnight to catch a plane to their next destination. Please pray for wisdom, stamina, and health. Marriage counseling can be quite intense and draining.
*
Jen
*
Jen
Monday
Hi everyone, we made it here fine. The extra leg room on the flight was a real big blessings so we both were able to sleep. Today is Monday and we started ministering already at 10 today. We are meeting with couples and want prayer especially for the young couple who have been seperated. We met with the wife this morning and the husband is willing to meet with us tomorrow. Please pray that he will be open and that we can help them reconcile. Tonite we are teaching at 7 Romanian time and will meeting with the couples then starting tomorrow we will meet one on one with those who want to talk. Hopefully we can give you a full report tomorrow. Blessings, Wayne and Sherry
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Latest prayer need
HI,
Well it is Thursday evening and the bags are packed the notes are done and now we will just do last minute things and enjoy our family.
Two prayer needs that have come up.
1. The airlines have informed us that since we have a layover in Romania, that when we reboard the plane in Bucharest and fly to Donetsk that the luggage allowance changes from 2- 50#bags each to 1-44# bag each. The cost for the additional weight is 10 Euros per kilo. which is around $13. for every 2 1/2 #. We should be ok but it would be nice not to have to pay. Thankfully we are traveling light and have only one bag each.
2. The brothers in Slavynsk have written and said to pray that the apt. we will be staying in on the 3rd floor will have enough water pressure to supply us with water. Now that is Eastern Europe for you. :>) So please pray that the pressure is good enough for us to shower and flush the toilet. The alternative does not sound good. On this one we will be sure to keep you posted. Such fun, don't you want to come with us? It is not unusual for the water to be turned off or that there is no hot water. We are so spoiled...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
We would love for you to leave comments when you visit the blog so we know who has visited. Thanks again. Blessings, W and S
Well it is Thursday evening and the bags are packed the notes are done and now we will just do last minute things and enjoy our family.
Two prayer needs that have come up.
1. The airlines have informed us that since we have a layover in Romania, that when we reboard the plane in Bucharest and fly to Donetsk that the luggage allowance changes from 2- 50#bags each to 1-44# bag each. The cost for the additional weight is 10 Euros per kilo. which is around $13. for every 2 1/2 #. We should be ok but it would be nice not to have to pay. Thankfully we are traveling light and have only one bag each.
2. The brothers in Slavynsk have written and said to pray that the apt. we will be staying in on the 3rd floor will have enough water pressure to supply us with water. Now that is Eastern Europe for you. :>) So please pray that the pressure is good enough for us to shower and flush the toilet. The alternative does not sound good. On this one we will be sure to keep you posted. Such fun, don't you want to come with us? It is not unusual for the water to be turned off or that there is no hot water. We are so spoiled...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
We would love for you to leave comments when you visit the blog so we know who has visited. Thanks again. Blessings, W and S
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Itinerary
Well the day is almost here and we are busy finishing up last minute details so we can leave knowing we did all that needed to be done. Please continue to pray for our family and our church. Our mothers are both older and we are always concerned leaving them.
Here is our itinerary as of the moment.
*
Leave Cleveland on Saturday March 7 at 2:25 arrive in Bucharest on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. there time. We will be picked up by our friends, Gaby and Adina and they will take us to Tirgoviste to our hotel. Pastor Mihai and Eliza will meet with us there after their church service.
*
March 9 we will begin ministry in Romania with a leaders/wives meeting and then meet with any couples from the church for a time of teaching and question and answers session.
*
March 10-11-12 we will be meeting one on one with different couples and ministering in whatever way the Lord shows us. We will also be working in time to fellowship with our friends there and are really looking forward to that.
*
March 13 at 7:00 a.m. we will be flying out of Bucharest Romania. That means we have to be at the airport by 5 a.m. which means we have to leave Tirgoviste at 3 a.m. to get there. This will be a long day and we will need much prayer. We arrive in Donetsk at 3:10 p.m. and will be met by Ebi and will have a 2 hour car ride to get to Slavynsk and then he will take us to dinner at his home. Pray that we will not have jet lag and will be able to sleep on the plane trips.
*
March 14 we will meet with our translator Ruslin to get to know him and then we will have lunch with one of the pastors and that evening we will have a time of ministry with the young couples of the church. The church is named Good News Church.
*
March 15 Wayne will be preaching at the Good News Church and that is all we know at this point about the Sunday ministry.
*
March 16- 18 th at 12 p.m. our Marriage Seminar/Seminary Class begins at 9 and goes until 4 each day. We have been asked to be available after classes to minister to individuals or couples.
*
March 18th after lunch until March 20 we will teach our Parenting Seminar/Seminary Class using the same schedule as to time.
*
March 21st we assume will be a free day
*
Sunday March 22nd Wayne will be preaching at Pastor Olegs church.
*
March 23 we leave to come home. Our plane leaves Donetsk at 11:15 a.m. which means another early morning of travel by car so we can arrive at the airport by 9. We will have an overnight layover in Munich and then will leave there on March 24 at 10:25 a.m. and fly home.
We covet your prayers while we are gone and will update the blog every opportunity we get so you can see what the Lord is doing.
*
CCF remember that we are representing you as a congregation as well as our Lord so you will get to share in whatever fruit there is from these missions. Thank you for allowing us to go and do this. We love you all for it more than you can ever know.
Here is our itinerary as of the moment.
*
Leave Cleveland on Saturday March 7 at 2:25 arrive in Bucharest on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. there time. We will be picked up by our friends, Gaby and Adina and they will take us to Tirgoviste to our hotel. Pastor Mihai and Eliza will meet with us there after their church service.
*
March 9 we will begin ministry in Romania with a leaders/wives meeting and then meet with any couples from the church for a time of teaching and question and answers session.
*
March 10-11-12 we will be meeting one on one with different couples and ministering in whatever way the Lord shows us. We will also be working in time to fellowship with our friends there and are really looking forward to that.
*
March 13 at 7:00 a.m. we will be flying out of Bucharest Romania. That means we have to be at the airport by 5 a.m. which means we have to leave Tirgoviste at 3 a.m. to get there. This will be a long day and we will need much prayer. We arrive in Donetsk at 3:10 p.m. and will be met by Ebi and will have a 2 hour car ride to get to Slavynsk and then he will take us to dinner at his home. Pray that we will not have jet lag and will be able to sleep on the plane trips.
*
March 14 we will meet with our translator Ruslin to get to know him and then we will have lunch with one of the pastors and that evening we will have a time of ministry with the young couples of the church. The church is named Good News Church.
*
March 15 Wayne will be preaching at the Good News Church and that is all we know at this point about the Sunday ministry.
*
March 16- 18 th at 12 p.m. our Marriage Seminar/Seminary Class begins at 9 and goes until 4 each day. We have been asked to be available after classes to minister to individuals or couples.
*
March 18th after lunch until March 20 we will teach our Parenting Seminar/Seminary Class using the same schedule as to time.
*
March 21st we assume will be a free day
*
Sunday March 22nd Wayne will be preaching at Pastor Olegs church.
*
March 23 we leave to come home. Our plane leaves Donetsk at 11:15 a.m. which means another early morning of travel by car so we can arrive at the airport by 9. We will have an overnight layover in Munich and then will leave there on March 24 at 10:25 a.m. and fly home.
We covet your prayers while we are gone and will update the blog every opportunity we get so you can see what the Lord is doing.
*
CCF remember that we are representing you as a congregation as well as our Lord so you will get to share in whatever fruit there is from these missions. Thank you for allowing us to go and do this. We love you all for it more than you can ever know.
Article of Interest on Ukraine
(KIEV, Ukraine — Steel and chemical factories, once the muscle of Ukraine’s economy, are dismissing thousands of workers. Cities have had days without heat or water because they cannot pay their bills, and Kiev’s subway service is being threatened. Lines are sprouting at banks, the currency is wilting and even a government default seems possible.
In Independence Square in Kiev, protesters have set up a tent city to demand the government’s resignation. Signs read, “Everyone out.”
Truck drivers threatened last week to block roads.
Ukraine, once considered a worldwide symbol of an emerging, free-market democracy that had cast off authoritarianism, is teetering. And its predicament poses a real threat for other European economies and former Soviet republics.
The sudden, violent protests that have erupted elsewhere in Eastern Europe seem imminent here now, too. Across Kiev last week, people spoke of rising anger about the crisis and resentment toward a government that they said was more preoccupied with squabbling than with rallying the country.
The sign held by Vasily Kirilyuk, an unemployed plumber camped out with other antigovernment demonstrators here in the past week, summed up the pervasive frustration: “Get rid of them all,” it said.
Mr. Kirilyuk did not hesitate to take that further. “There will be a revolt,” he said. “And people will come because they are just fed up.”
Mr. Kirilyuk, 29, was standing in the same central square where throngs in 2004 carried out the Orange Revolution, a seminal event that brought to power a pro-Western government in Ukraine. He said he was a fervent supporter then of the protesters, but now he and a few dozen others who have set up tents here are demanding that the heroes of that revolution step down.
It is not hard to understand why world leaders are increasingly worried about the discontent and the financial crisis in Ukraine, which has 46 million people and a highly strategic location. A small country like Latvia or Iceland is one thing, but a collapse in Ukraine could wreck what little investor confidence is left in Eastern Europe, whose formerly robust economies are being badly strained.
It could also cause neighboring Russia, which has close ethnic and linguistic ties to eastern and southern Ukraine, to try to inject itself into the country’s affairs. What is more, the Kremlin would be able to hold up Ukraine as an example of what happens when former Soviet republics follow a Western model of free-market democracy.
“Ukraine is a linchpin for stability in Europe,” said Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at Kiev Mohyla University. “It is a key player between the expanding European Union and Russia. To use an alarmist scenario, you could imagine a situation in Ukraine that Russia tried to exploit in order to dominate Ukraine. That would make for a very explosive situation on the border of the European Union.”
That Ukraine can cause problems for Europe was highlighted in January when Ukraine engaged in a dispute with Russia over how much it would pay Russia for natural gas, as well as over gas transport to the rest of Europe. The Kremlin shut off the gas for several days, and some European countries went without heat. The Kremlin also shut off gas to Ukraine in 2006 in a pricing dispute.
While Ukraine’s economy is dependent on exports of steel and chemicals, which have plummeted, the crisis has cut deeply because people are disillusioned with the government.
President Viktor A. Yushchenko, a leader of the Orange Revolution, who garnered attention around the world in 2004 when his face was scarred in a poisoning episode, is so widely scorned that a recent poll found that 57 percent of people wanted him to resign.
His rivals have also lost popularity, as the public has become exasperated by years of political bickering. In February, the International Monetary Fund refused to release the next installment of a $16.4 billion rescue loan to Ukraine because the government would not adhere to an earlier agreement to pare its budget.
Around the same time, Ukraine’s finance minister resigned, saying that the job had been “hostage to politics.”
On Friday, the monetary fund projected that Ukraine’s economy would shrink by 6 percent this year, and said that it was continuing to work with the government to find a way to disburse the rest of the rescue loan.
A presidential election is coming, probably to be held next January, and this prospect is making politicians, especially Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko, reluctant to adopt an austerity program that might alienate voters.
Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko were pro-Western allies during the Orange Revolution, but have bitterly feuded since then, and he fired her once. A third rival, Viktor F. Yanukovich, a former prime minister who heads an opposition party that favors closer ties with Russia, also wants to be president.
On Friday, Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko held a public meeting in an effort to demonstrate that they were working together. Mr. Yushchenko said he wanted “to show the readiness of all sides to take political responsibility for decisions which today are not easy.”
Even so, the two did not announce further anticrisis measures.
All over Kiev have been signs that tensions are building.
On the city’s outskirts, more than 200 tractor-trailer rigs were parked Thursday, their drivers threatening to block roads if the government did not help them with their debts, which they said were caused in part by the drop in the value of Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia.
The truckers dispersed Friday, only after the government said it would try to address their demands, but they said they would be back soon if they were ignored.
“The government is to blame for all this,” said a trucker, Viktor V. Zarichnyuk, 26, who had been at the protest for 12 days. “We want the government and the national bank to agree that the money allocated by the International Monetary Fund, at least part of it, should go to regular people.”
At a branch of the Rodovid Bank across town, a tense crowd gathered Friday morning. The bank, close to failing, was allowing withdrawals of only $35 a day. And so people, some of them pensioners fearful for their life savings, have been trooping each day, ever more aggravated, to try to get what they can.
“Every day we come here — it’s insulting — in the cold and line up,” said Alevtina A. Antonyuk, 58, an engineer. “They are nothing at this bank but a bunch of thieves.”
Who is to blame, she was asked. Before she could answer, Dmitri I. Havrilkiv, 78, a retired crane operator, interrupted.
“The government has to be replaced,” he shouted. “They just can’t handle it!”
In Independence Square in Kiev, protesters have set up a tent city to demand the government’s resignation. Signs read, “Everyone out.”
Truck drivers threatened last week to block roads.
Ukraine, once considered a worldwide symbol of an emerging, free-market democracy that had cast off authoritarianism, is teetering. And its predicament poses a real threat for other European economies and former Soviet republics.
The sudden, violent protests that have erupted elsewhere in Eastern Europe seem imminent here now, too. Across Kiev last week, people spoke of rising anger about the crisis and resentment toward a government that they said was more preoccupied with squabbling than with rallying the country.
The sign held by Vasily Kirilyuk, an unemployed plumber camped out with other antigovernment demonstrators here in the past week, summed up the pervasive frustration: “Get rid of them all,” it said.
Mr. Kirilyuk did not hesitate to take that further. “There will be a revolt,” he said. “And people will come because they are just fed up.”
Mr. Kirilyuk, 29, was standing in the same central square where throngs in 2004 carried out the Orange Revolution, a seminal event that brought to power a pro-Western government in Ukraine. He said he was a fervent supporter then of the protesters, but now he and a few dozen others who have set up tents here are demanding that the heroes of that revolution step down.
It is not hard to understand why world leaders are increasingly worried about the discontent and the financial crisis in Ukraine, which has 46 million people and a highly strategic location. A small country like Latvia or Iceland is one thing, but a collapse in Ukraine could wreck what little investor confidence is left in Eastern Europe, whose formerly robust economies are being badly strained.
It could also cause neighboring Russia, which has close ethnic and linguistic ties to eastern and southern Ukraine, to try to inject itself into the country’s affairs. What is more, the Kremlin would be able to hold up Ukraine as an example of what happens when former Soviet republics follow a Western model of free-market democracy.
“Ukraine is a linchpin for stability in Europe,” said Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at Kiev Mohyla University. “It is a key player between the expanding European Union and Russia. To use an alarmist scenario, you could imagine a situation in Ukraine that Russia tried to exploit in order to dominate Ukraine. That would make for a very explosive situation on the border of the European Union.”
That Ukraine can cause problems for Europe was highlighted in January when Ukraine engaged in a dispute with Russia over how much it would pay Russia for natural gas, as well as over gas transport to the rest of Europe. The Kremlin shut off the gas for several days, and some European countries went without heat. The Kremlin also shut off gas to Ukraine in 2006 in a pricing dispute.
While Ukraine’s economy is dependent on exports of steel and chemicals, which have plummeted, the crisis has cut deeply because people are disillusioned with the government.
President Viktor A. Yushchenko, a leader of the Orange Revolution, who garnered attention around the world in 2004 when his face was scarred in a poisoning episode, is so widely scorned that a recent poll found that 57 percent of people wanted him to resign.
His rivals have also lost popularity, as the public has become exasperated by years of political bickering. In February, the International Monetary Fund refused to release the next installment of a $16.4 billion rescue loan to Ukraine because the government would not adhere to an earlier agreement to pare its budget.
Around the same time, Ukraine’s finance minister resigned, saying that the job had been “hostage to politics.”
On Friday, the monetary fund projected that Ukraine’s economy would shrink by 6 percent this year, and said that it was continuing to work with the government to find a way to disburse the rest of the rescue loan.
A presidential election is coming, probably to be held next January, and this prospect is making politicians, especially Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko, reluctant to adopt an austerity program that might alienate voters.
Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko were pro-Western allies during the Orange Revolution, but have bitterly feuded since then, and he fired her once. A third rival, Viktor F. Yanukovich, a former prime minister who heads an opposition party that favors closer ties with Russia, also wants to be president.
On Friday, Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko held a public meeting in an effort to demonstrate that they were working together. Mr. Yushchenko said he wanted “to show the readiness of all sides to take political responsibility for decisions which today are not easy.”
Even so, the two did not announce further anticrisis measures.
All over Kiev have been signs that tensions are building.
On the city’s outskirts, more than 200 tractor-trailer rigs were parked Thursday, their drivers threatening to block roads if the government did not help them with their debts, which they said were caused in part by the drop in the value of Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia.
The truckers dispersed Friday, only after the government said it would try to address their demands, but they said they would be back soon if they were ignored.
“The government is to blame for all this,” said a trucker, Viktor V. Zarichnyuk, 26, who had been at the protest for 12 days. “We want the government and the national bank to agree that the money allocated by the International Monetary Fund, at least part of it, should go to regular people.”
At a branch of the Rodovid Bank across town, a tense crowd gathered Friday morning. The bank, close to failing, was allowing withdrawals of only $35 a day. And so people, some of them pensioners fearful for their life savings, have been trooping each day, ever more aggravated, to try to get what they can.
“Every day we come here — it’s insulting — in the cold and line up,” said Alevtina A. Antonyuk, 58, an engineer. “They are nothing at this bank but a bunch of thieves.”
Who is to blame, she was asked. Before she could answer, Dmitri I. Havrilkiv, 78, a retired crane operator, interrupted.
“The government has to be replaced,” he shouted. “They just can’t handle it!”
Friday, February 20, 2009
Almost Time
Well the tickets have been bought, the money has been raised and we are now in waiting mode trying to finish up things here at home and the church. It seems that our counseling comittments have increased over the past few weeks. The Lord is using these times to prepare us for our mission trip. Last weekend we had a wonderful time ministering in a mini marriage seminar at Christ Community Church in Willoughby. What fun to do a seminar at home and to use it to study for our upcoming trip as well.
We received a letter from the church in Slavynsk asking us if we would be willing to allow the students from the Church of God seminary extension based in Moscow to participate in our school for pastors as part of their education. This will require us making up an exam and also assign books for the students to read and be tested on. It is a great opportunity to impact more lives for God. So please pray for us as we prepare this school.
We ask that you pray specifically for the students, the pastors and wives who will attend and also for the two congregations to whom Wayne will be preaching on the 15th and 22nd as well as our own congregation. We have also been given some money to give away to someone so we will need discernment on to whom the Lord would have us give this gift. Someone is praying for that amount of money and we are the delivery service, how fun is that?
God is so good.
So dear friends, keep us in prayer and check back around the 9th of March and hopefully we will have a daily post with a report of what the Lord is doing. If there are none, please just pray as you feel led. We will post as soon as we have internet access. Thanks for all of your support.
Blessings,
Wayne and Sherry
We received a letter from the church in Slavynsk asking us if we would be willing to allow the students from the Church of God seminary extension based in Moscow to participate in our school for pastors as part of their education. This will require us making up an exam and also assign books for the students to read and be tested on. It is a great opportunity to impact more lives for God. So please pray for us as we prepare this school.
We ask that you pray specifically for the students, the pastors and wives who will attend and also for the two congregations to whom Wayne will be preaching on the 15th and 22nd as well as our own congregation. We have also been given some money to give away to someone so we will need discernment on to whom the Lord would have us give this gift. Someone is praying for that amount of money and we are the delivery service, how fun is that?
God is so good.
So dear friends, keep us in prayer and check back around the 9th of March and hopefully we will have a daily post with a report of what the Lord is doing. If there are none, please just pray as you feel led. We will post as soon as we have internet access. Thanks for all of your support.
Blessings,
Wayne and Sherry
Friday, January 9, 2009
March Trip
We have finally made all the final connections for our next trip. We have been invited by Romanian Pastor Mihai to return to Tirgoviste in March on our way to Ukraine. We will arrive on March 9 and begin teaching and ministering on the 10th. The church there is a young church with many teens, young adults and newly marrieds. Pastor has shared that they are seeing the need for marriage ministry so this time that is all that we will focus on. Tuesday we will meet with all the married couples for a mini seminar and then the rest of the week we will meet privately with those who wish to meet for personal counsel and mentoring. It should be fun. And of course we will connect with our other friends there and spend time with them.
We will head to Ukraine on Friday that week and minister in the city of Slavyansk which is in the Donetsk region of Ukraine nearer to the Black Sea. We will be doing a school for Pastors and their wives and other leaders from their union on marriage and family. Pastor Oleg and his wife invited us to come last August after they attended our Seminar on Child rearing in Uzghorod. We have been in touch with him on a regular basis and he said that the Bishop from his union is looking forward to meeting with us as well. So please keep us in prayer over the next month as we prepare to go.
After much prayer we have decided to wait and return to Uzghorod in the summer or early fall. We want to be where the Father wants us each time and we did not have peace about trying to go at this time. So we will keep you posted.
God Bless You all as you begin this new year of serving our Father, we pray that you hear His voice clearly and that you enter into all He has for you.
Grace and Peace,
Wayne and Sherry
We will head to Ukraine on Friday that week and minister in the city of Slavyansk which is in the Donetsk region of Ukraine nearer to the Black Sea. We will be doing a school for Pastors and their wives and other leaders from their union on marriage and family. Pastor Oleg and his wife invited us to come last August after they attended our Seminar on Child rearing in Uzghorod. We have been in touch with him on a regular basis and he said that the Bishop from his union is looking forward to meeting with us as well. So please keep us in prayer over the next month as we prepare to go.
After much prayer we have decided to wait and return to Uzghorod in the summer or early fall. We want to be where the Father wants us each time and we did not have peace about trying to go at this time. So we will keep you posted.
God Bless You all as you begin this new year of serving our Father, we pray that you hear His voice clearly and that you enter into all He has for you.
Grace and Peace,
Wayne and Sherry
Friday, August 15, 2008
Pictures....Finally
Victor, Natasha, and their little boy
Nicku and Claudia
Tanya and Vaciko (Vaciko is from the country of Georgia. His family lives in Tbilisi.)
Philip and Kristie (our translator)
Sherry and Kristy
Pastor Wayne and Kristy
Mihi and Elisa
Valodia and Oxana
Pastors and Leaders Marriage Conference class at Nehemiah
Gypsy Church
Gypsy mom and children and dog (can you see it?)
Main Street of the Gypsy Village
When we entered the town, all of the women and children came out and the men went inside.
Gypsy mom and daughter at the Gypsy church
Gypsy sister in Christ
Pastor Ivan
Pastor Ivan is Ukrainian. His heart is for the Gypsy people
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
THE STEPS OF THE RIGHTEOUS ARE ORDERED BY THE LORD
That particular verse from God was made real in a new way once we hit New York on Sunday. Our flight home was cancelled due to bad weather so we had to pay for a hotel for the night at our own expense because the airline said they could not control the weather. So that was the first test, then we arrived early the next morning to catch our flight home only to find out it was delayed by several hours. Then were told that it was approaching and then next thing we know it was cancelled. So we began the long process of trying to get home on another flight. Anyway, to make a long story short, the airline sent us to Atlanta and then home to Cleveland. The fist flight from New York to Atlanta was supposed to leave at 2 but after we boarded they found a dent in the cargo door so we sat in the plane until after 4 when they finally let us leave. Anyway, we got to Cleveland by 9 p.m. but our luggage did not make it so we are waiting for them to track it down. We do know it made it to New York.
*
All in all though this trip was the most fruitful we have had. We have learned many lessons from the Lord the main one being that our peace and joy do not depend on our circumstances or location or whether or not we have our luggage. He has been so faithful the whole time and we could sense His anointing and grace each time we got up to teach. We added up our time there and between us we taught over 44 hours in two weeks in Ukraine and around 25 in Romania. That is more than Wayne preaches in our church for a whole year. Add to that 3 or 4 counseling sessions each day and no wonder we are mentally tired. Thanks again for your support both financially and prayerfully.
*It is good to be home. We will try to post the pictures within the week so be sure to check back.
*Blessings to you all. Wayne and Sherry
*
All in all though this trip was the most fruitful we have had. We have learned many lessons from the Lord the main one being that our peace and joy do not depend on our circumstances or location or whether or not we have our luggage. He has been so faithful the whole time and we could sense His anointing and grace each time we got up to teach. We added up our time there and between us we taught over 44 hours in two weeks in Ukraine and around 25 in Romania. That is more than Wayne preaches in our church for a whole year. Add to that 3 or 4 counseling sessions each day and no wonder we are mentally tired. Thanks again for your support both financially and prayerfully.
*It is good to be home. We will try to post the pictures within the week so be sure to check back.
*Blessings to you all. Wayne and Sherry
Friday, July 18, 2008
Bittersweet
That is the word we would use to describe the end of our mission trip. The last day is always mixed with different feelings. The people become family during the week so saying goodbye is hard. But we took pictures and prayed for each of them and many of them wanted to email us so we have those addresses to add to our collection. The teaching today was good. We dealt with teen rebellion and how to begin the healing process. Many of the kids here rebel and go into the world big time because of all the legalism in the churches. But God dealt with hearts and many of the parents were repenting for the way they have "ruled" their kids instead of loving them and training them so the day was good. After the seminar we had 3 different couples who wanted counsel so we met with them and are finally done. We will go to dinner and fellowship with our friends Vasiko and Tanya and then come home and pack. We will be able to rest tomorrow so we will be ready to start the trip home with rest.
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Please pray for us as we leave that the fruit will be lasting and that lives will be changed and that those who attended the seminar will spread the truth to their villages and cities and God will be honored. We would also appreciate pray that our trip home will be good. Leg room and flights on time would be good. Thank you to each one of you for supporting us through prayer this time. We felt it daily and stayed in perfect health the whole trip.
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Love you all, Wayne and Sherry
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Please pray for us as we leave that the fruit will be lasting and that lives will be changed and that those who attended the seminar will spread the truth to their villages and cities and God will be honored. We would also appreciate pray that our trip home will be good. Leg room and flights on time would be good. Thank you to each one of you for supporting us through prayer this time. We felt it daily and stayed in perfect health the whole trip.
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Love you all, Wayne and Sherry
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Day That Never Ends
This has been one long day. We started at 6 with prep for our session, taught that until lunch time then met with a couple from Sasha's community. The problems these people deal with are so serious that it is imperative that we give godly advice. This particular couple have been married for 12 years and the wife has epilepsy and is also mentally ill. She has fits of violence and her poor husband is beside himself trying to help her. Sometimes she takes knives and threatens to kill herself or the kids or her mom. It is a very serious problem. We spent almost 3 hours with them and were able to help him see how to minister to her as her protector. Sasha and Lena stayed in the room with us so they could learn and were a great help since they are friends with this couple. We finished with them and then had another apt. with someone we meet with each time we are here to do some follow up counseling. Then ate a quick meal and off to do an evening teaching session at one of the local churches. God is so faithful. The pastor had asked Wayne to teach on the family and picked the topic ways parents provoke their children to anger. Thankfully he was prepared with that teaching so with our busy schedule we were able to commit it to prayer without a lot of study. After the meeting the people had lots of questions. Oh and a lovely woman we ministered to 8 years ago was at the church to surprise us. It was so good to see this sister. She and her daughter were in our first marriage seminar here when her daughter was just engaged. Anyway, it is always good to see old friends and hear how the Lord has used the teachings in their lives. Pray for us as we finish up tomorrow. We will spend the afternoon doing counseling, go to dinner with Vasiko and Tanya and then come back and pack to head home. We will spend Saturday in Kosice Slovakia resting before our trip home. Kosice is a lovely city that is quaint and has lots of parks in the city to sit in and watch the birds and just be quiet. We are anxious to get home and back to our family and the church. Hopefully we will see you all this next week.
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Blessings, Wayne and Sherry
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Blessings, Wayne and Sherry
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Flexibility
That is the word needed for mission work. We are having to restructure our schedule tomorrow and Friday to accommodate 2 families that are leaving early. So we will be meeting each morning to finish up the teaching time and they will do their excursions in the afternoons. Today was good. We laughed alot. This morning, Wayne taught on the Fathers Mandate from the Growing Families Class by the Ezzos, and one of the things in that teaching is that Fathers are to embrace their children regularly. It was fun to watch the men during the break, we looked out in the yard and all the dads were hugging their kids and kissing them. PTL for such quick application to the teaching. They have lots and lots of questions. Sure wish our daughter and her husband were here to answer them all. With 5 kids they have lots of experience. But the Lord is directing this and gave us answers that were biblical and seemed to satisfy. Children all over the world are the same and parents struggle with the same issues.
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Tomorrow after the meeting, we will meet with a couple Sasha and Lena have asked us to counsel and then we will speak at a local church in the evening on family. The time is going quickly right now and we are so ready to come home. Please pray we stay focused on the work here for the next two days so we give our best to these people.
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We also received another invitation to come to a city in Eastern Ukraine. Three pastors who are here want us to come do a city wide meeting on marriage in the spring of 2009,. Please pray with us about all these invitations. The need is so great but time to do it all is not there. We have to hear from the Father on where and when He wants us to go. Thanks
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Tomorrow after the meeting, we will meet with a couple Sasha and Lena have asked us to counsel and then we will speak at a local church in the evening on family. The time is going quickly right now and we are so ready to come home. Please pray we stay focused on the work here for the next two days so we give our best to these people.
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We also received another invitation to come to a city in Eastern Ukraine. Three pastors who are here want us to come do a city wide meeting on marriage in the spring of 2009,. Please pray with us about all these invitations. The need is so great but time to do it all is not there. We have to hear from the Father on where and when He wants us to go. Thanks
A Day of Rest....NOT
Today we started off meeting with Sasha and Lena again. We talked with them for 3 1/2 hours about some situations in their church. Big problems with people that they don't know how to solve. The families here are so messed up and they have several serious issues in families. So that filled up most of our morning off. Then we had lunch and met with the young couple we met with last night. After that we met with our interpreter for a few hours, she has many questions and it was fun to answer them. We are now getting ready to go meet with our friends Sergei and Natasha. Sergei is our worship leader and we have known him for 7 years. So we will have some good fellowship with them and then hopefully have a little down time before bed. Tomorrow will be full as well since we teach all day. We are really counting the days until we return home. Pray for any missionaries you know since being away from family is the hardest part of what they do for the Lord.
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Have a blessed day.
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Wayne and Sherry
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Have a blessed day.
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Wayne and Sherry
Monday, July 14, 2008
Today started very early and we have been busy all day. The seminar is well attended with 25 people and they have already started asking questions which is good. We are so thankful for all the Growing Kids Training because it gives such practical help that we can refer to in answering the questions. We have one single guy coming who says he is getting ready so when he gets married he will know what to do. Now what woman would not want a man like that? :>) And we also have a lady here from Moscow. The people are paying attention and making good comments. In between the sessions, we have been meeting with people. During lunch we met with Pastor Sasha and Lena. If you go to the archives on the blog you will see their picture from October. They had some questions about counseling a couple at their church so we answered the questions and then spent some time fellowshiping with them. We will spend a few hours with them tomorrow morning since they are leaving to go home in the afternoon. Tonight we met with a young couple who live near the Black Sea. They are part of the group we did the mini seminar with over the weekend, they have decided to stay the whole week so we will meet with them again tomorrow to help them. Meanwhile we are going to try to rest some and then study for Wednesday. Please pray specifically that we cover the parenting issues that will pertain to this group of people. Thanks so much to all of you for your prayer support and comments. We have really enjoyed getting your comments. We miss you all.
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