Short-term missionary program in the works

A few weeks ago I met with the Pastor/Rabbi of the Messianic Fellowship in Kiev. His name is Boris Grisenko. It was a great meeting. We both shared our hearts, and really connected. I expressed the need for not only Ukraine to be getting seriously and intentionally involved with foreign missions, but also for the Messianic Jews. I shared various scriptures that the Lord had shown me concerning the consequences of not bearing the the Fruit of the Kingdom. Boris' response was "You need to share this with my congregation and my leaders" The booked me to speak, Sabbath before last at one of the daughter congregations, a youth church, called Mishpaha, for their missions service. I did an altar call for those who would make a commitment to Missions. I prefaced the call with my desire to not see everyone respond. I told them that is was a serious and difficult commitment that their God would hold them accountable for. There where about 80 youth in the service and we saw about 20 respond to this call.

This Sabbath, today, I will be speaking in the main congregation about missions. Please pray that the seed that is sown today will bring a harvest of workers, for the Kingdom of Heaven.

One of Boris' elders, who works with the youth congregation primarily, is setting up a new ministry, that will coordinate and facilitate short-term missionary trips for Ukrainians. I have been asked to design and teach the training sessions. Please pray that the Lord would help me to design a program that they can take ownership over. The first mission trip for the group will be a two week mission to India , this coming December. Please pray that the congregation support their efforts not only through prayer...But in the vital area of finance.

This Short-term mission program, will not only be taking youth from Kiev, but they are partnering with another Messianic congregation in Minsk, Belarus. Initially, we had talked about me traveling one weekend a month by train to Minsk to teach the sessions to their team members as well. This of course was going to be dependent upon my being able to secure a Multi-entrance VISA for Belarus. With the outcome of recent sham elections in Belarus, this seems more and more unlikely, especially considering the fact that the president of Belarus, recently abolished all Religious and Christian humanitarian NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) working in Belarus. And those things to the forthcoming sanctions from the U.S. and the promised retaliation from the Belarussian President and his government, it may not be the best idea. So, I will most likely be video taping our sessions and sending them on DVD via snail mail to the Minsk Congregation.

Please pray concerning all of these things.