I taught many Bible Studies in different homes while in Jericho. However the biggest one was at the Jesus House on Saturday morning at ten o’clock. We would have ladies that showed up at eight in the morning for the study at ten. We kept the door locked until we had everything set up for the study. We had to set chairs up so they would have a place to sit. Continue reading
Praying for people
Good friends in Jericho
When Bob and I went to Jericho, West Bank for the first time it was 1997. Another couple were there from Kentucky and we became good friends. So in the evening when we were free Bob & I and Steve and Karen would go into town and walk around. We met a young man named Kahlil. He had an old green car and offered to take us to see the sights we couldn’t see just walking. We piled into his car and when he started it, every light on the dash board came on. We mentioned we didn’t think they were all supposed to be on but he laughed and said it was okay. Every night we would meet Kahlil and he would take us somewhere else to show us different things. Continue reading
Ministering in Guatemala
I have been on many mission trips through the years. I thought I had seen it all. I had never been south of the United States. I don’t know what I expected but I was surprised.
We took a team to Guatemala to work with a local church. They needed people to help paint rooms and to hold healing services. The team God put together was amazing. We had Sonny, who is an evangelist and has a healing ministry. At least he did for that trip. We had young people who could minister to the children and who also had energy. We had many people who are equipped with the gift of helps and filled in where needed. We even had a young lady who took Spanish in college and could interpret for us so we were not dependent on some one else. Continue reading
Showing the love of Christ
I have mentioned on more than one occasion that some of the time we lived in Jericho there was a war going on. We could go up on our roof and see fighting between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. That was a little over a mile from where we lived. This building was going to be a fish market and restaurant. But needless to say it got in the way of the fighting. Bob has just been there and they have rebuilt this building. I am happy for that and can hardly wait to see it. Continue reading
Pro life ministry 2
Last week I introduced you to Hope Ministries. This week I am going to share a lot of what the girls learn while living in the village. One of the first things they learn is how to love and take care of their baby. They are very grateful for this as most of them don’t remember having parents. They learn how to plant and take care of a garden. Everyone in Ukraine has a kitchen garden. If they don’t have any land they plant in pots on their porches. It is very important to them so they can eat what they raise.
In the village there is a lot of land to plant and take care of a big garden. They are taught how to raise and take care of the different vegetables they plant. The ministry bought the original seeds and from that time on it is up to the girls to have enough to plant the next year. The girls can bring their kids outside and watch them play while they plant and weed and take care of the garden. There is also a root cellar to store the vegetables in during the winter.
But of course a garden is not all you need. It helps to have meat to eat. So Svetlana has a farm where they raise pigs and goats. The goats serve two purposes. They milk the goats for milk to drink and then of course slaughter them for eating. Pork is the main meat over in Ukraine so the pigs are also quite important.
The house they live in is so much nicer than what they are used to. It has four bedrooms and when completely full has two girls to a room with their babies. It also has running water but no toilet facilities. They have an outhouse and if they need to shower they can go to Svetlana’s house.
The vision doesn’t end there. Svetlana would like to buy more land or more houses in the village. But the houses that have been abandoned need a lot of work or need to be torn down and a new place built. The vision is for each girl who finishes the program to become the head of another house to train girls with new babies. The girls are excited to be a part of this program. It teaches them so much and they don’t have to go back on the streets.
This ministry is very near and dear to our hearts. We have learned to love Svetlana and Marina but also the girls and their babies. We are thankful for people with a vision and this is truly another God given vision to help his people.
Loving to help people,
Jan
Pro Life ministry 1
When we lived in Ukraine there was a ministry we worked closely with other than the Widow’s House. It was called Angelina and is now called Hope. It was one of the two ministries that was pro life. This ministry had a unique approach.
First of all I must tell you that children raised in an orphanage never learn life skills. They go to school and learn reading a writing and stuff like that but they are never taught how to make a bed or cook a meal or do the dishes. Absolutely nothing practical to live outside the orphanage. At age eighteen they have to leave the orphanage. They are not prepared to live at all. So a lot of the girls turn to prostitution mostly for food and a roof over their head. Continue reading
My friend Kodra
When we lived at the Jesus House of Prayer in Jericho one of the things we did was give out food packages to people who needed them. There was a fence around the house and we locked the gate at ten at night and didn’t open it until after breakfast in the morning. This was mainly so someone didn’t come asking for something in the middle of the night. Continue reading
Summer camp Ukraine style
When we lived overseas we wore many different hats and did many different things. When we lived in the village we decided to have a summer camp for the children of the village. Now in the former Soviet Union camps are a very big thing. It isn’t camp as we think of camp here in the states. It is more like a day camp. It is a place where the children come, have fun and learn about Jesus’ saving power. We were friends with a group from One Mission Society who were ministering in Kiev. We contacted them and asked them if they would come and hold a camp for the kids in our village. Continue reading
Funeral in a different land
Living overseas introduces one to a whole new culture. When we lived in Chervonoarmeysk (also known as Pulin) we attended a funeral. One morning we heard that a woman and her son were hit and killed the night before while riding their bicycles home. The daughter of the woman came to the Widow’s House regularly for computer classes. We figured we needed to pay our respects so we went with Nadia the teacher of the computer classes. Continue reading
Living in Jamaica
A lot of people want to go to Jamaica. I know several people who have gone and loved it. I’m not one of them. When we lived there we were not in a lovely all inclusive vacation spot.
I probably shouldn’t have started this post that way and really thought about changing it. But on second thought I do believe in being honest . A ministry asked us to run a mission house in High Gate, Jamaica for several weeks until the full time couple could get there. We said we would before really thinking it through. I don’t like hot weather and Jamaica is considered warm, well actually hot, all of the time. Not only that it is extremely humid.
I called the ministry headquarters to find out if just possibly the mission house was air conditioned. I was told it didn’t need to be because it was up in the mountains. Our job was really very easy. Each week a different ministry team would come stay at the mission house and they would build a home for a family who needed one. A pastor would tell the headquarters who needed a home and different teams would come to build it. We had a cook for all the meals and a couple of maids to make sure the rooms were cleaned before a new team would come in on Sunday.
So what was our job? I had to get up very early and put the coffee on and set it up so people would have coffee when they got up. The cook came in and fixed breakfast. After breakfast we had devotions with the team before they left to go out to work. We also had to do the shopping. The cook would give us a list of what was needed and how much. We would go to town and buy what she said to get. That sounds easy but up in the mountains it is more like a third world country. So we went from place to place to buy what was needed.
Going to church was also quite an adventure. We went to a church in Berrydale. It was one of the churches the ministry worked with. The first thing we had to do was get to the river, then get on the rafts. Yes, we had to take a raft to church. But when we got off the raft we had to walk a half mile to the church. Remember it is summer and the weather is not only hot but with one hundred per cent humidity. We went to a different church each week but there was not one this exciting to get to.
Next week I will tell you about the houses that were built and show you the joy of the people receiving the houses. But I will tell you they are not houses as we think of houses.
Still traveling for the Lord,
Jan
Tales from the Mission Field 