Westminster Presbyterian Church: Missionaries: Bush Prayer Letter June 14, 2002

John and Alexandra Bush,
Prayer Letter

June 14, 2002

We want to thank you again for being part of this work in Ukraine. In our last e-mail to you, we asked for prayers for Donald Barnett and for the Church Planter Training Practicum, and we want to share some answers to your prayers.

First, we have recently heard from Donald Barnett. Please continue to pray for his health concerns. At this point we don't know if or when he will be able to return to Kyiv.

But we rejoice that Bob and Linda Dolan will be arriving next week in Kyiv to help fill the gap that Donald left. We are thankful for their willingness to serve and their adventurous spirit--coming to Kyiv on such a short notice. Please pray for their cultural adjustment to Kyiv and that God will use this time in Ukraine both in their lives and in the lives of the people here in Ukraine.

Thank you so much for your prayers about the Church Planter Training Practicum in May. The response of everyone participating, both evaluators and potential church planters, was positive. Lucya Bespalov, the wife of Pastor Ivan from Presbyterian Church of the Holy Trinity, said that this sort of learning/evaluation model was completely new to her and most of the Ukrainian participants. Alexandra especially asked for prayer for the wives who were participating, and Lucya said it was very good for them to be involved. Participants came from all over Ukraine and even a few from Moscow.The US and Ukrainian evaluators provided suggestions and feedback for further training/plans for each of the participants. This was a great step in the "big picture" of the church in Ukraine multiplying itself.

Other praises we want to share:

Our teammates Linda Stegall and David Shaine have finished their language training. David has moved to Kherson (and we miss him, but know he is much needed there.) Linda has quickly moved from language learning to facilitating an Evangelism Explosion team.

Also, Heero Hacquebord, the "coach" for Birth Team 1, will also be returning to Kyiv from the States. We are excited to have him back with us.

Some new prayer requests we want you to lift before our Lord:

John has been making contact with a lot of young men in Kyiv. He often gets comments like, "You're not Orthodox? You must be Catholic. . ." Among the younger generation especially, there is curiousity about just what is Protestant Christianity. John is working on a "What is Evangelical Christianity?" eight-week course/Bible study. It will be an overview of WHAT we believe as Christians, with the intention of addressing the questions of those who have an atheist \or cultural Orthodox background. We desire and pray to see this segue into Bible studies. Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of those who will be attending, and that John would be able to communicate the basics of the faith in a way that is understood. John will be leading this inquirer's class in Russian, but will also have a Russian believer with him to help translate when necessary.

We would like to ask you to pray this month especially for the children and for us as parents. The kids have adjusted well, for the most part. And we've adjusted well. Yet the "normal" parenting struggles seem to be much bigger for our family right now. Please pray that we will get into a better daily routine with the children, that we will show them God's love through our love for them, that our discipline would be consistent, and that we would remember and treat these young boys as our primary disciples. Also, please pray for our schooling of them--both as Johnny begins attending Ukrainian kindergarten and as we homeschool them. Thank you so much.

And a business item. We recently sent out our Spring prayer letter. (Thanks, Maggie, for your work and and patience with the tech problems!) When you move, please send us a change of address. Also, we have some supporters who receive e-mails but don't recieve our snail mail. If you don't get a prayer letter in the next few weeks, and wish to be on our mailing list, please e-mail us your mailing address.

Again, we want to tell you how much your prayers mean to us. Daily we see God working here in Ukraine and in our lives. You are a vital part of that. We wish each of you could come to Ukraine and see what life is like here and see what God is doing.

With love,

John and Alexandra

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June 14, 2002

We want to thank you again for being part of this work in Ukraine. In our last e-mail to you, we asked for prayers for Donald Barnett and for the Church Planter Training Practicum, and we want to share some answers to your prayers.

First, we have recently heard from Donald Barnett. Please continue to pray for his health concerns. At this point we don't know if or when he will be able to return to Kyiv.

But we rejoice that Bob and Linda Dolan will be arriving next week in Kyiv to help fill the gap that Donald left. We are thankful for their willingness to serve and their adventurous spirit--coming to Kyiv on such a short notice. Please pray for their cultural adjustment to Kyiv and that God will use this time in Ukraine both in their lives and in the lives of the people here in Ukraine.

Thank you so much for your prayers about the Church Planter Training Practicum in May. The response of everyone participating, both evaluators and potential church planters, was positive. Lucya Bespalov, the wife of Pastor Ivan from Presbyterian Church of the Holy Trinity, said that this sort of learning/evaluation model was completely new to her and most of the Ukrainian participants. Alexandra especially asked for prayer for the wives who were participating, and Lucya said it was very good for them to be involved. Participants came from all over Ukraine and even a few from Moscow.The US and Ukrainian evaluators provided suggestions and feedback for further training/plans for each of the participants. This was a great step in the "big picture" of the church in Ukraine multiplying itself.

Other praises we want to share:

Our teammates Linda Stegall and David Shaine have finished their language training. David has moved to Kherson (and we miss him, but know he is much needed there.) Linda has quickly moved from language learning to facilitating an Evangelism Explosion team.

Also, Heero Hacquebord, the "coach" for Birth Team 1, will also be returning to Kyiv from the States. We are excited to have him back with us.

Some new prayer requests we want you to lift before our Lord:

John has been making contact with a lot of young men in Kyiv. He often gets comments like, "You're not Orthodox? You must be Catholic. . ." Among the younger generation especially, there is curiousity about just what is Protestant Christianity. John is working on a "What is Evangelical Christianity?" eight-week course/Bible study. It will be an overview of WHAT we believe as Christians, with the intention of addressing the questions of those who have an atheist \or cultural Orthodox background. We desire and pray to see this segue into Bible studies. Please pray that God will be preparing the hearts of those who will be attending, and that John would be able to communicate the basics of the faith in a way that is understood. John will be leading this inquirer's class in Russian, but will also have a Russian believer with him to help translate when necessary.

We would like to ask you to pray this month especially for the children and for us as parents. The kids have adjusted well, for the most part. And we've adjusted well. Yet the "normal" parenting struggles seem to be much bigger for our family right now. Please pray that we will get into a better daily routine with the children, that we will show them God's love through our love for them, that our discipline would be consistent, and that we would remember and treat these young boys as our primary disciples. Also, please pray for our schooling of them--both as Johnny begins attending Ukrainian kindergarten and as we homeschool them. Thank you so much.

And a business item. We recently sent out our Spring prayer letter. (Thanks, Maggie, for your work and and patience with the tech problems!) When you move, please send us a change of address. Also, we have some supporters who receive e-mails but don't recieve our snail mail. If you don't get a prayer letter in the next few weeks, and wish to be on our mailing list, please e-mail us your mailing address.

Again, we want to tell you how much your prayers mean to us. Daily we see God working here in Ukraine and in our lives. You are a vital part of that. We wish each of you could come to Ukraine and see what life is like here and see what God is doing.

With love,

John and Alexandra