Basic Marriage Seminar

We would like to invite anyone who is reading this to a come to CCF on Feb 20 from 9-5 for our Basic Marriage Seminar. There is no charge and a free lunch will be provided. We will be making a DVD on this day so a volunteer audience is needed. You can sign up by calling the church at 440-285-3535.
Thanks to a grant by a generous friend, we are now able to make a DVD of our seminar to take to the Ukraine for translation into Russian. This will enable us to give the seminar to Pastors from small villages where travel for us is not possible. We have been asked by the Ukranians for years to write a book so this is the next best thing because now they can offer the seminar to the couples and engaged couples in their churches. The making of this DVD will also enable us to broaden our ministry in the Eastern Europe. We are also considering having this made into a book form to be able to pass it out when we go. The seminar is full of biblical truth on marriage and is what we teach the first time we go to an area. We may be making further DVD's of different teachings in the future.
Please keep us in prayer as we tackle this venture.
Also as we get nearer to our actual trip - March 10 - 27, the enemy likes to hit us here at home to keep us so distracted that we cannot give ourselves to study. Prayer support is so appreciated.
God Bless You all as you seek the Lord in 2010. He is the only one worth giving our lives to serve and we trust that you are one of those who are truly seeking Him. There is much work to be done in these last days.
Wayne and Sherry

Picture number one is of Jen our daughter and Sherry
Second picture: The guy on the left and the lady in red are our capable and very trusted Associate PastorBill and his wife Edie. They take great care of our congregation while we are gone. Bill is also a gifted teacher of the word. Thanks Bill. The other couple is Pastor Doug and Rhonda Osbourne from Willoughby Ohio.

God's timing

I felt a real strong prompting of the Holy Spirit to call Lufthansa and check out our tickets today and to my surprise found out that the tickets from Kiev to Uzghorod have been cancelled. So we have called our agent so she can check it out and see what is going on. Please pray that we are able to make this work since we don't want to be stranded in Kiev when we are supposed to be in Uzghorod on the 20th. Smile time......I am glad we found this out now instead of standing in the airport in a foreign country trying to get to our next destination. Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update so you can pray. Thanks. Sherry

Our precious Grandchildren and the dogs

Wayne and Sherry at Christmas

Happy New Years

We pray that 2010 will be the year that the Lord will reveal Himself to each one of you in a special way. The time is short and the Harvest is ripe and we pray that you will take the season we are in seriously. It is not the time to be padding your resting places or trying to buy the latest toys or fill your time with idleness. There are millions who have not heard the good news of the gospel so be about the Fathers business this year. Feast on the word of God, pray and listen to His still small voice and then obey. Find a missionary or two to support and give to the local rescue missions,, get involved in your local church and shine for the Lord.
All of our money is in for this trip because of your generous gifts. We hope to refresh the teachings that we have done in the past, add some new ones and be able to feed His children with fresh bread. Please pray for us as we prepare and ask the Lord to give us extended times to be able to sit at His feet and hear Him so we can share what is on His heart not only abroad but to our church family here at home.
We have heard from many of our friends in Ukraine and we want to ask you to pray especially for Valodya and Oksana. Oksanas sister and her family were brutally murdered in Nov. and they are all trying to work through the emotions that go along with this tragedy.
We will try to post a little more often as the time of our trip approaches. God bless you all.
With love,
Wayne and Sherry

December 9

Praise the Lord for His faithfullness. We have been able to purchase our plane tickets and are now working on the money for Anya and Richards tickets, fees and then our housing in Uzghorod.
We have been invited to come to Zhitomyr Ukraine on the way home to minister. So when we leave Uzghorod we will go there for 2 days to share the word and do some other ministry.
Please pray for us as we begin the preparation of the teachings we will do. We like to freshen them up each time so that they are alive in us.
On the home front, Pastor Bill ,our associate ,is doing a great job growing into his call. It is a great comfort for us to be able to leave the church with capable leadership. Years ago it was prophesied over us that we would be coming and going and that the people would not even notice. We are seeing that coming to pass. He is such a blessing to us and to the body.
We have also received an invitation to minister in Latvia this coming year. There is a bible school there and we will minister for one week on the marriage and family relationships. Most likely this trip will be in either the fall or spring and we will combine it with a side trip to Romania to minister to the church there. They have contacted us also and asked us to come. If the Lord wills we may be going sooner than next fall but we will have to see what His plan is. Please join us in praying about this.
We have also started corresponding with a precious pastor from the Phillipines who found our blog and contacted us. His name is Rannie Lamento and we would ask that you all pray for him and his family and the church that they pastor. We have been mentoring him through the email and have sent several bible study tools etc. for him to grow in his call. It has been so much fun to meet people from all over the world. The family of God knows no boundries. Just think, we will all spend eternity together and some of us may meet for the first time in heaven.
Who said the Christian life is boring? Not us.
Have a blessed Christmas and remember the real reason for the season.
With Love,
Wayne and Sherry

3/4 the way there

We are almost up to what we need to purchase our plane tickets. This is always the most exciting part of our trip since it is a faith adventure. God has always been so faithful in providing for us when it is His desire for us to go. So we wait on Him to provide the last few dollars needed to purchase the tickets. Please pray with us. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Countdown

Time is quickly passing and we are getting excited about our upcoming trip to Ukraine. We have confirmed with Richard and Anya that they will go with us to translate. The money is coming in and we have almost enough to order our tickets. We still need around $2000 but are confident that the Lord will provide. He always provides where He guides.
Last week we received an invitation to come to Lativia to minister on the family in a bible school. We will be talking with the leaders there to coordinate that trip.
We have also been corresponding with a brother from the Phillipines and are praying about a possible trip there in the future.
Thank you for checking in to read our updates. It is fun to see where all of you are living. Please drop us a note when you visit our blog.
Blessings to you all as we enter the Holiday season ...

Upcoming MIssion Trip

We have the dates set for our next trip. Lord willing we will be going to Kirovograd Ukraine March 14 - 19 to do a Pastors/Wives marriage seminar with the Church of God Pastors and then we will be traveling back to Uzghorod for a Pastors/Wives marriage seminar with the Methodist Pastors for the week of March 22-26. We will also be doing an evening seminar once again at the Methodist church.
We will be having to bring our own translators with us to Kirovograd so that will be an added expense since we will have to pay for their travel and also their fees.

If you would like to support this trip financially with any size gift, please send it to :

Chardon Christian Fellowship
401 South Hambden Street
Chardon, Ohio 44024

Checks may be made out to Chardon Christian Fellowship and put Pastors travel fund in the subject line. 100 % of the money given is used to pay for travel, housing and translator fees.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we follow the Lords leading for our lives.
You are very much a part of each trip. We could not do what we do without our CCF church family standing behind us and all the faithful supporters who believe that God is sending us.

Blessings, Wayne and Sherry

HOME

Dear Friends,
Someone wrote and said we had not said we got home so I figured it would be a good idea to update.
We had a great flight home with no delays and even got terrific seats on the plane. God has been so gracious to us this trip and we have felt quite pampered.
Things at home were good. Pastor Bill took great care of our congregation while we were gone so we came home to things being in order. PTL for that.
It looks like our next trip will be to Ukraine in March. We will be mailing out a full report on what we will be doing and where exactly we will be going. Since coming home we have been contacted by a Bishop with the Church of God in the Central part of the Ukraine and we are working with him trying to set a date to visit his region. We hope to coordinate this upcoming trip with several locations to make the best use of the money that you all give. Please pray for us to hear clearly on what invitations to accept. In these last days we want to make the most of the gifting God has given us and be in the places He wants us to be.
We also wanted to be sure that you all know that our trip to Prague was not paid for out of the mission donations that we received. Our friends Roger and Robin were able to arrange for us to stay at the convent for $50 per night for the two of us and the apt. has a full kitchen, so we don't have to do anything but purchase some groceries and then we walk around and gawk like tourists and rest alot. We love Prague so we save up our allowance money for months to be able to go feast our eyes on this beautiful city.
The reason we bring this up is that there are so many who misuse the monies that are donated for ministry and we want to be fully accountable. We know that many people sacrifice alot so we can go minister in Eastern Europe and so we keep very careful records of how much each aspect of our trip costs and will be happy to share them with you if you ask.
Well have a blessed fall and winter season. We will be in touch soon and let you know the details of our next trip. Keep your eyes on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who will soon return for His bride.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Wayne and Sherry

Roger and Robin Harsh and family

These are the Harshes who are our missionary friends who live here. They moved here back while the communists still ruled this area. They have given their lives for the people here and have truly become all things to all men that they might win some. They are planning on starting YWAM base here which will minister to families, the homeless and prostitutes. Please pray for them as the field here is ripe unto harvest. They are true evangelists and signs and wonders follow their ministry. They are well respected by the area leaders in Czech and also in the Ukraine and the United States. We have known them for years and they have proven themselves. If you are looking for a missionary to support who will not waste the money invested, they are the ones we would recommend. Please contact us if you would like to take them on. Meanwhile please pray for them each Friday morning because they go to the red light district on Friday nights to reach the young girls who are in the prostitution business. They need much prayer coverage.

Homelss person

Homeless people can be found all over Prague. Pray for the Harshes as they reach out to them and others to share the gospel.

Sister Goretti

This is sister Goretti who has just celebrated her 51 st anniversary as a nun. She became a nun during the communist occupation of Prague and had to stay undercover until the walls fell. What a testimony she has of how one has to serve God no matter what the danger. Pray for her as she continues to serve the Lord through mercy ministry. She has a deep love for the Lord and blessed us greatly.

In front of Golz palace

Oldest active synagogue in Eastern Europe

This synagogue has been in operation for centuries and is known as the oldest in Eastern Europe.

Church ceiling

Hopefully you can see the lovely art work on the ceiling of the church above. It was breathtaking in the details that were in the paintings that showed different bible stories in them. This is the same church that the arm hangs in .

Church Discipline

Ok, now this is an interesting story. In the picture above you can see a dark stick hanging from the ceiling. Actually it is not a stick at all, it is a mumified arm of a thief who was trying to steal something valuable from this church in 1300 something. The priests conferred and decided to cut off his arm and hang it up so others would be aware that thievery does not pay. Now that is church discipline to the extreme.........aren't you glad we don't do that? :>)))))))