Charity Baptist Mission, Inc.

 

       Founder                                               Est. 1973                                                   Director

 

      Rev. Fred Potter               P.O.  Box 692  Bristol, TN  37621-0692                Rev. Mike Nixon

 

      Tel. (423) 354-0342  or  (423) 878-5800               e-mail cbmission@juno.com

  

 

 

Radio Broadcasts

 

A Few Words

From Our Founder

Rev. Fred Potter



"Heard a church bell ringing"

This song is about how Fred Potter got saved,

 written by Danny Minton.

Bolivia & other Hispanic countries

Bulgaria

Mexico

India

Romania

Ukraine / Moldova

United States

 

 

 

 

It is our privilege to welcome you to the Charity Baptist Mission web page. We hope this will be a testament of what the Lord is doing in America and throughout the world.

In 1973 the Lord laid upon my heart to start Charity Baptist Mission Inc., here in Bristol, Tennessee.  We started it because we were opening a children’s home in Mexico.  From there the Lord continued to bless and increased the areas to other countries by which we could share the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour.

It has been truly a blessing to see how the Lord has used missionaries to reach the lost and see them saved.

We believe in the Authorized King James 1611 version of the Word of God. It has stood the test of time and we believe this is the only true Bible.

To God be the Glory!

 

 

 

Articles Of  Faith

    

 

Recent Updates

 

 

Facts About Our Founder

 

 

CBM Our Story

 

 

Disclaimer

 

updated 3-13-24

     

 

 

Brookside Baptist Church 2024 Camp Meeting Dates:

 

March 25th - March 29th & October 21st - October 25th

Service times:

Monday - Friday 10:00 AM, (2:00 PM prayer meeting) and 7:00 PM

 

For more information call: (423) 646-1352 or (423) 878-2771

 

Watch the live streams at: youtube.com/@brooksidebaptistchurchtn1954/streams

 

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Missions Updates

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends,    December 2023 - January 2024

 

While writing this letter I am reminded of scripture found in Job 24:22 “He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.” I do not want to be morbid, but in reality, all of us are graveyard travelers! That is why our time is to be used wisely in the short life that we have! On December 23rd I had an emergency surgery. About 10 years ago I had a non-cancerous “Turp” prostate surgery. The doctor told me that it might last 12-15 years. On December 21st, I began having serious problems and two days later I had the surgery. After two emergency room visits, I was taken to Frye General Hospital by ambulance and the doctor and his team performed another “Turp” procedure. I am doing well and have recuperated. I had three trips planned for the first of this year. We already had people scheduled to travel and they were able to make these trips successfully without me.

 

Two trips were made to a Hispanic country, the first in January and the second in February. Both trips were without incident and accomplished all that we had planned with these two groups while visiting and preaching. One of our American pastors preached a message on “just being faithful” and “sticking with it”. One of our national preachers was weeping after hearing the message at the church he pastors. He said, “I was really discouraged and wanted to give up. Thank you all for coming and for the message!” They had special prayer for him before leaving.

 

We also had a trip to the Amazon planned. It had been several years since I had been able to go into that area. The countries on the Amazon River where we travel and reach are the countries of Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. This trip we had planned to have an institute and teaching sessions emphasizing missions, soul winning and church expansion. Our group went on without me. They returned and had about 200 people attending. They had a great time and the time spent was very profitable. Pray for these people. These areas in the jungle where they minister are really difficult places, not only with transportation, (all on banana boats), but there is a lot of drug trafficking and crime in the area.

 

Thanks to all of you for prayers for us and the works in these countries!

 

Joyfully Yours,

Farren Caeble 1 Sam 12:24    A printable PDF version is available here

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,      November 2023 – January 2024

    Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. New Years is a time when we stand in the present, while bidding farewell to the old and anticipating the new. It always reminds me of Revelation 1:19. This letter hopefully will provide a past, present, and future understanding about the ministry the Lord has so graciously committed to us for His glory.

    The past few months were spent catching up after my last trip into Ukraine, taking meetings in FL, WV, NY, OH, KY. We cherished the holidays where we were allowed to spend time with family. January was full with meetings, tax preparation, and prayerful deliberation about the Lord’s will for the future of our ministry.

    The two most common questions asked during furlough are, “When are you going back to the field?” and “Can you even get back to the field?” We have spent some time in prayerful consideration, taking counsel with our people in Ukraine, and monitoring the war. As such we are still committed to the ministry God has given us to finish. The two questions remaining are, “Where?” and “When?”

    After thirty plus years as a missionary in Ukraine, I’ve had enough experience to know both the opportunities and tolls of furlough. At the outset of this furlough, I wanted to accomplish as much as possible seeing that we won’t be given another opportunity for a long while. Our next term in Ukraine will require a lot of steadfastness and stability necessary for planting a new church. At the outset, I knew that this furlough was indeed going to be a very full one. After our last stint of seven years on the field, there was much to do: churches to update, new churches to visit to replace lost support, fundraising for certain projects, medical issues to tend to, and children to help get reacclimated in the homeland. Keep in mind that all of this was done during the Covid pandemic. Any one thing in the list could fill up a lot of the traditionally allotted one-year furlough. We did what we could but did not come close to finishing the things on the list. We planned to return to the field anyway and were excited to do so.

    Then the war broke out. We decided to continue with our unfinished furlough list while, simultaneously, raising funds for the refugee work. Going back to the field with no unfinished business was a very welcome thought. We also hoped and prayed the war would come to an end and we could just return to our home in Ukraine and pick up where we left off. This was our “Plan A” and would have been the best for many reasons. First, we have a fully set up home for my family waiting for us. Second, we have an established ministry giving us the ability to easily obtain religious visas necessary for missions work in that region of Ukraine. Thirdly, we have helpers there, consisting of those we led to Christ and trained ourselves, who are anxious to help us with our next phase of ministry. Lastly, all the time-consuming bureaucracy associated with life overseas (bank accounts, insurance, residency registration, background checks, tax identification papers, etc…) were already accomplished.

    Seeing we had unfinished business to tend to, it was wise to wait and see what the Lord would do with this war. I am taking the long view of the work in the Lord’s mission field. I did not want to have a knee jerk reaction and just start doing things to keep me busy for optical reasons. It is now, however, time for “Plan B.”

    It looks like I will need to make at least two trips into Ukraine within the next couple months. The first, Lord willing, will be in March where I hope to accomplish a few things. The Lord graciously allowed me to win more souls in eastern Ukraine in two days than I have in a long time, and I want to go back for more! Another reason is that I need to move my family. It is still not clear what is to become of the Odessa region, so we have decided that it is time to begin making preparations to move to another location. We are not sure which, but we will either move to a safer city within Ukraine’s borders or to another city just outside its western border. We are praying the Lord will show us the place where we can minister to those displaced by the war and/or from which I can make trips into Ukraine, continuing the progress for our long-range plans. Lastly, I hope to be able to secure a vehicle for our use upon arrival if possible. It is too risky to be sitting in a potential war-zone with no transportation.

    My main prayer requests are for guidance, wisdom, preparation, and provision for our return. Please pray for the Lord to make it abundantly clear where He would have us minister. We are also praying for the Lord’s provision for our return. We need return tickets to the field. I purchased “Round Trip” tickets when we returned to the USA for furlough. Our original return tickets recently expired and the airline has exhausted our extensions due to Covid and the war. This was another expense that I was not expecting. Another pressing need is to set up a new residence for my family. There are two options from which to choose and I’m not yet sure which would be safest and cheapest: one, going and packing up our house and hiring a truck to move everything or, two, just downsizing and starting over. We will probably have to do a little of both but either way, we are going to need extra funds for the move. After talking to my men in Ukraine about future trips and ministry it is evident that I’m going to need a vehicle for independent travel within Ukraine, first and foremost. We sold our vehicle in Ukraine prior to returning to the US for furlough to help cover the expenses of relocating. There are a lot of details to consider but I’m sure the Lord will sort them all out in His time.

    We want to thank each one of you for your concern for our safety and prayerful support of our ministry. Please continue to pray that this war will quickly come to an end. Better yet, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

 

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue

Philippians 3:10     (A printable PDF version is available here)

https://ruemissions.com

https://www.facebook.com/p/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine-100068352738533/

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Dear Praying Pastors, Brothers and Sisters,              Ukrainian Crisis Letter            January 2024

Our Greatest Joy except our own Salvation is knowing that our Children know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. On that note we want to thank so many of you who Prayed for our son David, Halleluiah!  He got SAVED!!! Oksana had asked him to read and analyze a few Gospel Tracts (Chick tracts) which we were praying about giving to Feruza, our Muslim friend.  As he read them, He realized that he had not really called upon the Lord to Save him from his whole heart.  *We began to see the Lord changing our son and could hardly believe our eyes how caring and reciprocating he became as the Spirit of the Lord changed his heart and fruit began to grow instead of thorns and thistles!  Christ indwelling us through His Holy Spirit truly does transform the heart and change our desires.  (Our hearts rejoiced that he professed Christ openly to his best friend.  He is planning to get baptized at Lakeside Baptist Church in Lemansky, Ukraine this summer when the whole family will be there.  He is even passing his tithe to the Church through me on our current trip.)  Please Pray the Lord will show him His Perfect Will for his life!  Pray for him also as he goes to do volunteer work in Ukraine from April 8th - August 12th. {It is true that they cannot get away from Prayer!}

As I write this letter, Oksana is packing our suitcases for our trip to Ukraine from February 14th to April 10th.  Upon our arrival in Poland, we will be sending out a box of literature to Ireland to help a missionary reach the Ukrainian refugees in his area.  We will also be ministering in a Ukrainian Church in Poland on the 18th.  Then we head into Ukraine where a good portion of our trip we will be ministering to Lakeside Baptist Church in Lemansky.  Slavic our national pastor could really use some encouragement and help.  He is already planning for me to teach his class for our young preachers.  Pray for us as we will also be making many Evangelistic Visits among the displaced souls living in the Lemansky area.

**After Lemansky we will be making evangelistic visits in villages around both Chernovtsy and Khmelnitsky.

*** Evangelistic Crusade in the city of Dnipro from March 10th – 17th. A group of Brothers & Sisters will be going out with different Baptist churches in the Dnipro Region to make Evangelistic Visits presenting the Gospel of Christ!

[As you Pray for the souls of Ukraine, keep in mind that they are more open to listening and reading tracts than ever!]

Please lift us up in prayer as Oksana and I are making this trip.  Please pray that the Lord will: (1) keep us safe,
(2) use us for His glory and (3) use us to help many Ukrainians understand, repent and receive Christ for Salvation. (4) Also, Pray that He will show us where we are most needed - We are planning to move back permanently after we finish up our furlough this summer.

February 24th will mark two years since the war began and it keeps getting worse, please pray for the salvation of both Ukrainian souls as well as the Russians.

Pray for Dasha & Vitalick whom we met while passing out tracts in Miami, FL.  They are actually my in-laws’ neighbors who recently fled to America from Odessa, Ukraine because their children could (mentally) no longer stand hearing all the explosions.

For the Souls of Ukraine, Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher

Also, Thank you for faithfully praying, supporting and being genuinely concerned for our family, Oksana’s family and especially for the souls of Ukraine during this unbelievably heart-breaking time.  (A printable PDF version is available here)

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February 2024

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlity,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” 2 Corinthians 11:3

This verse of scripture comes to mind as I see what is discussed and debated on social media these days. We now have a bigger platform and opportunity to voice an opinion or doctrinal stand than any other time in history. I feel that this opportunity is really far more than most of us need. Much is said argued and debated. My fear is for a lost and dying world, and many times a departure from the simplicity that is in the gospel.

I’ve been blessed many times in the past months of seeing this simplicity exemplified in the lives of the believers here. Tracy and I currently go to seven village meetings each week alongside Pastor Ahmet and his wife Gulzade. We see the gospel testimony in their lives and also in the lives of those in the churches in each village. Many of these faithful believers have limited education and some are even illiterate. The majority could not debate about Calvinism or Arminianism or many theological subjects, but they do know Jesus.

“…and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” Acts 4:13. What a wonderful testimony to have and it is the witness that many have here in Bulgaria. The greatest witness a changed life and an ever-present Lord working and interceding in daily lives.

To see and hear the testimonies of God working in their lives is what spreads the gospel to others and truly makes a difference in the lives of others and the world that we live in.

In the village of Yankavo, we have the testimony of one who was sick literally unto death. He was placed in the morgue and left for dead. Our God revived him and raised him up to testify of the goodness and grace of God. This is what affects and gains the attention of unbelievers, the manifest presence of God in our lives, not the different stances we have on this issue or that. Do not get me wrong we need to stand for truth, but the greatest thing we can do is give the world Jesus and a changed life. I will get off my soapbox for now, but I am so thankful that I can be around the simplicity of Christ preached and believers who have been with Jesus.

We are doing well here in Bulgaria. The winter has been a little snowier and colder this year, but we have enjoyed the snow days yet missing having the children with us as those days come. We enjoyed Christmas together in our empty nest, and thank God for the technology we have to be able to talk to and see the faces of all those we love.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each one who sent cards and gifts for Christmas. The extra support which was sent as Christmas gifts is always a blessing and we are very thankful for each and every gift given. We welcomed the new year very thankful for what God has done in our lives. He has worked in ways personally that we really never imagined possible and for that we give him glory.

The yearly flour and oil distribution is in progress. Please pray that all goes smoothly and that many will be blessed because of this. God has always been faithful in this endeavor and for this we are thankful. We also have the construction project in Avren where we will be able to have a larger meeting area for church, a kitchen and housing for visiting preachers. We see this as a place for us to be blessed and to be a blessing.

Pray also for our vehicle situation, we still have our van, but while we were on furlough insurance was purchased for the van. To make a long story short, whether deliberately or by accident, it was never entered into their system, so in the eyes of the police we had no insurance. Because of this the plates were removed from our van and we cannot get new ones until June of this year. Our hands are tied and there is nothing we can do but wait. We thought of trying to purchase a small car in the time being, but thankfully Brother William Lefevre is allowing us to use his van while on furlough. God provides!

Continue to pray for Kylie as she attends school in the states. She is doing well and made the President’s list her first semester. We are so proud of her. Pray also for our other children and grandchildren. God has been so good to us.

God bless you all and thank you for your prayers and faithful support,

Brother Keith Blalock      (A printable PDF version with pictures is available here)

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends,                                                      January 2024

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of
faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to
be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.  1 Timothy 1:5-7

I thank God that I have found the end of the commandment: charity.  While others may rant and rave about the law and commandments, I continue walking down the old road of preaching the gospel and loving sinners.  We are seeing souls saved and lives changed, new converts baptized; young believers sing the hymns every chance they get, and love to hear the Bible preached.  The Lord keeps supplying the needs and adds blessing upon blessing: love, joy, peace, answered prayer, fellowship, new doors of opportunity opening, sinners coming to church and hearing the gospel, and then, more joy.  James tells us that "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27  A great part of the work in Bulgaria is ministering to the widows and fatherless - people who suffer in poverty.  Sometimes their situations are heartbreaking.  But, praise the Lord, the poor have the gospel preached unto them!  Christ came to the poor and needy, to sinners.  If the son of God came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, should not we minister to the same people?  Most Americans miss one of the greatest blessings of heaven: that its citizens will hunger no more, nor suffer from heat or cold.  The poor saints appreciate it.  Our ministry is not to provide heaven on earth by providing their necessities, but to give them the invitation to the great marriage supper of the Lamb.  The master has said unto his servants, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." Luke 14:21  Charles Wesley sang it this way:

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast; Let every soul be Jesus' guest;
Ye need not one be left behind, For God hath bidden all mankind.
Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed, Ye restless wanderers after rest;
Ye poor, and maimed, and halt, and blind, In Christ a hearty welcome find.

While we go to the heathen preaching the gospel, we remember the poor by all means, but the gospel is our message.  Seeing children fed or clothed warms our hearts, but seeing sinners reconciled to God is glorious.  Nothing cheers this preacher more than seeing sinners come to church and hear the gospel for the first time.

Brethren, pray for us.  Pray for the sinners in Bulgaria.  The Lord is supplying every need.  He supplies the spirit through your prayers.  We desire the spirit's aid, and it is given through your prayers.  Please, keep praying.

In Christ,
Zachary LeFevre    (A printable PDF version with pictures is available here)

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September – October 2023

“Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou shall be missed because thy seat will be empty”. 1 Samuel 20:18

Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,

Greetings from all the saints among us and the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3

I was saved in July of 1979; with that salvation came a desire to see my loved ones also be saved. The Bible says after Andrew received Jesus, “he first findeth his own brother Simon and sayeth unto him, We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ, And he brought him to Jesus...” John 1:41- 42 Isn't it wonderful when the ones you love come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him as their Lord and Savior? I highly recommend going to your family first and telling them, as the man in Mark 5, how great things the Lord had done for him and had compassion on him. Mark 5:19

My brother Kevin passed away in September; he knew his time of departure was at hand. I had the privilege of seeing Kevin getting saved and then being called by God to be a preacher of the gospel of Christ. Kevin was as Paul was; he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Romans 1:16 He was also a pastor and held gospel services in prison for many years. Please pray for his wife, Barbara, and their four boys: Nathaniel, Daniel, Samuel, and Gabriel. Not long after Kevin went home to be with the Lord, my son-in-law Tyler Lyon also went home to be with the Lord. Tyler and I had some good Christian fellowship especially the last time we were together. We took a walk and talked about the Lord and how good God was. We never knew that would be the last time we would see each other in this world, but we knew we would see each other in the world to come.

Please pray for my daughter Sarah and their two children, Arabella and Luke. Kevin and Tyler’s seats are empty now and already missed. But thank God for the Lord's promises in his word; one day soon, we will reunite with them; therefore, we comfort one another with God's words of hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18

As for the mission work in Bulgaria, we have also started a special revival meeting where we bring in as many villagers as possible and hold a special men's meeting once a month. We are also getting ready for our flour and oil distribution. We give each church family 110 pounds of flour and one gallon of cooking oil. We have been doing this for many years and have seen that God is faithful, and the church people are thankful. God continues to bless his work here.

All because of Calvary,

 

Matthew Welch and family      (A printable PDF version is available here)

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,   August - October 2023

This overdue prayer letter is longer than usual because it not only covers three months’ time, but it highlights my recent trip into the war-torn regions of Ukraine. I hope it is a blessing to you and will give you some insight into what is going on in Ukraine, as well as our plans for the ministry God has called us to finish.

The months of August and September were spent updating our supporting churches and attending a couple weeklong missions conferences. We traveled to Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and California. The Lord blessed and manifested Himself in these meetings…enough said!

For over a year we have prayed about taking a trip into Ukraine. Many details had to come together to make it possible: scheduling around my meetings with our supporting churches; waiting for the Lord’s timing; our men in Ukraine needed time to prepare; and I invited Brother Kline to accompany me, whose schedule also had to be taken into consideration. The Lord wonderfully brought everything together during the second half of October.

This trip was important and necessary for several reasons. First, I wanted to assess the situation in our region personally and seek the Lord’s will about returning to Ukraine with my family. Secondly, our men wanted me to encourage the saints and see, firsthand, how they have been ministering to those affected by the war. They wanted to organize a local outreach in addition to a trip into the regions once occupied by the Russian armies. Thirdly, our ministry has not only survived the war but is thriving, and I needed to ordain my right-hand man, Alexei Kalinin, and put him into the pastorate. I asked Brother Kline to participate in the ordination because he helped teach Brother Kalinin in our Bible Institute. Fourthly, I needed to give Brother Kalinin full power of attorney over my house so that he could take care of my legal issues in my absence and put it into his or the church’s name if Russia ever got control of the region. One of the first things to take place when Russia annexes a region to itself is confiscation of property. An American citizen’s property would be at the top of the list in such a situation. Lastly, all our homeschool curriculum is in Ukraine, and it would cost well over a thousand dollars to replace it, so bringing back the materials would help finance the trip.

The quickest and easiest route was through Moldova. Missionary Paul Hamilton graciously agreed to meet me at the airport and drive me to the border of Ukraine. We had a great time of fellowship, and the hospitality he showed us was first class! He confirmed for me one important issue affecting our region. Russia’s 14th army is currently located in Transnistria with much equipment, which is only twenty miles from my house.

I left the USA on a Monday, and it took three days to arrive at my home in Ukraine. As we approached the Ukrainian border, we passed one of the tent cities erected to house those fleeing the war. It is still there waiting. Once across the border the effects of the war were immediately seen. Many residential homes were abandoned, and property was neglected. I arrived just a couple of hours before Wednesday night’s prayer meeting and the church wanted me to preach. That night I first heard for myself the sirens that sound when Russia launches an attack from the air on our region.

The next two days were spent ministering locally to those affected by the war. We preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to around 100 people they respectfully listened, but no one responded to the invitation. People gladly took literature and were thankful for the help. One woman suffering hardship because of the war burst into tears to receive diapers for her 24-year-old, handicapped son.

On Friday afternoon we traveled to Odessa to have my passport translated and notarized and have a power-of-attorney made for Brother Kalinin. We had a great time of fellowship. He told me God’s working in his life and how the Lord was leading and teaching him as he led the church during these hard times. We saw the signs of war: bombed buildings, barbed wire, barricades, military checkpoints, etc… Odessa has been hit by many drones every night, and I wanted to get out of there before nightfall, but we were delayed. The air raid sirens began to sound, which was a little unnerving, but the people themselves paid no attention, going about their business as if all was normal. What a great picture of God’s sirens sounding from His word and the world behaves as if judgment is not coming.

The following two days were spent with our church in revival meetings. The preaching, singing, special music, testimonies, and dinner on the church grounds together made the trip worthwhile. The ordination service Sunday evening was, in fact, the culmination of years of prayer and preparation in the ministry. What a blessing it is to know that the church, which began as a prayer request, is now thriving on its own in Ukraine. May the Lord help us do it again!
Preparations had to be made before taking the five-hour trip into eastern Ukraine. A test arose when our van began acting up and we could not resolve the problem. It was having difficulty starting and it would stall out on hills. The last thing I wanted to do was load it to the max and take it into a war zone. After some prayer and consideration, I rested on the thought that God’s people were praying for us. So, we left as soon as curfew ended at 5:00 am Tuesday morning. The van acted up a bit then the issue seemed to resolve itself! Thank God!

We had another guest help us on this trip: Brother Oleksandr Illchenko from Zhitomir, who wanted to participate. Our church in Ukraine has supported him for many years and has financed several of his multi-city evangelistic outreaches. During these outreaches he made contact with many groups of Christians all across Ukraine which later helped us to know where help was needed the most. He met us in Rozdilna and made most of the preparations for our trip ahead of time. We had 800 care packages of food (12 lbs. each); 600 loaves of bread which were baked in wood stoves by two churches in the region; over 1,000 packages of rice; and lots of literature all to be handed out in five towns in two days.

The first town on our route was a village where about 40 or 50 people were gathered waiting for us. After introductions we preached the Gospel and gave an invitation. The people here were very different from those in the Odessa region. They had endured an occupation of the Russian army and wanted to hear what we had to say. Ten people came out of the crowd upon the invitation to receive Christ as Savior! It has been a long time since I saw this kind of response. It reminded me of the 1990’s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I’ve not seen it like this since. It creates a bit of a quandary. I’ve gotten used to dealing with people, one on one, and even refusing to lead people in a prayer if I was not satisfied that they truly understood the Gospel. But in dealing with crowds, I’ve always kept D. L. Moody and the Chicago fire in mind. Who knows what is going to happen in these regions in a month? This could literally be their last opportunity to hear and respond to an invitation to receive Christ. I preached Christ and the Gospel as clearly as I knew how. The rest we trust to God. The literature and care packages were gladly received.

There was a larger group waiting at the second town. After preaching the Gospel we gave the invitation and thirty people separated from the crowd to be saved! I was in a state of disbelief and went over things with them again making sure they understood the purpose of the invitation. They insisted they understood and were sincere in their desire to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. We unloaded all our supplies in this town and had to return to our storage garage and load up again.

We made a quick visit to one of the families in a town called Partyzans’ke who were saved when Alexei and Oleksander visited back in May. His name was Oleg. He was a wealthy man before the war, but his house was completely destroyed by a Russian missile. His backyard workshop was now their new home. One night while sleeping, Oleg and his wife were awakened by a rocket that came right through their roof into their sleeping quarters about three feet from their heads. It did not explode! God takes care of His own! While we were there another rocket hit just a field or so away. This was normal for them. No one panicked.

The next stop was called Blahodatne, which means “Grace.” It is as if the spirit that was in those Russian soldiers (see Eph. 2) had such hatred for the word itself that they destroyed this town. They dropped bombs on all the houses reducing them to rubble, yet there were people still trying to live there. They were gathering their bricks and trying to erect small structures to live in before winter hit. We preached the Gospel, gave an invitation for salvation, led seven people to Christ, and handed out the aid and literature. One woman said, “Thank you for the food and literature, but I wanted to ask if your organization has the ability to help us with lumber so we can put a roof over our heads before winter?” I felt very small and was reminded of the Apostle Peter’s words, “…Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee...” I told her that she was God’s child now and has prayer. Somehow God would take care of them and that I would ask the churches in America to pray for them as well.

We had one more meeting that night. I do not know how many people were saved. There was no room in the building for an invitation and we had to lead them to Christ where they sat. We made it to our lodging barely before the midnight curfew an hour north of Kherson, which was shelled 60+ times that night.
The following morning, we loaded up the van and drove right up to the border of Kherson, only a few miles from the front. There was a large crowd waiting. It took two trips to get all the aid and literature to the location. Brother Oleksander and I both preached to the crowd, while Alexei and Casey went for supplies. At one point, while preaching, we heard an explosion of a rocket. The people casually turned their eyes in the general direction and then returned to listening to the preaching. Then you could hear the Ukrainian army’s response of multiple rockets being fired. Again, I do not know how many people received Christ during the invitation.

Suffice it to say that the Lord allowed me to preach the Gospel and lead more people to Christ in two days than I have in the last two years. Please pray for us that we can continue to work with these people.

The trip provided insights and spiritual lessons into the tactics of the enemy (1 Pet. 5:8). The first involved the minefields. As we drove, we passed many fields, some with warning signs and others without, where the Russians buried thousands of mines. There are many mission fields that the enemy has occupied for centuries. Pioneer missionaries need to prepare the field by removing the mines before it can have a harvest. The second thing I noticed was in the town of Snihurivka, which was occupied by the Russians for several months. Every gate was marked after they systematically went from house to house. They spray painted a big “0” if they posed no threat to Russia. They painted a “+” which meant it was a positive threat and that someone was probably killed there. What if our adversary the devil went through your neighborhood? Would you be a positive threat to his kingdom and plans? The last was in a town called Novopetrivka where we met Serhei. He and his wife didn’t listen to the warnings and stayed in their house while everyone else in their village fled from the advancing Russians. They were caught between the two armies. He showed us one rocket casing that exploded about 20 feet from the mouth of his cellar. He and his wife thought that all would be okay. After all, they didn’t mean anyone any harm. However, he realized who his real enemy was when his wife went outside and tried to make a phone call. A Russian sniper grazed her head with a bullet. As Christians called to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” we cannot be neutral in this war! Those that compromised the most with the enemy in Ukraine fell first and suffered the worst. He showed us many little metal arrows, called flechettes, that the Russians use in their cluster bombs. They were small but very deadly. It only takes one to kill you. I was reminded of the “fiery darts of the wicked” and how important it is for us to put on the whole armor of God.

It is difficult to quantify the blessings of this trip. The souls saved, the aid people received, the literature distributed, the ordination of one of God’s choicest saints in Ukraine, the saints encouraged, each individually, would have justified the expense that went into this trip. However, personally, for me it was that my head and my heart are united again. I have a renewed burden. We plan to return to Ukraine after the hard winter is over. It is only a matter of where and when. I am praying that we can just return to our home and continue the ministry as planned, but we may have to find a safer location with a better exit route for a time. Please pray for the Lord’s guidance as I make another trip in March.

Thank you for all you do for the Lord in helping us do His work in Ukraine. May the Lord richly bless you in every way.

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue

Philippians 3:10     (A printable PDF version is available here)

https://ruemissions.com/august-october-2023/

https://www.facebook.com/p/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine-100068352738533/

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Dear Churches, Pastors, and Friends,                           September –October 2023

It saddens me to tell you, but one of my lifelines, my mother, went to be with her Savior on October 21st. She was instrumental in my conversion, and having a deep respect for God and the Bible. She had been very sick for some time and will be deeply missed, but we know she is with Dad and “those who have gone on”. Thank you for all the condolences!

My wife is getting good reports with her cancer and is currently taking physical therapy. The medicine she takes has side effects which cause a lot of discomfort. Please continue to pray for her. She has traveled quite a bit with me this fall as I preached in churches from Florida to West Virginia. That was a blessing!

The situation in a particular Hispanic country is only getting worse. They estimate almost a million people have left the country and they are still experiencing blackouts in cities of a million people! On this last trip I was told that doctors in this country are now using electrical tape instead of surgical tape to bind the incisions of those having surgery! Please pray for this poor country.

This last year we have helped with several projects in addition to supporting Hispanic pastors. American pastors and churches have been so great to help me over the years. Of course, those who go with me see the needs first hand. They meet these great people, feel the burden, and see the hunger for the Word of God. This year we bought mules and several bicycles for our national preachers. I would like to tell you of a new project we saw about a year ago where the nationals were trying to build a structure with their few resources. The pastors which were traveling with me promised to help. This year they sent money designated for that church to have a building. There is something I want to say here: there is a lot wrong with America, but you cannot complain about how American churches have always been a vital part in international missions! I believe that is why America is still around - otherwise we would have been gone a long time ago!

Thank you, pastors and churches, for being such a great blessing to this Hispanic country over the years! I wish you could go and experience the services in this Hispanic country and meet these great people!

Joyfully Yours,

Farren Caeble  A printable PDF version is available here)
1 Sam 12:24 

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July - August 2023

And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house: 2 Chronicles 34:10

Dear Pastors, Churches and Fellow saints, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. 1 Peter 1:2

For some time now we have had a burden to repair and amend the church in Avren, Bulgaria. Part of the church is finished where we work on songbooks, make Xerox copies of scripture and meet to have church services. The Lord has really used these facilities and has met with us here. Part of the building was an old home that "little by little" was caving in on itself. Well, we all knew what had to be done, but it was going to be a big job. First, we had to take the old house down to where it was stable and then reinforce it and repair it. To get there it took 13 long hard weeks, but the Lord blessed and we got the house of the Lord "dried in". We still have more work to do, but the house is no longer caving in.

In 2 Chronicles 34:8 Josiah – “sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.”

2 Chronicles 34:14 says “when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.”

It seems that good things happen when God's people repair the house of the Lord. They not only found the book of God, but also had one of the greatest observances of the Passover ever witnessed.

2 Chronicles 35:18 I believe it's a picture of Calvary to us which are on this side of the crucifixion. In other words, when you get interested in the house of the Lord you will find God's book, the Bible, and in turn Calvary will find its rightful place in our hearts. We still could use some help to finish the building, and I know God is in it. Brother Ralph Cheatwood had a burden to have a place for God's people to come together and worship Him, and to God's glory, it is coming to pass as he desired. Please keep us in your prayers.

All because of Calvary,

Matthew Welch and family        (Included are some pictures of the construction in Avrin)

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Dear churches and Praying friends,    October 2023

 

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)

 

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

We trust this letter finds you rejoicing in the promises of God and serving him continually. We certainly thank God for your continued support of the ministry here in Bulgaria. We think about you and pray for you often. Certainly, the heavenly father has you also on his mind. He is not unfaithful to forget your work and service to his son, Jesus.

 

I would like to share a few pictures of the ministry here.    (A printable PDF version with pictures is available here)

 

Our chief work is in the village churches where we preach on a weekly basis. We had eight people saved and baptized this year, due to the national pastors serving faithfully.

 

As you know, each winter we distribute one hundred pounds of flour and five liters of cooking oil to each family in the churches here. This past winter the total amount was over 76 tons of flour. In a place and time where there is little work to be found the flour and oil are a tremendous blessing!

 

For over twenty years we have been feeding children in the village churches. Recently there was a young lady that came to a prayer meeting and got saved. She said "when she was little she used to eat at the church and would watch the others pray over the food, but she never prayed herself until that day when she asked Jesus to save her." We thank God for the seeds sown in the hearts of these children which continue to bear fruit.

 

We continue to print and hand bind Bulgarian and Turkish New Testaments. These are distributed free of charge throughout Bulgaria. Also, we are working on putting the Turkish Bible on the internet both in text form and audio. Currently, a reliable translation of the gospel of John can be listened to by Turkish speaker’s worldwide, and has been heard over a thousand times.

 

In the village of Avren we continue to work on our church ministry building. The Bible work room is finished, along with one room where we meet for church. The main room for the church, and the kitchen remain unfinished, but slowly, the work continues.

 

All this is by, through, and for the good God that we serve. Please continue to pray for us in this ministry that we might reach as many as we can with the gospel, and so that Christ would receive the worship of those he died for.

 

In Christ,

Zachary LeFevre   (A printable PDF version with pictures is available here)

 

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Dear friends and supporters,                  Fall 2023

 

As we bid farewell to the warm days of summer and welcome the crisp air of fall, we want to share with you the abundant blessings we have experienced on the mission field. Our recent trips to the West and Northwest have brought us closer to various Native American communities, where we have witnessed the power of God's love firsthand.

 

Our journey began in the West, where we embarked on a mission to work among the Navajo people of West Gallup and Crownpoint, NM. The harvest of souls was ripe and plentiful as we engaged in a week of Vacation Bible School and Evangelistic meetings. We are thrilled to report that several individuals were saved, and one of the new converts was baptized. The Navajo community exhibited great enthusiasm and a hunger for spiritual growth plus the church was filled every night. We rejoice over the team of 47 Choctaws and Cherokees that labored arm in arm to reach these people and obey the Great Commission. What a blessing to missionaries that have labored for years in the field to see the Lord raising up tribes to reach tribes!

 

Moving northwest, we arrived at Fort Hall, ID. We found the members of Faith Baptist Church excited, and we were ready to participate in their Vacation Bible School program. Their commitment to spreading the Gospel was evident when the tribe changed the rules and decided not to allow visitors (Christians) to knock on doors for VBS. So, the church members got the word out themselves resulting in just as many kids attending as when we knocked on doors ourselves! We had a successful week with the Shoshone-Bannock tribe, Hoopers Creek Baptist Church. Missionaries, Brother Joe and Mrs. Lela Copley, taught on the battlefield of the mind. Elena and Daniel had the privilege of sharing object lessons with all the children, showing how the enemy fights, but victory comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. We ended the week with a young lady receiving Christ as her Saviour. Praise the Lord!

 

Our journey further continued to the Kalispel reservation at Usk, WA, where we attempted another week of Vacation Bible School. The tribe decided to shut down the building they had allowed us to meet in and we had to leave, but glory to God for the time we were allotted! Sometimes it’s a stronger witness to be kicked off and respond in a Christ-like manner. The whole episode probably spread like wildfire through the reservation! Lord willing, next year we will see the Lord work in this tribe.

 

However, as we continue to spread God's word, we must address an urgent need. Our trusty companion, the 2013 Ford van that has tirelessly transported us to various mission fields, has recently hit a remarkable milestone of 300,000 miles. While it has served us faithfully, there is a pressing need for a new van to ensure the continued success of our mission work. We trust that the Lord knows our needs and will provide a solution in due time.

 

Upon returning home in September, we went to AR and Concord Missionary Baptist Church for their fall revival. The Lord came by and the altars were full. The week ended with a young man giving his life to Christ.

 

As the turn of winter approaches and since our return home in late September, there are numerous tasks to catch up on from weeks on the road. This week, however, we are blessed to be part of Native American Men and Women Bible Conference at Grace Indian Baptist, Talihina, OK. A time to encourage God’s Native American people to put their hand to the plow and labor for the Master.

 

In conclusion, this summer has brought a bountiful harvest of souls on the American mission fields. We have been blessed to witness a growing hunger for the Gospel among the Navajo people, and also blessed to have worked among the Kalispell, and the Sho-ban people this summer. We praise God for an encouraging revival at Cowlitz Way Baptist (Kelso, WA) and the fellowship with our dear friends at Yaak Community Church (Yaak, MT), Foundation Baptist Church (Coeur d’Alene, ID), Old Paths Baptist (Hays, KS), Grace Navajo Baptist Temple (Gallup, NM), Chi Ho Tso Baptist (St Michaels, AZ), and, First Landmark Missionary Baptist (Highland, AR). We are grateful for the love and support we receive from all our supporters, and we thank you for standing by us in prayer and encouragement.

 

May God's love and grace surround you in these last days before He comes!  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.

 

In Him,

The Higginbothams; Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel   (A printable PDF version is available here)

 

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Dear Praying Pastors, Brothers and Sisters,              Fall of 2023

Praising the Lord for answering your Prayers for my Summer trip to Ukraine! It was a blessing to see Him open great doors for the Gospel to be proclaimed and the Seed to be planted in many hearts both young and old.

In many one on one (and one on two) visits, the Lord worked in many hearts to see 16 souls call upon the name of the Lord for Salvation as well as four straying sheep got their hearts right before Him!

On one visit, I went to speak with a Sister’s husband, but he, due to fear, never came home after work. While I waited, I witnessed to his mother who received the truth and believed the Gospel calling upon Christ for Salvation.

*** PLEASE Continue to PRAY for those UPROOTED from their homes due to Bombing or because their area is occupied! THEY are very open to listen to the Gospel and are thinking about their relationship to God!

The Lord also Blessed with opportunities to teach in many VBSs in Western Ukrainian towns where most displaced families are living. Many of these families have seen God’s Goodness through local churches helping them find housing and offering them aid or help and therefore they now allow their children to attend.

(Used a large Evangecube to explain salvation to hundreds of parents and children who received brochures and N.T.)

*This summer our son David helped his uncle Slavick (Oksana’s Brother) with many projects like repairing roofs and houses damaged due to shrapnel from bombings. He also assisted in constructing some necessary structures as they prepared the territory for the Evangelistic Camps. He really enjoyed helping in these camps which were outreaches for the many displaced Children living in and around the city of Odessa.

YOUR PRAYERS and OFFERINGS: God has used them to supply His Spiritual Army with Spiritual Literature and Strength to stand and Proclaim the Glorious Gospel of Salvation through Christ! Over the 620 days this war has lasted, we in conjunction with another faithful Missionary, Brother Mark Priem, have printed and distributed 2,500,000 plus Testimonial brochures, Chick Tracts, Gospels of John and various booklets. Please Continue to Pray for those brethren laboring faithfully despite the danger to reach out to millions of displaced lost souls. *(ALL Offerings designated for Printing Will be used to supply Spiritual Seed to sow in unreached hearts!)

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National Bible Counseling Conference in Omaha, NE was extremely informative and spiritually beneficial. We are preparing ourselves to deal with the myriad of traumas which most Ukrainians are dealing with mentally.

2023 Furlough Meetings: We have truly enjoyed our travels every weekend as we give updates at our supporting Churches. We’ve also been edified as we gave our update while participating in five great Missions Conferences where God was moving! We thank the Lord for blessing us with two new supporting Churches and are still praying for five more since ministry needs keep increasing. We are still praying the Lord will give us direction for our return to Ukraine. Please Pray with us to that end so that we can see His Will clearly!

Pray for lost Max a 35-year-old lost Ukrainian who listened very well over a cup of coffee in Oshkosh, WI.

Pray for lost Justin (36) whose life is falling apart. He came to the Missions Conference and we spoke for three hours. He came back and fellowshipped with the pastor and then the Assistant Pastor for three hours.

* Pray for my learning to speak Ukrainian (I understand most spoken Ukrainian, but cannot speak it yet!

* We do have an unspoken health need that we need Him to resolve for us! So please lift us up in Prayer!

For the Souls of Ukraine,

Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher

Please Call me (513) 969-4229! To set up a Visit to your Church! Thankful for your faithful prayers, support and genuine love for our family, Oksana’s family and especially for the souls of Ukraine!  (A printable PDF version is available here)

 

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September 2023

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9

Without a doubt I am so thankful for the faithfulness of God.  We greatly enjoyed our time of furlough and seeing everyone we were able to see while we were in the states.  We are disappointed in not being able to visit all our supporters, but we are so thankful for what we were able to do.

God allowed us to have a good time with our family and for that we are also grateful.  We are entering into a new experience in our lives with an empty nest, but we look forward to seeing what God is going to do in Kylie’s life and ask that you remember her in your prayers.

We are still adjusting to being back in Bulgaria and face many cultural challenges.  We came back in order to apply for our new Visas.  This is the first major thing on our agenda, (but an important need to be addressed) and we’re thankful every time for God’s helping hand each time we do this.

I’ve been blessed to be in a few meetings since I’ve been back, and am enjoying the sweet spirit in the church each time I’m there.  I’ll be back to the meetings in full swing in a week or so after our Visas are secured and we get new tires on our van (which I’m currently waiting on for delivery as I write this letter).

We are in the middle of a construction project in the village of Avren.  The Bibles and hymnbooks are printed and stored in one of our buildings there.  There is also an upper room where the “Coats for Kids” clothing is stored, and where each week we have English and Turkish services.  This building had a house attached to it which was to the point of collapsing.  We felt the best option was to level that structure and build a new one.  This project has been going on for several months.  It is now in the dry with new walls, roof and windows, but it will still take around $20,000 to finish the building.  The insides will need flooring, electrical, plumbing and furnishings.  Then we will have a larger place for the church to meet and a kitchen with a fellowship hall.  This will include a room for visitors, and indoor bathroom -- a unique luxury in the village!  This will allow us to expand the printing ministry and the “Coats for Kids” closet.

We ask that you pray about this need and what you may do to help.                                 

I’ll close by saying thank you again for your faithfulness and love you have shown our family over the years.  We look forward to serving the Lord together with you.  Please continue to pray for the people here, as God opens the doors for ministry.  We are looking to serve Him, and step through any door of opportunity he opens, whether it be with the Bulgarians, Turks or Ukrainian refugees.  I believe with what’s going on in Israel, that the time to serve the Lord is now. 

 

God bless you all.

Brother Keith Blalock     (A printable PDF version is available here)

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The Higginbothams

 

Missionaries to the Native Americans of North America

 

Dear Supporting Churches,                          Spring/Summer 2023

We hope this newsletter finds you in good health and high spirits. We wanted to take a moment to update you on our recent spring trip back east and the time we spent visiting supporting churches. We are truly touched and grateful for your continued support and encouragement.

In late February to early March, we faced some unexpected challenges when the rear differential of our van needed to be replaced and worked on in Paris, TX. In April, during our stay at Bristol, TN, it had to be rebuilt the 2nd time. Thank you, Lord, for Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol letting us stay and pointing us to the right shop! Then again in May, while at a revival at Levelcross Baptist, Levelcross, NC, it had more problems with the same issue. We had to leave it in the shop at Bristol, TN for two weeks, and utilize the mechanic’s rental discount to continue our journey to Woods Hole, MA, where we rode a big ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard.

Our time on Martha’s Vineyard allowed us a rare opportunity to meet with the Wampanoag Tribe and hold a three-day meeting inside the historic Aquinnah Community Baptist Church. Established in 1693, this is the oldest Native American Baptist Church in North America. The original wood framed building, built in 1698, was moved to its present location, “up the hill” in 1850. We met with missionaries; Gerry Locklear, Glen Holman and sidekick, Vic, , Larry & Regina McKinney, & Joe, Lela, and Mya Copley, for a three-day meeting and were blessed with a chance to sing, testify, and preach to the congregation. It was a great time to spread the Gospel and encourage the church to keep on keeping on till the Lord’s return.

The next Sunday, back in America, our family and Bro Gerry, visited Mashpee Baptist Church, also part of the Wampanoag Tribe. Daniel had the incredible opportunity to preach in the historic old church, which was a truly humbling experience. While in Rhode Island, we saw the grave of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma in the 1800’s, Daniel stood behind the pulpit where Wampanoag Native, Blind Joe Amos, preached the Gospel to his people, and we saw a plaque for Stella Abiah Ryan, a Wampanoag lady that went to Donga Sudan, Africa in the early 1900’s as a missionary. It seems America has come so far, but now fallen so far. With our time there over, we left the Wampanoag people and headed back to Bristol. We were relieved to finally have the van repaired and hurry back to Oklahoma.

With our return to Choctaw Nation, we had two days to catch up on yard work, unload and reload the van and start the month of June with VBS at Grace Indian Baptist Church in Talihina, OK where Daniel preached one night and a young boy accepted Jesus into his heart. We moved on to Indian Baptist Missions Camp at Canadian, OK. It’s a family camp where the workers try to provide a VBS experience for the kids as Elena taught teen girls, we worked with the music, help run sound, worked with the crafts, and Daniel spoke in the Men’s Missions hour.

The end of June saw us at VBS/camp at Springhill Presbyterian Choctaw Church. It was a great week of teaching about putting on the whole Armor of God. We truly thank God for all He has done and feel blessed by His Presence in our journey.

We are home now preparing for the big trip west. Please keep us in your prayers as we hope to make the trip in our faithful, old van that has almost 300,000 miles on it since it was given to us in 2014. We praise the Lord for the help to cover expensive costs by friends in Randleman and Greensboro area. Also, friends at Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol, TN are helping with the newsletter from now on. Thank you all in Jesus Name.

We thank our friends at West Park Baptist, Jacksonville, FL for their faithful help, printing and mailing our newsletter for over 40 years. They were the 1st church to put us on for monthly support, helping with repairs and tires for the “old bus”, buying Bibles to be given out, and praying so faithfully that God would save sinners where we minister. May God bless those involved for your faithful service to Him!

In looking back over the past three months, there were other churches we went to and others saved. We thank God for the ability to go and help people, love them, and warn them. You may be reading this and say, well not many are coming or not many are being saved, but it’s really up to God to give the increase. He just told us to “Go ye”. (Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Once again, we want to express our sincerest gratitude for your unwavering support and encouragement. Let’s continue to work together until Jesus comes and we’ll be so glad we were faithful.

In Him,

The Higginbothams, Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel    (A printable PDF version is available here)

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends,                                        July - August 2023 Newsletter

 

The situation in a particular Hispanic country is worse than the last trip - but it could not be otherwise with the current world situation. I read an article that discussed this countries sugar cane exportation and production. In 1970, it was producing 8.5 million tons of sugar. Last year they produced less than .5 million! This figure is at an all-time low - dating back for over one 100 years which reflects its current economy. The people that do have jobs are now being paid a salary of $16 a month!

 

But we know many times the economy does not dictate the spiritual condition of a country. It was a blessing to see people still excited about serving God. They have not lost their passion for winning souls and planting churches. The number of churches that have been organized continues to grow from year to year.

 

One young lady really touched my heart when she told me about her conversion to Christ. She is an English teacher and as a Catholic, knew “absolutely nothing” about the Bible. Her grandmother had died and left a Bible to her. She had such respect for her grandmother that she began reading and said the BIBLE literally "led her to the Lord.” She told me her favorite verse is Romans 10:17. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Never underestimate the power of the Word of God!

 

Joyfully Yours,       (A printable PDF version is available here)

 

Farren Caeble 1Sam 12:24

 

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May - June 2023

...but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Mark 9:22

Dear Pastors, Churches and Saints,

Greetings from all that are with us and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some things only God can do. I have gone to God's people for help and I have had God's people come to me for help. I would like to help each one; and I am burdened and sometimes bewildered when I can't help them, but thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ that said "bring him to me". Matthew 17:17. The all sufficient One, the One who is able. Hebrews 7:25 We all know someone that is tormented by one or more of the devil's fiery darts or an unclean spirit. But, I am encouraged that when we couldn't help them, that we are admonished to have faith as a grain of mustard seed. This is a very small seed, but the potential of what can come from that seed is enormous. The same is true with faith, ìt only takes enough to believe. The question was asked in Psalms 78:19 "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Or can God help this loved one of ours that has been taken captive by the devil and is in his snare? 2 Timothy 2:25

I find myself very much like the man in the text from Mark 9:17-29, when the Lord told him "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth". "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

In Zechariah 3:2 "the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan;". Some things only God can do. When we pray and fast and we have as Hannah, a sorrowful spirit, and pour out our soul, and when something means more to us than a meal and faith takes us to a prayer altar, we will see the impossible take place!

May God help us to have faith as a grain of mustard seed, to the end we might see others get help from "Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood". Revelation 1:5

Please keep our loved ones in your prayers.

All because of Calvary,

Matthew Welch and family     (A printable PDF version is available here)

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Dear Friends in Christ,             September 18, 2023

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As I mentioned in my last letter, we made it through a summer filled with some unexpected trials. In hindsight, without having had to face these difficulties, we would have missed experiencing God’s mighty, gentle, strong and kind hand as He guided us through each situation.

At the beginning of summer, when Johnny and Blue were leaving for Germany, I experienced what we feared could be a heart attack…chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc. I wound up in the emergency room of the municipal hospital, which anyone who has had the misfortune of needing medical attention in Romania knows, is usually worse than the ailment that brought you there. Over the next weeks I had numerous tests (heart ultrasound, angiogram, CT scan of lungs, thyroid and abdominal ultrasounds and dozens of blood tests) which, in the end, found nothing that should have caused such symptoms and kept me in bed for about two weeks. The doc said if the symptoms reappear, they will investigate more. Thank the Lord, He raised me up right about the time our next trial would unfold.

After a news story broke about horrible conditions and treatment in a nursing home in Bucharest, the government declared all nursing homes and children’s homes would be investigated. A couple of days later, a van showed up unannounced with officials from 7 or 8 different agencies and raided our Home. Police, Fire Department, Health Department, Consumer Protection, Ministry of Finance, Child Protection and others were all represented. After a day and a half combing through our records, talking with the children and workers, and inspecting the Home, Thank God, they had only a couple of issues. One, we had to install a video security system and, Two, they closed our kitchen until we could remodel it to meet new European Union requirements.

They gave us until September 15th, about 2 ½ weeks, to have everything done. It was going to take a huge amount of work and a huge amount of money that we didn’t have to get it all done. I have to be honest, I had my doubts we could meet the deadline. I told the kids “We don’t have a choice. We are going to start the work and trust the Lord to help us get it done and get the money here to pay for it. It’s God’s house. You are God’s kids. I can’t do it, but He can!”

All the kids who were available helped as we put in new ceilings, light fixtures, stove exhaust fans, an extra sink, new metal shelving in the pantry, new windows in the kitchen, and converted a toy room into a worker’s dressing/bathroom. We also had to close off the kitchen from the living room which had been wide open.

Several of the kids worked with me day and night and the Lord helped in so many ways over this time. It seemed each morning Sandy would come over and tell me about someone who was sending money…one day a precious widow sending $50…the next a church sending $1,000…each day the expenses being taken care of until a couple of days ago, a church in St. Pete, Florida, promising to take care of what was left. The Lord provided exactly what was needed.

On the 15th, the inspector came and was amazed we got everything done and done so well. I thank the Lord for each of you who sent what was needed. I pray you are blessed as much as we are seeing God move mountains for us. I am thankful for Dara, Sandy, our kids and the Home workers who labored tirelessly so that we could have our kitchen back.

Finally, for a week in August we were blessed to host a mission group from First Baptist Church of San Antonio. They are our long-time friends, actually now family, who started visiting after one of their deacons was stationed at the nearby American military base some years back and came to the Children’s Home church. Together we held a 3-day mini VBS with some very poor children in a nearby village and painted the entire downstairs of the Children’s Home. Most of all, they were, as always, a huge blessing and encouragement to all of us here.

As I said at the beginning, it was a summer filled with challenges. Thank the Lord, we didn’t have to face them alone. Our God is faithful. Thank you again to all of you who helped us through your prayers and your giving.

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”  2 Chronicles 20:17

In Christ,

Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids   (A printable PDF version is available here) 

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Dear Friends in Christ,     September 2023

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Summer has come to an end… the kids have returned to school. We had an enjoyable summer, but it was not an easy one. Besides what I’ll write below, I had some health issues, we had a major inspection at the Home and we hosted a mission trip. I’ll write another letter this week to tell you about those.

Johnny and Blue have been our kids for seven years, since Johnny was seven and Blue was three. Their grandmother, a believer in our Turkish church, asked us to take them because her daughter, their mother, had gone to Germany to work and left them with her. The grandmother was older and in poor health and wasn’t able to care for them.

Johnny and Blue immediately became part of the family. Johnny bonded with our son, Creed, and they became inseparable. Blue was a bright, sweet little girl and we quickly grew to love them as our own. They both loved the church and, Praise the Lord, both were saved and baptized a few years after we got them.

At the end of this past school year, the mother came back and said she wanted to take them for a visit to Germany. She said she would bring them back after a few weeks. Her being their mother, we could do nothing to stop her even though we didn’t feel good about it, to say the least.

After she got them to Germany, she contacted us and said that she was not bringing them back and that we should forget about them because we would never see them again. You can’t even imagine how deeply this affected Dara and me… they are our kids! They call us Mommy and Daddy and, having gotten them that young, we were now the only family they really knew. This was their life and that life had been stolen away from them.

Everyone knows me as someone who can fix problems and find ways to work things out. Everyone asked “What are you going to do? How are you going to get them back?” I was lost. There was nothing I could do that would bring them home.

I prayed “Lord, you are the only one who can bring our kids home. You sent plagues to change Pharaoh’s heart and I know you can do something if it is Your will.” I decided I was going to beg God to intervene and then put my trust in Him to hear my prayer and to answer it the best way… Maybe not the way I was hoping, but I was trusting in His goodness and knowing that His way would be best.

Over the summer, we were able to talk to Johnny and Blue a little bit through messages. They were devastated, homesick, and losing hope of ever seeing us again. Their mother and some other relatives there in Germany tried to pressure them not to believe in Jesus, but to convert to Islam. Johnny told them he would not give up his faith in Jesus Christ and refused to go into the mosque with them. He even testified to the hoja (Moslem priest) through a translator about what he believed.

I told them to keep trusting God…. we were all praying. A couple of weeks ago, Johnny wrote that his mother, seeing that they were so unhappy, said she would be willing to bring them back, but she didn’t have any money for the trip. I told Johnny I would gladly pay for their bus tickets if she would bring them. After a heart wrenching week of “yes, she would, no, she wouldn’t”, they boarded the bus and came home.

Johnny and Blue are back home and just started back to school. You can’t imagine the impact on our family seeing God intervene in an impossible situation when we helplessly cried out to Him in prayer. How can we ever doubt His goodness? Praise His Holy Name!

“The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles” Psalm 34:17

In Christ,

Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids         (A printable PDF version is available here) 

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,           June - July 2023

I hope this letter finds you all well in the Lord and awaiting His soon return. This situation in Ukraine is turning into the very thing I feared it would, a prolonged conflict that could go on for years. Just when we thought things were settling down, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal and then drones and missiles began hitting the very places that we often frequent in Odessa, like the building across from the Odessa Polytechnic University where there was a Children’s Science Museum, a grocery store, our barber, and our family’s dentist (See photo). One of our church families lost their newly renovated apartment due to the drone strikes in southern Odessa. Our men now travel to Odessa only when necessary, because of the volitivity of the situation. The US embassy continues to post Security Alerts stating that the current “Travel Advisory is a level 4: Do Not Travel” and further warns of increased missile and drone strikes to spoil Ukraine’s upcoming Independence Day celebrations.

Our church in Rozdilna is doing well and is stable. The newly saved are growing and together with the church they are doing what they can, under these circumstances, to reach souls with the Gospel. Our church could neither hold a youth camp nor a VBS for the kids this year because of the war. Instead, they continue to work with the refugees registered with the local authorities in our area. They again ministered to around one hundred families where they gathered them together and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ and gave them food, clothing, and literature. Brother Alexei has calculated that each refugee outreach costs around $2,000 to minister to about 100 families/households. We continue to send offerings to Ukraine as the Lord provides. The time involved with travel, shopping, visitation, and contacting each family individually is demanding, but they are doing it all during curfews, air raid sirens, and checkpoints. Not to mention any eligible man seen on the streets could be taken at any time to fight. We had a scare when the local recruiter’s office called up my right-hand man, Brother Alexei, to appear. They let him go home since he has exemption on several levels.

On a happier and more personal note, our family just celebrated the wedding of our son Samuel to his bride Susanna. They were married on July 1st, when I had the privilege of preaching and Evangelist David Spurgeon, Susanna’s grandfather, performed the ceremony. The wedding felt a little like a revival service during the congregational singing! We really enjoyed spending some time with Samuel and Susanna and pray the Lord will use them for His glory.

It’s summertime again, the time when churches engage in VBS, youth camps, and camp meetings. Our children are very happy that they could experience these types of meetings in English-speaking in America. We continue to work our way down the list of supporting churches that wish us to give them an update on the work in Ukraine. Our travels were mainly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee where I was glad to be used of the Lord to encourage the saints in missions. We are thankful for the responses we’ve received and one young lady even “walking the aisle” for salvation during the invitation.

Please continue to pray for us as we fulfill our obligations to visit our remaining supporters and that the Lord will give us wisdom in His will for the near future. May the Lord richly bless you in every way.

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue

Phil. 3:10     (A printable PDF version is available here)  (www.ruemissions.com)

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August 2023

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." (II Cor. 1:3,4)

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Brethren, we want to thank each of you for your continued prayers and support as we continue serving the Lord in Bulgaria. This summer has been full. First, we were able to return to the states for just a short time to be with our daughter, Maggie, as she graduated high school. She will be living with her sister in South Carolina; the Lord has provided her with a job, and even a car. A dear pastor friend in Virginia gave her his car. What a blessing that is! Seeing the Lord bless your children is a great joy. We were also able to visit with our son, Isaac, who is studying for the ministry. Bur, alas, our time of departure has come, and once again we say good-bye to our dear children. Our Lord told us that, he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. It's not easy to forsake all for Jesus, but he told us again, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children. As we said good-bye to one family in America, we were greeted by a larger family here in Bulgaria - those who have come to know and love the Lord Jesus through our service here.

Also, last month Verity's father passed away. He was 83, and ready to go. He had lived a long life in service to the Lord and brought many people to the knowledge of salvation. Even at his death and funeral there were more testimonies shared of people who had come to know the Lord through his witness. We thank God for such a goodly heritage.

Here in Bulgaria we stay busy preaching in churches with our national pastors. This month we're baptizing. There's been several new believers baptized, and several others still waiting. Some of our people have moved to western Europe for work and found churches to attend, but they want to be baptized in Bulgaria.

In the village of Avren we have had a building for some time where we produce Bibles and hymnbooks. This year we are fixing up the old house which was falling down. The new roof is on, but the interior of the house still needs a lot of work. When it's finished it will provide rooms for church, and a fellowship hall, as well as a small apartment. Ralph Cheatwood, our senior missionary, had wanted to have church for three different groups in this village - Bulgarian, Turkish, and English. We've already had Turkish and English meetings here, and we've had some interest among the Bulgarians. Our desire is to finish this building for the glory of God and have a place where the local people can come hear about Jesus. Would you pray that the Lord would send in the funds that are needed to finish this work?

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

In Christ, Zachary LeFevre  (A printable PDF version is available here)

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“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28

Dear Brethren, July 2023

After a mostly mild winter and entrance of an early spring, Carrie and I set out to work on our 2023 To-Do List. In addition to the seven Turkish churches we go to with Pastor Ismail, we wanted to repair the old mud brick barn/wood shed, cut away shrub overgrowth out on the street and prepare a driveway for the future Coat Closet van, add tables to the Coat Closet, hire out the removal of years old rubble from another barn, and put up drywall in the final remaining unfinished room of our house. We worked hard cutting, raking, cleaning, burning, etc. We also got an estimate on the drywall work and advice on the repair of the barn. Things were going well and we were encouraged. Until, that is, I found holes in the roof, in an overhang next to the chimney. Had we not been preparing for the drywall, I would not have seen it. While thankful to have discovered it before it got worse, it soon became a massive headache. Rains came and hardly stopped in our region for three months. Carrie got sick and underwent testing for some major potentials. All our personal work, and plans, stopped. In the end, Carrie was fine after some treatment, the holes were repaired along with the cause of the leak, and we were able to get somewhat back on track. We just had to endure storms, both literal and mental, for a few months first. Our endeavors are hit and miss at the moment because now we’re dealing with temperatures above 100 degrees in our region. But God knows, and He will guide and help.

Our dear friends here in the village, Nejmedin and Gyulbyush, recently lost their eleven-year-old granddaughter after several years of battling brain tumors. Her loss will be felt for a very long time, as grief knows no time limits, but the effects of her testimony will also be felt for years to come. This one little Jesus loving girl touched the lives of so many people while she was alive, and in her death so many more were able to hear the Gospel. People who may not have otherwise heard. In the street outside her home and in the local Muslim cemetery, the truth of Jesus Christ was preached with power. Those who knew and loved her know her short life was not in vain and holds eternal value. Please pray for our friends; the heaviness of grief is suffocating at times.

In my last letter I told you about Pastor Ismail and his dental struggles and his new electric three-wheeler scooter. Thankfully, his dentist was able to clean out old, broken teeth as well as remove several others. He’s so happy the pain is gone. He and his scooter go everywhere. To the store to get bread, to the hospital to visit the sick, to a couple of the nearer churches, and to visit the believers nearby. Last Sunday he gave a testimony at church. I’ll try to recap: He was coming home from Mihailovski where he had just cut the grass for a widow woman who is afraid of snakes. Nearing the city he lives in, a car in the other lane was crossing the center line and going quite fast. It eventually crossed into his lane and was speeding toward him. He said he doesn’t remember what happened next, except that he ended up still seated on his scooter and holding the handlebars, but set in a field on the other side of the ditch, and the car was rolling behind him in the field. Other vehicles stopped to help. He told them he was fine, but to help the driver of the car, who was a young man high on drugs. Pastor Ismail later went to the hospital to visit the young man who survived, but had a shattered leg. He took him food and drink (hospitals don’t provide that here). Not only did God preserve the life of our dear Pastor, he also opened a door for this young man to hear about Jesus. Thank God for all of that!

We’re hoping to go see the kids and grandkids for a couple weeks soon. The babies are growing too fast. And hopefully we can see through the rest of our To-Do List. Thank you all for praying for us!

Because He First Loved Me,

Larry Leach, Jr.

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Dear Churches, Pastors, and Friends,                                    April - May 2023 Newsletter

For this letter I wanted to share some experiences that I have had in the ministry over the years, and particularly in the last few months. I remember the first soul that I won to the Lord many years ago when I was about 21 years old. My wife and I had traveled to Virginia from North Carolina with my wife’s grandmother to see her pen pal of many years. Her name was “Cat” and she had terminal cancer. After we arrived, we sat there with my wife’s grandmother and “Cat” and listened as they talked and caught up with the news as old friends. “Cat” showed us the clothes she wanted to be buried in. I asked her before we left if she minded if I talked with her about something and she agreed. I said to her, “Now you have shown us your clothes that you will be buried in; have you had any thoughts of being ready for eternity?” She said she had not. I showed her from the Bible how she could be saved and be assured of heaven; and then she prayed with me and received the Lord Jesus Christ! This was the very beginning of my soul winning effort that has been a blessed and joyful journey over the years.

Each year in March and August, I am in West Virginia for several weeks attending Missions Conferences in order to raise support for National Pastors from many countries throughout the world. During this year’s conference in March, I was preaching at a church in Beckley, West Virginia. During the invitation a young boy about 10 years old came forward for salvation. The altar was already full, and I remember as I looked down, he was on his knees praying with his mother and father on each side facing the pulpit. What a joyful and rewarding memory!

In April, I was in a Cherokee native church that has supported us for years. (The man that had been Pastor of the church for many years had passed away and his wife passed three days later. They had a double funeral for this sweet couple). The morning I preached, a young native girl about 18 years-old received Christ. What a blessing, this is what it is all about! This is the joyful part of the ministry! There are challenging times indeed, but then you can look back and see many wonderful things God has done over the years!

Please keep my wife in your prayers. Thank God they were able to get all the cancer. This was a huge blessing for us! She still has trouble with the medicine that she must take to prevent the cancer from returning; if she can take it for five years, she has a good chance of the cancer not coming back.

I will be in touch when we return from our next trip.

Joyfully Yours,    (A printable PDF version is available here)

Farren Caeble

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"...he knoweth not how.

Dear Pastors Churches and Fellow Saints,               March - April 2023

Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Thessalonica the apostle Paul thanked God because, when they received the word of God which they heard Paul preach they “…received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

God's word is different than man's word. God's words are alive. The Bible says "the of God which liveth". It's a great privilege to sow the word of God.

One day 44 years ago my Uncle Don sowed the word God and preached unto me the gospel. Somehow the word sprang and grew up when I believed.

Only God can give life to a seed. You can talk all you want about how a seed springs up, but it would never happen without God. As missionaries spreading the gospel of Christ we don't know how it springs up other than God tells it to spring up and grow. When someone puts their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and receives him as their Lord and Savior, God speaks to that soul and says “Let there be light” and that person is transformed from darkness to the kingdom of God.

I would like to have you pray for these dear Christian friends of mine that help here in the gospel. Malcho and Kadrìa. They are a real blessing to all and God has really used them. We covet your prayers.

All because of Calvary,                 (A printable PDF version is available here) 

Matthew Welch and family

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,   April - May 2023

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who sustains us in His will by His grace. The reports I receive from our men and women in our ministry in Ukraine are encouraging and give new meaning to the words, “For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord (1 Thess. 3:8).” Seeing our ministry thrive during the tribulations of wartime causes us to bow our heads in thanks to God. Brother Alexei, my right-hand man in the ministry, made a recent trip into the war-torn area of Mykolaiv. This letter contains some of the highlights, along with pictures, of their trip.

The Lord graciously opened doors for us that were once closed as an answer to our prayers. When the war with Russia began, Brother Alexei and I began to discuss how we could help in the Mykolaiv region, because of the influx of refugees to our town from there. They came with stories and needs. The Lord provided the funds with which our ministry purchased a ten-year-old van for the purpose of taking aid to the region and providing transportation to anyone who wanted to flee. While registering the vehicle at our local DMV a corrupt officer wanted a bribe which Alexei refused to give. As a result, the van was impounded with the threat that it would be confiscated and used by the military in the war. This set our plans back for months, but the Lord was obviously keeping us from the area, because it was attacked relentlessly during the months that followed. We prayed and waited on the Lord. Eventually, Russia withdrew its troops from the area and our lawyer filed the paperwork for our vehicle’s release. The door was opened once again! Brother Alexei decided to make the trip with one of our supported local missionaries Oleksander Illchenko. Over the past seven years, we’ve helped him finance several nationwide evangelistic campaigns where he visited every major city in Ukraine giving out all the literature he could while preaching on the street. He made contact with many Christians during these campaigns and was able to get information from them about which towns had the greatest need.

Brother Alexei described the road to Mykolaiv as “eerie.” He said that they were literally among the very first to travel the road after it had been cleared of the mines placed there during the Russian occupation. Many small towns and villages were now ghost towns. The streets were completely empty, and they only encountered a couple of cars on the road for many kilometers. The streets were lined with civilian houses destroyed by the Russian army. It appears that their orders were to completely make these towns uninhabitable.

Overall, six towns were visited. Literature, food, and clothing were given out freely. Alexei said that these people were hungry for the word of God unlike the areas of Ukraine where they have not been so affected by the war. Crowds of desperate Ukrainians gathered in schools, civic buildings, and on the street for help where Brother Alexei and Oleksander preached to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One town in particular, named Snigirovka, was very desperate. They endured a full Russian occupation where their town was blockaded. They did not allow anyone to enter or leave the city. Food disappeared from the shelves and the people became the sick sport of the Russian invaders. One man saved the bullets fired at him through his windows while he was in his home. He kept them in a coffee cup and told them his story of survival. There were many such stories. Unfortunately, this letter is too short for them. I guess they will be written after the war is over. Or you can wait till the Judgment when all secrets will be made manifest by our Lord Jesus Christ. It will be more realistic than “virtual reality” complete with “surround sound!”

The names of the other cities visited were Novaya Odessa (New Odessa), Mikhailovka, Zarechnoe, Shirokoe, Lubino, and Partizanskoe. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was preached to them mainly in the Ukrainian language and several people received Christ as their personal Savior. Brother Alexei and Oleksander helped these people any way they could. They even helped install doors on the homes of the elderly whose houses were broken into by the Russians. We will continue to send funds to these people as the Lord provides.

We have a prayer request for one young man in our church, named Vitya Ganichenko, who was recently taken into military service. He received Christ as a young boy during one of our Children’s Bible Clubs years ago. He has some health issues that one recruiter’s office said exempted him from service, while another said he could serve. They took him quickly and didn’t allow him to go home. Please pray for his safety and that he comes home whole and alive.

The Lord continues to give us safety for our travels, answers to our prayers, and fruit for our labors. Over the course of the past two months, we updated our supporting churches in Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, Washington, Ohio, and New York. It has been over ten years since we have seen many of them. Please continue to pray for us as we gladly fulfill our obligations to visit our remaining supporters. May the Lord richly bless you in every way.

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue Phil. 3:10   (A printable PDF version is available here)  (www.ruemissions.com)

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Dear Friends in Christ,              June 2023

 

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” 2 Corinthians 1:3

 

It is truly comforting to know by experience that God’s word is true. This world offers us many ups and downs, trials and disappointments; but His word remains true. We have seen a few over these past few months, but God has been faithful. Our daughter Mckenzie recently miscarried her little boy Josiah David. God was indeed with us as we laid his little body to rest. Please pray for her as she continues to recover. We also discovered that the Stefanov family who were trying to get to the states to visit some churches were declined a visa by our government and will not be able to come. While this is a disappointment we trust that God will continue to use and provide for Mitko and his family.

 

We have been busy and have visited many of our supporting churches, and a few new ones. God has blessed in each service, and for that we are truly grateful. We also were in a wonderful revival at Westside Baptist Church in Mayodan, N.C. where our son-in-law Michael Lindsay pastors. Brother Barry Philbeck, pastor of Love Valley Baptist church, preached at the meeting and it was a real blessing to see 11 souls get born again! God sure is good!

 

We are excited about the upcoming weeks. Currently we have William and Hannah Lefevre’s boys with us, Carrick and Christian. They have come to the states to attend some Bible camps, and we will be taking them to Light on the Mountain camp the week of July 26th. We’ve enjoyed having them with us, and they are excited about going to the camps. Kylie is leaving for Papau, New Guinea in a couple days; and it’s been a blessing to see how God has provided the funds and worked in the visa process. We trust that God is going to bless them richly during the trip and keep them safe. I want to thank each of you that helped her to make this trip and pray that God blesses you for it.

 

We have purchased our return tickets to Bulgaria and will be leaving on October 3rd. We are looking forward to returning and ask that you pray that God helps us with the things we need to get done before we return. I will be seeing an Orthopedic doctor this week and please pray that they’ll find a way to fix the issues that I have in a quick and effective way. There are a few more things that need to be finished in order to get Kylie settled in school. She is now enrolled in college and is excited about starting school. We are proud of what she has accomplished so far, as she graduated from high school this past month.

 

In one of the villages an 11-year-old girl, named Ozlem, had been dealing with a brain tumor for several years. Last month the Lord called her home. She was saved and ready to go, but this is very difficult for her family. Please pray that God will comfort them in this very difficult season of their lives.

 

In closing, God bless you all for your continued prayers and support. We are so grateful for each one of you. We can’t express enough how much we appreciate you all.

 

Brother Keith Blalock  (A printable PDF version is available here)

 

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“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,

whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  Philippians 4:8

 

To family, friends, and fellow saints,

 

I preached recently in our English service from the above text.  Well, in all honesty, I wound up there, closing out a meandering message with a few thoughts from that verse; but what a verse!  (All sermons are like drives to a desired destination.  I admire preachers who can take the most direct route in the shortest amount of time with no deviation.  As in life, so in preaching; I always take the scenic route.  One of the drawbacks to the scenic route, however, is that you see so many wonderful things along the way, the place you arrive at can seem underwhelming.  The biggest drawback, though, is that more often than not, all the passengers arrive worn out or asleep.  Speaking of meandering, I’d better get back to my point.)

 

The entire book of Philippians concerns itself with the believers’ perspective, the apostle delivering holy admonishments regarding the mind, culminating in our chosen text.  The lesson being, if our thoughts are preoccupied with those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, whatever the scripture asserts, we’ll cheerfully accept and set out to accomplish.

 

While there are many things in life that possess one or more of those qualities listed, there is only one thing that possesses them all: Jesus Christ.  He’s true: genuine, real, and not counterfeit, adulterated, or false.  True in the sense that He’s faithful, steady in adhering to friends and promises; loyal, not false, fickle, or untrustworthy.  He’s honest: upright and fair in all His dealings; free from trickishness and fraud.  But He’s also honest in the sense that He’s absolutely and always frank and sincere.  He never dissembles.  He’s never hypocritical.  He’s just: fair, without favor or partiality.  Just in that He always and in everything answers to and fulfills the laws, obligations, and promises contained in Divine ordinance, leaving nothing partially done or undone.  Just in that He’s exact and proper, neither more nor less, lacking nothing.  He’s pure: separate and apart from any outside influence or contaminant; clear, without admixture. But apart from being absolute in His person, He’s pure in that He’s free from any and every moral defilement.  He’s without spot; not sullied or tarnished; incorrupt and incorruptible.  In short, He’s holy, separate from sinners, higher than the heavens, and in a category all His own.  He’s lovely: amiable, pleasing to all the senses, exerting such sweet influences that one can’t help but love Him in return.  He has no equal in beauty or goodness, or indeed any virtue, so far excelling all rivals as to be incomparable.  He’s of good report: accounted well of by the honest testimony of many; free from accusation or inference as to His character, word, or action; renown and beloved.

 

Our Paul was so smitten with Jesus, his entire life was consumed with learning all he could about Him.  He said, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung.”  His conversion was so complete, he, without a care or a second thought, abandoned all he once cherished and set out in pursuit of the one who captivated his heart.  So ardent was his dedication, and deep his devotion, that the thoughts of Jesus transformed his jail cell in Rome from a prison to a palace, added sweetness to his sufferings, brought relief to his rigor, and multiplied blessings in his bondage.

 

His circumstances never altered in the least, but the dungeon couldn’t alter his disposition when he was considering Christ Jesus.  He adds this footnote to those thoughts, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

 

In these perilous days of gloom and despair, where a wayward world wends its way on to Judgment, all the while bombarding our senses with invitations to join it, let’s unplug from the madness and let the mercies of Christ occupy our minds until we can, like Paul, rejoice in the Lord.

 

Speaking of rejoicing in the Lord, as I write this, little Özlem even now lingers on the threshold of Glory.  Her body, succumbing to the cancer, is lessening its grip on this life, and her spirit is yearning to fly away to Jesus.  I’ve mentioned her before, and requested your prayers for healing.  The Lord has heard and will soon heal her of every ailment, never to suffer again.  You’ll recall she’s from the village of Zlatna Niva.  She’s old Pastor Alish’s great-granddaughter.  Her constant and consistent testimony of the unfailing help of God, has literally spread all over the world.  And though only ten years old, and her circle of acquaintances so small, her faith has traveled the globe and encouraged hearts far and near.  Pray for her family.  They’ve sacrificed everything to try and get her help.  They’ve lived off of the compassion of others while seeing her to various hospitals and through treatments, being unable to work for the necessities of her health.  If you’d like to be a blessing, they sure could use it, and they’d appreciate it.  Their names are Ramadan, her daddy, and Zülbiye, her momma.  Naturally, they’re devastated, and apart from any other help, need your prayers.  Pray also for her grandparents.  Everyone in that church has rallied around little Özlem; her home-going will be heartbreaking.  Pray Jesus gets all the glory as He gives out grace to remain and carry on.

 

Pray as well for the ongoing building project in Avren.  That’s where the printing takes place, and the assembling of all the Bibles and hymnbooks.  It’s also where we meet for church on Friday evenings.  The second story is dedicated entirely to “Coats for Kids”; it’s the storage and sorting facility and soon-to-be distribution center.  There’s a lot of work yet to be done.

 

Pray for our summer meetings.  Most of our folks in the rural areas are laboring in the fields.  Our crowds are smaller.  Pray for power to preach.  Pray for our boys, Carrick and Christian.  They’re both in America with their Uncle Zach’s family.  They are there seeing friends and relatives and attending youth camps.  Remember our upcoming furlough in the fall.  Seems like the more we pray, the longer our prayer list grows.  Pray the Lord strengthens our faith.  He is good.  He knows our requests.  And the same Apostle that guided our thoughts toward the person of Jesus, directs our attention to His faithfulness in provision.  “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

 

We love y’all.  Pray for us.
Because of a living Savior,
The William LeFevre Family 
        (A printable PDF version is available here)   www.facebook.com/bulgarianlefevres

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                 June 2023

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are all doing well and we appreciate the prayers of the saints for our family and for the work.
I generally do not make a prayer request the entire focus of an update letter. Brother Ralph used to tell about a church business meeting where one of the deacons was explaining how every possible option had been tried, but they still could not find a solution for some big need in the church. The deacon finished by saying ‘All we can do now is pray!’ Another of the deacons at the meeting said ‘Has it really come to that?!’

Well, for us, it has come to that and so I am asking all of the saints who care about our family and our work to pray with us.

Seven years ago, when Johnny was seven and Blue was just three, a homeless mother asked us to take her two children who had been living on the street with her. Her mother was a faithful member of our Turkish church and she knew the kind of people we are. This woman said she wanted her kids to have a better life than she could offer – a good education, a stable home life, and a loving faith-based upbringing. She was going to Germany to look for work and said she would leave them with us until they were 18 years old.

Even though there was no time to go through the normal channels which would give us at least some legal footing, we prayed about it and got peace to take them into our home. These years have been wonderful with them. They instantly became as much of the family as any of the rest of us. Johnny was the same age as our biological son, Creed, and they became, and still are, inseparable. Both Johnny and Blue got saved in our Children’s Home church and were baptized. In school, they both have excellent grades, many friends and the praise of their teachers. They are warm and loving children…our children...who see Dara as Mommy and me as Daddy.

Recently, the mother came back from Germany. She wanted to see the kids and spend some time with them. We have been taking them for visits on the weekends when they were out of school.

In the time she has been here, she secretly got passports for the two kids. She told them she wants to take them for a visit to Germany during the summer vacation…only a few weeks or maybe a month. When we found out, I talked to her and she assures me they will be back. I have no legal right to stop her. I have a sickening feeling that she intends to leave with them and not come back.

I know God gave them to us and, therefore, they can’t be taken unless He allows. Thank the Lord, they are already saved!! I can’t imagine how much worse this would be without that assurance.

Twenty years ago, when Brother Ralph said we should start a children’s home, he told us that these children are not ours...God was only allowing us to raise them for Him. Brother Ralph said we should expect some heartache. But, to be honest, we are not at all prepared for this.

I just found out today the mother is planning to leave with them in three days. By the time you see this, if the Lord hasn’t already stepped in, they will be gone. Please help us pray that they will indeed return. If they don’t, I cannot imagine the hole that will be left in our hearts, Creed’s heart, their hearts.

We appreciate all of your prayers.

In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids        A printable PDF of this letter is available here.

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January – February 2023

“And he brought him to Jesus…” John 1:42

Dear Pastors, Churches and Saints,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first two months of this year have been good ones. We have been able, in spite of the time of year, to hold services in all of our villages. They are not large crowds, but the people are faithful. There has been a good spirit and testimonies about God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23), and care
(1 Peter 5:7) in the meetings.

Also, during this time some have passed away. Dobrin was saved within the last year and went home to be with the Lord. We started meeting at his house because of his wife Zaharina. She told us that if we were to meet in her home she believed her husband would come. Well she was right, and we were happy that he came. I believe God was already working on his heart. You could tell he was touched by the testimonies, singing and preaching. I'm thankful God worked and drew him to himself and dealt with him. We believe what the Lord said in John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me". We will miss Dobrin, but we enjoyed worshipping the Lord with him, and we look forward to being with him again one day. With promises like 1 Thes.4:13-18 we can comfort one another. We still meet in his home. Now we are praying for their 22-year-old son Dennis to come to the Lord.

Also, a man named Marine that lived in our village passed away. I had given him a gospel of John to read, but I don't know if he was saved. I enjoyed talking to him, he also was a beekeeper like myself. Whenever I meet someone like Marine I feel compelled to do as Andrew did. “He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus…” John 1:41,42

Please also keep my brother Kevin's health in your prayers.      A printable PDF of this letter is available here.

Because of Calvary,

Matthew Welch and family

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends, April 2023

"If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried." (Leviticus 7:12)

Greetings in the name of our heavenly father and of his son, Jesus Christ. The Lord has been good to us, here in Bulgaria. We have just finished our annual feeding. This year the Lord provided funds for us to distribute over seventy-six tons of flour and over seventy-five hundred liters of oil. Each year this is possible through the many gifts that you all send. Giving an offering of flour and oil is as old as the Bible itself: it was one of the offerings God commanded the people to give in the Old Testament. When you gave to feed the poor saints in Bulgaria, you were actually giving unto the Lord! He told us so in Matthew 25, For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat...Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee?... And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

This feeding is something we do once a year in obedience to the apostles' desire for gospel preachers to remember the poor. Throughout the year, though, we preach Jesus, the bread of life, in the Turkish speaking villages all over eastern Bulgaria. This is that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. We thank the Lord for the national pastors which he has raised up to do this work. One of them, pastor Alish, is turning eighty years old. He still preaches in four villages a week.

Recently, the Lord has provided us a way to publish the Turkish Bible. In the modern age of technology, it is no longer necessary to distribute literature in person; this can be done via the internet. Our goal has always been to put a Bible into the hands of each believer. Although we're still not ready to print Bibles, we have found some believers in Turkey who can put the Bible on the internet, both in text form and audio! Not only will our believers in Bulgaria, who are for the most part illiterate, be able to listen to the Bible, but any of the eighty million Turkish speakers in the world. This is a big project, and will cost several thousand dollars. Thankfully, the Lord has already provided the funds for the New Testament, and that part of the project is nearing completion. The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. (Psalm 68:11)

Thank you all again for your continued prayers and financial support in this great work.

In Christ,

Zachary LeFevre                        A printable PDF of this letter is available here.

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,       January - March 2023

Greetings in the lovely name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope this letter finds you all well in the Lord, enjoying His presence, His Book and His blessings. The year 2023 began with the usual tax preparation. Daunting as it is, this year’s tax prep had the added blessing of documenting all the channels through which funds were sent to Ukraine for those suffering from this war. It was humbling to see the generosity of our supporters who gave to provide: Bibles, literature, food, clothing, medical supplies, surgeries, and various needs for our military friends fighting in the war with Russia.

Ukraine Update: The past three winter months have been a time of just surviving day by day, dealing with shortages, power outages, curfews, sirens, and shelling. Our church in Ukraine is still standing strong. The church’s services continue each week, and they do what they can to minister to those affected by the war. There has been renewed planning to transport aid to those in the city of Micholaev. Please pray for their safety. In addition, please continue to pray for the eight men connected to our church who are fighting in the war. Two of them are located in Bakhmut, where it is reported that life expectancy is about four hours in the hottest part.

People Projects: As witnesses for Christ, our mission is to sow and water, while God gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-8). Sometimes it is our privilege to pick ripe fruit where others have labored before us and give a glowing report of a soul saved. Then there are other times where we sow the seed and tend to the sapling wondering if it will ever bear fruit. This could take years until the glorious moment arrives when they bow their hearts in faith calling on the name of the Lord for salvation! What a relief! After salvation, however, there is yet another time of travail on the part of the soul winner…to see Christ formed in them (Gal. 4:19). This could also take years and requires from us an equal investment of time, prayers, energy, and nerves(!).

I have three “people projects” to report on that the Lord has graciously allowed us to tend to over the years. First, we have a young lady in our church named Vladyslava who has been a faithful part of our ministry since 2017. Her mother, Oksana, led her to Christ and is still faithfully serving in our church in Ukraine. With her husband fighting in the war, Oksana has recently taken on herself the ministry of intercessory prayer. Vladyslava had a terrible time getting to safety when the war broke out. She was in Kiev when a rocket hit a building next to her dormitory. After a long, hard journey she ended up in Alberta, Canada. We kept in contact with her and learned that she needed help. Thank God, we were able to sponsor her into the USA and she is now living with us while we finish our furlough. Please pray for her as she seeks God’s perfect will for her life and as she grows “till Christ be formed” in her.

Another “people project” is a young man named Sergei. He was our neighbor in Rozdilna, Ukraine. He was the best friend of my two sons, Benjamin and Samuel. It was a blast watching their antics during boyhood!

It was even greater to watch him get saved and become zealous for the Lord. When the war with Russia began, Sergei was working in Poland where he led a young woman to Christ and married her. Then an opportunity came open for him to relocate to Canada. He contacted us asking where there was a good Bible believing church and we gave him Missionary Gabe Cochran’s contact info. What a blessing it was when Brother Cochran sent me a picture of them after their meeting at the airport. It is a great comfort knowing that he is in a church with a pastor like Brother Cochran where they can continue to grow “till Christ be formed” in them.

The third “people project” is none other than my own half-brother, Micah (Nathan) Rue. I wrote about him and his salvation experience in our January-February 2021 prayer letter. After Nathan’s salvation, we were put in contact with another missionary in Peru named Marko Lyndsey who helped him in many ways. I looked into Nathan’s legal problems and began a conversation with the embassy in Peru. Over the past year, I watched Nathan grow in the Lord. He finally agreed to come home and surrendered to the truth that the Lord was in charge and would give him grace to deal with whatever prison sentence was waiting for him. Brother David Drake, upon hearing of Nathan’s situation, donated the money needed for the plane ticket home. Nathan was immediately taken into custody upon his arrival and was extradited to NJ after about two weeks. At his hearing the judge dropped all the charges after seeing that Nathan had over 50 successful missions! I had worked on helping him get home for over five years and the day finally came! Nathan was dependent on me, but I needed help. I prayed and decided to call Pastor Mike Veach in Staten Island who was close enough to get to him. He and his church rallied around Nathan and helped him in so many ways. Today, Nathan is in the VA hospital in NY, where he is enrolled in several programs. They have already determined that he is going to get 100% disability and they are helping him with his bouquet of alphabet issues (PTSD, etc…). He plans to stay close to the church there in Staten Island after he finishes his treatment. Please pray for Nathan, that Christ will continue to be formed in him (Gal. 4:19).

If you take a step back and look at these three souls for whom our Lord Jesus Christ died it will amaze you of the Lord’s power, grace, omniscience, and omnipresence, working in and through His body, the church, to get His children where He wants them to be for His glory! Glory be to God! Be patient with your own “people projects.”

Rue Crew Review: The Lord has been very gracious and faithful to us during our time on the road during the winter months. Our travels were mainly in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee with a trip to New York added in. Naomi, Joseph, Samuel, and I enjoyed birthdays stateside with family. My son, Samuel, is now engaged to Susanna Napier, with the date set for July 1, 2023. Our son, Benjamin and his wife Faith celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Another special, quiet celebration for me is February 18th, the day that Jesus Christ changed my life forever! It is hard to believe that I met Him 34 years ago, when Jesus passed by my way!

Please continue to pray for us as we finish updating our supporting churches and take a few meetings by special invitation. Please pray for God’s direction and guidance as to when and where to return to Ukraine. In the meantime, we are busy and trying to get the medical attention needed to continue to heal and be strengthened for our next round. May the Lord richly bless you in every way.

That Ukraine May Know Him,
Christopher Rue
Phil. 3:10     (a print ready version is available here)

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends,       January - February 2023

We had two groups visit a Hispanic country this year, and we just returned from a trip to the island. Things are progressively getting worse there. I believe there are several factors behind this. The economic situation in the world is getting worse, and inflation is escalating all over the world. Russia being this country's strongest ally is now putting all their resources in Ukraine, (this is my opinion) but it has caused the local people who were already in financial straits to see even more difficult situations.

There is almost no fuel on the island, causing power outages. With the exception of a big city, the rest of the island has power for about six hours a day. Turkish freight liners or huge power producing ships are in the bay sending power to the island for a trade-off of nickel that is mined there. Medical conditions also are bad. Doctors will not operate on patients unless the patient can obtain antibiotics from an outside source like America. Food availability is worse. People stand for three to four hours to buy chicken at an outrageous price.

On the spiritual front things are a lot better. We had services that were simply saturated with the power of God. People were weeping before we even preached, we were just trying to open up the services. There was a sweet presence of His blessed Holy Spirit helping and ministering to the needs of His people. This caused me to think of a precious verse in Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” God will certainly take care of his people! Don’t mean to preach here, but with all the things that are going on in the world, God knows where we are at!

We are trying to get a load of Bibles there. Since 2001, the year when we began to work there, we have always taken money to buy Bibles. Now the Ecumenical Movement has the priority of buying all of the Bibles that are available. We are working on a plan to send a container load of Bibles to the island. This is something that we have never attempted to do, but we are going to try. Help pray for this endeavor, and I will keep you informed about this project as we go along.

Joyfully Yours, Dale Caeble 1 Samuel 12:24  (A printable PDF of this letter is available here)

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Dear Friends in Christ,       March 2023

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;” Song of Solomon 2:11-12. Well, I haven’t heard any turtles yet, but, Praise God, spring has finally come to Romania! The sun is shining. The mud is drying up in the villages. The trees are budding out and everything is turning from gray to green. As the Lord renews His creation, our spirits are renewed, as well.

I thank the Lord for seeing us through another winter and for allowing us to help so many others this year. From the coats, socks and food we were able to distribute in the poorest of villages; to the food, clothing, diapers, and many other basic necessities we delivered to be distributed to war-affected churches in Ukraine; to the tents, sleeping bags, winter wear and rations we delivered to the Ukrainian military, God helped so many survive the long winter.

We were able to include Gospel tracts in each pair of socks…in each pair of gloves…in each sleeping bag we sent to those fighting on the front lines. In our villages, we were blessed to hold meetings and tell folks about a loving God who cares for them and sent His only begotten Son to save them. A special thank you goes out to all of you who helped to make this possible.

Our children are growing so fast! Some are working. Some are in school. Our youngest just turned 10 in February. Well, that was true until a couple of days ago.

A young woman called and told Dara that she was living on the street with three little kids and that she had no way to feed or take care of them. The woman said she had heard how we take in poor children and raise them. She begged Dara to take her children. Dara told all of us and I said we should pray before Dara talked to her again. Before we could get back with the woman, our 20-year-old daughter, Sevgi, said she would like to take these three kids. Sevgi lives here on the Children’s Home property with her husband, Clay.

Sevgi and Clay had talked and they wanted to have the little ones move in with them. So after meeting again with the mother, we brought home three children: a 3-year-old girl, a 4 ½-year-old boy and a 5 ½-year-old girl. A good scrubbing, haircuts and clean clothes revealed three precious children who, thank the Lord, seem to be adjusting beautifully. We have told the Lord all along that when He wants to send new children into our family, we are willing. I am thankful that Sevgi, who we got when she was only a few days old, is now helping us in this blessed calling.

Sandy and our oldest son, Grayson, just got back from a short trip to the States. Sandy wanted to visit some churches, reconnect with some old friends and see her best friend of 66 years whose health was failing. Thank the Lord, they had a good trip and Sandy was able to spend some precious time with her friend before she went home to be with the Lord. Sandy said several folks asked her if and when we would be getting more children. We are so glad God has now answered that question! She also said many people asked if we were safe considering the many recent earthquakes in this part of the world. Again, thank the Lord, they have not been close enough to affect us. Thank you for your concern and prayers.

Please continue to pray for us. We greatly appreciate the love and support that you have faithfully shown us over the years. May God bless you all.

In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids    (A printable PDF of this letter is available here)

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March 2023

“The LORD hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad.” Psalm 126:3 We had a great time during the Christmas season as it’s been quite a few years since the whole family has been together. It was a very special time for all of us for which we are grateful. We are actively pursuing school opportunities for Kylie and are excited to say that she’ll be going to Cleveland Community College in Shelby, North Carolina to fulfill her desire to work in the field of medical sonography. She is waiting to take six hours of driving school which is required for her to get a North Carolina driver’s license. Our desire is that she’ll be able to do this as soon as possible.

This brings me to my first prayer request. Please pray for Kylie. In June of this year, after she graduates high school, she’ll be going with Evangelist Chris Hewett and a group of around 30 people on a mission trip to Papua New Guinea. She is excited about this opportunity and we are thankful for her being able to do this. We also glorify the Lord by being able to say, He has already provided through His people the funding to go. God is so good!

I would also like you to pray for one of our national pastors, Brother Mitko Stefanov. It is our desire to get him here by July and spend a couple months in the states to raise additional support. He is a very important part of our work in Bulgaria and needs more support to help with the work he does in the villages. He is also translating the Bulgarian Bible to one more comparable to our King James Bible. He will be coming with his wife Monica, and their three daughters Anna, Ruth and Eliza. Mitko and Monica will be going on February 28th for an interview to determine if they can come. Before you read this letter, we’ll already know the outcome. I’m writing this by faith that they will be coming. Please pray about having them come and visit your church while they are here, and that the Lord would provide the means to get them to the United States.

We have been actively going around to churches since we’ve been home, but have stayed fairly close to areas where we have children. The Lord has blessed in these meetings primarily in North Carolina. We had the privilege of preaching a revival in Cramerton, North Carolina. We will however in March begin to venture out a little farther with meetings in Maryland, Florida and Alabama with a few in North Carolina and Tennessee as well. We look forward to these opportunities and ask for your prayers as we travel.

In closing, please remember the work in Bulgaria. The missionaries and national pastors are currently busy with our yearly flour and oil distribution. Please pray that God gives them strength during this very busy time. Also, please continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and the refugees that are still in Bulgaria. Please pray for us as we have opportunities to minister in the coming months that we’d be sensitive to God’s leading us. We are so thankful for each of you and appreciate so much your continued prayers and support.

God bless you all,  (A printable PDF version of this letter is available here)

Brother Keith Blalock and Family. blalockstobulgaria@gmail.com  - www.facebook.com/Blalocks2bulgaria

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Dear Praying Pastors, Brothers and Sisters,                             Ukrainian Crisis Letter January - February of 2023

 

Our October/November trip to both Ukraine and Poland was fruitful with opportunities to Witness to those displaced inside of Ukraine as well as to Refugees in Poland. Often we see ourselves sowing the Gospel seed in hearts that have never heard before, other times we are watering the Seed which some other Brother or Sister has already sown in someone’s heart but Oh the times we are blessed to reap and see the Lord do for us what Boaz did for Ruth- “And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose.” Ruth 2:16 It is humbling and encouraging to see God “Give the increase” as a Soul accepts Christ! As we worked with two Ukrainian Churches in Northern Poland, we made visits with Refugees (Sowing the Seed). The Testimony of 64-year-old Nadya (Hope in English) was proof this trip was under His direction as she called out for Forgiveness of sins through Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. As she wept in prayer, she testified, “No one ever explained the gospel to me so clearly and explained my need for God’s forgiveness.” Three weeks later when we returned to that Church in Poland, she told Oksana, “If you had not come to see me, I would have never known that I was going to heaven!” The Lord also opened the door to do two Seminars on Evangelism and do some instructional street work with both of these Churches as they invited both Ukrainians and Polish souls to a large Evangelization Meeting. Pray that both of these Churches will continue to reach out to Both Ukrainian and Polish souls!

***Ukraine’s forces are in heavy heated battles on their Eastern Front with heavy casualties on both sides. Many of the larger cities are bombarded by missiles and drones (with bombs) a few times every week. Sometimes they send missiles into towns that have not been bombed before knowing that they are not as well protected by the Antimissile defense systems.
* PLEASE PRAY Because on the Anniversary of the February 24th Invasion, many are predicting an even stronger invasion again possibly on three fronts. Please pray the Lord would use these Terrible events for “the furtherance of the gospel” Phillipians 1:12-18 and the Salvation of Souls!

Praising the Lord for all of you who have sacrificed to supply for the great Spiritual and Physical needs.
1) Praise the Lord between our Ministry and Brother Mark Priem, we have been able to print and distribute over 1,600,000 tracts (both Testimonial and Chick tracts), booklets and Scripture portions in 10 months.
2) Your financial gifts have supplied many Brethren with fuel to transport Christian Aid and Evangelize as well as to Evacuate many Ukrainians from harms way. PRAY for Eugene, Michael, Slavick, Roma and Victor.
3) A Ukrainian Army Chaplain requested us to print tracts for distributing specifically for the Soldiers. A Supporting Church funded the Printing of 50,000 Chick Tracts - “Holy Joe” and “Holy Night” in both Ukrainian and Russian.

Many Brethren could do even more, but need more fuel and our literature/printing fund is basically drained dry.

 

If the Lord puts it on your heart to Help UKRAINE

Please Make the check out to: Charity Baptist Mission, P.O. Box 692, Bristol, TN 37621-0692

Write in the memo: Mahers-Help for Ukraine


*Pastor Slavick Needs Prayer Support as he carries the heavy load of keeping Lakeside Baptist Church encouraged and also evangelizing the Lost:
1) Finishing up their Yearly Calendar distribution of 8,500 Evangelistic Calendars and tracts in over twelve villages.
2) Distributing Christian Aid to Refugee and low-income families while presenting the Gospel.

WE ARE Now Setting up our 2023 Furlough Calendar to Update our Supporting Churches.  Please Call me (513) 969-4229!
{We would love to Encourage your Church and/or Participate in your Missions Conference!}

For the Souls of Ukraine,                                     
www.facebook.com/richard.maher.710

Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher        (A printable PDF version of this letter is available here)

 

 

=====> We thank each of you and your Churches for your faithful prayers, support and genuine concern for our family, Oksana’s family and especially for the souls of Ukraine during this terribly devastating time.
 

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The Jacob Reed Family

Serving with Charity Baptist Missions to Eastern Europe since 2012

Support address: Charity Baptist Missions P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN. 37621 

E-mail: jakereedfamily1994@yahoo.com

“And there they preached the gospel.” Acts 14:7

February 1, 2023

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray this letter finds you in His nurturing grace. We thank the Lord for all He has done in the year 2022 and for the New Year and the blessings that God shall bring.

“Tis the season to be jolly!”, but not for all. A month ago, my two children got off from school and I told them that we were going to the Turkish meetings today. They weren’t very happy and both made excuses about homework and playing video games, but an hour and twenty minutes later we were driving into a very poor and cold village. As we approached the house where we worship weekly, children on both sides of the car started running and knocking on the sides of the car and were very happy to see us. A little boy came into the courtyard and had no shoes or socks. My son Uriah look over at me and said that his feet must be cold. A few moments later, my sister-in-law took off her socks and clothed the little boy’s feet. I reminded my children that whatever you get this CHRISTmas remember you need to be thankful for God has been so good to us. I was trying to be a good father and instruct my children of their responsibilities, but then my Heavenly Father began to speak to me of our duty to help these little lambs and never overlook their needs, but especially their need to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Matthew 18:2,5-6 “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, [5] And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. [6] But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

I am so blessed to tell you that we were able to give out 450 Christmas packets to children in five villages. It was one of the best Christmas’ these children have ever had. They got candy, toys, coloring books with crayons, plus socks and winter hats. They were so happy. We were also able to return to the village with the little boy who had been without socks and shoes and gather all the children of two villages and over the period of a week we have been able to give around 360 pairs of nice shoes and around 800 pairs of socks. It was a wonderful way to finish 2022 and even a better way to start 2023. Thank you to Brookside Baptist Church and all who have been such a blessing with all of this. Please continue to pray for us and that He will help us to continue to clothe these little ones physically and spiritually. May God richly bless you!

From Constanta, Romania, Jacob Reed & family   (A printable PDF version is available here)

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1

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The Reed Family

Serving with Charity Baptist Missions to Eastern Europe since 1992

Support address: Charity Baptist Missions P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN. 37621

E-mail: dadreed15@yahoo.com or momareed15@yahoo.com

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Gal. 6:2

Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,    February 1, 2023

First, of all, I would like to say how thankful we are for the year 2022. It was the best year of our 30-year ministry and I can’t help but feel the urgency in the air as we see the world changing quickly. In some ways things seem to be slipping away, but in other ways we see solid foundations being established and know the Lord is still at work. As much as I desire the Lord to return, I feel we still have some work to do before His coming, so our faces are set like a flint to establish and provide what is given to us to complete.

We are thankful for God’s faithfulness in supplying the needs we have so earnestly requested in the last two years to put feeding center rooms in our prayer houses. We now have five locations where we have new buildings and rooms where we meet and feed. We are laboring to feed every day in these locations. The extent of these needs has become somewhat overwhelming, but every month God does another miracle and provides as the world looks on in amazement. Our desire is to proclaim the charity of God in a day that our Lord prophesied in the book of Matthew, chapter 24, that many false prophets would arise and deceive many and that iniquity would abound and the love of many would wax cold, but we endure as the gospel is preached unto the whole world and then the end will come. What a privilege and testimony it is to give, when everyone else is growing cold and clinching to everything but God and His ever-faithful love and promise to never leave us or forsake us, even unto the end of the world!

We mostly feed one meal per day in the village locations, but in Calarasi we can feed up to twice in one day. We not only feed the children, but we also feed the widows and poor adults that come to the morning prayer meetings. We now require around 1,150 loaves of bread every month, the children come mainly for the food, but I’m thankful to say that the adults aren’t coming only to be fed earthly bread because they have found a more enriching source of life and strength through the church meetings provided in these churches.

The prayer houses are going strong. We now have a strong nucleus of faithful men and women who are coming to sing and pray every time we are blessed to come together. It is always an encouragement to see everyone as they come in the door, but we are always thankful for the faithfulness of our Lord, as He is the most welcomed guest and always meets the needs of the seekers. It is wonderful to watch as some may not know how to reach out to the Lord for their need, but the faithful ones know how to encourage the weaker vessels through testimony and then show them as they begin to cry out to the Lord on their behalf. What encouragement and love they find. It is written on their faces as they have never felt such depth of truth from their other experiences from their religious leaders and organizations. This is something you only dream about in your early days as a missionary, so we are so thankful for your faithfulness and we strongly covet your prayers while understanding from the Bible we are to watch, pray and occupy till His return. Thank you for all you do, and we covet your prayers for wisdom as we move forward, boldly in 2023.

From Calarasi, Romania, Nathan Reed and Family  (A printable PDF version is available here)

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1

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January 2023 LeFevre Family Prayer Letter

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” Hebrews 1:1-2

To the Strangers and Pilgrims scattered here, there, and everywhere,

I can’t think of a better start to anything than with “God.” He’s enough, and more than enough. The heavens of the heavens of the heavens can’t contain Him. His wisdom is infinite, His power unfathomable, His promise immutable, His love unending. Whatever adjective you use, He excels it. He’s the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. The patriarch Moses heard His call, saw His raw power displayed, hung on His every word on Mount Sinai, and when it was all said and done, still asked for more. He’s God, and I’m His. Bless His name!

If awareness of the nature of God alone wasn’t enough to inspire your heart, our text indicates that the one true all-sufficient, all-powerful God is interested in a close personal relationship with you. He’s been an active participant in this human drama from the beginning, conversing with Adam in the garden. Adam’s sin separated him from God’s intimate fellowship, and so began the period of the prophets, God communicating with man through an intermediary. On the one occasion God spoke to the people directly, they couldn’t endure it. Nevertheless, God, by human instrumentation, called. Some came, and some cussed him, but He still had compassion.

God, not content to endure the widening gulf between Him and His creation, at the last, took upon Himself the nature of man, and humbling himself, veiled His eternal power and glory in flesh. Once again God conversed face to face with man. Once again He called, “Come unto me.” Some came, some cussed Him, yet we all crucified Him; still, He conquered. Now, once again through human instrumentation – by preachers, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, teachers, Christians – He calls, “Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” What a God! I bless the day, almost thirty-five years ago, I heeded His invitation, and in simple faith, came to Jesus. He took me in. I’ve been His every day since.

Happy New Year to every last one of you. I hope y’all are doing well. God’s been good to us here in Shumen. winter has come, or rather, shows up sporadically. Most days this month have been in the fifties, and mild. Still, it’s winter, and that means our seasonal workers are home from the fields. Church attendance in all of Ahmed’s and my villages is up.

In Byala Reka, we’ve had to switch houses. The man of the house, Mustafa, died. His wife loves us to pieces and would give us the run of the place, but her daughter, returned from Germany on the death of her dad, does not. Praise the Lord, though, on the same day we were told we couldn’t have meetings there anymore, another woman opened her house to us. It’s much smaller in every way imaginable; the ceiling’s only six feet high in places. It’s poorer, as these folks have next to nothing. Yet the crowd’s still coming, and better than that, the Lord’s showing up. Last Thursday the whole place was in tears come praying time. That’s worth it. I asked Ahmed what we ought to do about the daughter that kicked us out of the other place. He said, “We’ll give her a bag of flour and a bottle of oil and tell her, ‘Jesus loves you, and we do, too.’”

Our poorest folks are in Varbitsa. There they hardly have wood to heat their own houses, let alone enough to spare for the room we meet in. Thursday mornings we dress extra warm in multiple layers, knowing the small fire barely keeps it above freezing. Yet, every meeting, regardless of the weather outside or the temperature inside, the crowd comes on. They fill up what few chairs there are and then grab whatever’s left to sit on. When the buckets and wood stumps are all occupied, they grab an extra blanket and sit on the floor. We sing through the gypsy hymnbook as long and loud as we can, warming hearts and generating heat. What we lack in insulation, the Lord makes up for in inspiration. I’ve never been to a meeting there yet where folks didn’t leave happier for attending.

In Lovets we’ve seen the biggest increase of all. For a year or two now, we’ve endeavored to faithfully minister regardless of who came. There was a long span of time where it was just us and a widow or two. Then when Covid struck again last summer, no one attended for weeks, after which those who survived reemerged to tell how God had delivered again. For the last month, though, it’s been standing room only, with both rooms of the little house full. At first, we chuckled and dismissed the surge as those only interested in flour and oil. Yet, it became evident that a number of them were unaware we were distributing anything. They came to see why everyone else was coming. One elderly woman, at the conclusion of last week’s service, said, “You preached my life. I lived everything you said.” Keep praying; God’s still working.

The good Lord willing, and with His help and your prayers, we are planning a furlough come fall. It is early, and it seems odd, out of place even to be mentioning it now, but as so many of our supporting churches plan their calendars well in advance, I thought it best to give early notice to anyone interested in us visiting. If God permits, we’d like to visit those of you up north first. Even if you don’t support us, we’d be happy to come in and declare the glad tidings of good things the Lord’s doing here. As of right now, our plans are to return later in the fall, nearer Thanksgiving. However, if anyone has a meeting you’d like us to attend earlier in the season, let us know, and we’ll see what we can work out. All of our contact information is always in the footer of our prayer letters. Our plans are to return near the end of 2023 and stay through mid-2024. Again, this is all very early and all subject to the will of God and change. “Whatever seems best to the Lord” is always our motto.

Because of a living Savior, 

 

The William LeFevre Family        (A printable PDF version is available here)    www.facebook.com/bulgarianlefevres

 

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The Leach Family Missionaries in Bulgaria

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

Dear Brethren,         January 2023

James tells us, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Paul tells us to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praise-worthy. The above verse in Isaiah directs our minds to stay on God. The promises and admonitions we find in scripture are key to managing our Christian walk, and I can attest to these managing my OCD. Since arriving back in Bulgaria, OCD has not miraculously left me, nor did I expect it to, but I’m learning to manage it. Or, rather, when I focus on the things of God rather than my own things, God manages it. This is my thorn: the thing that keeps me humbly in prayer. I appreciate everyone continuing to pray for me, and for sending words of encouragement. I have no strength in myself to overcome, but when I walk in the strength of God, He gets work done and He alone gets the glory.

The work in Bulgaria continues and we’re thankful for faithful missionaries, national Pastors, and church members. Pastor Ismail is struggling with some major dental problems and I know he would appreciate your prayers. A few months back he talked to me about his aging knees and how it was getting more difficult for him to go visiting in town, walking to the hospital or even house-to-house. So we were able to find a threewheeled scooter for him and he’s so thankful. He’s able to get out daily and do the work of a Pastor, and that’s a blessing to both him and the church folks. If he knew I was writing this he would tell me to send greetings from him and the church in Novi Pazar, so I will send you greetings now on his behalf. The church in Novi Pazar is growing and is a church full of love and faith.

The work on the Coat Closet expansion is slow, but happening. This winter we purchased nearly 900 coats and even more socks. I do not know how many of those were actually distributed since we’ve had a fairly warm winter, but whatever is not given out will be ready and waiting for next year. One of the national Pastors needed a coat and we looked through the stock at the Closet and couldn’t find his size. Everything we had was either smaller or larger. We sent a few possible options along with many others in bags for the kids at one of his churches, but he didn’t find one that fit. He didn’t tell us this, however. So last week when we were in Shumen we ran into him and his daughter told us they were going to look for a cheap coat for him. I knew it was no coincidence we ran into him, so we took him to a few stores to look for a coat. When we found just the right one, he cried and praised God in the middle of the store. And so did we. He was thankful for a warm coat, and we were thankful we got to be part of helping him with that need.

In my last letter I mentioned Carrie’s car. When we returned to Bulgaria we fixed a few things on the car and then gave it to a national Pastor. Thankfully it wasn’t as damaged as we expected, and repairs were minimal. And now it’s being used by a Pastor. We’re praying about a big van for Coat Closet and church work, and we would appreciate all who would pray with us about this need. Thank you all for your faithful prayers for us, Pastor Ismail, the Coat Closet, the churches, and the many ministries going on here in Bulgaria and Romania.

Because He First Loved Me,         (A printable PDF version is available here)
Larry Leach, Jr.

P.S. Somehow in our packing and preparing to return to the field last fall, there was a miscommunication and our fall prayer letter didn’t end up being sent out. We apologize to all those who usually receive our letters via mail. We’ve included the lost letter in with this one. Thank you for understanding.
 

- Support Address: Charity Baptist Mission: P.O. Box 692, Bristol, TN 37621-

- Field Address: 9900 Novi Pazar, P.K. 42, BULGARIA. larcarleach@gmail.com -

 

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Dear Brethren,         August 28, 2022

My last prayer letter, and especially my last email update, came from a very discouraged missionary. I had a lot of questions, a ton of concerns, very little direction, an excess of bills, and lower monthly support. And all of that on top of the daily battle that is OCD, which severely affects my routines. I recall back in May standing before a precious congregation in rural Michigan and saying, “If God doesn’t do something, I’m done. I can’t continue on the field like this.” From the back pew a man called out, “We will pray you through it!” Shortly afterward I received a call from a deacon in Southeast Tennessee telling me that the church wanted to know how they could help, and that no matter how long this valley lasted they were with me because, as he put it, “We don’t believe in kicking our soldiers when they’re down.”

One individual after another - one pastor after another - one church after another encouragement came slowly, but surely, through God’s people. My medical bills, which had drained my reserves, were taken care of by generous gifts. A Pastor called and asked me to come so his church could be a blessing to us. Another Pastor called and asked me to come, simply with the intention of praying over me. Weekends spent in Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina… moments around a preacher’s table or at a restaurant with a pastor and his family… God’s people listened. They didn’t offer endless advice; they listened. One dear lady held my wife’s hand across the table and cried with her. These small moments wrought a big work in our hearts.

God, as He is faithful to do, worked on our hearts. Some time in July it occurred to me that I probably would not find any answers medically/supplementally/nutritionally, and that I will likely battle OCD for the remainder of my life. I don’t have to tell you how discouraging this thought was, but a day or so afterward a sister at a supporting church just this side of the North Carolina line shook my hand and said, “I hope this isn’t out of line, but I feel the need to tell you that a broken vessel lets the light out better than a whole one.” So I came to America seeking, with questions about how to be victorious over OCD, but instead came away with the answer that this thorn in the flesh, though it will remain, will be the very thing that will help me minister.

I came with many questions, but am either getting the answers I didn’t ask for… or getting answers to questions I never asked.

Which brings me to the next part - God is leading us to expand the Coat Closet in Avren to a year-round clothing distribution. That thought never entered my mind, and wasn’t part of the questions I was seeking answers for, but Carrie and I both are excited about this expansion. The need is there, and we already know distributors. I already know Pastor Ismail will be excited to help the kids in his impoverished neighborhood. It will be a lot of work to get up and running, but churches are already asking how they can help. As of right now we plan to return to Bulgaria September 14th, and we will have a lot of work to do right away. First to take our house back from potential mildew and rat squatters. I will also have to tend to our vehicle situation, since my wife’s car was hit while in its parking space outside of our front gate. But it will also be time to reach out to coat distributors for our yearly coats and socks distribution. I hope to begin the closet expansion after the Coats for Kids distribution. Pray with us.

One more random story and I’ll try to close: A few weeks ago when in prayer I told the Lord I’d sure like to have my teeth cleaned. I know that sounds like such a small thing, but I don’t like going to the dentist in Bulgaria. OCD and Bulgarian dentists don’t mix well. Also, American dentists are expensive and usually booked up for months out. But I told the Lord I’d really like to have my teeth cleaned. Carrie called several places and not only were no appointments available any time before November, it would cost nearly $400 (because as a new patient it would also require x-rays and exam). Let’s back up just a bit… Cherith called us from Michigan with severe tooth pain a couple months ago. We went and got her and took her to her dentist here in Bristol, TN and she underwent an urgent root canal. After the root canal there was a scratchy piece on a tooth behind it, but she said she wanted to wait and see if it smoothed out. Now fast forward to that day I talked to the Lord about my teeth. Cherith asked to go back to the dentist to have him look at that scratchy spot. We went in the office and they scheduled her for the next day. I decided to ask if they had any openings for cleanings. The receptionist said they had two cancellations for the following day and they could get me in. Carrie, too. I took those two appointments. Just then a dear old friend came out from the back. She’s a dental hygienist we met years ago. Come to find out, we were scheduled to see her. She texted Carrie later and said she spoke to the dentist and the cleaning and x-rays would be free, and that we only needed to pay for the exam. So we got our teeth examined and cleaned and talked about the Lord the whole time during our appointments. Afterward we got a call from the pastor of our dear friend, inviting me to speak at their church. We went and enjoyed time with them, and the church chose to begin supporting us and also one of our fellow missionaries. Every morning I wake up and thank God for not only removing this dental burden from my shoulders, but also using something so trivial to me to connect us with a precious church in Virginia. God’s ways are amazing to watch.

We’re at the hardest part of furlough: the goodbyes stage. Saying goodbye is such a common thing for a missionary, but we never get used to it. It seems it gets harder and harder every time, especially with grandchildren in the picture now. But God knows, and He will provide grace. Goodbye Grace. We try not to dwell there, instead trying to focus on the great times we’ve had here. The powerful church meetings. The echoes of the Prayer Room. Spending a little time with all of our children. Watching our grandbabies crawl. Laughing with friends - and sometimes belly laughing. Speaking English. Eating steak. Watching baseball. Experiencing heart healing in the church. Being reminded time and time again we are not alone in this war.

 

We need your continued prayers. As the man yelled out in Michigan, keep praying us through it all. The only way anything is going to get done is by prayer, I firmly believe it. Thank you all… for everything.

Because He First Loved Me,             (A printable PDF version is available here)
Missionary Larry Leach, Jr.
 

- Support Address: Charity Baptist Mission: P.O. Box 692, Bristol, TN 37621 -

- Field Address: 9900 Novi Pazar, P.K. 42, BULGARIA. larcarleach@gmail.com -


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Nathan and Jacob Reed distributed hundreds of shoes and socks
 to the poor and needy in  Lespezi  &  Văleni, Romania - January 2023

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/BrooksideBaptistChurchBristolTN/posts/559496709550691

 

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,     November – December 2022

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35

We have been very busy the last few months. We have mixed and poured concrete at our church building in Avren, Bulgaria. We also worked on leveling the yard. We would like to put a new roof on one of the other buildings on the property and finish two other rooms.

We hold our weekly English services for the American missionaries in Avren. This is the place that Bro. Ralph purchased years ago and we are grateful to be able to meet together and worship there. We are thankful for everyone that helped us accomplish this work.

Soon we will be distributing flour and oil to the church members and others that are destitute. These annual provisions are received with great joy and appreciation. We have witnessed the Lord bless His people, through you all, with these provisions. The flour and oil distribution has continued for many years and it's been a privilege to have a part in this ministry.

In December it was needful for me to return to America for a short visit that I might help my immediate family with some personal battles. Of course, we understand that we can do nothing of ourselves. Our confidence is in the Lord that He will deliver our loved ones from their troubles. We have conveyed to them what was said by Corrie Ten Boom, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still." Please, remember our family in your prayers.

We haven't had guests for Christmas in three years because of COVID restrictions. But this year James, John, and Charity came to our village home in Dabravino and celebrated with us. It was a blessed holiday season and we praise God for our time together.

May the Lord bless each and every one of you throughout the upcoming year. Thank you, once again, for your faithful support and prayers. We love you!

Because of Calvary, Matthew and Jane Welch   (A PDF print ready version of this letter with a family picture is available here)

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 Dear Friends in Christ,                    December 2022

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As we come to the end of another year, I want to thank the Lord for letting us continue to serve Him.  He has been more than faithful.  This year has not been without its trials but we have seen the Lord do great things in spite of the storms…maybe even because of the storms.

I was talking to the kids in church last Sunday about the foundation on which we build our lives.  I said that if we build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ, we may face storms but our foundation cannot be shaken.  I told them that the storms we have been through in these 30 years on the field, rather than discourage us or cause us to doubt, have revealed to us the worth of our foundation.

One of the first Turkish meetings Brother Ralph started after we moved to Romania was in the home of a dear, Godly woman named Cadrie.  She has been faithful over the years to open her home to anyone who wanted to come to the meetings.  Many have come to Christ through the prayers and faithfulness of this precious lady who has always been willing to share her faith, her testimony, her love and her home to anyone who would come. 

Over the last few years, the landlord where she was staying became more and more opposed to the church.  She would argue about all the coming and going and the noise of the singing and praying.  The crowd fell considerably due to her constant harassment.  Praise the Lord, we were able to find a larger, nicer home in a better part of town for Cadrie to move into.  Since the word got out, every week has seen more and more people coming.  Some new folks…some folks we haven’t seen in years.  Yesterday a little widow woman who cares for her handicapped daughter and grandchildren showed up after no one had seen her for years.  There was much crying and rejoicing as she rejoined the fold.  God is so good!  Sister Cadrie feels like she is in Heaven!  I thank the Lord for blessing her faithfulness.

I want to thank everyone who has been so gracious to give extra so that we may have a bountiful Christmas with our kids and those to whom we minister.  I know it is not always easy.  We truly appreciate it.  This afternoon, Dara, Sandy, the kids and I are putting together packets of food to take out to the poorest families in and around our churches here in town.  I am glad our kids get a blessing from sharing what the Lord has given them. 

A little while back, our 13-year-old son, Creed, started asking from time to time if he could walk by himself to the neighborhood store about a quarter mile from our house.  He said he just likes to go for walks.  We said, “Sure, be careful”.  When he would come back, I’d ask if he got anything from the store.   He’d say, “No, Sir”.  We found out recently he has been using his own money to buy things at the store for a homeless man and his son who shelter beside the store.  Can you imagine what a blessing that is for us? 

I am putting together another shipment of food, clothes, Gospel tracts and other necessities that I plan to take into Ukraine in the coming days.  The Ukrainian pastor who distributes these to his churches in the war torn areas says these things continue to be desperately needed.  Thank you to those who have sent funds to make this possible.

Thanks to Larry and Carrie Leach’s “Coats for Kids” ministry, we were able to fit 35 children with very nice coats and socks.  These are children whose families live beside the municipal garbage dump in a nearby town.  They are, as the saying goes, ‘poor as Job’s turkey’.  (I’m not sure where the saying comes from…I can’t find one mention of a turkey in the entire King James Bible, much less in the Book of Job) Anyway, we have been able to hold church meetings and minister to these families for some years now.  Putting coats on those precious kids has become a highlight of our Christmas season each year. 

One last testimony before I close…. We have two boys in the Children’s Home, Billy and Gabriel, who are “special needs” kids.  I say kids, but they are now 20 and 19 years old.  They are both precious, sweet boys who, even though they have always been way behind mentally, have always been just part of the family like everyone else.  Brother Ralph used to say that, even though they maybe would never understand all there is to know about salvation, he believed they were “safe” in God’s love like any other little child.  We were so blessed a few weeks ago as we were sitting around talking about how thankful we are for our kids that are saved, when Billy chimed in “I know I am saved!  I know Jesus saved me!”  I believe he is.  Billy and Gabriel have never missed a church service in their lives.  They sing the hymns the best they can.  They sit quietly and listen to the preaching.  You never know what God is doing. 

I am so thankful for what the Lord has let us be a part of all of these years.  We are blessed much more than I have words to express.  This holiday season, I pray you can truly see how blessed we all are by our Saviour, the Lamb of God, Emmanuel, Christ the Lord!  Our best wishes, sincere prayers and heartfelt thanks go out to you all. 

In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A two page printable PDF version is available here)

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August - September, 2022

Dear Pastors, Friends, and Churches,

It is good to be serving the Lord! God has been good to me by allowing me in His grace to begin well by being saved at the age of 20! As the years have gone by, now my only desire is that I want to finish well. Paul left the admonition in Colossians 4:17 “And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.” I want to fulfill the ministry that God has put me in!

Also, I want to thank each one of you for all the prayers, cards, and phone calls concerning my wife, Debbie. She has finished her radiation treatments and is doing well. She had some side effects from the treatment, but all in all she did really well. Please continue to pray for her as she will be taking a daily pill for the next five years to help her treat this type of cancer.

In October I made a trip to a Hispanic country. The people there are facing some serious issues, with no gas, diesel and blackouts, etc. I also want to share a story with you of a pastor there whose name is Isaiah. I have always been impressed with his ministry, demeanor and music in his work. He labors for the Lord in a very poor community. The sewage runs by his work and the place where he lives has a dirty creek. He gave me a thumb drive before I left that described his needs for the increase of believers at his work. Currently, they are meeting outside under a carport with a tin roof that is adjacent to his home which is located on a "converted hog lot". He and his family have been living there for the last eight years! The pictures on the thumb drive broke my heart.

Please understand, my purpose of writing is not to ask for help, but to thank all of you who have given faithfully to the needs of supporting these Cuban nationals all these years as they preach and reach their people!

The Caeble Family,         A printable PDF of this letter with pictures is available here.

1 Samuel 12:24

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends,                      November 2022

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,

and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." (II Corinthians 2:14)

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. We thank the Lord for his continual blessing upon the work here. Most of our village churches are full. Recently, in our little village we had a young woman come for the first time. On my way into church that day I overheard another lady telling her how to be saved. That day at the meeting she gave her testimony. Like everyone else in our village she had heard the gospel before, but never acted upon it. Several weeks ago she began to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. A friend gave her some medicine which turned out to do more harm than good. She ended up in the hospital, with her life in danger. After her recovery she went back home and lived in seclusion from her family for a week. Finally, she cried out to God that she couldn’t go on like that. Later she got out her phone and searched for a Christian hymn in her language. She listened to a hymn about Jesus and gave her heart to him. That morning at church she wanted to make it official that she was a Christian.

For several years now we've been using a Turkish new testament that was translated by Ralph Cheatwood. Brother Cheatwood worked for 30 years to translate the King James Bible into modern Turkish. This translation has borne fruit all over Bulgaria and Romania. For the last year or so we have been praying that we could record the Bible and make it accessible on the internet. Many of our believers here are illiterate, so being able to listen to the Bible would be a great blessing. This has been our prayer and heart's desire. Recently, on a trip in Turkey I was able to meet an American brother there who had received one of our new testaments years ago and loved it. He is now in the process of having it professionally recorded. They have already posted the book of John! Unbeknownst to us, this whole time we've been praying, the Lord has been getting the job done!

Again, we thank you all for your continued prayer and support. (a PDF of this letter is available here)

In Christ, Zachary LeFevre

Sent from: Prayer Baptist Church, 855 Edwin Westland, MI 48185

Support & Mailing Address: Charity Baptist Mission, P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN 37621

 

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November 2022

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

It always gives me great peace in knowing that our God is faithful. We have certainly seen in the past year the unwavering faithfulness of God. We have seen God continue to work in the ministry here through all of 2022 and for that we are thankful, and this was with many things added due to the war in Ukraine. Hopefully, these next few paragraphs will sum up the past year.

It would be exceedingly difficult to mention anything about this year without including the many opportunities that arose from the conflict which began in February. This has been mentioned in more detail in previous prayer letters, but it still amazes me how God moved in the hearts of his people since the war began. We were able to give over $50,000 of aid to Ukrainian refugees. This is far more than we ever imagined doing. Through your generosity we were able to give food, clothing, household goods, diapers, and other items for babies and families. Most importantly Bibles, tracts, booklets, and other gospel literature were distributed to thousands of people. God is faithful.

We also did our yearly Flour and oil distribution with 70 tons of flour and 7,500 liters of oil, which helped hundreds of families during the winter months. Please make it a matter of prayer as this will be done again this winter. With the possibility of higher prices due to the war in Ukraine, this will in turn affect the price of grain throughout all of Eastern Europe.

God has continued to work in the villages within our churches. We were able to see 23 souls baptized recently who professed their faith in the Savior. This reminds us that God is still interested in the souls of men. Please remember to pray for our national pastors as they faithfully minister to the flock that God has given them.

God is continuing to bless our family. As I write this, we are preparing for a nine-month furlough and will be leaving on December 11th and staying until September 2023. We are excited to see family and visit many of our supporting churches. I have contacted many churches already, as we prepare to come in and will be contacting more after our arrival and we get settled in.

This is an exciting time for us as our daughter Mckenzie, David and the children will be furloughing also. It has been four years since I have seen them, and it will be wonderful to see them and be in meetings with them as well.

Please pray that our travel will go smoothly, and that God will use this furlough for his will in our lives. We are hoping to see many of you and are excited to see what God will do.

I do have one big prayer concern. Over the years I have developed a problem with my knee. Currently my left knee has no cartilage, and I need a knee replacement. We will be looking into this upon our arrival. Please keep this in mind as this will affect our schedule after we get clarity on what will be required to get my knee functioning properly.

In closing, thank you all for your continued prayer and support. We could not be on the field without your faithfulness in prayer and giving.

It is comforting to know that there are people calling your name in prayer and care enough to invest their time and money into your life.

Thank you so much and God bless,  A printable PDF of this letter is available here.

Brother Keith Blalock and Family.  www.facebook.com/Blalocks2bulgaria  

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,  August – October 2022

Greetings! I pray this letter finds you well in the Lord looking forward to His soon return. This is my third attempt at writing this overdue prayer letter. The first two turned out to be small theses. There is so much that could be said about our ministry, our church family in Ukraine, the situation with the war with Russia, our family, etc… Please accept this letter as a brief overview of what could be said.

Ministry Update in Ukraine: We stay in communication with our people in Ukraine and stay abreast of the situation there. The US Embassy in Ukraine has issued a “No Travel” advisory to Americans. The only way to travel into the country is by car or train since the airports are all closed. Our church people still advise us to not return to Ukraine right now given the precariousness of the situation. While they are hopeful that full-scale war will not come to our region it is still unpredictable and could change very quickly. We are taking their advice and waiting till Spring to reassess the situation for a possible return date to Ukraine. This winter looks like it is going to be a hard one with curfews, electricity shut offs four plus hours each day, and air-raid sirens daily.

We are overjoyed and thankful to hear that our church in Ukraine continues to rally around the word of God at the feet of Jesus Christ. They continue to assemble, pray, witness, and serve the Lord by reaching out to the lost in the community with the Gospel using Humanitarian Aid to open the door.

Since our church is registered as a religious non-profit organization, we have the legal authority to receive Humanitarian Aid that was donated by the UN. By hand, our men moved 26 tons of food from Odessa to our church in Rozdilna, where they distributed it locally to those suffering from the war.

This opened a huge door of opportunity to get the Gospel into the hands of the Ukrainian people. It almost, however, turned into a riot after word got out that our church was distributing food. A line began to form at 6:00 a.m. and was three blocks long by 10:00 a.m. Our people handled the crowd heroically. If you have ever tried to manage a mob of desperate people you would understand! Since distributing help to the poor and refugees they have reported that several people have prayed to receive Christ as their Savior.

One man, named Misha, fled the heavily shelled city of Mykolaiv and came to our church to donate his time helping people. He quietly helped our men and heard the Gospel explained. He received Christ as his Savior and has continued to serve alongside our church in the trenches of front-line missions. We are overjoyed to receive the latest stats on the video presentation of the Gospel that we were able to help Pastor Bevins Welder put together with Pastor Joel Logan.

So far, over 30 million people have viewed at least some portion of it. Of the 30 million, 11 million of them watched the Gospel presentation all the way through and went on to log onto the website! What a blessing it is to think that we had a small part in explaining the Gospel to 11 million souls in the Russian language!

Ministry Update in the USA: The past three months have been busy with meetings. We spent a lot of miles on the road, over 12,000 of them, driving to meetings in CO, KY, MN, OH, NJ, CT, NY, IN, and TX. We’ve seen God’s hand of provision and protection the entire way! During this time, we have seen souls walk the isle for salvation, altars full, and young people surrender to full-time service. The Lord has given us the opportunity to preach on the street with a couple churches and opened the door to give an interview about Ukraine over the radio with Brother Grissom in Hastings, MN. Pastor Vince Massa in CT has a few men and women from Ukraine and Russia in his congregation. They gathered a small group, and I had the blessing of preaching to them in Russian, with several of them hearing the Gospel explained for the first time.

We’ve also had our share of setbacks and obstacles. Our vehicle has broken down six times with the same problem, leaving us stranded during, on the way to, and traveling home from meetings! Please pray that the dealership service department will honor the warranty. In addition, my laptop that I have used for fourteen years died on me and I’m still trying to retrieve all the years of files. Then we entered the ranks of those who have experienced being targets of credit card fraud twice in two weeks.

Please be in prayer for us as we prayerfully consider making a quick trip into Ukraine before the hard winter hits. Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air! That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue Phil. 3:10    (a print ready version is available here)

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Fellow Saints,                                 July/August 2022

 

Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine;  thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 1 Chronicles 29:11

 

In July we had the blessed privilege of hosting the Maher family in our home. They have been serving on the mission field for about 30 years and are fluent in Russian. We took them to hotels, governmental bases, and to two refugee centers (in Varna and Shumen). They were received everywhere with open arms. They had so much liberty to share the gospel at each location. It was like we were having church everywhere we went! We even had the opportunity to sing "Amazing Grace" in Russian on several occasions. It was such a blessing!

 

Bibles, tracts, and donations were received with utmost gratitude. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees!

 

Our daughter, Charity, and grandson, Carrick, had the special blessing of attending a Christian youth camp this summer in Michigan. We are thankful for all that Victory Baptist Church in Hartland, MI did to make this possible. The teenage years are a real crossroads in young people's lives and we are grateful for all the prayers, preaching, and preparation that went into this youth camp.

 

In the month of August, we had a baptism at a nearby river and 23 people were baptized.

 

Our grandson, Christian, also followed the Lord in baptism during this special service. It was a blessing to witness that take place.

 

A man named, Bayram, was also among those that got baptized. He was very weak and sick from cancer but he desired to get baptized. It was a very touching sight to all who attended as we sang a hymn while he entered the river on the arms of some of our men. His wife stood on the shore watching, wiping away her tears. Not many days after, he went home to be with the Lord. What a testimony!

 

In the village of Yunak we have started meeting in the home of Dobrin and his wife, Zaharina. They look forward to the weekly meeting and have been an encouragement to this little village church. Sometimes there are just a few believers that attend but the best part is knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is in our midst.

 

Once again, thank you for your faithful prayers and support for our ministry here in Bulgaria, and also for your prayers and contributions for Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees.

 

All Because of Calvary,

                                               (A PDF print ready version with pictures is available here)

Matthew and Jane Welch

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October 1, 2022


“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58


Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,
It is an honor to come to you with the reports of the work here in Romania. God has been blessing greatly and time would fail me to report all the Lord is doing. First, I’m glad to report that my dad was able to have his value replacement surgery and is recovering well. Thank you for the prayers.


We thank God for the moving of his Spirit in the meetings. Many new people are now attending the places where we have built prayer houses and feeding centers. We are so thankful to all who have helped us build them. Many adults are coming now because there is room. They are receiving help from the hymns, testimonies and preaching of the Bible. The Lord moves with much power as they sing the Turkish Hymns. Many times, people will break forth into prayer and will fall on their knees and as the older believers catch their burdens they will also start to pray and before


I know it, we are all down praying and worshiping the Lord all around the room. Praise God for the privilege to pray with boldness in one spirit and know that God hears us. You feel so clean after you pray like that. The people leave refreshed and know they have met with God. It is such a blessing to see the little children and babies singing with the believers. They encourage me that we are not laboring in vain. The work of the Lord is forever and if we will provide a place for them to come, in their time of need they will come, and that’s when God is able to show them his love and power.


We’re so thankful that the price of gas has gone down to around $7.00 a gallon. Every little bit helps as we go to the meetings. The good news is that our dollar has climbed against the Euro. Now is the time to buy a car for the work. We have Jacob a car now and I need to purchase one for the other team. Our cars are now reaching 200,000 miles. Please know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t a real need and perfect time.


We now have a new young man in our church who has come into the faith. It is such a miracle because he is Romanian and wants to help us reach the Turks. That doesn’t happen much. I was able to marry him and his wife last summer and he has shown himself faithful. He has his driver’s license and can really help us. They have helped greatly in the care of the children in our meetings and feeding centers. I want to bring them full time with us but need your help to do this. We can help them for around $700 dollars a month. His name is Ionut and his wife, who was raised in our church since she was a young child’s name, is Luci.


From Calarasi, Romania,
Nathan Reed and family    (A print ready version of this letter is available here)

 

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“But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Psalm 115:3

 

 

To the Strangers and Pilgrims scattered abroad,                                    (October 2022 Newsletter)

Howdy from Bulgaria, where the country’s a mess politically, the people are in darkness spiritually, but God’s working miraculously. Does that sound like anywhere else you know? Sounds like the whole world to me. Bro. John (the Apostle, not the preacher you had in mind) said, “The whole world lieth in wickedness.” And instead of repenting, they’re just rewriting the definition of what’s wicked. In fact, the entire saga of mankind has been a giant attempt at rewriting their own story, blaming the Lord for everything, excusing the devil as a misunderstood victim of circumstances, and portraying themselves as determined overcomers, surmounting impossible odds to surpass the need for an omnipotent God.

You don’t think so? Nothing is new under the sun. Remember when Nimrod presided over the first United Nations down in Babel? They drew up a charter of self-determination, resolving that the Almighty was outmoded and unneeded. They instituted a one-world economy centered upon production. Finally, they passed a binding resolution, committing themselves to build a sure defense from future judgment and a means to ascend into the heavens. The good Lord rolled His eyes at their presumption, spoke a word that confounded their words, and derailed their plans, for the time being.

Human history is littered with attempts at supplanting facts forever settled in Heaven with the fictions of fallen man. In our day, it seems like they’ve doubled down on their own fantasy, to the point they think they can recreate the Garden of Eden, this time without the interference of God. (Ever hear of the Green New Deal?) They’re redoubling their efforts at ushering in the Kingdom, minus the King. And the only Christianity they’ll tolerate is one curiously lacking the resurrected Christ. What a mess, indeed!

Nevertheless, while the heathen rage, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, He just laughs and goes about His business. Our God is unaffected, unmoved, and unconcerned over His opposition; they can’t do anything to stop Him. They tried once. They assumed they’d put a permanent end to His interference in their affairs. They soon learned their affairs were manipulated to serve His purpose. How can you do anything at all against the One who can do anything at all? In the end, He’ll reconcile all things to Himself, by Himself, and take all the deserved glory for Himself. And praise be to His worthy and blessed name, I’ll be there to see it for myself!

What’s God doing now, you ask? Let me tell you. We had a meeting in late August in Dabravino. It was the biggest meeting we’ve had in a few years. It was attended by Heaven and a couple hundred Turks and Bulgarians. There was singing, testifying, preaching, and praising the Lord. At some point we adjourned from the meeting house to the riverside, where twenty-three souls, who had confessed their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, were baptized.

The first man into the river was called Bayram, from Brestak, where Bro. Mitko is the faithful pastor. He had opened his house for the believers to meet in many years ago. At some point he opened his heart for the Lord to reside in, though he was timid and perhaps weak in his faith. Not long ago he was diagnosed with cancer. And though the doctors operated, there wasn’t much they could do. It seems he resolved that before he departed this world he’d confess Christ publicly. He was assisted into our meeting and laid upon a makeshift bed, but he entered and exited the river in his own strength. Not long after his baptism, Bro. Mitko took him to see a doctor in Pleven, about four hours away. The doctor confirmed he didn’t have much time left, and there was nothing he personally could do. On the trip home from Pleven, however, the great Physician healed him permanently. He slipped off the shackles of this decaying form and entered into life in the presence of Jesus.

An older man from a village close by attended the meeting out of curiosity. He listened intently to the preaching, drank in every testimony, and there at the riverside, he presented himself a candidate for baptism. Young Alish asked him, “Are you a believer?” He said, “I wasn’t when I came, but who can deny this? I believe Jesus.” He got immersed in Christ, and then we dipped him in water. Bro. Keith Blalock and I visited the meeting in his village several weeks later, and there he was. Not only was he in attendance, but he was translating everything being said for a Polish man who came.

Bro. Demir had several converts from his villages willingly and joyfully acknowledge their faith in Jesus. Ahmed and I were privileged to baptize the brother and sister from Varbitsa who have opened their house to the church. Young Alish said there were seven from his villages, saved during the last year or so, who were baptized.

Speaking personally, as good as all that was, and it was better than good, it was exceeded only when my little boy, Christian Asher, came to be baptized. I say little boy, but he’s bigger than his momma now. I’ve never pushed my boys to do anything, but I sure have prayed, asking God, that in His good time, they’ll take His hand in theirs and follow Him whithersoever He would. And He would, and did, lead Christian to declare publicly, to Turks, Bulgarians, and Americans alike, that Jesus Christ was his savior. My heart was full to bursting while raising my hand to Heaven, saying, “I baptize you, my brother…” What a God, who’d give His blood to wash a father and son, and make them brothers in the same spiritual family! Carrick Austin, his older brother, says he’s waiting to be baptized when we return to America. He’s a little like Naaman: He thinks the rivers of his own country are better than these here.

Pray for us. We’ve got needs and wants we only mention to God. Pray for the work here. Pray for the workers. God sure is good. “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

Because of a living Savior,           
                                                    
A print ready version of this letter is available here)
The William LeFevre Family
 

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Bulgarian feeding 2022

 

The following letter was written by missionary William LeFevre in Bulgaria concerning the upcoming flour and oil distribution.  Please send contributions to Charity Baptist Mission P.O. 692 Bristol, TN 37621

 

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”  Psalm 107:9

 

To the Strangers and Pilgrims scattered abroad,

 

Howdy from Bulgaria.  I hope this letter finds every one of you rejoicing in the Lord, mindful of His benefits, resting secure in His promises, and comforted by His faithfulness.  It sure is good to know, that in a world falling apart, and people falling to pieces, that God’s word stands just as sure as it ever has been: perfect, powerful, and a present help for any and everything that comes our way.  And there’s a whole lot coming our way.  Wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, and Jesus said that was just the beginning.  Merciful heavens, if that’s just the beginning, I pity the people that’ll see the bulk of it.

 

You know, one of the most encouraging things in scripture, is how peaceful the Lord remains in our panic.  When the whole thing blows up, and no one can recognize what was for what is, the Lord is still on His throne, and it’s still business as usual in Heaven.  As bad as it gets down here, it’s still as good as it gets in the presence of Jesus.

 

Lots of folks are asking how we’ll fare through the winter, what with the continuing and escalating war, the rising cost of everything, and the lessening supply.  Some have even asked, given all that, if we’re going ahead with distributing flour and oil again.  Don’t let the nightly news distract you from the good news.  How are our believers going to make it this winter?  The same way they’ve made it through every winter preceding this one, the same way you and I make it, with the help of God.  And just as Heaven hasn’t shut down, we’ll keep on doing what we’ve always done, trusting Him to supply what we lack.

 

As of right now, the dollar is up – the highest it has been in years, near 2 to 1, on par with the British pound and Euro; the price of flour is up, but not outrageous, at 1.10 leva/kilo; and oil is around 5 leva per liter bottle.  To put that in terms you’ll understand, to provide a single family with 100 lbs. of flour and 5 liters of oil it will cost about $40.  It normally takes around $70,000 to feed who we can, starting with our own, and helping all we can with what we have.

 

That’s a big number, to us; to God it’s just a number.  It could be seven or seven million; it’s all the same to Him.  Believing that with all our hearts, why ask little if He would just as easily give much?  After all, it’s the same faith required to obtain the least amount as the greatest.  Help us ask big.  Gracious me, what a God!  I’m looking forward to seeing Him surprise us again.  Bless His name.  Oh, and while you’re asking big, ask quick as well; if He’ll do one, He’ll be just as pleased to do the other.  God bless every last one of you.  Love y’all.

 

Because of a living Savior,

 

The William LeFevre Family (a printable PDF version of this letter with pictures is available here)

 

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Dear Friends in Christ,        September 2022

 

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. First of all, I want to thank God for how good He has been to us here. The 3rd of September marked 30 years since Dara and I arrived in Bulgaria to work with her parents, Ralph and Sandy Cheatwood. We arrived eager and willing to serve the Lord, having no idea what that would mean. The Lord allowed us to grow and learn and be a part of a wonderful ministry where we have seen thousands saved and churches planted all over Eastern Bulgaria and Romania.

 

More than 20 years ago, the Lord let us build Casa Julia Children’s Home in Romania… not only to run, but to be the parents of a wonderful group of children. Praise God, almost all of the children we have had the privilege to raise have been saved. Last week we had a baptism service for two of our own children, our son-in-law and the girlfriend of one of our boys. The Lord gave us beautiful weather and we had a wonderful service and then baptized them in the Black Sea.

 

The war in nearby Ukraine continues. Even though this tragedy has been replaced in the news, and probably in many people’s minds, with more exciting stories; there are so many still displaced and suffering from the continued fighting…homes destroyed; loved ones lost, injured or killed; jobs lost; lack of food, electricity and basic supplies. Regardless of how you feel about the war, there are many thousands of lost people who need to know that there is a loving heavenly Father who wants to help and heal them. A Father who loves them so much He spared not His own Son to save them.

 

In the last month I was blessed to be able to make two trips across the border to take supplies into Ukraine. We have been working with a Ukrainian pastor, Brother Alex, who is travelling to the war torn areas to take these supplies to the families and Ukrainian soldiers who are suffering the most. He is also preaching as he goes from town to town to distribute food, clothing and other much needed supplies. Brother Alex is declaring and showing the love of Christ as He shares the Gospel.

 

Together with another missionary brother here in Romania, we were able to buy Brother Alex a van to distribute these supplies. On my last trip, I took clothes and socks because, Brother Alex said that many of the soldiers in the hospitals do not have even a change of clothes when they are brought in bloody and injured.

 

I thank the Lord for opening the doors and protecting me as I travelled inside Ukraine. If you have never crossed the border in one of these Eastern European countries, you can’t imagine how tense it can be and how many things can go wrong, especially carrying a ton of valuable supplies. So many times the Lord opened doors and cleared the way for me. Several times I had to cross through military checkpoints, show my documents and have the contents of my vehicle searched. One of these times, I was able to witness to the soldier who was inspecting my vehicle. I gave him and his fellow soldiers some camouflage winter hats, some Gospel tracts, and pointed them to the church I was going to in the nearby town. They were thankful and seemed to appreciate that others were praying for them and their country. They are fighting a war of flesh and blood, but are unaware of the battle for men’s souls that is raging all around them. I thank the Lord for protecting His soldiers as we endeavor to fight the good fight.

 

School is back in session. One of our girls started high school and we have three in middle school (one homeschooling with Dara) and our youngest in 3rd grade. Our two “special needs” boys got into a very nice vocational high school.

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and your support. If the Lord lays it on your heart to help the folks in Ukraine, I will be sure it gets into the hands of those who truly need it.

 

In Christ,

 

Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids  (a printable PDF version of this letter is available here)

 

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August 2022

"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest… Luke 10:1,2
And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."
(Luke 10:23,24)

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has called us by his grace into this ministry.

In the passage above we see how the Lord had sent these seventy before him to every city and village that he himself would go. Later, they returned with good news of all the things they had seen. The Lord told them not to rejoice as much in the miracles that they had witnessed, but rather to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. In the end, though, he did tell them what a blessing it was to have seen the things with their eyes that they had seen. Today we see the Lord working in a similar fashion. He does not go himself to every city and village in the world, but rather, sends his missionaries out to preach his gospel. Those who hear the message of the missionaries and receive them, also receive the Lord; his spirit enters into their hearts to dwell. The preaching is done by men, but the power to save is only from God. As missionaries, we confess that we are but small vessels to be used of the Lord; our greatest joy is not in our works, but that our names are written in heaven. However, it is a tremendous blessing to be able to see and hear the things that we do.

Recently, one lady testified that they had been without electricity for six years. Their home was old, and run down. She, her husband, and their daughter got saved. One evening they were reading the Bible by candle light when they came across the verse "...and they shall call his name Emmanuel," her daughter asked, "What does that name mean?" The mother said, "I don't know. I've never heard of it." Then they kept reading, and the verse said, "which being interpreted is, God with us." She told her daughter, "Look, God is with us." I'm glad that the poorest of the poor, the people that sit in darkness can read a Bible and know that God is with them. Thank you to all who have helped us print Bibles.

One of the pastors told the story of how several of their churches were started. Over ten years ago there was a village rather far away that had sent a man to find Brother Ralph Cheatwood and ask him to come start a church in their village. He went, along with two national pastors, and two churches were started in that village. Those two national pastors continued to drive there every week for the meetings.

One day Brother Ralph called the pastors to come look at a map. He told them not to take the highway to that village, but to take the back roads. That would mean a longer drive on winding roads in bad condition. When the pastors asked why, Brother Ralph said that because there were villages along the way that one day would want a church. Although it was more difficult, and it meant more wear and tear on the vehicles, they agreed to take those back roads every week. Six months later they went to church out there, and there was a visitor. The man was older, and walked with a cane. It had taken him six hours that morning to walk the two miles from his village to the village where the church was. He had walked it to ask those preachers if they would come to his village to preach. Within a year there were six other villages that had opened up along those back roads. The national pastor said, "From now on, I'm going to do whatever Ralph Cheatwood says, because he is God's man." Thank you to all who have helped us buy vehicles for these pastors.

This summer we've already had about a dozen people baptized, and there's several more who want to be baptized. We continue to produce new testaments and hymnbooks. Several people have returned from Western Europe to Bulgaria on their summer vacations. They told us how that during the Covid lockdowns, when no one was allowed to go out in public, they were able to sing hymns and read the Bible in their homes with their neighbors. Now they need more Bibles and hymnbooks for those neighbors.

Thank you to all who pray for this work.

In Christ,
Zachary LeFevre

Sent from: Prayer Baptist Church, 855 Edwin Westland, MI 48185 (a print ready version of this letter is available here)
Support & Mailing Address: Charity Baptist Mission, P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN 37621

 

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May – July 2022

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

I pray this letter finds you well in the Lord looking forward to His soon return. This is my third attempt at writing this overdue prayer letter. The first two turned out to be small theses and were too long. Lord willing, I will find a way to put all my thoughts on what is going on in Ukraine from a Bible believer’s perspective and post it on our website.

After much prayer and consideration about the Lord’s will we have decided that He wants us to stay the course and finish what we came here to do in the USA and prepare for our return to Ukraine. We have supporting churches spread out in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New York that we have not yet updated. We have not seen them in anywhere from ten to seventeen years. When we are finished with this part of our ministry we will take another look at the situation and hopefully return to Ukraine to a people prepared of the Lord ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! If, however, the war is still going on we will look into ministering to Ukrainian refugees in one of the bordering countries until it is safe to return with my family.

In the meantime, we continue to encourage our people in Ukraine and send money to men in four separate areas where they can help those whose lives have been turned upside down by this war. I received a report from one brother that he has led over twenty people to Christ using the aid we sent him as a way to open a conversation. We also just received a report from my assistant in Rozdilna, Brother Alexei, that our church contacted the local authorities to receive a list of registered refugees from eastern regions hit the hardest. They made contact with 200 households and ministered to them. They also organized a church service where around one hundred refugees came and heard Brother Alexei preach the Gospel to them and give them food and clothing that was purchased by the funds sent from you, our supporters. My hope and prayer has been that the Lord would use this awful situation to prepare people to receive the word of God from western missionaries. The anti-west propaganda that has been pumped into Ukraine from Russia for the past twenty years made it very difficult to even have a conversation with them. The Lord has very graciously answered our prayers and, for the first time in my lifetime, our ministry in Ukraine received a positive write-up in the local newspaper in Rozdilna about how we are helping people and preaching the word of God to them! You would have had to have lived in Rozdilna for the past thirty years to understand what a miracle this is!

Words cannot describe how thankful we are that our church and people are still standing against all the trials and temptations that are in Ukraine right now. They continue to hold regular church services and reach out to the surrounding areas with personal witnessing, literature, and humanitarian aid (See 3 John 1:4).

We would like to include a short update on our family. My son, Samuel, has decided to relocate to Boise, ID for work and attend the Bible Institute there while he transitions to life in the USA. I drove him out there and helped get him set up. It is so hard to let go, especially when they are so far away. My consolation is that I’ve watched Samuel over the past few months really get his own relationship with Jesus Christ and prayerfully make decisions about what God wants him to do, not what he preferred to do (See again 3 John 1:4). My daughter is still willing to return to Ukraine with us but is open to whatever the Lord wants her to do in the meantime. She is also praying about finishing her Bible degree but must first work and save her money to relocate. She has become almost irreplaceable to me in the ministry as a secretary and accountant. I can’t describe my thoughts and feelings about losing her. She really adds a lot to our ministry. Please pray for the Lord’s will to be done in her life as we face some difficult decisions ahead.

Bible believing churches and people continue to express their desire to financially help those affected by the war. We still have channels open to help people inside Ukraine. If you would like to help please send a check to our mission board with the words “Rue/Ukraine relief” on the memo line. My number is (513) 376-1011 if you have any questions. Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!
 

That Ukraine May Know Him,  (a print ready version with pictures is available here)

Christopher Rue  https://www.facebook.com/people/Rue-Family-Missionaries-to-Ukraine/100068352738533/

Phil. 3:10  http://ruemissions.com/may-july-2022/


 

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May/June 2022

 

Dear Friends, Family, Pastors, and Churches,

 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21

 

The Lord continues to abundantly bless the ministry among the Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Bulgaria. We have so many opportunities to help, to witness, and to show compassion to these people who are hurting so deeply. They have had open hearts and minds as we witness to them in English, Bulgarian, and Russian. We have been able to give out Bibles and tracts in every location we have gone and they have been received with interest and gratitude. Whether we are at a border crossing, a governmental base, a hotel, or a refugee center we have experienced great liberty to evangelize. We are sowing seeds and one day there will be a harvest.

 

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

 

We have been able to send thousands of dollars’ worth of humanitarian aid into Ukraine. This aid has gone to military hospitals and to the front-lines. We put tracts in the socks for soldiers; scripture cards in emergency blankets; and New Testaments in medic bags and packages to soldiers. This has all been made possible by the generous contributions of churches, families, and friends. We appreciate your concern, prayers, and support for the ministry to the Ukrainian refugees and Ukraine.

 

It is encouraging to see the Lord working not only among the Ukrainians but also among the Turkish gypsies. It is refreshing to be able to go to meetings again in spite of the shadow of COVID. We are thankful we are able to fellowship, sing, and preach as we did before.

 

Recently, we were able to purchase a vehicle for one of our national pastor's named Demir, as well as a van for ourselves which will be very useful in our work here. Even though the price of fuel is almost eight dollars a gallon the Lord has met every need, every time.

 

Last of all, please continue to pray for my brother Kevin, who is still battling esophageal cancer.

 

Because of Calvary,

 

Matthew and Jane Welch   A printable version of this letter with pictures is available here.

 

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August 2022

 

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee,but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8

 

As I read this verse of scripture my mind naturally focused on three words: justly, mercy and humbly. The question is raised: what is good and what does the Lord require? I think in our hearts we all want to please God. Over the past few months we had many opportunities to take to heart those three words as we saw God’s hand working in us while ministering to those in need around us.

The word justly means honestly, fairly and with integrity. We have surely been given many chances to deal justly with people over the past few months. Thousands of lives have been turned upside down because of the unfairness and lack of integrity of the wicked regime in Russia. Millions of people have been put out of their homes and thousands of lives have been lost. With opportunities to do justly, we have been able to show mercy and meet the needs of many refugees here in Bulgaria. Through the generosity of so many we have been given many doors of ministry that we never even imagined were possible. From putting fifteen pallets of food and aid on a truck for delivery directly into Ukraine, to taking our own van ourselves, filled full of supplies, and taking it to missionary Mark Priem at the Ukrainian border, or sending one thousand dollars to Brother John O’Brien for military armored vests for frontline troops. We also helped individual families, such as Julia and her two sisters Christina and Yasmina, who fled to Bulgaria without their mother who had to remain in Ukraine. I believe it has been very pleasing to God for us with your help to show mercy to these in need. An opportunity was made available to help fund a Ukrainian Social Center in the town of Shumen. This has given us an avenue to see the gospel to get into the hands of hundreds if not thousands. Also, with the visit of the Maher family, were able to see the gospel preached at several locations where some of the refugees are being housed. It was wonderful to see the foundation of mercy shown, along with gospel tracts giving them an open door for the preaching of the gospel in their language. God is good!

Please continue to pray for the war in Ukraine and its people. There are still thousands of refugees here in Bulgaria and many needs associated with them. We have been fortunate to be able to help so many people since the beginning of the war and will do as much as we can until the funds run out.

Our regular Turkish meetings are going well. God is continuing to work in hearts, and we are grateful for God’s hand in their lives. Covid is still a constant hindrance, but we are learning to navigate the landscape of ministry with this virus constantly around us. Please pray for our national pastors and their families.

We had visitors from the states; Zack and Haylie visited for a week and we crammed a month of sights into that week. It was sad to see them go, but it was such a blessing to have them with us. My brother will be coming near the end of August. After he spends a week in Romania with his church he will come with a young man from his church and stay for a week here. I am looking forward to this time of ministering together. I thank God for my brother, his love for our Savior, and his desire to share the gospel all over the world.
In closing I would like to remind you that we will be returning for furlough in December. I will contact as many as possible about visiting while we are in. If you would like us to come by, you can also contact me through email at blalockstobulgaria@gmail.com.

 

We will be available from December 2022 through September 2023.  We are looking forward to seeing you all.

 

A printable version of this letter, with pictures, is available here.

 

Brother Keith Blalock and family. www.facebook.com/Blalocks2bulgaria  

 

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Dear Church Family,   Spring 2022 Newsletter

 

In March I made a trip to a Hispanic country and had some trouble going in, but once I was on the other side it was without incident. I had a great time, although I was sick and had to take it easy. I was alone, so it was up to me to do the preaching; and the Lord allowed me to preach several times. Sunday morning’s service was in a church in town, and I will never forget that day. There were about 250 people attending, and I knew the Lord was working. I was expecting people to come forward, but was not expecting what actually happened. I even sensed the Lord was calling someone to preach, though that was not my emphasis in the message. After the service, four young men in their twenties came up to the preacher who is one of my team. Two of the young men were weeping, and all four of them surrendered to preach!  A young lady was also weeping and said she wanted to surrender to whatever the Lord wanted her to do in her life.  Wow! What can you say?  The Lord moved in a great way!

 

I am also writing with much sadness to tell you some bad news. My wife Debbie has breast cancer. She has been having some pain for several months, so she had a mammogram and an ultrasound. There was an area of concern, so they did a biopsy and confirmed that it was stage one breast cancer. They also did an MRI to get more information. The doctor was very optimistic since it is in an early stage and has not spread. She will be having a small lumpectomy on June 1st, followed up with radiation for about four weeks. We are thankful that it is in the early stages. We covet your prayers at this time.

 

(Most of you have already seen much of this sent in prior emails, but I wanted to send it again prior to the surgery date.)

 

The Caeble Family, (A printable PDF of this letter is available here)

1 Samuel 12:24

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends,  May 2022

 

"Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." (I Chron. 29:13)

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I thank my God that he put me into the ministry. It is truly a blessing to be able to witness firsthand what the Lord is doing for the people over here. He is reaching down to the dust and lifting up the poor.

This spring we were able again to deliver the flour and oil to our church families here. Before the prices began to go up, we were able to get everything ordered. Shortly after our order, the price of oil almost doubled, and was impossible to buy more than a little at a time. The Lord allowed us to buy enough for over 1,500 families, and 78 tons of flour. All of the poor people here received it gladly, and send their thanks to God on your behalf.

Around 100,000 refugees from Ukraine came to Bulgaria; about half of them traveled through to other countries and half of them stayed here. The Lord has allowed us to minister to them. We've distributed food, water, clothing, medicines and other necessities. Our prayer was that we would also be able to reach them with the gospel. The Lord provided us with gospel tracts and Bibles both in the Ukrainian and Russian languages, and something even better than that - a preacher. Last month a Ukrainian preacher came to Bulgaria to minister to the refugees here, and we were able to direct him to the ones that we had already been ministering to. He was able to preach the gospel to them in their own language. Many of the refugees are reading the Bible now for the first time in their lives. Many of them have told us that now they are believing. Many of them are amazed at the love that you all have shown them through us. To God be the glory. It may be that in the ages to come heaven will be inhabited by Ukrainians who fled to Bulgaria for refuge, but ended up fleeing to God's city of refuge at Calvary.

Please pray for us as we continue to preach the gospel here in Bulgaria. The pastors are doing well, and so are their churches. We praise the Lord that he has provided the funds to purchase vehicles for two of the pastors recently.

In Christ,

Zachary LeFevre

 

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MAY 2022  -  UKRAINIAN CRISIS UPDATE => www.facebook.com/richard.maher.710

 

Dear Praying Brothers and Sisters,

Over 14,000,000 people have been forced from their homes; of these 5,900,000 Refugees have fled the country! Videos/pictures show devastation and utter destruction/leveling of homes, towns and cities, BUT Oh the heartfelt despair and pain of their broken hearts. “...by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13b Praising God -He promised, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18

 

Recap of God’s Work throughout Paul Gray’s and my travels to: Romania, Bulgaria and Poland - Evangelizing Refugees!!!

 

Thank You! Your Sacrificial Gifts and Prayers resulted in a fruitful Month showing God’s perfect timing!

1) The Lord even Blessed our trip with a $250 cheaper Humanitarian fare which included three free bags each to carry extra supplies and tracts. The March 14th departure allowed for our Chick tracts to arrive that morning.


2) We agreed with a printer in Romania, who printed 45,000 thousand copies of our four most applicable Testimonial Tracts and 5,000 booklets called, “Why is God Silent?” - Which explains God’s use of such situations to draw us to true faith in Christ for Salvation. (The Printer first said two weeks, but after the Lord changed his heart, he said 3-4 days!)


3) While they printed our tracts, we worked three days in Bucharest, Romania with a Church to witness to the Refugees at the train station and to also offer them a place to stay with meals until they get settled or transit on to other countries.


4) Missionary Friends in Bulgaria also printed our Testimonial tracts including a special QR Code and our Ukrainian Pastor’s Phone #. For three days we helped visit Refugee centers distributing food and care packages with tracts and humanitarian aid.


5) Two Printers in Odessa actually started printing again in mid-March, but had a limited supply of paper. Missionary Mark Priem’s printer found more paper to keep their presses running. AND the best part is the ONLY Print Orders they have are from Missionary Mark Priem and from us. In total they have printed 400,000 brochures, including 152,000 Chick Tracts and 25,000 booklets in the last 50 days. These were sent all over for distribution inside Ukraine. On our last day I contacted Missionary Joe West in Poland. He is now printing tracts and booklets for our Summer trip.


6) Our Original plan was to drive Brother Paul Gray’s van, but we gave it to Brother Michael, (A Ukrainian Evangelist friend) who really needed a van for Delivering Aid into the war torn areas and then for Evacuating Refugees to safety. Our Pastor Slavick brought my car out so we could take our 70,000 tracts and Booklets to Poland and travel this summer.


7) Boxes of these tracts and booklets were sent out to Missionaries in Ireland, Croatia, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Italy, Czech Republic and three places in Poland. The last service in Warsaw, Pastor Alexander (who was saved through street ministry) offered to contact all the Russian Speaking and Polish Churches which work with refugees to send them tracts. A box of tracts was also sent into Kharkiv inside the Christian Aid shipped by the Polish Church with which we worked.

8) We Passed out Gospel tracts in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. We helped coordinate and supply tracts to three street preachers who came from North Dakota to Evangelize w/tracts at the bus and train stations in both Krakow and Warsaw.
• Other Brothers from the USA are planning to come in June to distribute tracts in both Krakow and Warsaw, Poland.


9) Pray for the Many Christians who are now scattered abroad (Acts 8:4) across Europe that God would use them to testify of His Great Salvation. One such Sister, Marina realized that back in Ukraine she would only be busy gardening, but now transplanted to a refugee complex in Romania, she has witnessed to 30 families and already one lady got saved!!!


10) Your Monetary Donations have been a God Send to: 1) Print Gospel Literature (above). 2) Purchase Christian Aid to Bless and Supply for the needs of many Ukrainian Refugees. 3) We continue sending money to faithful Pastors and Evangelists in Ukraine who: I) Evacuate Refugees. II) 200+ Tons of Aid transported and distributed to local Churches who then show God’s Love in action while Evangelizing those souls suffering and seeking hope to deal with despair, terror and incomprehensible loss. BLESSING: Many Churches began actively Evangelizing and also Housing those displaced inside Ukraine. In the town of Konotop they’re actually starting a new Church! Please PRAY for the Safety of Eugene, Michael, Slavick, Roma, and Others as they Transport Aid in and Evacuate Refugees on their return trips: (When we speak, they retell how hard it is to find Diesel Fuel. If it is found, it costs $7.50 - $9/gallon ~ $250-$300/van trip.)


11) Pray for the European Ukrainian/Russian Churches that they would Evangelize and for Many new Churches Needed!


12) Praise the Lord! Oksana’s Parents are now in the USA staying with us, but will visit their relatives and friends this summer so our whole family can work with Refugees in Europe. {A large shopping mall just one mile from their house was destroyed in a recent missile attack.} … Slavick’s family (Oksana’s brother) is Purchasing and Transporting Food and other Aid to Odessa and serving Refugees in Romania. Our son David is going there in June/July to help Slavick build a few necessary buildings, since he plans to hold three camps in July for Ukrainian Refugee Children. Elisabeth finished her first year of College. She’ll visit refugee friends in Europe, work with us and be a leader at the July camps in Romania.

Great GAINS: Many brothers tell of Souls turning to Christ for salvation! But, WAR also causes Great LOSS of lives: 20 yr-old Nazar from our Church was recently killed along with his uncle and ~ 250 other soldiers during an Artillery attack. Shelling/bombing continues in Nikolaev and Odessa as Russia’s forces would like to take all of Ukraine’s Ports.

Tentative Summer Plans for Europe: PRAY {Wisdom and Open Doors} 1) Working in Poland with New Church Plants.
2) Evangelizing with European Missionaries -Counseling and Presenting the Gospel to Refugees in Europe.
3) Ministering to Ukrainians in Refugee Camps in Bulgaria, Romania and Poland.

=>Thank you to each of you for your faithful prayers, support and concern for Oksana’s relatives and especially for the millions of Ukrainian souls seeking peace in this chaos. PRAY they’ll truly find it in Christ-“he is our Peace” Ephesians 2:14.

For the souls of Ukraine, Follow our Posts on ==> www.facebook.com/richard.maher.710

Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher - - - Questions call me: (513) 969-4229 or mahers4jesus@gmail.com

SENDING MONEY TO HELP - Make the check-out/send to: Charity Baptist Mission, PO Box 692
Bristol, TN 37621-0692 *Please write in the memo: Richard Maher-Help for Ukraine

[Sending Money allows us to: (1) Supply money for Christians to fuel vehicles: for evacuating people and delivering aid or to purchase food or medicine for those suffering in Ukraine. (2) Print and/or purchase Evangelistic literature for distribution to the many Refugees fleeing to European Countries.]
 

(click here to view a printable PDF of this letter)

 

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,     March – April 2022

The Thought of Heaven: The past two months have been an emotional rollercoaster. One moment we are glad, encouraged, and hopeful; the next we are full of heaviness and sorrow. Taking a step back and looking at what God has done, and is doing, in Ukraine helps us to continue constant in the Lord. I often breathe a prayer of thanksgiving to God that our church and its members are still standing fast. Many of the women and small children have left. They are now refugees in Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia. We stay in contact with them and do what we can to encourage them to serve the Lord with what talents they have where the Lord has put them. Others stayed in Ukraine with their families to help. Several of the men from our church have enlisted to defend Ukraine from Russia. They are still holding Sunday morning church services, praying, witnessing, and helping those in need. I realize that several missionaries have had to watch as their churches were scattered, and, as one brother said, “they have said they are never returning to Ukraine.” I’m so thankful that we’ve not been required of the Lord to swallow that bitter pill.

The Lord has encouraged us with the statistics that have filtered in over the past month regarding the video presentation I had the privilege to give for use on Pastor Joel Logan’s website targeting Russian and Ukrainian speaking people with the Gospel. Somehow they have the ability to know how many people have watched the videos all the way through and how many people have watched them for 30 seconds or more. So far, over 8.5 million people have watched the videos all the way through, with over 16 million people watching it for 30 seconds or more. The presentation in Russian is as clear and thorough as we could make it to lead someone to Christ! The Lord has done exceeding abundantly above all I could ever ask! They have received many testimonies of people who have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. The thought of what the Lord has done, and is doing, with this has made the thought of heaven much sweeter!

Ukraine Relief: We have been simply amazed at the outpouring of generosity of Bible Believing churches in the USA for Ukraine. So far, we have been able to get over $40,000 in aid to people inside Ukraine who need it, some desperately. These funds have been channeled to those in need through vetted, Bible-believing men who have proven themselves faithful over the years. Our relief program had small beginnings. I simply worked with our men and instructed them to help those closest to them, because the Lord said, “Love thy neighbor…” I told them to start with the poorest in the church and then enable those who didn’t need help to help their neighbors and family members both saved and lost. Every form of aid was to be given out with the message of the Gospel in spoken and printed form along with a message from American churches, “This help is from Bible believing churches in America who love them and are praying for them.”

These funds have provided various things such as food, clothing, medicines, surgeries, bandages, body armor, and transportation for women and children to safety. From my end here in the US there has been a constant challenge of working with the banking system and dealing with bureaucracy to get these funds inside Ukraine. On their end in Ukraine there has been the challenge of receiving these funds, rationing, curfews, and limited cash in the banks. They have to drive over two hours just to make a withdraw from the bank going through multiple military checkpoints and buying supplies trying to make it back home before curfew begins. Think about that and thank God the next time you make an easy cash withdraw from a nearby ATM.

At the present time I have to rely on trusted individuals to move money. However, we are currently working on trying to get everything set up to move money through our local church’s bank account. Our church has already been able to help several national pastors who do not have any documented proof of their status as ministers to receive aid for their churches from various humanitarian organizations. I’m so glad I spent all those hours with a lawyer years ago setting this up for our church to be a blessing to others. At the time it seemed very tedious, but what a blessing it has been over the years to many missionaries and ministries in Ukraine.

The first stage of our ministry yielded over ten people receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior! These were the family members and neighbors of our church members who were dealt with personally, one on one. We have prayed for some of them for over ten years to be saved!

We were contacted by several national pastors and evangelists whose families and ministries needed help. We sent several thousand dollars to men who needed to get their families to safety while they did personal work along the western border of Ukraine. We sent funds to men from our church serving in the military who needed supplies. One brother from our church, Kolya, who is an officer, was able to lead one of his subordinates to Christ. He was so excited to do so. He wrote me and said, “Pastor, God has me here for a reason. Thank you for teaching me sound doctrine!” We’ve also helped another brother, Slava, who is manufacturing homemade, steel reinforced vests for civilians and transporting them to safety.

We prayed and discussed ways to help those in desperate need in other areas. Our region has been bombed several times and there was an attempt to take control of our town by pro-Russian separatists from Trans-Nistria. Several vans of weapons and terrorists drove into our town and opened fire on the military enlistment center. The attackers were neutralized and the weapons were confiscated. There has been relative peace in our town ever since. However, there is a build-up of several thousand pro-Russians close to our town in Trans-Nistria, whose border is just twenty miles from my house. Men from our church are stationed there on the border to protect our town. Please pray for their safety. While we are enjoying relative peace in our town we have received requests from refugees for help from the city Mykolaiv. This has given Brother Alexei a burden to help them there with supplies and providing transportation to those trying to escape the rockets that have increased lately. It looks like Mykolaiv could be the next Mariupol. So, Alexei pledged to sell his car and use the money towards a passenger van to transport supplies and people to safety. Other men from our church who are serving in the army gave money as well. One young man gave $1,000. With these funds and the funds from US churches, we are looking and praying for the Lord to direct us to the right vehicle to use for His glory.

On The Road Again: While preparing for taxes for 2021 we calculated our miles travelled to meetings. The total came to be very close to 25,000 miles! Twice we were almost hit head on by drunk drivers! When I think about the miles we’ve travelled in our lives just to preach in both Ukraine and the USA I’m reminded of the statistics of accidents and fatalities. It is truly the gracious hand of God that has kept us safe.

We hit the road again late February and spent the past two months updating supporting churches and presenting our ministry in new ones in Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, Iowa, and Kentucky. The meetings have been a blessing and we’re very thankful that we have fruit in some churches along the way in the form of rededicated lives to Christ, a renewed burden for missions, and we even had a young woman named Molly walk the aisle to get saved in Brother Schaffer’s church in Iowa. We are also very thankful for the new churches that have taken us on for support and for the funds raised for our ministry including the Ukrainian relief fund.

Rue Crew Review: Our last prayer letter was so long that we could not give a personal update. The big news in January was that our son, Benjamin, was finally married to his fiancé, Faith, and they are now blissfully living in their long awaited “La-La Land of Love!” We are very thankful that they were married according to the word of God and are growing at the Anchor Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. We have been working at improving our family’s health during furlough. Each member of our family has some kind of health issue of whatever degree with Naomi and I being the worse for wear. I will spare you the details but please be in prayer about some tests on my heart coming up. Also, please pray for Naomi who has been dealing with thyroid issues for years now. Our other issues are slowly improving. We feel much better and stronger, getting ready for our next term of service in Ukraine….one more round!

We still have several open channels to help people inside Ukraine. Not only are people being helped but it provides a great witness and open door to sow the seed of the Gospel. If you would like to help please send a check to our mission board with the words “Rue/Ukraine” on the memo line. My number is (513) 376-1011 if you have any questions.


Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!


That Ukraine May Know Him,   (click here to view a printable PDF of this letter with pictures)


Christopher Rue  Phil. 3:10

 

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                           May 2022

 

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Praise the Lord we are all safe and healthy here in Romania.  It is hard to believe that a couple of hours away in Ukraine, lives and homes are being destroyed by war.  Shortly after the war began, American missionary Casey Kline and his family fled the bombing that had begun in their town in Eastern Ukraine.  After three days in the van with their six kids, they arrived here at the Children’s Home, literally shell-shocked and exhausted from their treacherous escape.

 

They stayed and recovered with us for about 10 days during which Casey and I found ways to transfer money to Ukrainian national pastors to help the families who were not able to flee.  Since then, we have hosted other missionaries and Ukrainian families who have been working tirelessly to get Bibles, Gospel literature, food, water, medical supplies, etc. to the families who have been stranded in the areas where fighting has taken place.  Many of these families have been without electricity for weeks and these necessities have been increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.

 

While missionary brothers Richard Maher and Paul Gray stayed with us, we had 50,000 Gospel tracts printed in both the Ukrainian and Russian languages.  They drove a part of these into Bulgaria to help the efforts of the missionaries working there.  Another part, these men took to distribute to preachers and pastors along the many Romanian and Polish border crossings into Ukraine.

 

We have learned from these missionaries to Ukraine that one of the biggest obstacles they face is having someone, a Ukrainian, who can cross the border into Ukraine and take literature and aid directly into the areas where it is needed.  Alex Kamnev is a Ukrainian pastor who escaped the bombing in Mikolayiv.  He and his family are staying with another American missionary family near us.  He has been making trips into the heart of the war torn areas to take supplies to his churches and families who have not been able to get out.  We were able to help him fill a van with medical supplies and he left yesterday on the perilous journey back across the border.

 

We are grateful to have someone who is willing and able to get supplies, money, and Gospel literature directly into the hands of those who so desperately need it.  Please pray for this pastor and the many others who are literally risking their lives to try and help their people.  If you are able to supply funds to help in these efforts, I will ensure they get to these brave men who love their brothers and sisters more than their own selves.

 

As soon as the weather warms up a bit more, we are going to have a baptism service at the Black Sea for the new believers, including some of our Home kids.  Thank the Lord for that!

 

We appreciate all the prayers and support. We love you.

 

In Christ, Dave & Dara Turner, Sandy and the Kids

 

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March - April 2022


Dear Pastors, Churches, Friends, and Family,

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Proverbs 3:27

As of March 26, 2022, close to 120,000 Ukrainian citizens have poured over the borders of Bulgaria. About 55,000 have remained in the country. These refugees are in "our own backyard" which puts on us a burden to help them in their dire need.


Many of these refugees have left Ukraine in a hurry; exiting with only a backpack- leaving behind their families and homes. They have no idea when (if ever) they will be able to return. We missionaries, in Bulgaria, find ourselves in a place of unique opportunity to help these refugees during such a critical time.

Because of contributions from churches, family, and friends, we have been able to minister to these people who are being housed in: Apartments, Homes, Hotels, Vacant Buildings and Refugee centers.

We have purchased clothing, food, medication, and many other supplies throughout the month of March. We have personally delivered these supplies to refugees residing at these different locations. They have expressed their gratitude over and over again. We tell them that the churches and believers in America want to help them and are praying for them. That's when they start to cry. And we cry with them.


We are thankful to at last have gospel tracts in the Russian language. We were able to pass out hundreds of these at a huge "Peaceful Protest" in Varna, and at several refugee centers. We also slip a tract or scripture card in with supplies we give away. That gets interesting and creative. Some of the pictures included will give you an idea. Please pray for those who receive these "love notes" from the Lord. May He touch their hearts and may they understand that there is a God in Heaven that loves them.

We recently have had the opportunity to purchase humanitarian aid for hospitals and soldiers in Ukraine. The truck made it safely to its destination and from there the supplies were loaded into vans, and trucks, and taken to the areas that are in dire need.

Soon we will sponsor another truck into Ukraine that will be loaded with food and medical supplies. We are blessed to have this opportunity to help in this way. You, our faithful supporters, have made this possible. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you. The Ukrainian refugees, with tears in their eyes, thank you, too. Written from Bulgaria by Jane Welch.   A printable version of this prayer letter (with pictures) can be viewed by clicking here.

All because of Calvary,

Matthew and Jane Welch

 

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For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

 

March 2022

 

In this verse of scripture there is a question asked; who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? That question has been on my mind a lot in the past month. With the beginning of the war in Ukraine opportunities in Bulgaria for ministry have certainly increased; but truthfully, we have had the ministry of reconciliation since the day we were born again. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” 2 Corinthians 5:18

 

Thankfully, there has been a tremendous increase in activity due to many of the Covid restrictions being lifted each month. We have also seen an increase in attendance of our meetings which has been a huge blessing. Recently in the village of Dabravino, we had a meeting with over 100 believers attending along with several of our national pastors and missionaries. This was the first time we have been able to do so since the pandemic started. We met with boundless joy and testimonies of God’s goodness. It was truly a blessing.

 

The Lord is still moving and working on hearts in our meetings. Recently, at the end of the meeting in the village of Ruse, a young lady asked that everyone pray that she would have faith, and believe in the gospel, of course everyone prayed for her. Two weeks later she came before everyone in the meeting and confessed that Jesus was her Lord and Savior. Praise the Lord! He still saves.

 

We are also thankful for God blessing Nasuf with a new car. As you know, pastor Nasuf had an accident and needed a new car. I am glad to say through the love and generosity of God’s people we were able to get him an Opel Mireva. They are happy with it and very thankful for God’s blessings.

 

I am sure many of you have seen the situation with refugees in Bulgaria. God has opened a great door for us to show the love of God to those around us. I know that most of us did not anticipate the presence of a modern-day Hitler, but the actions of Vladimir Putin have us all seeing the depravity and wickedness of man. The war has been devastating for the people of Ukraine, but it also has opened the door for God’s people to show the Love of their Savior. This door opened for us when our daughter, Kylie, befriended a young Ukrainian girl on social media. Her family is working tirelessly to help the refugees in Bulgaria and help those still in Ukraine. Through meeting her we began to volunteer and donate goods at a Refugee center in Varna. We contacted many of our friends and supporters, and it has been amazing to see the outpouring of love and support for those who are in such need. From that time, many avenues have opened for us to help and to share the gospel. We also started to work through a center in the city of Dobrich. We donated food, clothing, kitchen supplies, household goods, medicines, and we were able to help an expectant mother with many necessary things she had left behind.

 

We have also helped with a center in the village of Smyadavo, where William Lefevre and Ahmed have two meetings every week. A building that was to be used in the future for the elderly was converted into a place to house about 20 families.

 

We also took donations to two hotels with around 100 people being helped in each hotel. This led us to the resort area of Golden Sands where many refugees are being sent. There we found one hotel with 900 rooms, which is housing 1,800 refugees and over 1,000 of those are children. Each passing week opens more opportunities. We ask for your prayers as the Lord guides us.

 

Tomorrow we’re loading a truck which will go to Ukraine. We are using a store like Sam’s Club called Metro to send large quantities of supplies into Ukraine. Over $10,000 worth of goods are being loaded and will include; rice, beans, flour, sugar, water, pasta, ramen noodles, canned corn, peas and green beans, water, boxed milk, diapers, and toilet paper. There will also be insulated blankets provided by fellow missionaries and scripture cards with a QR code for people to access gospel preaching. We look forward to these blessings.

 

In the city of Shumen, where we live, a Social Center for Ukrainian refugees was opened this week. Tracy and Hannah Lefevre were very involved in helping get this center established, and we were able to help provide some of their needs. The center will be a place where people come and interact with their fellow countrymen and find the help that they need in this difficult time. We have several other opportunities that are presenting themselves. Please pray for God’s guidance in these situations.

 

This is also the time of year for our annual Flour and Oil distribution. Each year we give to the needs of the Church. It’s a joy to try to fulfill scripture “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 About 75,000 Kilos of flour and 7,500 liters of oil will be distributed to our church members. This comes at a time when there is great need due to the skyrocketing cost because of the ongoing war and its effects on Eastern Europe’s economy. It’s a great honor to serve the Lord in this time and make a difference. “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference.” Jude 21-22

 

God has also blessed us with being able to purchase Russian and Ukrainian gospel tracts. We had 15,000 tracts printed and received 4,000 chick tracts from a fellow missionary. We were able to contact this man through Brother Richard Maher and Brother Paul Gray, missionaries to Ukraine, who spent a few days with us before going to Poland. We gave out hundreds of these at a protest march in Varna, and we are including them in the hygiene packs that we are putting together to give to the refugees. Thank God for His word!

 

Currently our needs are few. We ask for you to pray that God gives us strength and wisdom and that He guides us to exactly what He would have us do each day. I do ask that you pray for us as we will be preparing to return to the states for a nine-month furlough. We were planning on coming back in the spring of 2023, but due to the timing of our Visas it would be more practical for us to return at the end of this year. With that in mind, anyone who would like for us to visit your church between December 2022 and September 2023, you can email me at blalockstobulgaria@gmail.com or contact me through Facebook messenger at KeithTracy Blalock. We look forward to this time with our family and churches. Please pray for us as we prepare, that it will be a fruitful furlough. I will close this letter by saying that God is so good to us, and I thank him for his blessings. We cannot thank you enough for all you have done. I could never have envisioned some of the things we are involved in now. It’s only possible through your love and giving. God’s people are truly the best. Attached is a printable version of this prayer letter with some photos of what the Lord has been doing here

 

God bless you all, Brother Keith Blalock  www.facebook.com/Blalocks2bulgaria

 

 

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Prayer Letter March 2022

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, ... who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth … to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:1-6

Our praying friends and family in the Lord,

I believe, as perhaps many of you do, that there is significance in the ordering of the books of the Bible. We know all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and by the Holy Ghost is both applicable and profitable for whatever your need whenever it may arise. Yet it seems also apparent that the latter books hold a special relevance for these latter times. And if you believe, like I do (and I certainly don’t see why you shouldn’t, as the Apostles declared it), that we are in the last days, we might look again to those latter letters and find sustenance to strengthen us for the coming calamities.

With that in mind, let’s cast our eyes to the first line of the last book of the Bible. There the Holy Ghost, by the pen of John, states emphatically the priority of almighty God and the prerequisite for all who profess Christ: the revelation of His Son. What’s the need of the hour? To see Jesus Christ. What does God want above everything else in this day? That His Son should be revealed to the world. Moreover, if the Christ hasn’t been revealed to you, what follows in the book of Revelation will remain a mystery, as it is the revealing of Jesus that brings all things into perspective. And really, what else would one want to see? What else can compare? Cousin Pierce LeFever said there were only two places he wanted to visit in life: Paris, France and Pea Ridge, Tennessee; and after seeing Pea Ridge, he no longer cared to see Paris. So, too, with Jesus; once you’ve gotten a good look at Him, who cares to look at anything else? “Mansions will glisten on the streets of glory… but Jesus will outshine them all.”

Can I add one more thought to this? I’m going to anyway, it’s my prayer letter, and I don’t write that many of them; I reckon I’ll write what I want. Do you know where the Christ was revealed to John? Where did John first see Jesus in the book of Revelation? From where did he hear Jesus’ voice speaking? In the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. What are the seven candlesticks, you ask? Let the Lord Jesus himself give you the answer: “The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” In these last days, where will you see Jesus? Where will you hear Jesus speaking? In church.

So much as happened since I last wrote, I don’t know where to begin. (“Why don’t you start writing more?” asks Hannah. Wives: can’t live with them, can’t worry about whose they’ll be in the resurrection.) Quite a few of these things are updated about regularly on our Facebook page, but if you’re like me and indulging social media less and less and feeling better and better about doing so, I’ll recap them here.

We were finally able to replace our vehicle. After almost a year of waiting, litigating, consternating, and aggravating all the wrong people with all the right information, we threw up our hands in desperation, and God filled them with enough to buy a used 2012 Mercedes Vito van. It has low miles and high expectations of being everything we need it to be. It accommodates all of us, with room to spare. But most importantly, it gets us where we need to be to minister to those anticipating help.

I praise the good name of the Lord Jesus for all of you who loved us and gave. And I thank God for guiding us in the right direction at just the right time to find this van available.

As a little postscript to this, the insurance company issued their final verdict via letter a little over a week ago. They concluded that ultimately I was at fault for a thief sneaking onto the gated property, breaking into the back hatch of our locked vehicle, climbing into the driver’s seat, prying open the steering column and hot wiring the car, fleeing the scene in said stolen car, hitting the gate in the process, finally crashing into a concrete pylon totaling the vehicle, leaving the scene, and returning on foot to the exact same village in which we live. Does it seem like this issue makes me a little testy? Listen, I don’t have anything against the thief; I pray he gets saved. I don’t even begrudge the loss of that vehicle. It was never ours to begin with. God gave it to us, and He didn’t need my permission to do whatever seemed best to Him. But, merciful heavens, Bulgarian bureaucracy can knock the shout out of any man. “But he giveth more grace,” and at the end of the ordeal, like Job, we’re better off than when we started. Bless the Lord.

A month ago now, we were able to hold our first big meeting of the year. Our churches were so sick of this pandemic and its restrictions, and so eager to meet again, that we went ahead and invited “whosoever will.” Praise God the “whosoever wills” outnumbered the “I don’t think we shoulds,” and the Great I Am came to the great In Need; the gospel was preached, the hungry fed, and all who came empty went home full.

Brother Keith Blalock preached the second of two meetings. He talked a little about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and mentioned everyone’s fear of Putin dropping the bomb. Brother Keith said, “I ain’t worrying about the bomb. If he drops the bomb, I hope he drops it on me first. I’ll be vaporized here and awake in heaven.” All the Turks took comfort and courage from that message. Most of them have grown up in and around Islam and were taught that no one can really know their soul’s final destination. When Brother Keith said with full assurance that he’d wake up in heaven, it finally dawned on a number of them that they, too, could have confidence in the work Jesus had done in their souls.

Speaking of the Russian invasion, for all who have asked, we are safe in Bulgaria, far from the fighting taking place in Ukraine. Only the Lord knows what tomorrow holds, and He has grace sufficient for what is and is to come. However, no one is expecting anything like what occurred there to happen here. Nevertheless, Bulgaria, like every other European country, is taking precautions.

Those of you keeping up with Hannah on Facebook, or our LeFevre page there, know the work she and our other missionary friends are doing with the Ukrainian refugees. To make a long story short, at the start of this war, Brother Blalock’s daughter, Kylie, had befriended a young Ukrainian girl newly arrived in Bulgaria. Learning from Yulia what efforts were being made to help the refugees in Varna, several of our missionary wives, with Brother Keith driving, went to see what they could do to be of service. After that day of volunteering, seeing the need firsthand, word began to spread, saints in America began to give, and the opportunities for outreach began to grow.

Skipping ahead, this last weekend, along with two missionaries from Ukraine, Brother Richard Maher and Brother Paul Gray, our folks went again, this time armed with gospel literature, to the center. After a morning’s profitable venture into some of the areas open specifically for refugee housing, our group made their way to the Ukrainian anti-war demonstration. There they distributed to small and great the gospel of the good Lord Jesus. Not a single Ukrainian refused a tract. More often than not, they would come back, asking for more for friends or family.

Every day, more and more Ukrainians are crossing the border into Bulgaria. Every day presents new challenges to meet their needs and new opportunities to give out the gospel. Pray for us that whatever the need, as much as we’re able, we’d be able to help. Pray especially for those whom God allows our paths to cross, that they would have open ears and tender hearts to receive the message able to quell the war raging in their souls.

Last, but certainly not least, and much to a hungry people’s hearty rejoicing, we’ve begun to give out flour and oil. Last Tuesday we began early in the village of Goren Chiflik and wound our way around several villages in that neck of the woods, distributing to the poor saints what God had provided for their sustenance. We were met everywhere with smiling faces and empty wheelbarrows and horse carts. The price of sunflower oil has nearly tripled in the last couple of weeks, so receiving a five-liter bottle really was like receiving liquid gold to most of our people. We go this week to our farthest villages, in the Balkan Mountains, to see their needs met. Pray for us as we go. Pray for them as they receive. Pray in all things that the Lord is glorified.

Because of a living Savior,  The William LeFevre Family

 

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January – February 2022

Dear Praying Friends and Family,
I already had this prayer letter written in my head two weeks ago…or so I thought. I can hardly remember what I intended to write now. So much has happened and things are changing daily regarding the war in Ukraine. While I was not surprised that Putin would invade and take Donetsk and Luhansk, I was completely taken back by the scale of this invasion.

From the moment that we understood the magnitude of Russia’s invasion we devoted ourselves to helping our friends and loved ones in Ukraine get to safety. Our first concerns were for the safety of the Kline family who were in Kherson, and for a young lady from our church named Vladislava in Kiev. We were relieved to hear that the Klines made it out safely. Vladislava, however, was left all alone in the university dorm building with no one to help her after a rocket hit the building right next to hers. She had no money nor her traveling passport needed to leave the country. Thankfully, she met up with the Taraniuks who took her with them to Ivano-Frankovsk, where they endured some air raids. We were able to send her money to get to the Romanian border. We were also very concerned for the welfare of Darina and her two children in Odessa who were there alone while her husband was working on a commercial ship. She spent several nights in the bomb shelter before gathering the courage to flee to Romania by herself with her small children. We were also very thankful to hear, little by little, of other missionaries who were making it to safety.

Many women and children from our church loaded up what they could and were escorted to the border by their sons and husbands. They sought safety before any heavy fighting came and they are now scattered in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Germany, and Moldova. Several of our men have volunteered and others were conscripted to fight. Some are serving right on the front at this very moment.

Quite a few people from our church stayed in Rozdilna. Brother Alexei, the pastor of our church, along with his wife Vika made that difficult decision. She is expecting their second child and they also have a handicapped son, Vanya. Our deacon and his wife, Andrei and Ella Bondarchuk, also decided to stay with their two precious children. I asked them if they needed help getting their families to the border as refugees. They decided to stay and care for the church and defend their city in case of an invasion. Both families are looking after the church’s elderly and shut-ins, along with some of the mothers with small children who stayed.

Though our people are scattered they are communicating using an app called Viber. That app was used in the past for things that caused our church much trouble and heartache. I’m so glad that it is being used of the Lord for prayer requests, fellowship, Scripture, and valuable information needed for survival. It is quite evident that they have matured in the Lord. What a blessing it has been to me to read their posts (see 3 John 1:4). Several came to realization that they did not truly value their church as they should have during peacetime. To my surprise they met for church services last Sunday in spite of the danger! Brother Alexei told me that the sirens of an air-raid began to sound as they prayed! The men present determined to pray, one by one, till they were done. Alexei said that it was quite a sight to see. No one flinched. They kept on praying in spite of the sirens!

As we learned of the conditions along the border to the west, Brother Kline and I began to discuss the possibility of me making a special trip with my son, Samuel, to help. However, after a few days, the world-wide media coverage has prompted quite a humanitarian response. Though the conditions are hard inside Ukraine’s border, once the refugees make it through, there is plenty of humanitarian aid to help. The real need is for tracts and reaching people with the Gospel. I’m told that local churches on both sides of the border are responding with literature. The apartments and hotels are booked up and there is little room at the border for us to set up a food line or the like. After praying about the situation and hearing the reports of what really could be accomplished by my physical presence at the border, I decided that more can be done by coordinating aid to get to people inside Ukraine where there is a greater need. I may make a trip later after the hype is over. We have opened channels by which we can get money to people in need using their bank cards. I am also working on getting both Russian and Ukrainian literature for use on both sides of the border. The men in our church are stocking up on supplies and storing them in our house, which is also being used as a shelter for some when the air raid sirens sound their warnings. Brother Alexei, his brother Vitya, and Andrei are busy buying supplies and taking them to the others in the church so that there is less risk to the elderly.

We recently opened a second place to help in Dnepropetrovsk, where Oleg, my translator, relocated to take care of his elderly parents. We have opened the channel for him to receive money. He has been a friend of mine for many years. He is one of the best translators I know in all of Ukraine and he has translated enough material to gain himself a PhD in my opinion. I contacted him about the possibility of him stepping up and becoming a missionary to the area while there is such a great need. He agreed! He is currently working to help people with basic food and medicine, while giving them the Gospel.

We are so thankful to hear that our people who stayed are witnessing and have even led at least five souls to Christ over the past few days! One sister, who has tried to lead a soul to Christ for years, finally got two!

The Lord opened a great door to reach Ukrainians with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Joel Logan raised the funds to push an advertisement campaign over four social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TicTok, and another). When the dear people in Ukraine log onto these websites an ad pops up taking them to a website that Pastor Logan and his men have started. There are two presentations of the gospel there: one in Ukrainian and the other in Russian. Pastor Bevans Welder approached me about filming this gospel presentation in Russian using the equipment and men in his church. We worked until midnight. After twenty-two takes we got it down to twelve minutes. They said that it has already been viewed by almost a million souls by the fourth day! They raised money to air the ad for ten days! My heart is overjoyed with the thought of souls being saved as a result of these videos!

We have received many phone calls from dear saints expressing their desire to help in some way. Now that we have at least two channels open to help people inside Ukraine we can receive donations to that end. If you would like to help please send a check to our mission board with the words “Rue/Ukraine” on the memo line. There is a lot of hype right now, but after it blows over the hard work and desperate needs will begin. I would like to be ready. My number is (513) 376-1011 if you have any questions. Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue

 

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;  Phil 3:10

Email: ruemissions@yahoo.com  www.ruemissions.com

 

 

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UKRAINIAN CRISIS LETTER - MARCH 2022

 

Dear Praying Pastors, Brothers and Sisters,

- After 30 years in Missions (29 in Ukraine), I never expected such a tragic situation would ever develop between Ukraine and Russia. This is worse than tragic, but I cannot express it with words.

 

I have prayed and cried with trusted brothers laboring in Ukraine to provide aid and minister to both saved and lost souls. (Gal. 6:10) I’m so glad that we are still able to send money through Western Union to the nationals who are ministering!
From the videos and pictures which Christians have sent me, it is utterly devastating to see the destruction and how inaccurate the death tolls have been.

 

We thank each of you and your Churches for your faithful prayers, support and genuine concern for our family, Oksana’s family and especially for the souls of Ukraine during this terribly devastating time.

• I do appreciate each of you and your particular concerns (questions), which I will attempt to answer now.
• I returned on February 19th and the war broke out on February 24th.
• Praise the Lord Oksana’s Parents and brother’s family are safe in Romania and helping others there.
• Oksana still has many relatives still in Ukraine.
• Many of the Pastors with whom I’ve worked are still in Ukraine serving their Churches and towns. Western regions are not being attacked as much as the Northern, Eastern and the larger cities. Artillery attacks in Mariupol, (where I labored in March and October of 2021) have left the city without power, water and heat.
• Some asked: Should we gather goods to send to Ukraine? – It takes too long, or if done quickly -It’s not cost effective.
• OR SEND MONEY TO HELP! Most efficient and effective at meeting needs!
• Sending Money allows us to: (1) Supply money for Christians to fuel vehicles: for evacuating people or delivering aid or to purchase food or medicine for those suffering in Ukraine. (2) Print or purchase Evangelistic literature for distribution to the many refugees fleeing to European Countries.
I returned safely from my six week trip of evangelistic visits on February 19th (*see below), but (1) now I and my partner Paul Gray are going back March 10th ~ April (11th) to Evangelize those Ukrainians waiting in lines at the borders and those refugees who have fled to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, etc.
2) Pray with us and for us as we look for, print and distribute literature and aid to help them find Christ.
3) Pray that we can supply the Brethren with good evangelistic literature and set up distribution points!
4) Please keep these Missionaries in your prayers as they serve Ukrainians during this Crisis: Mark Priem, Chris and Sam Rue, Dan Bardwell, KC Kline, Henry Benach, Ron Jackson, Jonathan Skean, John O’Brien, and Ukrainian brethren.

- GIVING TO HELP UKRAINE -
Make the check out to: Charity Baptist Mission PO Box 692 Bristol, TN 37621-0692
Write in the memo: Richard Maher-Help for Ukraine

* The Lord blessed the six weeks of visits by saving five souls and by clearly opening up the plan of salvation to many very “religious” Western Ukrainians. Many brothers had one-on-one training as we made visits. Also, eight Churches requested me to teach two or three hour seminars on practical evangelism.

For the souls of Ukraine,

Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher Follow us on - www.facebook.com/richard.maher.710
 

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends, February 2022
 

"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;" (I Thess. 1:2)

 

Truly, the Lord has been good to us in Bulgaria. Since our return we have been able to meet with the national pastors and hear their reports of the Lord's blessings in the different villages. There is still some sickness going around here, but for the most part, it has passed. The people are glad to be back in church again.

 

I would like to thank the Lord for providing us with a ministry vehicle. It took some time to get it, as the dealerships here don't have any new cars for sale. An order has to be made, then it takes between three to six months of waiting before it arrives. We were able to find a one-year-old Dacia Lodgy that only had about nine thousand miles on it. It is a seven passenger minivan that gets about 50 miles per gallon.

The needs in Bulgaria are great. There are people here that are suffering, in need of the salvation that only the Lord can give. Last month we witnessed a desperate situation. One of our long-time church members asked us to pray for her daughter. Several times the girl had complained about her husband's cruelty and violence, until it finally reached the breaking point. She left her husband and two children for someone she had met on the internet. The man had sent her money for a bus ticket to come to him, but when she arrived at his house she found it to be worse than her previous situation. She was kept like a prisoner in that house, not even allowed to speak to her family on the telephone. The last message they received from her was to not call her anymore. The family was heartbroken and seemingly hopeless. So, we called on heaven. Within a week, the girl was home with her parents! Please remember her in your prayers, along with her children.

Last week at the church here in our village we had a good meeting. There was a good spirit in the church, and some new people have started coming recently. Right as I finished preaching, before the final prayer, a young man walked in the door with tears in his eyes and a big, two-liter bottle of beer in his hand. He came right to the front and set the beer down before us and said, "Save me from this!" The church got a burden to pray for him. He went home that day and poured out his beer. This week he was back in church, with the rest of his family. His mother testified about how good it was to see her son get right with God. Please remember him in your prayers, along with his children.

Brethren, we give thanks to God always for you all. Please keep us in your prayers.

In Christ,
Zachary LeFevre

 

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“I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.” Psalm 77:11

 

February 2022

Year after year, month to month, week to week, and day by day, it is safe for us to say that we can look back and see the works and wonders of the Lord. There is no greater blessing than to see God’s work done from the sanctuary.
I would like to begin this letter by saying thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are also very thankful for every card and Christmas gift. God gave us a great Christmas and a blessed new year, and we look forward to this year to come. Our family has truly seen the hand of God in our lives, and for that we are certainly thankful. I would like to share some of these blessings with you.

The last few months have been challenging, but God has been with us. I was diagnosed with skin cancer on the top of my head and had it removed. I was facing radiation treatments and decided to have a pet scan which came back completely clear, so I decided to forego the radiation and we trust the Lord with the outcome.

We also were able to have 12,000 tracts printed about the pandemic from English to Bulgarian. Pastor James Melton wrote the tract and gave us permission to have it translated and printed. The focus of the tract is not Covid-19, but it is used to point people to the fact that the sickness or disease in man is the Spiritual disease of sin and the only cure is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We look forward to using them in the ministry here.

Another blessing for us came unexpectedly. Tracy and I had talked about having a van to use for the work here. I would like to say it was something we had earnestly prayed about for months, but truthfully it was just a desire of our hearts that our Savior was fully aware of and faithful to provide. How God did this was amazing, somehow - someway we met a young lady from Shumen, Bulgaria who had moved to Murphy, North Carolina. We were able to meet with her and her husband while we were back in the states. To make a long story short, God put it on this precious couples' heart to buy us a van.

We had also requested help with vehicles for the work here, and we have seen God’s hand in this. We still have needs for a couple of our national pastors and trust the Lord to provide.

We also need you to remember to pray about the yearly flour and oil distribution. God had been faithful to provide for this. We ask that all will go smoothly with the current aggravations due to Covid-19. We believe this will be a tremendous blessing here for our churches, because the economy here has been affected just as it has everywhere else. Everything is more expensive, and it really makes life more difficult for the poor.

In closing, God bless you all, and thank you so much for your continued support and most of all for your prayers.

In His name, Brother Keith Blalock

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January 15, 2022

 

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” Matthew 25:35,36

 

Dear Brethren in the Lord, Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

I pray this letter finds you in His nurturing grace this blessed Christmas season, where we celebrate the birth of our precious and Holy Savior.

 

As a child I had always loved and cherished this time with family and friends. Setting up the Christmas tree, wrapping presents, and singing hymns. As an adult I see that many, many children do not have these same fond memories. Christmas is a foreign concept to some, or simply a holiday for the wealthy. And then some like the Muslims do not celebrate it as it is associated with Christ. But there are people that desperately need to be loved! They’re lonely, they’re not cared for and they have no answers. They’re desperate.

 

Two weeks before Christmas we were in one of our weekly prayer meetings in the village of Valeni. This village must be the poorest place we come to every week. Children running around with no shoes on in the cold mud. A little boy came into our meeting completely naked apart from a t-shirt several sizes too small. My wife was with me as well as my daughter who happened to have on two pairs of sweatpants and socks and my wife, with the help of her aunt and grandmother quickly dressed the child with a pair of each. Someone also took off their sweater and helped clothe the naked child which reminded me of the verse I placed at the heading of our letter. Ralph Cheetwood would always say, “The righteous do righteousness because they are righteous”.

 

I want to thank God by His infinite power and love, that a few weeks later we were able to distribute over 350 Christmas packets this year. They had socks, hats, gloves, candy, toys, and fruit with coloring books and markers in all. They were so happy. This is probably the only thing they will get for Christmas. I am still amazed at the power and generosity of our Almighty God, how he in His magnificent strength can hold back the pandemic restrictions for a week, so we can take these gifts to the poor. My prayer is that He continues to hide us under his mighty wings as we try to persevere for the Gospel. May God richly bless you in the upcoming year.

 

From Romania,

Jacob Reed and Family

 

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January 24, 2022

“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.” Psalm 37:25-27

Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,

Greetings from Romania and what a joy to tell you of the workings of our God through 2021.

 

2021 was a strange year for our world and despite the confusion produced by the price of gasoline climbing to over six dollars a gallon, now we watch as many food items, along with construction materials double in price. Normally this should slow our ministry down, but as in 1 Kings 17, the widow’s barrel never stopped yielding flour nor did the cruse of oil fail from providing all the days of the famine. We have seen God provide for the ones that have opened their homes to God’s men and children. It is exhilarating to see God provide for his own, as the world shuffles around in panic.

 

Through our feeding centers God has made a way to reach the poor, who would have no other way to acquire the necessities to survive. We provide meals and food, clothing, children’s diapers and medications for cleanliness and healing. We do this graciously to provide an open door of help and as the Lord leads. We also share the gospel and invite them to church for service and prayer. We feed a lot of children as the parents are struggling to make ends meet with the increasing costs of electricity and heating. As things grow stricter, I believe many will be forced to come to these feeding centers for help and we will be able to share the gospel more clearly to those who have seen no need for Christ in earlier days.

 

We have been blessed by our mission board church to receive shipments of supplies for our feeding centers. Churches and individual families have been bringing supplies to Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol, TN. which has shipped them to us. Because of this we were able to afford to give the children in the villages a very blessed Christmas packet this year. We had winter socks, hats, gloves, scarfs, candy, fruit, toys, and coloring books with markers. They were so excited to receive these gifts. It always makes our year complete when you see the smiles on their little faces. They would receive absolutely nothing if God didn’t provide and send us to give it to them. It is a lot of work, but nothing to compare to the joy that floods your soul. This verse comes to mind from Acts 20:35 “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” We are now in the process of giving winter coats and heavy jogging suits to all our school age children in the villages. We were told we would be able to give socks and shoes soon, as Brookside has received over 1,000 pairs of new socks and around 400 pairs of new shoes. If you would like to help in this part of the ministry, please contact Pastor Mike Nixon at (423) 646-1352 for more information.

 

We are happy to let everyone who has helped us with the buildings know that we are in four of the six buildings. It has been a real battle at times, with the lock-downs and rise of prices it truly looked impossible to complete. By prayer and many sleepless nights, God would touch someone, and you came through at critical times. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It is so wonderful to see the people and children coming into a clean and warm place to find all they need spiritually and physically provided from the Lord. The most recent building is in a village where we have wanted to build in, for over 20 years. It has been impossible because of the strong Muslim opposition. Around the first of February we will have a dedication and ordination service for two of our national pastors. These faithful men have served their Lord for many years and have shown themselves faithful by keeping the testimony of God through many oppositions. Looking forward to coming together with all the brethren and missionaries from Bulgaria and laying hands on these men and blessing them and the church at the same time. Please pray for our protection and for the blessings of God to fall upon all of us who need a refreshing time of fellowship in the Lord.

 

With the ordination of these men, they will be receiving more commitments and I really need to get one of them a Van. It really helps to have a faithful vehicle for traveling as much as we do and truly helps to have one that can carry supplies and construction materials when necessary. We still have two large building projects to undertake in the spring and could use a van to help transport materials. It can save you a lot in transport fees. We will also be able to carry the food supplies to some villages and transport the evangelistic teams at the same time. Gas is very expensive and to make several trips is hard on the vehicle. Most of our villages are at least 3 to 4-hour round trip drives. I can’t explain how important it is to have a team to go into these almost all Muslim villages and sing, preach and pray with power. Many times in a van on the way home they have another meeting, as they sing all the way home, for the joy they have received from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the meetings that day. The children, who travel with us if we have a van, are the ones who get it started most of the time. To be driving in a van and hear their little voices singing to the Lord is almost more than you can take. So please, if you want help with this project just send the money to my name and address and designate it as Van for Romania. We would like to buy one as soon as possible and we will need around twelve to fifteen thousand dollars for a good used one.

 

From Romania,
Nathan, Teresa, and Nate

 

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“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:” Hebrews 6:17-18

Our praying friends and family in the Lord,     November 2021

Have you ever read stronger verses, verses brimming with assurance and comfort, verses that engender hope and infuse love; verses that burst forth in song in the face of the devil’s fury; verses that provide ointment and anointing, a balm and blessings? Every inspired line, authored by God, penned by Paul overflow with an all-persuasive peace, and testify both to the nature and nurturing care of our great Redeemer.

As to His nature, He is God: eternal, immutable, unchangeable; the same yesterday, today, forever; unaffected by time or the tides of men; tested, tried, true; terrible and triumphant. As He is, so is His word: inerrant, inviolate, and, in the person of the Lord Jesus, incarnate; full of glory, grace, and truth; given by God to man that they might trust in Him.

As to His nurturing care, He is willing. Think about that just for a second, or an hour, or lifetime. Of all that He is, of all that He has, of all that He can do, it wouldn’t mean anything to you or me unless He was willing. But not only is He willing, He is willing “more abundantly.” It is His all-consuming desire that we rest securely, sweetly in the knowledge He cannot lie and His word cannot fail; that though our vessel be tossed to and fro, the anchor holding us will not move the slightest degree.

What a thought! The great I Am condescended to the woeful cannot and offered eternal refuge. Though the world, flesh, and devil conspire daily to discourage us, to disqualify us on the basis of our merit, our inability, the author of eternal salvation reminds us, it is His promise – of which He has sworn, and taken an oath to uphold – that secures our souls and succours our spirits. The oath and covenant are both unnecessary, given He cannot lie, but for our sake, that we might rest in Him without the slightest alarm or worry, He cheerfully swears.

Are you happier after reading those verses? Goodness gracious, I am. It might be a gloomy and gray November afternoon, but it’s eternal springtime wherever Jesus is. What a good God!

Where am I? Oh, that’s right, Bulgaria. Things have been on the slow side here for the last little bit. Bulgaria is still in pandemic mode, combating the fourth wave of COVID. Everyone is sick of it (accidental pun intended). The government introduced a controversial measure akin to COVID passports: green certificates. Basically, if you want to shop in larger, non-grocery stores, you have to show proof that you’re not a risk. Bulgarians immediately protested it, but the alternative is complete shutdown again. Thank God for Heaven: no sickness and never a shutdown. And there isn’t a single restriction in place, as there isn’t any need for them; everyone’s free to worship God.

One unintended, or perhaps very much intended, consequence of the unrelenting barrage of COVID coverage, (yes, we get it here, too) has been the subconscious fear instilled in people. It has become the new boogeyman, so to speak: Its specter haunts every potential gathering. Now a sniffle, a cough, or a cold chill threaten to close down entire communities. Where once we took care, now we take cover. For weeks on end, we’ve not been able to attend certain meetings due to flu and rumors of flu. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not downplaying this virus or its effects. What I am saying is we’ve become more health conscious than heart conscious, safer but less spiritual; more afraid of assembling than forsaking the assembly; more apt to trust science than search scripture; more concerned with spreading the virus than spreading the gospel. You’d think, being surrounded by this potentially life-threatening illness, people would prioritize being ready to meet God, but they’re doing everything they can to avoid Him, saints included.

In addition to fighting the flu’s influences, the entire work has been accosted with car troubles. Y’all know about the ongoing struggles with my vehicle situation. If you don’t, I’ll mention it in a minute, hang on. A few weeks back, Bro. Mitko’s wife, Monika, was in a serious car wreck that totaled her vehicle. Praise the Lord she escaped with only a mild concussion, as the driver’s side roof was caved in completely. God spared her and her daughter Eliza, who was with her. Just after that, Pastor Nasuf, while returning from service alone, lost control of his vehicle and wound up upside down in a field. Thankfully, God spared him, as well, and apart from soreness and bruising, he escaped without injury. My brother Zach’s vehicle suddenly started having transmission trouble last week. (I haven’t told him yet. We’ll see if he reads my prayer letters.) Help us pray, please, and believe God to provide what’s needed.

As for our vehicle, I don’t have bad news; I have an opportunity to see God work. We received a letter from our insurance company stating we defaulted on our claim, not having turned in the required documents within the prescribed time. Since the car was stolen in April, I have been to the main adjuster’s office in Varna at least once every three weeks. Each visit they set another task, another document to obtain, and each visit we did what was asked. It soon became evident that what we were doing was the equivalent of “buying blinker fluid.” It was busy work with the seeming intent to divert and stall us. When we pushed back, we were given the number of our case worker at the head office, who then sent us on another wild goose chase. So today, I took the letter to an attorney to see if anything can be done. I told you before, and I think some of you thought I was joking, that after the collapse of communism, all the car thieves transitioned to car insurance.

Where do we stand on a vehicle? At present we don’t have one, but I’m not complaining. God’s provided. Other missionaries have graciously allowed us to use their vehicles, for which we are very thankful. For the last few months I have been using Zach’s (see two paragraphs above). Now he’s due to return just after Thanksgiving. When he comes back, the Lord will work something else out. Today we rode the train to town to meet with the attorney. I thank God for the train. Since we’ve been in this valley, they’ve started road work on just about all the roads leading into Shumen, where we live. That means, for Ahmed to go to his mountain meetings, he now has to drive right past our apartment to avoid construction, and he picks me up on his way. God provides. We live in the center of town, surrounded by stores containing anything and everything we need. God provides. Whatever happens, God has, is, and will continue to meet every single need as it arises. Bless His name.

We’d like to wish each and every one of you a Happy Thanksgiving. We love and miss you, and thank God daily for you.

Because of a living Savior,

The William LeFevre Family

 

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October 2021


Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:3


It is certainly our heart’s desire to see God’s grace and peace poured out on each of you. We are without a doubt in a season of time where we are in definite need for His grace and peace each day. We continue to see restrictions and limitations placed on us because of the pandemic. They now require everyone to have a green certificate in order to enter businesses, restaurants, and malls. There is also a 15-person limit in our meetings. We will adapt to each of these and ask that you pray for the villages where we go. Several meetings are on hold because of Covid in the villages. This is something we are dealing with constantly.


The Lord continues to bless us to which we are thankful. While we were back in the states, to get Kylie, we met a young lady from Bulgaria. She is from the town of Shumen and somehow made it to living in Murphy, North Carolina. It is really a small world. We were able to meet with her and her husband while enjoying a wonderful time of fellowship. They also discussed their burden for Bulgaria and their own desires for ministering in the Murphy area. We are thankful to God for allowing our paths to cross and are amazed at His providential hand. Through our meeting them we have seen God’s hand in a couple areas of our life. We were able to get a gospel tract dealing with the pandemic translated, and we hope to get it formatted for distribution soon. Also, this dear couple has committed to buying us a van for the work, and we should be getting it sometime in November. God is so good. It was such a blessing for us to hear her testimony of coming to the states and truly hearing the gospel for the first time. It still amazes me to hear the testimonies of those who might have had religion and a form of godliness but never knew the truth. Please pray that the Lord would guide us in reaching her family who still live in the Shumen area. It is on her heart for her family to hear the same pure saving gospel that was able to change her life. Pray that God would grant us this blessing to share the gospel with her family.


We really enjoyed our short trip to the states. It was great to be around family and to see the arrival of our 14th grandchild, Presleigh Jane. We also enjoyed spending time at our home church. We were grateful to be there and preach while our pastor dealt with Covid-19. I am thankful that he has recovered and is getting his strength back. We also spent time with my parents and are grateful to have been able to do so.


We, like all of you, are looking forward to the holidays and are soon approaching my wife’s favorite time of the year. Thanksgiving! We certainly have much to be thankful for as we gather this November. We also want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and thank you in advance for your prayers and Christmas gifts. As we end this year and look into the next, I am so grateful that each of you have been such a vital part of our lives and ministry.
In closing we do ask that you remember the people here during the harshness of winter. Many have faced hardship and sickness this year. We ask that you pray for the needs here as we approach the time of year for the yearly flour and oil distribution. We trust God to provide this once again and ask that you pray earnestly about this. God bless you all and a Happy New Year!


The Blalocks

 

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Dear praying friends,     November 2021

I am enclosing this with my latest prayer letter as a special request. This is an urgent need in our work right now. We recently had three unfortunate accidents involving vehicles of our national pastors and one of our missionaries. Our fellow missionary had his car stolen and totaled. They are waiting on the process of receiving insurance funds which could take a year or so. Also, the wife of a national pastor had a tire blowout and rolled their car several times. Thank God no one was seriously hurt. This week we had the third incident with a national pastor having a wreck and ending up off the road upside down. Thankfully, he also was unhurt.

With these accidents it has really put us in a bind concerning getting to the villages. We are in desperate need of three cars. We are prayerfully asking our supporters to give toward this important need. We would hope to be able to purchase three used cars as soon as possible. Over here we can get three good used cars for around $10,000. We will get them one at a time as the money comes in, and just ask that you pray that God meets this need quickly.

God bless you and thank you for all you do,

Brother Keith Blalock

 

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Dear Praying Friends and Family,                        July – August 2021

I hope this letter finds you all well in the Lord and awaiting His soon return.

Update From Ukraine: In the past we’ve trusted the Lord and committed the ministry into the hands of national preachers many times. There always is a bit of trepidation and concern when we do. The peace that the Lord has given us this time around is such a blessing. The ministry is thriving in spite of many problems and changes. They’ve been involved in evangelism not only locally but also making trips into new territory with the Gospel. Brother Alosha and several members of the church set aside a week for reaching out to new towns with literature and door to door visitation. Each day they visited a new town using the time for personal work and literature distribution. Brother Casey Kline graciously drove his van to transport the group each day. I received a report that this year’s Bible Club went well with around 12 of the older kids responding to the Gospel message that was thoroughly and personally explained. Amen!

Building Project Update: We’ve been very encouraged by a couple love offerings that got us closer to our goal needed to begin the building project. I asked my assistant to look into prices to see if our estimation was still accurate. It has been three years since we first started saving and we haven’t checked on prices since then. Inflation over the past three years and price hikes due to Covid have increased the starting price by 10k. Seeing that we are already in the fall season, it looks like we will have to wait until spring to break ground. There are still two things left to do that will help us prepare for ground breaking. First, we need to have the city change our current power lines to three-phase. We are going to need this for all the welding. Secondly, we can begin searching for a large cement mixer. Our town does not have a concrete company and ordering a truck from Odessa would be risky and expensive. In the past, we’ve mixed concrete by hand, but this project will require a little more than elbow grease.

Deputation/Furlough Update: I am writing this letter “on the road.” I’ve learned to trust my wife’s driving allowing me to catch up on all the administrative demands of the ministry. We are currently returning from over two months of meetings in the North West. During those two plus months we’ve added over 12,000 miles on our van. Our meetings were in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. This part of our deputation/furlough has been exactly what we needed. We preached, prayed, fellowshipped, and passed out tracts along the way. I could spend several pages on anecdotes, but suffice it to say that we were encouraged by the state of the Bible believing churches in this region of the USA. The pastors of every church we visited were solid in the Lord and the Book! We are still working on scheduling meetings. Please contact me if you would like to schedule a specific date. My number is (513) 376-1011.

Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!
That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue
Phil. 3:1

 

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends,             Summer 2021

 

Who would have dreamed that this stuff would drag on this long? It causes one to think that the word “pestilence” used many times in the Bible is a precursor of things to come…. a “sign of the times”! I know Jesus used the term in Matthew 24 when speaking of the end times. God always used weather, pestilences, and war to get man’s attention in the Old Testament. One of the greatest verses used for revival is II Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Interestingly enough, pestilence is used in the preceding verse as a means of judgment. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines a pestilence as a “contagious or infectious disease that is epidemic and mortal.”
 

I know this, the whole world is affected by it! I was planning to go to a Hispanic country in the Spring, but the pandemic spiked there worse than before. I was cautioned not to travel by my Hispanic contacts. Then, as many of you know, this country had an uprising among the people which further complicated the matter of traveling there.
 

I just finished a round of conferences in WV and we had great meetings. We were there with four National Preachers, for three conferences. There were tears, there was rejoicing, and there were challenges given, as these men updated and told about the works they have in their respective areas. I will probably have to travel to Georgia to help with some of the conferences in September. Unfortunately, we are short-staffed because of the trouble getting men in from some of these nations that are affected by the Covid pandemic.
 

I hope to travel to this country in October. We are checking and waiting on word as to when we will be able to travel. Pray for the brethren who are striving to preach the gospel in the “regions beyond”.
 

Joyfully Yours,

 

Farren Caeble,  1 Samuel 12:24

 

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“And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”  Exodus 17:11-13
 

Our praying friends and family in the Lord,                 August 2021

The above verses should be familiar to every child of God. It is the account of the first direct action the children of Israel saw after crossing the Red Sea. Their deliverance from the “Iron Furnace” of Egypt, and subsequent death of Pharaoh and utter defeat of his armies, was a feat God entrusted to no one but Himself; Moses being His mouthpiece. So, too, our deliverance was the sole work of a selfless Savior. As Charles Gabriel wrote, “He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own; He bore the burden to Calv’ry, and suffered and died alone.” Little wonder he followed that with, “How marvelous! How wonderful!” He could have easily filled the refrain with as many worthy praises as he could imagine, and we’d Amen every one as recipients of that love. Do you still marvel at the love expended to ransom you from Hell? Do you still contemplate with wonder the great machinations enacted by almighty God to woo you to Himself, and win your soul forever in His safe keeping? Gracious me, if you don’t, sing his song again!

However, the verses I’m considering aren’t about our deliverance from Egypt, but from the Amalekites. The Lord dealt with the Egyptians Himself; He left the Amalekites to Moses. In other words, while our salvation is secure, our success is in jeopardy. Hold on a second, don’t get sideways. I’m not preaching Schofield’s notes; hear me out. In spite of certain unbelievers’ perpetual wish to return to Egypt, God made sure there was no Egypt to go back to. The Egypt they held in fond remembrance no longer existed; it had been decimated. There remained only one direction to go, forward, and at this juncture, the Amalekites stood between them and God’s promise. You know the story from here: When Moses held his hands up, the enemy fell back; when his hands dropped, they advanced. In the end, Aaron and Hur, seeing Moses couldn’t do it alone, came to his aid and stayed up his hands until the victory was won. There’s been a whole lot of good preaching (and some questionable) along those lines of helping one another and upholding one another, staying up the preacher’s hands, etc. There’s truth in it! We need one another. The very best among us are feeble, unable to contend long or at all against our enemy. We all need help and assistance.

Nevertheless, Moses himself wasn’t the answer to the Amalekites. Moses alone wasn’t sufficient to win the day. Moses, Aaron, and Hur combined couldn’t even startle the enemy, let alone scatter them. What then? What forced the Amalekites to give ground, turn, and flee? Let me draw your attention to what Moses had with him: “I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” That was the rod that stayed up Moses as he wandered a stranger among the Midianites. That rod became a serpent, signifying God’s power, and swallowed up all the imitators. That rod wrought wonders in Egypt, called forth plagues, and leveled judgment. Lifted up, that rod made an impossible way through the impassable sea. That same rod struck a rock and brought forth a river to slake thirsty rebels. If you haven’t figured it out yet, that rod is a type of Jesus. As long as He’s lifted up, the enemy must give way before Him. Have you any Amalekites hindering you on your journey, withstanding your advance, threatening your ruin and destruction? Lift up Jesus. Magnify the Lord. Does the Amalekite of unbelief stand between you and God’s promises? Remember, this same Jesus that saved you will assist you. His triumph over sin, death, hell, and the devil was so exact, so complete, so utterly magnificent – that to mention it, to glory in it, to make it your banner is enough to embolden the feeblest of saints, and unnerve the most obstinate enemy.

I hope that helps somebody. More often than not, I write those things to help me. I like to encourage myself in the Lord. I like to see others encouraged in the Lord. I know this is a prayer letter, and I’m supposed to tell what’s going on here, but sometimes I get happy thinking on heavenly things and get carried away. Someone said the other day, “You ought to write a book.” I said, “Did you read my last letter? It was a novella.”

In the general information category, I’d like to mention our move from the village of Dabravino to the city of Shumen. We had been living in the Welch household since our return a year ago. We found this apartment back in early spring, but it didn’t come available to move into until late June. It’s spacious enough, and we’re close to a big park where the kids can get out and play. Additionally, we’re closer to the meetings I attend.

I’ve been waiting until I heard something about our car so that I could update everyone on it. Here’s the update: Nothing is happening. We’re still waiting on the insurance company to pay out so we can use the money to buy another vehicle. Meanwhile, the insurance company says it’s waiting on the police to submit a final report. The police aren’t sure what the insurance company wants and are waiting for the insurance company to tell them. It’s a Bulgarian standoff, kind of like a Mexican standoff without the benefit of enchiladas. Now, seeing as this is a prayer letter, I have a prayer request: Please pray something gives and this is all resolved. And while you’re at it, pray that about the time this gets resolved, that the perfect seven-seater vehicle comes available at the perfect price.

The other thing I was waiting on before I wrote was our meeting in Dabravino. This last Sunday saw a good size crowd, undaunted by the present-day pestilence and its perpetrators and perpetuators, assemble together to sing, pray, worship, and listen to preaching. After a meal, we recommenced our meeting by the river’s side, where twelve souls professed publically their faith in Jesus and followed Him in baptism. Five of those who were baptized were from one family, from our meeting in Smyadovo. I had the privilege of driving the sister to the meeting, whose two daughters, two granddaughters, and son-in-law all owned Christ as Savior. When we met at her house the Monday prior to meeting, all of her daughters said, “Normally we take vacations to return home and see our friends and family. This time we took a vacation to testify in church and get baptized.” After Sunday meeting, on our return trip home, their mother said, “William, I’m drunk on happiness! I still can’t believe it. I woke up this morning and said, ‘I won’t be needing my cane to attend this meeting.’” She must have had the rod of God! Pray for these souls. Pray for this work. Pray for its workmen. Pray for fresh unction.

We love you all and miss you dearly. Hannah, Carrick, Christian, Dixie Joy and Derrick Wade all send their greetings.

Because of a living Savior,

The William LeFevre Family

 

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                July 2021

I have given a lot of thought recently about John chapter three. We as Christians love this chapter and rightfully so. We as children learn John 3:16 by heart and it brings comfort to us all unto this day. As comforting as that is, two verses later should be just as troubling to us. The word condemned is stated in verse 18 twice. In both cases condemnation is reliant on one thing, belief in Christ. Belief in him; no condemnation, unbelief and you are condemned. According to the scriptures the entire unbelieving world is already condemned, because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It could be your neighbor, the young lady taking your order at the restaurant, the guy sitting behind you in biology class, your cousin, your father, your child, or spouse, every unbeliever is condemned already. I believe this should give us a greater sense of urgency within the church to reach the world with the gospel. Let us pray that God would burden our hearts.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support. God has surely been good to us through the faithfulness of his children. The work here has been going very well and we are grateful to be getting back into village meeting several days a week. I have been going with two of our national pastors to villages and thankfully am able to go to eight or nine meetings each week. I am really blessed to once again worship with these dear people. I have particularly enjoyed worshiping with our oldest church member a dear lady that is one hundred years old. What a blessing to see her have church in her little one room place faithfully each week. We were also able to meet in the village of Dabravino to have a large meeting with several of our national pastors bringing in car and van loads of believers. We had at least one hundred people gathered for the first time since the pandemic. What joy was experienced by us all as we met together to sing hymns, pray and to hear the preaching of the word of God. Our greatest joy however was hearing testimony after testimony of God’s love and faithfulness in the lives of these dear people during the difficulties of this last year. God has truly been good.

 

  

Our family is doing well, and I am certainly thankful to be together with my wife after her time in the states with the passing of her mother. Kylie is currently still in the states with her oldest sister finishing her last Bible camp of the summer. We are thankful she can do this, and it has truly been a spiritual blessing for her. Please remember my mother’s family in prayer. My grandmother recently passed away, she was ninety-eight years old and died peacefully in her sleep. We thank God for the joy we have in knowing the destination of those who believe and trust in the Lord.

Please keep us in your prayers. I will be making a short trip to the states for around six weeks on August 25th. There are three reasons for this trip. The first being we need to get Kylie and bring her back to Bulgaria. We also have a granddaughter due around that time, and for me it is an opportunity to see my parents. We have seen in the past few years with the passing of Tracy’s parents how quickly things can change. It will be a short trip, but we pray God will bless it. Please pray specifically for Sunday September 5th. We will be having a missions Sunday at Mount Pleasant Baptist, and we desire God’s presence during the meeting.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and may God bless you all richly.

The Blalocks

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends,                     July 2021

 

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches..." Rev. 22:16

 

Once more it is our privilege to bring you greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our soon coming king. I recently finished reading the book of Revelation again. What a blessing it is to know that when it's all said and done, we win! Christ won the victory and invited us onto his team. He defeated the devil, and holds the keys of hell and of death. I'm on the winning side. One day we will join that great number of the redeemed, praising the king of glory in a land where there is no more pain. In heaven we will not only be united with our loved ones again, but we'll meet the redeemed from every kindred and tongue and people and nation. I trust there will be a great number there from Bulgaria and we will again be able to worship together.

 

The verse above tells us that Jesus wants these things to be testified in the churches. If Jesus likes to testify in church, so do I. It is an honour to be able to travel to so many of the churches that help us and testify to them both of what the Lord wrote to us in his book, and of what he is doing these days in Bulgaria. The Lord supplied us with a vehicle, and we have already travelled over five thousand miles. Not only do we get to minister to others, but we also are ministered unto - we hear some really good preaching.

 

Praise the Lord that things have opened up more in Bulgaria. The national pastors there are again able to travel to their village churches on a weekly basis.

 

Please keep our family in your prayers. This time spent in the states is especially important for the children. Our oldest son Isaac is making preparations to attend a Bible college in the fall, then stay here when we travel back to Bulgaria. We're very proud of him, as we are of his two older sisters who did the same thing.

 

In Christ,

Zachary LeFevre  (629) 999-0843

 

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Dear Pastors, Churches, and Friends, March - April 2021

As I am reflecting on the events of last year, in my mind I am still trying to deal with this mess that has been perpetrated by men and by Satan. Who knows how it all began! It may have taken us by surprise, but we do know that it did not take God by surprise. As the old cliché states, “Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God?” Of course, we know that the world has had to deal with national calamities before and suffer many times worse. I am glad that as the child of God, though there are times when we temporarily lose sight of God, He always knows where we are! “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

I normally do not mention our work here in the United States because we are always sharing reports of the travels to those countries where we go; but each Sunday we are preaching in services and providing supporting churches updates of the work. We also have several mission conferences each year. We were in Princeton, WV in March and preached and presented the work in a Hispanic country. I mentioned the continual need of bicycles for our men in one of my messages, and a young boy came up to me with his grandmother and told me that he had set aside money for his own bicycle. He said the Lord laid it on his heart to give that money to help the cause for bicycles over there. Before the week was over, he had doubled the money given back to him for his charitable giving of the need there! That is how it works! God could do the work Himself, but He chose man to have a part in His great work of preaching to every creature the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We were not able to travel to a certain Hispanic country this quarter because of the pandemic, but we were able to send through a contact enough funds to help the nationals until the government eases the travel restrictions. We will make a trip hopefully in May, and we have another trip lined up in June or July. Pray for the works and our men. This is just another reason why we work through nationals in their countries, because in this manner the work carries on. Amen!

Joyfully Yours, Farren Caeble, 1 Samuel 12:24

 

 

 

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Dear Friends in Christ, May 2021

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope this finds all of you doing well, healthy and enjoying God’s many blessings. I do not know how things have been where you are, but here in Romania and Bulgaria, this past year has been a difficult time for us.

The virus infection rates are beginning to fall but most of our Home kids have been forced to do school on-line for about a year now. Just this week they are returning to in-person schooling. Please pray for our children. It seems to me that Romania’s on-line schooling did not work very well and the kid’s learning has suffered terribly.

For us, the biggest hardships have been the ban on gatherings and the restrictions on travel for Americans between Bulgaria and Romania. Until the virus hit last year, the missionaries in our group living in Bulgaria were meeting weekly for an English church service. I was driving down from Romania as often as I could to be there. For the better part of a year, the missionaries have not been able to openly meet and, even if they could, I would have had to quarantine 2 weeks had I crossed the border.

Because of the restrictions, most of our Turkish work has been meeting with the believers and their families in their homes. A few weeks ago, we felt led to gather the Turkish believers in this area at the Children’s Home for a meeting. We had been doing this weekly before the pandemic hit last year. Even though we were not supposed to be meeting in this way, Bro. Nathan Reed, his son Jacob, and I gathered around 50 believers and had a meal and then a three-hour service. The Turks were thrilled to get together and many testified how much strength there was in getting together again to worship. A couple of weeks later we did it again and plan to continue, Lord willing, every couple of weeks or so. Pray that we will not have trouble with the authorities.
Praise the Lord, we have been able to continue to have English church services here at the Children’s Home on Sundays and Wednesdays. Some of our teenagers have been inviting their friends to church and several have been coming regularly. I just preached recently about how it seems, with each passing generation, fewer and fewer people are choosing to follow and serve the Lord. It is encouraging seeing these kids showing a desire to share their faith and getting a burden for their lost friends.

With vacation coming soon, the older kids are hoping things open up enough that they can get summer jobs. I am already teaching the younger ones to use the lawnmower so they can take over yard work.

We thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. May the Lord protect you and bless you and your families.

UPDATE: Before I had a chance to send this letter out, two of the girls in the Home got saved! Melek (14) and Blue (8) got saved at a very good Mother’s Day service on May 9th. They have both been coming to the altar and praying a lot over the last couple of months and we knew the Lord was dealing with them. During the song service, the Lord moved in and they hit the altar with tears flowing. Praise God, they said afterward, each in a different way, how the Lord touched them and they knew they were now saved. Can you imagine what a Mother’s Day blessing that was for Sandy and Dara! Thank you again, Lord, and Bless Your Holy Name!

In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the kids
 

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“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;” Romans 5:1-3

Our praying friends and family in the Lord,                 April 2021

I bless the Lord for His amazing grace. One day by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Justifier justified me. He didn’t merely acquit me, or solely forgive my debts, He justified me! He was made sin, my sin, so that by faith I might be made righteous – free from any and every offense worthy of the least punishment. In the great and eternal trial for my soul, the Judge of the universe declared me innocent of all charges, because Jesus Christ put Himself forth, owning my guilt, accepting my doom, suffering my fate. He purchased my peace with the blood of His cross. And if that weren’t enough, He, by His infinite mercy, granted me full and complete access to all the rights and privileges of the only begotten Son of the Father. By justifying me, He secured me a place forever with Him and peace forever in Him. That’s enough to make a Presbyterian shout, I guess. I don’t know any. For all I know, they might all be secret shouters.

Let me go on. In no mean addition to all that glory, Paul adds one more thing. Our God loves His justified own to such an immeasurable extent, He so contrived that their every trial and tribulation would turn to their blessing both here and hereafter. Our archenemies, the world, flesh, and devil, conspiring toward our destruction, by the intervening wisdom and will of God, instead contribute to our well-being. Through their added afflictions, we obtain multiplied love and the fullness and comfort of the Holy Ghost. Just think about that! Our Lord has made our sufferings more glorious than our successes. And in addition to glory here, Paul tells us, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” (That’s in the original Greek.) Whatever you’ve enjoyed here won’t hold a candle to what you’ll experience there. I think I hear a Presbyterian now. Shout on, brother, shout on!

Speaking of tribulation, we’ve had a little, though just a little. Those of you who still keep up with Facebook might have read that our car was stolen; those of you who don’t, it was. On the 15th of April at around one in the morning, an 18-year-old boy entered the yard. He forced open the back hatch of our Dacia Lodgy and crawled inside. Popping the top off the steering column, he hot-wired the car. He reversed rapidly, striking the left side of the gate, breaking a tail light. He must have knocked that side of the gate off its hinges and then got out and set it up again, or an accomplice set it upright. He then took the car for a joy ride. Alcohol and drugs seem to have been involved. About nine miles down the road, in the village of Barzitsa, he lost control, went off road, and struck a concrete viaduct, totaling the car. Though all the airbags deployed, he remained unscathed and walked back to his mother’s house in our village, where the police found him later that day.

I discovered the car was gone when I went to take Dixie Joy to kindergarten. I called Ahmed. Ahmed called the police. While waiting for the police, we both called on the Lord. The police showed up, took our statement, and in a little while informed us the car had been found. Ahmed and I drove to the scene of the crash. It was then I learned someone else had stolen everything they could make off with from inside the car. I told the investigating officer as much, but he had heard from an eyewitness that two people were seen rifling the car at around four that morning. Thankfully, the police had a pretty good idea who they were, as well. Sure enough, one visit to their place found them in possession of all our stolen things. The police seized everything, keeping it in their possession until today, some two weeks later.

The car was fully insured, thankfully. Now we’re learning patience as we deal with Bulgarian insurance. That’s another story in itself that I really don’t want to get into. Suffice it to say, it looks like it will be a while before final approval of our claim, and then a while longer before payment. The police haven’t even completed their investigation to turn the results over to the insurance company. In the meantime, we have Bro. Matt’s station wagon at our disposal until his return. And we’re practicing close communion cramming all four children in the backseat.

You know, in spite of all that, we’re the most blessed family in the country. The Sunday prior to the theft, while praying, the Lord’s words to Jeremiah came to my heart, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” I called, and a few days later, someone stole our car. It might sound strange, but the theft never troubled me. That morning it came to my mind, “Now the Lord will do something great and mighty.” If all He does is grant peace of mind, then that’s great and mighty enough for me, but He’ll do more still. I bless His wonderful name. No Presbyterian’s going to do my shouting for me.

Saving the best for last, and providing another opportunity to praise the Lord (if you’ve missed the last several): when all was said and done, over eighty-four tons of flour was distributed this year. We began on March 5th and wrapped up on April 2nd. We distributed the flour in fifty villages, to as many people as we had the means to. Every family received one hundred pounds of flour and five liters of oil. Isn’t that good? Reminds me of the widow of Zarephath, who in the middle of a catastrophe worse than COVID, was fixing her last supper when right on time, here comes Elijah. Before sunset she had an unfailing barrel of meal and cruse of oil to see her through hard times. Better than that, she had a welcomed guest in God’s word residing in her home. Her little boy grew strong eating cakes cooked by mama, provided by God, while listening to preaching. Can you tell me anything better than that? We have a bunch of gypsies in the poorest country in the EU, living off manna from heaven, singing the songs of Zion, telling friends and neighbors that God’s done it again!

Pray for us. Hannah, Derrick, and Dixie Joy are returning to the states for a month to participate in Hannah’s twin sister’s wedding. Pray for their safe travel and soon return. Pray for us boys here. Pray for the work. Things are opening back up, and we’re excited to return to a regular schedule until the next pandemic.

We love you all, and miss you dearly.

Because of a living Savior,  The William LeFevre Family 
  www.facebook.com/bulgarianlefevres

 

 

 

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends, April 2021

“And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:” (Genesis 45:27)

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. I thank God for His continued care and support for us in this ministry. It's been over twenty-six years since we first came to the mission field. The Lord loves Bulgaria. He has proven this to us time and again. Every need has been supplied, and he has faithfully blessed the preaching of his word.

This month we finished the annual flour and oil distribution here. Because of all the restrictions about public meetings, it was difficult for the pastors to meet with all of their churches. We have tried to exercise wisdom and caution in all of our meetings. Most of the churches had not had regular services in many months. Nevertheless, in most of these villages the believers continued to meet together and worship in smaller groups in their homes. As we began distributing flour it soon became evident that the number of believers in the churches had not diminished in the least, but had actually increased! We actually distributed more flour this year than we did last year - over eighty tons, feeding fifteen hundred families. Fear of the pandemic gripped the world, the government forbade public gatherings, pastors were not able to do their work, but God gave the increase!

As we travelled from village to village with the truck carrying fifteen tons of flour, the believers came out of their homes, not rushing to the flour, but to see us. What a blessing it was to see all of these precious people again! They rejoiced greatly to see us, and like Jacob of old, rejoiced to see the wagons full of God's provisions. The leader of another local charity which had sent relief to the poor in Bulgaria recently told one of our pastors, "We've tried to help people, but we just can't do it like you all do. How do you manage to reach so many people?" Our pastor responded, "It's not us, it's our God that does it".

Our family has arrived in the states for a furlough this year. Isaac is turning eighteen, and is finishing high school. Please pray for him as he seeks the Lord's perfect will for his life. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can, and visiting each supporting church. My phone number is (629) 999-0843.

Please pray for us, and pray for our churches in Bulgaria.

In Christ,
Zachary LeFevre

 

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For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake:

because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. I Samuel 12:22


March 2021

In the day that we are living in, it is a joy to know that no matter what we endure or encounter we are promised that God will be with us. We are still dealing with restrictions due to Covid-19 here in Bulgaria, and I am sure where each of you are, you are still feeling the effects of the virus. Here we are almost a year later, and I am sure none of us expected to still be discussing this topic, but even though this is still hindering us; God is with us; we are still his people and he is still on the throne.

We as a family are doing well and are thankful for God’s hand and blessings on our life. We recently moved to a new house here in Shumen. We had been in a two-bedroom apartment. It was nice, but smaller than what we wanted. Our desire is to be able to have room for people to visit, which really was not possible in our previous place. Now we have room for visiting pastors and visiting grandchildren. Kylie is doing well with home school, and Tracy and I are both learning to speak a little more Bulgarian and Turkish each day.

The work here is opening a little more each month. I write this entering into March, and we are seeing more of the villages opening back up and for this we are grateful. We will begin in the first week of this month with our yearly flour and oil distribution. We received the oil last week and will be getting the first truckloads of flour this week. With the tough economic times, due to a lot of business closures due to Covid-19, this will be especially needed this year. We thank God for each individual and church who have given faithfully to this yearly blessing to the church. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10

We are praying that as we head into Spring that things will open for us to have complete liberty with our travel from village to village. Now it may be that we must adapt to a new normal, and we will I am sure learn to live with that. I am thankful that God is in not any way hindered and that the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. Our desire is also that travel opens back up for people to visit and see what God is doing here among these dear people. We encourage anyone who would like to visit to contact us. I promise you that if you have never been to a foreign field, doing so will change you in a way that you cannot even imagine.


Please continue to pray for us and our family. Our parents need your prayers as they are dealing with health issues. My father is recovering from the Corona Virus after a lengthy stay in the hospital and rehab, and Tracy’s mother is currently in the hospital battling liver disease. We thank God for his hand on their lives and appreciate your prayers on their behalf.

I was delayed in finishing this letter due to a couple circumstances. As I stated in the previous paragraph Tracy’s mother has been battling liver disease. On March 14th she went on to be with her Lord. Thank you so much for your prayers for her, and please continue to pray for the family during this time. Tracy and Kylie went back to the states to help be with her mother as they called hospice in to help with her. She arrived at three o’clock on the 14th and her mother passed away a couple of minutes before midnight. We are grateful that she was able to make it back to see her before she passed. Please pray for Tracy as she handles her mother’s affairs and will return here as soon as she can.

I am also including a few pictures of this year’s flour and oil distribution that took place during the delay of sending this letter.
 

A picture containing snow, outdoor, clothes

Description automatically generatedA group of people in a room

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Our oldest church member at 100 years’ old.

We thank God for meeting our needs and for the faithfulness of his people. We are so grateful that as we moved from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished house that God’s people gave and supplied for that need. I am also amazed how God spoke to hearts to do this essentially without my help. I have a good God!

May God bless each of you richly, and I pray that God grants you good health and grace each day.

God bless you all. The Blalocks 
 www.facebook.com/Blalocks2bulgaria    blalockstobulgaria@gmail.com

 

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January – February 2021

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

I hope this letter finds you all well in the Lord. We want to thank you all for your prayers and support. It has been a blessing to see what the Lord has done over the last two months and we are excited to see what He is going to do with us during this furlough.

Good News From Far and Near Countries: Change, relocation, and reverse culture shock left our souls a bit thirsty. Proverbs 25:25 says, “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” We had some great news from two far countries! I guess that equates to a big gulp! The first bit of news came from Peru where my brother has been for several years. Micah is my half-brother, but we hardly know each other because we did not grow up together. He has PTSD from his time serving as a sniper in the Army Rangers. He did three or four tours and his life fell to pieces. There is not enough space in this letter for all the details. Micah and I came in contact with each other five or six years ago through the internet. He battles alcoholism and didn’t really believe in God. Our exchanges were… “interesting.” In short, he was trying to “take it like a man” and “pay for his own sins.” I searched for a missionary nearby that could help him. Pastor Bevans Welder told me of a missionary in Peru named Joe Hembrough who himself is a veteran. He began talking with Micah and was able to put him in contact with a national pastor who gave him some work. Everyone prayed. Brother Hembrough and I spoke about how to help Micah, seeing he really needed help of every kind, but of first importance was salvation. Brother Joe told me his opinion… “He’s either going to self-destruct and die or find God.” I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear from Micah in late December. He called to tell me that alone, homeless, during a downpour, on his knees in the cold and mud he prayed and received Christ! He said that as he was agonizing with the Lord in prayer, that the Lord put a blanket of warmth around him. He said, “He hugged me and made me warm…literally!” Please pray for him. I am going to try to get down there to Peru if the Lord allows and help him get back to the USA where he can get into a church and get some help.


A year ago I mentioned one visitor who came to our services while we were broadcasting during the quarantine. Her name is Xenia, a close friend of Sister Sveta who trusted Christ about two years ago. Sveta has been praying and witnessing to Xenia ever since she got saved. She came to church just that one time and listened closely to the message during quarantine but didn’t receive Christ. Here we are a year later and the Lord has answered our prayers and Xenia came to church again. Brother Aleksei told me that she responded to the invitation to receive Christ a few Sundays ago!
We are also thankful to see fruit here in the USA. Pastor Greer of Branch Hill Baptist Church gave me the opportunity to preach while he was out of town. It was my privilege to see a young man respond to the invitation for salvation that morning. I fully realize that he came ready to be saved due to the prayers and personal work of Pastor Greer and his people. However, it really did my heart good to see someone “walk the aisles” and gives me hope that this is a foretaste of what is to come while here on furlough.


The Lord has added more reasons to rejoice seeing my younger sons getting a burden for their new friends here in the neighborhood where we live. Christopher asked me to teach him how to win people to Christ and has been listening very well and memorizing Scripture. All my younger sons have been praying every night for their friends to get saved. Please join them in prayer for Uriah, Noah, Malachi, and Jacob.

The Rest of the News: The majority of our time since landing has been spent just trying to acclimate to the USA again and stabilize. Housing, transportation, insurance, delays due to Covid, driver’s licenses, etc… have taken a lot of time. Getting my office and our home school up and running took more time than expected in this Covid atmosphere. Helping my teenagers transition to American life was not something I thought about when I surrendered to the call of being a missionary. It is as if all the things teenagers do during their high school years in America have landed on us all at one time! We are very thankful that Miriam has already found work. The Lord has brought her through some things and she has gotten to the place where she wants to serve the Lord in Ukraine. A year ago she told the Lord, “Anywhere BUT Ukraine.” She is teaching English to foreign students with an online company and wants to be self-supporting by the time we return to Ukraine. Benjamin and Samuel are still looking for work which is hard seeing they still don’t have their driver’s licenses. We couldn’t afford sending them both to driving school so I have been taking the time to teach them myself. They are very close to being ready to take the test and I’ll be close to needing medication of some kind!

Meetings: The Lord has given me plenty of opportunities to preach even though our ministry presentation is not yet ready. There are literally thousands of pictures to wade through and a lot of blessings to catalog and figure out what stays and what goes! Lord willing, it will be ready very soon. Please pray that the Lord will bless the presentation to be a blessing to the saints.


I have begun scheduling meetings and look forward to seeing you all sometime soon. Please contact me if you would like to schedule a specific date. My number is (513) 376-1011. If not, you should be hearing from me in the near future!

Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!

That Ukraine May Know Him,

Christopher Rue Phil. 3:10

 

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January – February 2021

 

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23

 

Dear Pastors, Churches and Saints,

 

We send greetings from all the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in Bulgaria and Romania. We also thank the Lord for your fellowship in the gospel and your faithful support of our Lord's work here.

 

In January I returned home to America. My brother Kevin had a cancerous tumor in his throat and he received proton therapy this past January and February. He is doing better now. He also wanted me to thank everyone for their prayers, and praise God for all He has done and His presence through it all. Kevin was in the hospital for 40 days, and no one was allowed to visit him due to the Covid-19 restrictions. But praise God, the Lord is not hindered by their rules and went right in with him and never left the whole time, then went home with him. We praise and thank God Kevin is doing better.

 

 

We are also thankful that on February 11th my daughter Sarah & son-in-law Tyler became the proud parents of Luke Taylor and Arabella Grace Lyon. They are beautiful and our prayer for them is that they would get saved at an early age, and that they would be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

 

In Bulgaria we started distributing flour and oil to the families in our churches. Every year the Lord has made it possible for us to give each family a 110lb bag of flour and over a gallon of cooking oil. It couldn’t have come at a better time this year, because of all the sickness and restrictions. I can’t stress how much some of these people need and appreciate these provisions. We tell them that it’s from the Lord and that God used His people in America to provide it to them. They praise God for the food and are thankful for you all.

 

 

 

There is also one other prayer request we have and that’s for Robbie Carr. He is from our church in Tennessee and was accidentally shot in the elbow and is mending slowly. God has really used him, and God’s hand is upon him. Please keep Robbie in your prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All because of Calvary,  Matthew Welch and family

 

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Dear Praying Brothers and Sisters, February 2021

Urgent EVANGELIZATION Requests:

* February 13th-21st: The Ukrainian International Commission team of seven and myself travel to Vollinsky Region along Ukraine’s borders with Belarus and Poland. Pray the Lord will stir up and challenge his children in ~15 small Churches. Pray especially for Holy Ghost conviction as we explain the Gospel of Christ during in-home visits!

* Feb. 22nd- March 1st: I travel on to Chernovitsky Region to help four churches make house to house visits. They’ve been praying fervently since the summer, while being hindered by COVID outbreaks. Pray for God to work in lost hearts.

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January 8th-19th: When I travelled to Eastern Ukraine, the Lord answered your prayers working on hearts along Ukraine’s front lines 5-25 miles from the war torn city of Donetsk. Due to quarantine our meetings in all eight towns were smaller groups from 15 to 40 people. The Lord challenged over 150 saints to fervently serve one another and the lost through personal testimonies as well as gospel tracts. It was also a great blessing to preach to and answer five men’s questions at the rehabilitation center. Most visits were not one on one, but instead varied in size from 3 to 15 people per group. Each opportunity differed from six young soccer players to 12 young children who come weekly for VBS followed by a bowl of soup. At the two adult feeding centers, 10 and 15 people listened attentively as I illustrated what the gospel can do for each of us. Even taught four small groups of English students taking the final 20 minutes to explain the gospel in both English and Russian using the EVANGECUBE to clearly demonstrate what “repenting and believing the gospel” of Christ means through the captivating pictures of the Cube. Testified at a birthday party where a half drunken coal miner came away with a new opinion about true Christianity. The Lord blessed as two souls received Christ and over 85 lost souls heard the gospel. The greatest news a soul can ever hear!!!

Regional Men’s Conference: After I spoke, many pastors took our testimonial gospel tracts and prayer brochures to get their members praying earnestly for lost loved ones, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
The Lord has opened up doors to preach and challenge local churches about each members’ part in fulfilling Christ’s great commission.
Odessa International Fellowship invited me to encourage their international students in English. Pray for their growth and establishment as a church and for their outreach to Hindi Indians and Muslims!

Lakeside Baptist Church is doing very well and boldly distributed all 8,000+ Evangelistic Calendars in 11 different villages by January 4th. Pray the lost will read the daily devotions and believe on Christ for salvation.
• Held a Christmas VBS on January 7th (the Orthodox Christmas) for over 50 lost children and many parents.
• Faithful Sister Riya passed into glory as her aged cancer-ridden body gave out after her family contracted COVID.
• Over 65,000 calendar tracts and 85,000 testimonial tracts went out in January. Back to the PRINTERS
• In Sherbanka where L.B. Church has passed out calendars for over 5 years. God burdened a local to go back to his hometown and plant a Church. Pray for Brother Victor, their Sunday School classes and services in Sherbanka!

Prayer Requests:
1) Feruza - from Uzbekistan is a Russian speaking Muslim in Cincinnati, Ohio. Oksana and I have been explaining the plan of Salvation to her. I was able to send her audio explanations over VIBER. We know she listened to them, because she came back with questions! PLEASE pray God will reveal Christ to her, so she will understand in whom she must believe!
2) Continue to pray for two unsaved visitors at Lakeside Baptist Church - Eugene and Dennis.
3) Pray for David’s Salvation and for direction for Elisabeth’s future.
4) Praying about our upcoming furlough starting in June of 2021.
5) Upcoming Invitations to speak are in Harkov Kiev, Sumskoy region, and Chernigovsky region.

*** In Ukraine: Praising the Lord for our whole family (in laws and all) got through COVID without going to the hospital!
*** In the US: My 86 year old mother (with COPD) along with my sister and brother also recovered quickly from the virus.

Gratefully yours for souls,

Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth & David Maher - Missionaries to Ukraine and the Russian speaking multitudes

*** Send ALL CORRESPONDENCE to: Berean Baptist Church, 24241 Stateline Rd., Lawrenceburg, IN 47021

 

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Dear Churches and Praying Friends;                          January 2021

"O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart." (Psalms 36:10)

With joy in the Lord we greet this new year. Our hope is in Him and His word. The future is as bright as the promises of God. The King of Saints is just and true. He's still on the throne, so what could be wrong? Our prayer is that the Lord would continue to reveal his lovingkindness to his children this year.

Last year was difficult for many of us here. Although we are a small country, Bulgaria is reported to be tenth in the world with Covid deaths per million. In November the local hospitals were overrun. Looking back, we can see the Lord's mercy. Many of our people were sick, but most of them have recovered. I suffered from the virus symptoms for a week or so; Verity remained weak for over a month. Our local church and missionary friends proved their love for us during that time by ministering to our needs. Other believers here have testified about how much their church did for them. We know it was our father that put it in their hearts to show such lovingkindness. After our recovery we have been able to minister to others.

The restrictions here have prevented us from visiting the village churches. For the first time in twenty-five years we have only had one church service per week, and that was usually in our own house. The local pastors have been able to meet with the village churches, though. Everywhere here people are longing for the opportunity to meet together again. Christ loved the church. We love the church. Our people here love the church. The Lord indeed is in our midst, even when there's just two or three meeting together.

And in these difficult days we have seen some unbelievers who, finding themselves in need of the mercy of God, have reached out to us. The national pastors here have preached and testified on social media and received a great response.

Praise the Lord who doeth all things well!

In Christ, Zachary LeFevre
 

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Dear Praying Friends and Family, November – December 2020

I hope this letter finds you all well in the Lord and overcoming the spirit of this world by the Spirit of God. We want to thank each and every one of you for your continued prayer and support in the work God has called us to do in Ukraine. Words cannot express how thankful and humbled we feel after receiving the cards, gifts, and extra love offerings for the holidays. We were able to help some Ukrainian brothers and sisters in need and my kids send their cheerful gratitude!

November: It was a busy month for us both personally and ministerially. It was mainly used preparing for our departure to the US. By God’s grace, we maintained our ministry and homeschool schedule while packing and setting things in order. There was a lot of time needed to arrange for housing and a vehicle in the US as well. We had to change strategies for our door- to-door, soul-winning campaign due the government extending the quarantine into 2021. Instead, we had a month of soul winning classes for those who had not yet been trained to lead someone to Christ, as well as for those who wanted a refresher course. The resulting testimonies of those who went everywhere witnessing were a blessing. The Lord gave me an opportunity to witness to the mother of one of our members for about three hours. We have been praying for her for several years. She did not receive Christ at that time, but it is obvious that she is very close. It was also an encouragement to see that those who were saved over the past several months have been growing and attending church regularly. Our last Sunday in Ukraine was a day filled with fellowship, tears, prayers, and farewells. We are comforted by the Lord that the work is being overseen by my assistant, Aleksei Kalinin. The church also recently voted on our next deacon, Brother Andrew Bondarchuk, after our last one left to pastor another church. These men, along with Aleksei’s brother, Victor, are doing a great job leading the work.

December: The month began with the long drive to Kiev to depart the airport there instead of Odessa. We were praying and hoping that their more relaxed passport agents would not give us a hard time over my son’s expired registration. Thank you for praying. All went well. It was one of the most boring flights we’ve ever had! No threats, detainment, or searches! Blessedly boring! There were a lot less people on the plane which meant better service, shorter lines, etc…

My driver’s license had been expired since January of 2020. We spent a lot of time trying to get it renewed from Ukraine with no success because of the Covid shutdown. I immediately went to the DMV upon arrival and waited for hours only to be told that the day before was the last day that I could have renewed. I had to start all over like a teenager. I breathed a sigh of relief after passing the test for my temps, then another after taking the driving test. I wasn’t confident that the driving skills I had acquired in Ukraine would help!
We are so thankful to finally get to see family again. We had a family get-together during the holidays where I was able to preach and witness to family members who have not yet believed on Christ for salvation.

Furlough and Future: There are several reasons why we decided to take a furlough at this time. First, we have been praying specifically about this and the Lord answered our prayers. Next, it has been over six years since our last furlough and several pastors have been asking me to come and meet their congregations again because of so many new members. Another reason was because it was the best time to take a furlough before entering into the next phase of our ministry. After years of preparation and prayer we will be finally working to establish a church in the city of Odessa where we have lived and witnessed for years. We have been patiently waiting on the Lord’s timing to make this move and we are excited to begin. Once we put our hand to the plow, so to speak, we will need to work without interruption for a good long time, or until the Lord comes! Last but not least, we have children who have grown up and need some help transitioning to American life.

Prayer Requests: The tasks at hand and ahead are too much for me to figure out alone. We need God! We need prayer! Please pray for:
• The Lord’s continued blessing and protection on the work in Ukraine.
• Our family to get settled (housing, vehicles, driver’s licenses, insurance, bank accounts, telephones, etc…)
• Our children’s continued education and employment.
• God’s blessings in preparing our ministry presentation.
• God’s direction in scheduling meetings with our supporting churches to give an update on our ministry.
• God’s leading in scheduling meetings with new churches to replace support that was lost over the last six years.
• God’s timing in returning to Ukraine.

We are looking forward to seeing you all and spending some time with the saints and especially the pastors. I plan to begin scheduling meetings soon. If you would like to contact me my US phone number is 513-376-1011.

Thank you for all that you do for the Lord, giving us the privilege to serve Him in Ukraine. Until our next prayer letter or our meeting in the air!

That Ukraine May Know Him, Christopher Rue Phil. 3:10

 

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November - December 2020

Charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. Esther 4:8

Dear Pastors, Churches and Fellow Saints,

We are writing to you with thanks in our hearts and trusting in the promises of God who has faithfully met with us. Since March we have been limited in what we could do concerning church services because of the Covid sickness. We have been able to visit some of the brethren, who have been a real blessing. Especially because of God's promise of..."where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”. Matthew 18:20

In the book of Esther the name of God is not found. Yet in the same book is God's protection and providence well observed and documented. I'm sure it was difficult for Esther to go through these trials, but because of these dangers namely Haman's hatred for her people, she was charged by God's servant Mordecai to ..."go in unto the king"..."make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people..." Esther 4:8

In the midst of these troubling times where God is not mentioned nor considered, may we be encouraged and strengthened by one another to go to the king (Jesus) Hebrews 4:17, to make supplication unto him 1 Timothy 2:1 and to make request before him for people. Philippians 4:6 As God turned the tables on Haman who wanted to persecute and destroy God's people, God will fight for us that we may have the victory in him. It is also encouraging to ponder the other words of Mordecai who said to Esther "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” In other words, God had you in the place where you could go unto the King, and through the King, obtain deliverance for God's people. By the end of the story God's people were blessed with light, gladness, joy and honor. They celebrated it with a feast and a good day. Esther 8:16-17 May we be encouraged in these perilous days, 2nd Timothy 3:1 by embracing the promises of God and the knowledge that we are here, that we may be a light and a witness of his saving power.

I'm also thankful to write that Malco (the man whose house burned down) was able to move back into his house. He had been living with his family about an hour away, and he was very happy to get back to his own home. He wanted me to thank everyone that contributed to rebuilding his house, and wanted to praise God for all he had done and for the love God showed him through his people.

I would also ask everyone to please pray for my brother Kevin, he is very ill and would appreciate your prayers. Also, my daughter Sarah and my son-in-law Tyler Lyon are expecting twins in the beginning of March. I know they covet your prayers for their family. May God richly bless all of you. Thank you for your prayers and help.

All because of Calvary, Matthew Welch and family

 

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December 2020 news letter.

Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,

As we reflect over the events of the past year, it made me think of the 44 years of preaching and our ministry. I have never seen a year like this past year. Covid took our economy down, shut our schools down and literally brought the evangelization of the churches almost to a stand-still. These events have caused all of us to reflect, to search our hearts, to pray and seek the Lord. Little did I know in January of last year that I would not be returning to this country for some time. Life is delicate and not to be taken for granted!

I was able to make a trip to a Hispanic speaking country in December as this year was drawing to a close. Upon our arrival we were harassed and had to answer many questions, then spent a long time waiting as they searched our suitcases. It reminded me of old times! We were also tested for Covid before we went through the immigration line. Man, were they persistent with that swab! I stood there with tears from the aggravation of the test as I was interviewed!

We had to spend all week quarantined in the house with the nationals who picked us up. However, it was a time for us to encourage one another, with time that we have never had in our trips in the past. In a normal week, we are always on the go, either in Bible Institutes or traveling and seeing the work. We were still able to accomplish our first objective for making this trip. Thank the Lord we have not lost any of our people to Covid there. We are planning another trip in February, as we try to catch up for lost time.

It is sad, but one of our key preachers in Panama died from Covid. I preached for him last year, and he took me out to eat after the Sunday service. Pray for his family. He was in his 60’s.

Thanks to all the churches for your faithfulness to the cause of evangelizing every creature before the Lord returns. We must not lose sight of reaching the lost at any cost!

Joyfully Yours, Farren Caeble

 

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Dear Praying Brothers and Sisters,    November-December 2020

 

November 8-12th I made a survey trip to Eastern Ukraine along our Ukrainian front lines 20-25 miles from the war torn city of Donetsk. I was blessed to be able to preach in six different towns. Five of the meetings were in small Churches started since the war began in 2014. Some of these towns were originally occupied, but the Ukrainian Army freed them from Occupation. All six of these Churches were started by a young man named Igor who came to work with us back in 1998. My partner Paul Gray and I and ordained Igor, and then I married him and his wife Faith in 1999. When they were just getting started in ministry, we helped them start a Church in a town two hours north of Lakeside Baptist which is still serving the Lord today with their own local Pastor. In 2006 they moved back to Mirnograd in the Donetsk Region to start a Church in their home town and Praise the Lord now it has grown to 6 small Churches. They also bought a house in a village and converted it into a Rehabilitation Center for rehabilitating up to 10 Alcoholics and/or Drug Addicts. Presently they have five addicts with whom I spoke one evening while I was there.

 

January 8-18th: Lord Willing! I will be returning to make Evangelistic visits with Igor in those six towns and will be making house to house visits in two new towns with another local preacher, Brother Michael. Please pray the Holy Ghost will convict souls of their need for Christ. We really do covet your prayers for the Holy Spirit to convict the lost souls who will be hearing the Gospel.

 

October’s Armenia trip was cancelled due to border disputes which led to a war breaking out between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the end of September. The war ended with Armenia losing control of some of its territory and suffering some major losses. {Our Missionary friends Tom & Linda Shreeder were able to return back to Armenia already!}
My November trip to Chernovitsky Region was postponed by three Churches experiencing Coronavirus outbreaks.

 

Thanking God for His great mercy as He leads us through our present physical battle with what appears to be COVID. David and Elisabeth both had a slight temperature for only one day and sniffles for two or three days. Oksana and I both lost our smell and coughed for 10 days- now we are coughing only a few times a day and our smell has returned. Our real concern has been for Oksana’s parents Valeriy and Ludmilla who already have high blood pressure, heart problems and Ludmilla has diabetes. Please pray that they will beat this virus without needing to go to the overcrowded hospitals.

 

Since we moved from Kiev to Odessa, we’ve been able to encourage and help Lakeside Baptist Church. BUT I’ve been praying for some new open doors to work with both the local and the Odessa regional Churches. Praise the Lord! I will be preaching in a Church on December 20th and was invited to speak briefly on Soul-winning and using Gospel tracts at a regional Men’s Conference, December 12th and also at a Couples Conference Dec. 19th.

 

Please Pray the Lord will stir these Couples and these Pastors to get their members praying earnestly for lost loved ones, friends, neighbors and coworkers which is the thrust of our Prayer brochure and to start using Gospel tracts.

 

Throughout both December and January. Lakeside Baptist Church will be almost daily, while traveling to 15+ villages as they distribute the 8,500 Evangelistic Calendars. Pray for the Lord’s boldness as they go to each house and that people would receive the Calendars and believe the Word of God quoted in the daily devotions that they might believe on Christ and be saved.

 

PRINTING MINISTRY of Tracts and Calendars keeps growing: 70,000 4”x 5” Calendar Tracts on card stock, 120,000 Testimonial Tracts, 14,000 “Humbug” Chick tracts and 30,000 of our Evangelistic Door Hanger/Distribution Bags. {Such a blessing to see more and more Burdened Ukrainians calling and writing to request tracts to Evangelize with.}
Prayer Requests:
1) Feruza -is a Russian speaking Muslim in Cincinnati, Ohio. Oksana and I have been explaining the plan of Salvation to her. Pray for her eyes to be opened to receive Christ!
2) Continue to pray for two unsaved visitors at Lakeside B. Ch.- Eugene (wife has prayed for him 10 years) & Dennis.
3) Pray for some of our aged saints at Lakeside Baptist Church who have contracted COVID that they will recover fully.
4) Pray for David’s Salvation and for direction for Elisabeth’s future.
5) Praying about our Upcoming Furlough starting in July of 2020.

***PLEASE SEND CORRESPONDENCE to:
Berean Baptist Church, 24241 Stateliness Road, Lawrenceburg, IN 47021
Gratefully yours for souls,
Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher
Your Missionaries to Ukraine and the Russian Speaking Multitudes

 

 

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November 2020

Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God will never leave us or forsake us. This is a biblical truth that most believers over their lifetime find to be true. Some days get dark and the road long and wearisome, but we find God faithful through it all. I think it is safe to say that most of us are feeling that the year 2020 has been one to test our faith and resolve. I can say without a doubt however that God has truly been with us this entire year, He is faithful.

Things here in Bulgaria have been interesting to say the least. Covid-19 has certainly influenced our lives and the ministry. In October we began to return to a lot of our villages and the meetings were spirit filled and the people so thankful for the church. However, the virus increased during this time and many lives were affected by it. Our family was directly affected as all three of us contracted the virus. This was a difficult time for us, as me and Kylie had mild cases and recovered quickly, but Tracy developed Bilateral Pneumonia and ended up in the Shumen Hospital for ten days. This was a trying time, but also a time for Tracy to be able to be a blessing. By divine appointment, Tracy was put into a room with a 74-year-old Turkish lady. Tracy enjoyed sharing tracts with her and was able to give her one of our hymn books and a Turkish Bible. It was a blessing to see the pictures of her reading the tracts and the hymns that our believers sing in our meetings. Please pray for Reni as she recovers and pray that God would touch her heart. At the writing of this letter Tracy has been home for three days and is in quarantine for two weeks. She still has a trace of Pneumonia and please pray for her as she continues to recuperate.

The work here has been greatly affected by the pandemic. We ask that you pray specifically for God’s guidance and for him to give us wisdom on how to proceed in the difficult days that we are experiencing. Our heart is to be in the village and going to meetings daily. We however want to be wise and thoughtful of the health of all involved. We have seen firsthand the seriousness of Covid-19 not only in our own lives, but also in the lives of national pastors and fellow missionaries. We are thankful that God has brought everyone through these times, but it is exceedingly difficult to have a loved one in the hospital and not able to see them. God gives grace and that is for sure during these times, God is good.

We have a couple things that we need you to pray about. First, we have our visa’s needing to be renewed in December. This virus has thrown us a curve as we are behind in the process and cannot do much more toward this until after Tracy’s quarantine is over on the 26th of November. Please pray that we can get everything done in a timely manner. Also, pray that if we are late in getting it done that they will show grace and not impose too strict a fine. God knows our situation and we trust him to help us. Secondly, pray for God’s help as we look to move from our apartment to a house here in Shumen. We will be moving into a larger place that will make it possible for us to have room for visitors and family to come over and visit. We also are beginning to prepare for Christmas and the holidays. Last year we gave out around 200 gift bags in the villages where we minister. We would like to do that again this year. At this time, we don’t know if we will be able to do so or if we will be restricted due to the virus. We also do not know how this will affect our yearly flour and oil distribution later this winter. Please pray about these things.

I will close by saying, God has been good and certainly faithful. Please keep us in your prayers and the people here as we pray for you there. With the uncertainty of the elections and the virus we have a lot to pray about, but we have a God who hears.

God bless you all. The Blalocks

 

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And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

 

Dear Pastors, Churches and Fellow Saints,           July-August 2020

 

Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:2) Now is definitely a time when this world needs a clear witness. May God give us boldness to be witnesses of what God has done for us and to us: to preach the gospel and to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God; and that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

It has been very different for many months now because of all the restrictions from this sickness. We have not been able to meet with the churches, but God has still met with all of us. These measures have put a real longing and appreciation for the freedom to come together. Hopefully this will pass soon.

 

We were able to put a roof on the home one of our believers, that burned down in February. Brother Malcho was so thankful. Many of the missionaries and national pastors came together to help, which was a real blessing to be together and to see God work.

We covet your prayers for the work here. We were surprised by this sickness and the measures that have been taken to slow it down. Thankfully we have not contracted the virus. Many of our dear friends have it, and our hearts and prayers are for the ones that have been affected by it. May God bring them through this and restore their strength.

 

Even though there are many restrictions we are thankful God is bringing us through this time. We believe that God has brought us here for "such a time as this" to be a witness for Him.

 

All because of Calvary,  Matthew Welch and family

 

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October 2020

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:15-16

Our praying friends and family in the Lord,

Colossians chapter three is one of those passages where, if you’re not careful, you’ll extract the “dos and don’ts” and miss the “who and why.” How anyone can overlook the resurrected and reigning Christ and His redemptive work is a mystery, but there are those who manage. In chapter three we’re commanded, as resurrected beings, to look and to long for heavenly things. Only those souls who’ve passed from death unto life, by virtue of the second birth, are free to rise unfettered, victorious over the world and its pull. The resurrection not only frees us from things, but frees us to things as well. Being freed from the service of external and internal sin, we’re at liberty to love and serve one another. Looking to and loving the living Christ benefits the whole world, beginning at home.


Tucked right in the middle of this passage are the means for mastering our mess (if you like alliteration): the peace of God and the word of Christ. They are contingent upon one another: Peace can’t rule where the word doesn’t dwell, and the word only dwells in those who dwell in it. To put it another way, get your head in the heavens and make the word your foundation, and you’ll find out that come what may, it’ll be alright. You can face a frowning world with the smile of God’s favor. One more thing on a tangential note - if 2020 hasn’t yet incentivized you to get a hold of Heaven and find some comfort, just wait ‘til 2021.

What an introduction to a prayer letter! Hello from Bulgaria. It’s been quite a while since I’ve sent out an update, though we try and post regularly on our Facebook page “The LeFevres in Bulgaria.” We’ve been back just shy of two months, returning on the sixteenth of August. Our return trip, though uneventful, was nevertheless surreal. Having traveled extensively prior to the global pandemic, we were taken aback by the “new normal”: a sea of highly regulated masked faces, herded onto half-filled planes, providing minimal service. The flights passed quickly, and we were in Bulgaria in record time. Upon arrival, seeing as how America is listed as a hotbed for COVID activity, we were given the option of quarantining or testing. We opted to take the test. Thank the Lord all of us tested negative for the virus, though some of us tested positive for meanness.

Bulgaria, like most everywhere else, has mandatory mask laws, social distancing requirements, and crowd limitations. And like most everywhere else, the general population doesn’t seem to bother: Masks are worn as chin straps; distance is ignored as someone might cut in line, and very few places have ever been filled to capacity. And yet, what is the one type of gathering that draws the most scrutiny? Evangelical meetings. Bulgaria has had almost ninety straight days of mass protests against government corruption. Yet who makes the news for perpetuating the spread of corona? A church in Plovdiv. As such, the meetings have been kept very low key. The national pastors continue to minister circumspectly, endeavoring to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” The weekly American meeting has resumed, as well.

In spite of COVID, or perhaps because of it, people seem hungrier for heavenly things. Those souls that brave meeting, leave with full and grateful hearts, appreciating more what they missed. Pastor Alish testified about a particular village church he’d almost given up on a year ago. He said that when they saw him, they asked if he was coming for church. He said, “If you all want church, I’ll come back next week.” They responded, “What’s wrong with right now?” In no time, a small crowd gathered, and they had a real meeting. In the village here, Hannah and her mother went to sing for a widow woman and her daughter. The man of the house lived and died an atheist, but his loved ones are seeking for something more. Brother Mitko said that everywhere the virus has taken its toll, not on people’s health so much, but on their finances and livelihood, and has them looking for something not subject to change. Praise the Lord we have the answer in our unchanging God and His eternal word


All the family fares well, and everyone sends you their greetings. All of our existing visas are secure, so no worries there. We’re working on getting Derrick his visa. Remember us in your prayers. Remember the ministry.

Love y’all

Because of a living Savior, The William LeFevre Family
  www.facebook.com/bulgarianlefevres

 

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Dear Pastors, Friends, and Churches, June - August, 2020

Who would have dreamed that the COVID-19 virus would have lasted this long? We have had several of our national pastors and fellow laborers to contract the virus. It is with sadness that I inform you that one of our pastors in Panama died from complications caused by the virus. I preached for him last year in his church and he took me out to eat afterward. Pray for his family and also for the church family. Even on the Amazon, a pastor and his family fell ill to the virus. In Bolivia, a pastors’ associate and his wife got sick due to COVID-19!

We know all this was prophesied in the Bible. In Matthew 24:7, Jesus said in the last days, “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places”. The 1828 dictionary describes “pestilences” as follows: any contagious or infectious disease that is epidemic and mortal. That is a thorough description of COVID-19!


 
      


Due to current travel restrictions I have included several older Hispanic church meeting pictures we’ve attended while on the field. The airports were supposed to open up in the beginning of August, but that did not happen. However, we were able to get some support to them in the spring to help out until we can travel again. We will make a couple of quick trips to get their support to them as soon as the airports reopen.
In August we returned from our annual conferences in West Virginia. Obviously, we were not able to bring in men from international countries to these meetings. Brother Ron Cole, Brother Humberto Gomez and myself preached and showed videos to cover the conferences. We also closed out our conference in Hickory, NC. We had great services in all these meetings. However, several churches had to cancel their services, but the videos were made available online. What a weird year that we all have experienced! I am glad the Lord knows all about this and it did not take Him by surprise. He knows where we are!

Joyfully Yours, Farren Caeble 1 Sam. 12:24
 
 

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Greetings in the Precious Name of Jesus Christ,                                                              July 2020

From February 29- March 8th in the Chernovitsky Region: The International Commission Romanian team of eight Romanians and myself made in-home visits in Romanian speaking villages located along the Ukrainian/Romanian border.  
I had the opportunity to present the gospel to over 100 Russian speaking lost souls in small group settings during the week.  Praise the Lord, I saw two receive Christ during the visits!  We finished up the week with a Sunday afternoon evangelization.  Over 130 lost people came out to hear the Gospel and a 20-year-old lady came forward and prayed.  It was a great week and you could see the Holy Ghost convicting souls in answer to your prayers.  When I preached and challenged the church in the Sunday AM service, God stirred them, and every member took a packet of tracts and a special praying brochure to begin praying earnestly for their lost loved ones, friends, neighbors and coworkers.  As soon as our Evangelization ended, the region was put under quarantine, due to the first case of COVID-19.  A month later, the Pastor I worked with came down with COVID-19 and fought it through with two weeks of high temperatures.  In March: Just before the National quarantine, the Lord opened up a great opportunity to testify at the European conference of Russian speaking churches of Europe which was held near Hannover, Germany.  It is amazing how many new Russian speaking churches are being planted all over Europe as Ukrainians and other Russian speakers travel to almost every country in Europe to seek higher paying jobs or to immigrate altogether.  Since the quarantine:  Sadly to say the COVID-19 quarantine closed everything here and cancelled three Evangelism seminars and all of our I.C. Crusades for Ukraine and even Belarus.  In April, we moved from Kiev to Odessa, Ukraine to work more closely with Lakeside Baptist Church again.

 

Ordination Service on June 28: Brother Slavick Yatskiv was Ordained as the full-time Pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church.

 

We also Ordained Brother Nick Veselkov as Pastor of the Church which he planted in the town of “October”.  Lakeside Baptist sent him out as a Missionary/Church planter in 2004.  (Attempting to remove all former Soviet names, the Government recently renamed his town from “October” to the town of “Peter’s faith”.)

As I was praying about what the Lord would have us do next during this trying COVID-19 time:

1)  Pastor Andrew (just outside of Kiev) invited me to teach his church about Soul-winning and using Gospel tracts.

2)  A fellow Evangelist from Chernovitsky region invited me for an Evangelistic Project to be held in November.

3)  A Pastor from Southern Moldova called to encourage me about some new fruit that finally came to fruition from an I.C. Crusade we held back in 2018.  A husband (who was then backslidden and now finally got right with the Lord) and his wife (who this year finally came to faith in Christ) are both getting baptized in the end of August.

4)  October 1-13th ARMENIA bound - That is Lord willing and the virus doesn’t close the door. The International Commission is planning a crusade of house to house visits in Yerevan, Armenia.  Please pray the Lord will prepare hearts for this trip and use us, not only to witness to the lost, but to disciple and challenge the Christians too!!!

5)  Feruza - a U.S. Muslim (from a -Stan Country) who Oksana befriended back in Cincinnati, Ohio is in great need of prayer.  She seems to be finally ready to receive bible verses - Pray the Lord will work in her heart.

6)  Please pray for two unsaved visitors at Lakeside B.C.- Eugene (whose wife has prayed for him for over 10 years) and Dennis.

Thank you all so much for your faithfulness in both Praying and Supporting us in this very, very unusual time.

Gratefully yours for souls, Richard, Oksana, Elisabeth and David Maher.

Your Missionaries to Ukraine and the Russian speaking Multitudes.

 

 

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“…and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? “(Esther 4:14)

 

After the wicked Haman conspired to destroy God’s people Mordecai made this proclamation to Queen Esther knowing that her life would be at risk to deliver God’s people. We certainly are living in a time for our Country that is perilous and more worrisome than we have ever known. Yet for the Christian our hearts desire should be to be a light in the darkest of times, we have hope, we have a future no matter what comes our way here. God has been so good to us and we have so much to look forward to, for this I praise his name!

 

Since my last letter, we were able to spend some time in the states due to Covid-19. We really enjoyed the time with family and with our church. Usually when we are in the states, we are terribly busy on the road but due to the restrictions we spent more time with our children and grandchildren. We thank God for this blessing of extra time with family that was unexpected. We were able to return to Bulgaria on June 9th and we thank God for safe travels and only a few delays on the way.

 

We returned to Bulgaria with the country still holding to a lot of restrictions. These have hindered us from keeping our normal schedule in the villages. We are thankful to know that while we are not able to go as normal that the faithful are still gathering until we are able to go as usual. We also have been able to have our English church service each week at the home of fellow missionaries. We have seen God move greatly in these services including the salvation of one of our fellow missionaries’ youngest son. We also are grateful for each opportunity he gives us to reach one person at a time as we have handed out many tracts on our evening walks here in Shumen. We also ask you to pray as we cultivate relationships that God has allowed us to begin with individuals here and that we would lead them to a relationship with our Savior. Each month we wait to see if the restrictions will be lifted. I pray that as you read this letter that these will have been lifted.

 

We did have an opportunity to help Brother Matt Welch with a building project. One of our faithful believers this past winter was burned out of his home. Brother Malcho who is in his 80’s greatly desires to get back in his home. Brother Welch made it possible to put a new roof on his house and only needed a little help. We are thankful to be able to help this dear brother and thankful for Brother Welch’s expertise in building projects. It was fun to help.

 

Our family is doing well, and we are so grateful to be back where God has called us. We have just a few things we ask you to pray about. We ask that you pray about Kylie’s Visa situation. Due to travel restrictions for Americans into Romania we are not able to go to the Bulgarian Consulate in Bucharest to continue with her Visa. Please pray about this need. We also ask that you pray about the restrictions to be lifted on the meetings here and that we will be able to reach our churches as we normally would. We also ask that you remember our youngest son Riley as he will be getting married in September, please pray that God would really bless Riley and Christin.

 

In closing, I want to say thank you all for your faithfulness. I know that these are difficult and trying times for churches and I thank God for every church and person who have been faithful to give to missions.

 

May God bless you all.  The Blalocks,

 

www.blalockstobulgaria.com - blalockstobulgaria@gmail.com

 

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Dear Brethren,   August 2020

 

Though we are living in uncertain, precarious days we are held fast by the hands of Almighty God and His omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, and faithfulness have not, and will not be, diminished. Though what we see and hear around us all day everyday are held in suspect, the truth of God changes not. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is still our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. And there is still only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ His Son. Bless His Name!

 

God is still saving lost souls! Our son-in-law, Chris Jackson, trusted Christ as his personal Savior two weeks ago and we continue to rejoice. He’s a good young man, an honest, hard worker... but until recently he didn’t know he had such a deep need for Christ. He asked a lot of questions and listened intently to the preaching, pondering his need for weeks. That Sunday, he couldn’t hold back any longer and found himself drawn to the altar. When he video called us, his face shone brightly with a joy we know only comes from Christ. We shouted and cried for joy ourselves. Our son, who was lost, is now found in Christ!

 

Pastor Ismail and his wife Naziye are faring well, given the circumstances of the day. They had problems with the city septic backing up on their property, but we asked for help from American churches and the need was quickly met. They can once again use their washing machine, wash dishes in the outside sink, use the outhouse... all things we take for granted. Her health is never the best, so please continue to pray for her. She is concerned her yearly bronchitis and breathing issues will put her at risk, either for contracting the virus, or for everyone thinking she has it when she doesn’t. Their younger son in Belgium is battling cancer and this weighs heavily on her heart. Please pray for him as well.

 

Back in January we made plans to go to America in September for our oldest son’s wedding. As has happened to many, our plans were changed. Jonathan will still be getting married, but we will only be able to attend via video chat, and we’re thankful that is an option! We requested our airfare ticket refund a couple months ago, but the major operators are simply not giving them at this time. Our chosen airline has over two billion dollars’ worth of refunds held in limbo... with our three tickets being a part of that. So, we wait, hoping we don’t take a loss.

 

We apologize for the lateness of correspondence. Everything has been so up in the air and unsettled. The ministry here continues, though we work in different ways than before. We appreciate all the faithful prayers and support on our behalf. In the future we hope to move from a paper prayer letter to an emailed one, as this seems more certain in this day than postal systems. To be added to our e-mailing list, please write us at larcarleach@gmail.com.

 

Because He First Loved Me, Brother Larry Leach, Jr.

 

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“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

CHARITY CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES - NORTH INDIA est. 1979

Dear Pastor, Church family and Friends,                                  August 2020

Greetings to you all in Jesus Precious name. So much has changed since we last wrote to you before COVID-19. The whole world came to a stop, and was shut down, and is still shut down in many countries. Can you imagine 1.3 billion people all shut in their homes in India? With so many people, how can social distancing be maintained? BUT in all this Jesus never changed, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever”. Hebrews 13:8 He knows exactly why, what and when to the questions we have.

God proves Himself to us again and again showing that He is in control. I say this because all the children in the Centers are doing well, none of them have contacted the virus. God is so good, and kind and caring to all these poor and needy children. It was in the month of March when the senior class children were having their final examinations that the schools closed indefinitely. The kids who were to appear for the board exam were given online classes. This posed some challenges, because the kids did not have phones or IPads to attend the online classes. One child who is in the 9th grade is so poor his parents were and unable to provide even a phone for him. So, we arranged to get him a small tablet (7”x 5”). He was so happy that he could attend his classes online. The Kids who had their 12th & 10th board examination did very well and all passed in first division.

In spite of the difficulties and challenges the kids faced due to COVID-19, they still did very well. We talk to many of them over the phone or Skype on a daily basis. We usually connect our conversation to the word of God and teach them the related scripture verses. There are so many stories about these children, both good and sad, which we could share with you if time and space were available. We know you pray for them and continuously support them with your finances. On behalf of all the children we thank you and appreciate each one of you including the kids from the VBS. In everything we give God the Glory for it is He who is in control of this North India Ministry.

May God abundantly bless each one of you.

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Flour and Oil distribution in Bulgaria

 

Dear Friends,

 

Last winters flour and oil distribution in Bulgaria was completed successfully. We thank the Lord for your generosity in assisting over 2,200 church families. Each family received 110 lbs. of flour and 5 liters of cooking oil. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who prayed and contributed to this ministry. The church families were very thankful for God supplying their needs.

 

   

 

Winter came late this year and many testified that the flour and oil reached them just at the right time. In one village there was a widow woman whose house had burned down a few years ago. Now she lives in a little room by herself. She had come to the end of her supplies for the winter and was out of food. She was going to start asking the neighbors for food when the truck entered her village and we began unloading the flour and oil. Praise the Lord, he does all things well. There are many others who have similar stories of God's provision concerning the flour and oil. Many poor and hungry children were able to enjoy freshly baked bread, through your faith and charity.

 

We would like to do the same for the upcoming winter. This will cost between 70 and 80 thousand dollars depending on the exchange rate. For $35 dollars we can purchase enough flour and oil to take care of a family during the cold winter months.

 

Again, thank you for participating in this ministry. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Heb. 6:10)

 

In Christ, Rev. Mike Nixon Director

 

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Important update From Bulgaria and Romania

 

 

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” (2 Tim 4:7,8)

 

 

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Bulgaria and Romania

 

Coats for Kids  2017-18

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Please click on the above link for a printable version

 

 

Aden’s Hats

 

“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” John 6:9

 

When we were in America last year I was asked to tell a congregation about Coats for Kids. After service a boy came to me and asked if there were winter hats in Bulgaria. I said yes. He then asked if I knew where to buy them and I said yes. He further asked if he sent me money would I go buy them for the kids. Smiling and crying at the same time, I said yes.

 

Aden was true to his word and sent money for winter hats. Instead of birthday presents he requested his friends and family give money to put hats on kids in Bulgaria this winter. This one lad shared what he had to help take care of many. It has been a blessing to give out over 300 hats for Aden.

 

 

 

 

Eforie, Romania

“The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.” Proverbs 22:2 

 

I’ve written about Eforie before. Eforie, where castaways are cast even further away: out of sight and out of mind.  But when I tell you that in this tiny container village at the city landfill live some of the sweetest, most loving children I have ever met, I truly mean it. Hugs. Smiles. Conversation. And not just when we bring coats and socks - no, they’re like this all the time.  

 

So you just have to ask yourself: are they really the poor among us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheker’s Boots

Sheker is a precious girl who lives in the Children’s Home in Romania. She and some of her sisters came to our house to spend time with our family. We met them at the mall in Varna where all the girls proceeded to spend Christmas money. Sheker bought a pair of boots that ended up being too big for her. I felt strongly we should buy them from her so she could get a pair that fit and we could give this pair to someone in need.

 

Today we met that someone. Her story is tragic - she was born into the lap of luxury and used to have huge bags full of Italian leather boots, but after her parents died and she turned to alcohol she lost everything. The woman we met did not look like she had ever been rich... but then again, maybe she’s richer now than she was before because she is open to her need for Christ. Pray for Petya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have very little. No indoor toilet. No accessible bath or shower. No washing machine. No kitchen. Barely any clothes.

 

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,” Ephesians 2:4

But God. God makes the difference.  God sees past these temporal things on which we place monetary value. He sees to the very heart of man.  And in an area of great opulence where these people are cast aside, the true riches He sees are in a place of great poverty where the Holy Spirit fills a shipping container and lavishes an abundance of “the exceeding riches of his grace” on a thankful people.  They may never swim in a safe of gold coins but they sure are immersed in love, mercy, and grace. They are rich.

 

I’m incredibly thankful to get to help people... but in the end I also ask myself: Did I help them? Or did they help me?  That’s the beauty of the Body of Christ - rich and poor, he made us all.  We are one.

 

On Behalf of All the Kids,

 

Carrie M. Leach  - The Leach Family

 

 

 

 

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2017 - 2018 Flour & Oil

 

Dear Friends and Supporters,    November 2017

 

“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.” John 6:9-11

 

These verses have been resonating in my heart for the past several days: how Jesus had performed many miracles while walking here on this earth. “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written”.  Amen. John 21:25

 

I write this letter to say thank you. Thank you for your yearly support, both by prayer and giving, for the feeding of the Turks in Romania and Bulgaria. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of His ministry. He is still performing miracles. I am a witness to them and testify to you that our God is still God and still able. He still feeds the multitudes. He still has the Gospel preached to the poor. And those poor in spirit, are rich in faith. He still binds up the brokenhearted. Time, paper, and pen would fail us to tell all the things God is still doing.

 

It is time once again to give our “loaves and fishes” to Jesus, and trust Him to satisfy the hungry. I have spoken to Brother Matt Welch about the cost of this endeavor this year, and he said it would take around $60,000 to $65,000 to feed 2,000 families. These are the families that make up the 105 churches in Romania and Bulgaria. I realize this is a lot of money; but, don’t forget the little lad with five little barley loaves and two little fishes. He gave what little he had to a great big God who with it, fed the multitudes. Everything was little, but his heart. He had a heart for Jesus, as so many of you all have. We are believing this same Jesus, to perform this same miracle once again this year, by the love of God in your hearts.

 

 

Our goal is to get this money to the missionaries by the first of the year. Last year, the missionaries were able to distribute over seventy tons of flour along with around two thousand gallons of cooking oil to over two thousand families from our churches. Each family received one hundred and ten pounds of flour and five liters of cooking oil.

 

Thank you once again for your continued support and love for your fellow believers in foreign countries.

 

To God be the Glory!  In Christ, Rev. Michael Nixon, Director

 

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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.   September 2017

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 19:14

We hope this letter finds you well satisfied with the goodness and grace of our Lord.  Many of you have been faithful to help supply the physical needs for the poor, hungry and destitute children in Bulgaria and Romania. These children have been made full by your love and generosity.

Our primary ministry is to the gypsy Turks in this region of Eastern Europe.  They are very poor, and most have no means of supplying for their families. That being said, we would like to give you an update on the feeding centers in Romania and Bulgaria. The children who come to these centers are taught to sing hymns to the Lord and receive one hot meal per day.  For most this is their only prepared hot meal.

Currently in Eastern Romania our missionaries along with four national pastors oversee seven feeding centers. For around $3,400 per month we provide one hot meal per day to over 320 children. This breaks down to about 35 cents per child and consists of 6,400 loaves of bread, flour, pasta, beans, rice, tomato paste, potatoes and oil. We now have adults who grew up being feed in these centers assisting with food distribution in many of these villages.

 

In Eastern Bulgaria our missionaries oversee eight feeding centers. Every month we send around $5,000 to provide each feeding center with: five liters of oil, five bags of sugar, five bags of salt, tomato puree, five bags of macaroni, one large sack of potatoes, four 25kg bags of flour, and sometimes bags of lentils, rice or beans. The children are not only fed physically but spiritually as well with hymns and prayer.
 

Our missionaries give generously to help offset the cost of these centers. Currently the exchange rate of the dollar is in our favor, and we can feed more children, but this fluctuates according to the European trade market. As this work continues to grow so do the expenses, but I believe God will meet all the needs. Many souls have been saved by the grace of God through your continual prayers and support of this ministry.
 

Once again, thank you for all you have done and for letting the Lord lead you in helping the helpless in their time of need. To God Be the Glory, Rev. Mike Nixon, Director

 

 

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From Bulgaria

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Dear Brethren, February 2017

The following, is an urgent matter of prayer involving Widow Minka and the church in Bulgaria.

Every week in we hold church services her house and this is where we’ve given out coats and socks as well as flour and oil for the past several years.  Tragically, all this went up in flames.  Widow Minka was adding wood to her wood stove when a piece of burning wood rolled out at her, catching everything on fire. She was able to get out with her life, but that’s all that survived.  All her tangible memories, all her personal documents, her bank card, what little money she had, her phone, her clothes, and all her furniture were lost in the blaze. We are thankful that she is okay, but she suffered a great loss. So did the church.

                          

The only thing that survived the fire, and even the water being sprayed by the firemen are these Bibles and hymn books. This is not a coincidence.

After Pastor Ismail and I surveyed the damage today, we went and found Sister Minka. She was staying with relatives in an apartment the same size as my son’s bedroom. It’s small and she can only stay until other arrangements can be made.  When I returned home, I called our Field Director, Ralph Cheatwood and he said, “Okay, let’s rebuild.” And that, friends, is what we aim to do. Will you pray with us?

Thank you,  Larry Leach

If you would like to help, you can make checks payable to:

Charity Baptist Mission P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN 37621 Memo: Widow Minka’s House

 

 

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From Bulgaria

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- Bible printing update -

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends in Christ, Aug 2016

 

Current prices of Bibles, New Testaments and hymnbooks in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet, the Turkish Cyrillic alphabet and the  Turkish Latin based alphabet.

 

 

 - A4 Bible - Turkish and Bulgarian with cross references $12                                    - A5 Bible - Turkish and Bulgarian with cross references $6

 

 - A4 New Testament - Turkish and Bulgarian no cross references $3                       - A5 New Testament - Turkish and Bulgarian no cross references $1.50

 

 - A4 Hymnbook - Turkish with the Gospel of John and 14 Psalms $1.30                  -  A5 Hymnbook - Turkish with the Gospel of John and 14 Psalms $.65

 

We are currently distributing free of charge New testaments and hymnbooks to all the believers in our churches and others that are interested.  We provide whole Bibles to the national pastors and preachers.  These Bibles and hymnbooks are produced on a printer/copier and the holes are then hand punched or drilled and then hand sewn with a laminated cover.  The labor is provided freely by the national pastors and American missionaries.  From July 2015 to June 2016, 12 months, we printed 1,220,000 (One million two hundred and twenty thousand) copies, an average of 100 thousand a month.

 

In August 2016 we bought two used Minolta machines ($2,000 each) which are guaranteed for five million copies each.  We start printing again in September 2016. The amount needed each month is just under $1,000 for 100,000 copies. The equivalent of 300 A4 or 600 A5 New Testaments or 750 A4 or 1500 A5 hymnbooks or combinations thereof.

 

The balance in our printing fund is zero.  We need your help to start printing again in September of 2016.

 

Brother Ralph Cheatwood.

 

Coats for Kids 2015 Distribution Bulgaria/Romania

Part 1a

 

We set out this morning with Hannah and Esther and a car so full of bags of coats and socks, they each had bags on their laps. Our plan was to distribute as many coats as we could, and we did, but God had even bigger plans for us. As we sit down near the close of the day to reflect on everything the Lord has allowed us to be a part of, we feel honored.

 

But let me back up… first things first… the purchasing of the coats and socks. A week and a half ago Larry and I went into the city and bought new socks. We got a good deal on them, so we really stocked up. It’s always a shock for the cashier to see us coming with an overflowing cart of socks, but we’ve been doing this so long now, we knew how to have them already organized in sections to make her job easier. Then this past Monday we went back into the city to the second hand store to stock up on coats. It was pretty slim pickins, but we did our best. Unfortunately we only filled one of the vehicles. Two more empty vehicles were with us, so we took off in search of another location. It was much better than the first place and a new contact was made there. We filled the remaining vehicles and headed back to our house where Hannah had brownies and refreshments waiting. Here are two pictures - one of the cart of socks and one of our entryway so full of bags of coats, we could hardly get up the stairs. At last count there were well over 40 bags in the entry and halls.

 

We then organized coats and socks each afternoon for the past week, as our schedule permitted, and felt we were ready to begin distribution in nearby villages.

 

First stop this morning: Novi Pazar. Pastor Ismael was already gathering the local children and organizing them in lines. We carried the bags inside and Esther and I organized them to make distribution easier, while Hannah got set up to take pictures and Larry controlled the crowd. Working together, we were able to give out around 50 coats in under an hour. In between influxes of children, we were able to encourage Sister Naziye, who is having a hard time with her blood sugar. Here are a few pictures from that distribution:

 

 

The girl standing next to Larry above is Sinem, Pastor Ismael’s granddaughter. Every time I see her, I am reminded of God’s hand in her young life. When she was four, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her lung and required surgery, which cost a lot of money and the family simply did not have it to pay. We asked you all to pray and one friend forwarded the email on to other friends and shortly a man we had never met wrote and told us he wanted to help. He paid for her surgery and the trip to the capital for the family to be with her. The surgery was a success and today she is in good health. We praise the Lord for His faithful lovingkindness.
 

Please click on this link to view the four part story.

 

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Flour & Oil request for Bulgaria 2016

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please click on this link for a printable pdf version

                                                                                  

 

 

 

Dear Friends and Supporters, November 2015

 

We trust you all are doing well and enjoying the blessings of the Lord. First of all I want to thank each and every one of you for your faithful prayers and support for this ministry.

 

As you know, over the last several years the Lord has allowed us to feed around 2,000 poor Turkish and Bulgarian families in the village churches of Bulgaria. Each family receives 110 lbs. of flour and 5 liters of cooking oil. This really helps them during the harsh winters.

 

Every year this endeavor cost between 70 and 80 thousand dollars. This averages about $35 to feed a family through the winter. Winter is upon us and we would like to ask you to help us this year as well and thank you in advance for your prayers and financial support.

 

Also, I have included a few pictures of the grateful people who have received this blessing of your giving. Once again, thank you so much and may the blessing of the Lord be upon you.
In Christ, Rev. Michael Nixon, Director

 

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2015 Four & Oil distribution

 please click on the link above for a printable pdf version

 

Bulgarian update June, 2015


We want to thank all those who contributed to the flour and oil distribution in Bulgaria.  It was a great blessing to everyone involved.  This year the US dollar was very strong against the Euro and we were able to feed over 2,000 needy church families.  Each family received one hundred pounds of flour and over a gallon of oil.  These are saved, baptized church members who attend our church meeting in Bulgaria.   They thank God for the brethren in America who gave toward helping them in their time of need.  Your generosity has redounded to the glory of God.

 

In Christ, Rev. Mike Nixon - Director of Charity Baptist Mission

 

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2014 Four & Oil distribution

 

Please click on the picture above to see the video which shows the distribution of flour and oil to the believers in our churches in Bulgaria.

 

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Bulgaria - Romania 9-27-14

 

click above for printable pdf attachment

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September 27, 2014

Missionaries:

Eight (8) American Families, three (3) in Romania and five (5) in Bulgaria:  Dave Turner, Nathan Reed, Jacob Reed, Ralph Cheatwood, Matthew Welch, Zachary LeFevre, Larry Leach, William LeFevre. We work as a group, with each missionary having their individual work.

 

National Pastors:

Four (4) pastors in Romania and eight (8) in Bulgaria.  Besides these pastors there are several young men in Romania that preach but do not pastor churches at this time.  All these pastors and preachers work under the authority of the missionaries.

 

Churches:

Mostly Turkish house meetings, with seven (7) self-standing buildings, twenty (20) churches in Romania and eighty (80) in Bulgaria.  We minister in English, Turkish, Romanian and Bulgarian.

Our simple definition of a local church is a group of baptized believers, meeting regularly as a church, having a national pastor.

 

Charity East Association Romania:

Casa Julia: Home where we are raising eleven (11) children.  This home is also lovingly called ‘The Father’s House’.  We have had most of these children since birth.

Our ministry in Romania is done from this complex.

* for full update on Casa Julia, see Attachment 1

Feeding Centers:

National believers’ homes where we feed children a hot meal every day.  Twelve (12) in Romania and nine (9) in Bulgaria.  In these homes the children learn to sing hymns and pray, thanking God for His many blessings and for their daily bread.  As these children have grown up, many have been saved and are now established in one of our local churches.

 

Coats for Kids:

This ministry was started by Larry and Carrie Leach in 2008 with just a few coats in the back of a van.  It has grown and now over one thousand (1,000) coats with a pair of socks are given out each winter.

 

Flour and Oil:

Each winter, over two thousand (2,000) families in Bulgaria receive a fifty (50) kilogram sack of flour and a five (5) liter bottle of cooking oil.  This helps them get through the winter.

 

Bulgarian and Turkish Bibles:

These Bibles have been newly translated from the English King James 1611 Authorized Version.  Along with Turkish hymnbooks, the New Testaments of these Bibles are being freely distributed to our believers and others that are interested.

 

Daily Bread:

Over 4,500 loaves of bread are freely distributed monthly to needy families in Romania through the daily prayer meetings.

 

Three Seas Missionary Journeys:

Our purpose for these journeys is to raise interest and support for the work in Romania and Bulgaria, and also to expand into Turkey. Since Romania and Bulgaria are a part of the European Union, many of our believers have travelled into Europe, seeking work. They carry their hymnbooks and New Testaments with them, finding each other and meeting together wherever they go, so we have a witness in many parts of Europe. Several of the missionaries have already made trips into Turkey this past year, giving out New Testaments and hymnbooks in Turkish to contacts they have made. 

 

In order to achieve our purpose, we want pastors, mission directors and church members with a heart for missions to have the opportunity to see our work in Romania and Bulgaria, take part in church services and evangelization and visit sites of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation which are in Turkey.  We want you to have a ‘hands on’ part in this work. To use a military term, we want ‘Boots on the Ground’.

 

The cost of these missionary journeys would be your roundtrip airfare to Bucharest, Romania, where you would be met at the airport and brought to our Children’s Home complex in Constanta, Romania.  The price after arriving in Bucharest would be one hundred dollars ($100) a day per person all inclusive.  This price would cover all your expenses while with us; travel, hotels, meals, snacks, etc. and would leave us with enough money to produce DVD’s, hymnbooks and New Testaments to give out on the way.

* For itinerary of missionary journeys, see Attachment 2                      * For more information on journeys, see Attachment 3

 DVD’s and Website:

Twenty years ago we began giving out cassette tapes of our church services that included preaching, testifying, singing and praying.  We now give out DVD’s with videos of Turkish church services and have a website where hundreds of meeting videos are posted.

 

This is our work that the Lord has given us.  We are thankful to be able to share it with you.

 

Brother  Ralph Cheatwood

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2014 Bulgarian flour & oil

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We've just finished the flour distribution in Bulgaria this year.  Through your generous giving, we were able to provide each family of believers with over one hundred pounds of flour and over a gallon of oil.  Everyone is happy and thankful for this display of your care for them.

Please click on the following links: 2014 flour thank you letter and from one of our national pastors Brother Mitko.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year the mill produced a very good quality of flour.  One woman from the church in Trastikovo said that she had not seen such good flour in her whole life.  She said that she will be baking bread every single day until it runs out.

 

In the village of Grozdevo one of the believers said that her family was out of flour.  Her husband would be working, but they might only be able to afford to buy a small bag of flour with his pay.  Then, our flour truck came the next day and she received one hundred pounds of flour.  So, they are rejoicing at how the Lord has provided for them.

 

Another believer, in Vezenkovo, told us that she was down to the bottom of the barrel.  She made her last bread in the evening, and prayed, "Lord, what are we going to do tomorrow"?  Well, the next day when the flour truck arrived at the church, she was amazed at how the Lord answered her prayer and provided for them.

 

Zachary LeFevre

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Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

As always we are bound to give God thanks through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for what He has done through Brookside Baptist Church in the mission field in Bulgaria and everywhere else where the Lord let you have a part in His work.  We thank you all for caring for the poor and feeding the children over here.  It has been a great help for the churches over here to see someone like you all each winter provide 5 liters of oil and 50 kg of flour.

 

     

This food has fed a lot of people that are destitute of their daily food.  A lot of the believers have fed a lot of the hungry neighbours around and it turns to be a good testimony.  Also some of the believers testified that the oil fails not and the flour is not diminished.

 

Some testified that when they saw people more destitute than them they gave away their own oil and flour.

 

 

May the Lord bless you all in everything that you are doing.  In Christ, Bro. Mitko.

 

 

This is a picture of the church in the village of Brestak, getting blessed with flour and oil. All these believers are extremely poor in this world but rich with God and thank you all for blessing them with their daily bread and oil.   This is a picture of two of our sisters that got blessed by the Lord and what Brookside provided for them. They have large families and are more than happy and thankful that the Lord and Brookside care for them.

 

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Coats for kids

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Coats for Kids 2014-15  Dear Friends,

 

It’s that time of year again, we are excited to announce… Coats for Kids. Every year, with the help of churches and individuals all across America, we have been able to distribute coats, socks, and the gospel on DVD to needy children and widows in our area here in Eastern Bulgaria, as well as in Romania. The needs are still great, as Bulgaria and Romania are the poorest nations in the European Union and work is scarce.

Though prices of most other items have really inflated, the cost of new socks and gently used coats remains nearly the same. For $6, we can outfit a needy child with a coat and socks for the winter. Please pray about what, if anything, the Lord would have you do to help with this ministry.

 

It is our hope to have all gathered funds in by November 1st, so we have time for our mission to send it over at the beginning of the buying season when coats are in abundance.

 

You can send to:

Charity Baptist Mission

Coats for Kids

P.O. Box 692

Bristol, TN 37621

 

 

Please click on the following link to see the full story of the first Coats for Kids 2013-14  (12-21-13) distribution. (a printable pdf is available here)

 The weather was absolutely perfect for a coat distribution, with temperatures around forty, clear roads, sunny skies, and a cool breeze. A little after nine this morning, Larry and I loaded up the car and headed up the road to the LeFevre house, where the elder daughters, Katy and Polly, were waiting for us. ...Together we headed to Novi Pazar where we were to begin this year’s coat season. We barely had time to greet the Pastor and his wife before the first group of kids arrived. They were a lively, rowdy bunch. I was thrilled to see them again—and they were thrilled to see us. ...that distribution went smoothly.... We gave coats, socks, and DVDs to around 70 kids there.

 

We brought more bags of coats and socks down from upstairs and filled the cars. Then we drove on to Kaspichan....Kaspichan is wild. I could describe it for you, but really, in order to fully understand it, you’d have to experience it for yourself. Its just wild. ...We ended up giving out around sixty coats and socks there. The demand for DVDs was so great today, we ran out.

 

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From Romania

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Please click on the link below to see some pictures from the village of Eforie.

         

Mugur Varzariu, is a Romanian documentary photographer who created a web page depicting the living conditions of the Roma in the village of Eforie.

Follow the link below to get more information from the authors website.

 http://www.mugurvarzariu.com/the-forced-evictions-of-around-one-hundred-roma-people-in-eforie-sud/  "rain of tears"  www.mugurvarzariu.com

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Bro. Mike and beloved saints at Brookside,

 

 We are thrilled to hear good reports of what the Lord is already doing at campmeeting.  It seems when Satan is getting the best of us, that is when the Lord is able to show Himself most powerfully.  I am grateful He is close by when we need Him.

 

I have a prayer request to ask your help with.  For a few years, we have had a meeting and feeding center in Eforie, a town not far from Constanta.  Many have been saved and baptized from this meeting and some of the poorest children in this area have been fed each day.  This is also the place where we got Kelebek, our youngest girl in the Children's Home.  The meeting was held in a 'shanty town' of houses thrown together around a garbage dump.  Most of the families, including their children, dig around for plastic bottles, cardboard, and metal to sell for a few cents each day.  A few weeks ago, the city came in and bulldozed everything down to make way for an apartment development.  The families were left outside huddled under sheets of plastic during a week of rain.  Several TV stations showed the families sitting under their shelters, their children covered in mud.  The mayor was asked what they were going do about these people.  He said "If the butcher throws the stray dog scraps, they will stay in front of his shop.  If the butcher locks the door, they will go away" He was comparing our Turks to dogs.  These are the people to whom we have given our lives to show God's love.  The city, under the pressure of the media, was forced to let these families move into a very old, abandoned school building.  The woman of the church, along with her children, have their few possessions gathered in a corner of a large room.  They cannot leave for fear their few belongings will be stolen.

 

I went out on Tuesday and looked at the situation.  We can build a wall with a door across the end of the room she is in and she would have her own 12 x 25 ft. "house".  If we get her a stove and a gas bottle and utensils, she can continue to feed the many children which are now living in the school.

 

 This seems to be an opportunity for us to show God's goodness, as many of these families have lost hope.

 

I think for $1,200 we can get her room built and secured and buy what is needed for her to begin feeding even more children than before.  We may also be able to have our church meeting in one of the larger 'common' rooms where all these families who are gathered in one place can attend.

 

This woman has been faithful through much adversity.  Please pray we will be able to take care of her and this church.

 

 We are all praying for the Lord to do even greater things for you this week.

 

 In Christ, Bro. Dave Turner

 

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Bulgaria Feeding

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Dear Fellow Labourers,

In 2013 the Lord graciously allowed supporters of the work to help feed 2,000 poor Milet Turkish church families for $80,000.  Each family received a 110 lb sack of flour and 5 liters of oil.   We would like to help feed the people again this year.   Please pray with us about this and see if the Lord would have you help feed them.

 

September 2013 Update from Bulgaria brochure (click on link for PDF)

 

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2013 Bulgaria Feeding update

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Bulgarian Flour and Oil Distribution Update April 2013  (click on link for PDF)

 

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”  Ps. 107:9

 

Dear Fellow Labourers,

 

With much thankfulness we would like to give you an update on the work:

 

Last year in 2012 the Lord graciously allowed you to be a part with us in feeding 1,750 poor Milet Turkish church families. Each family received a 110 lb sack of flour and 5 liters of oil.  This year we wanted to feed around 2,000 church families and the Lord has supplied that need.

 

Thanks be to God, and the charity of His people, most of these families have now received a sufficient supply of flour and oil for the year. This was a large undertaking, but not too big for the Lord to handle.

 

 

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With great joy we would like to give you a brief update of the work in Bulgaria and Romania:

 

•   Brother Ralph Cheatwood is completing the Turkish Bible translation and Mitko (one of our national pastors), the Bulgarian Bible, while 8 Missionary families minister in three languages:

     Turkish, Romanian, and Bulgarian.

•  16 National pastors help us oversee this work. About $1,000 a month extra is needed to support these men. We try to help each pastor offset the costs of their food and fuel (presently $7 a gallon).
    Our men oversee 5-10 churches each, while driving hundreds of miles every week to get to all of the meetings!

•  During the winter we also assist our church members with food and those in need with firewood.  A cord of firewood costs about $180.

•  Over 100 churches have been established in Bulgaria and Romania since 1991.  During the past few years the churches have grown from around 1,500 families to about 2,000.

•  In 2013 around 100 adults professed faith in Christ and were baptized.

•  Many have been saved and encouraged through our preaching and singing DVD’s and CD’s, one of our main evangelistic tools.  Wherever our Turks travel they take the DVD’s and CD’s with them.

•  20 church feeding centers have been established in Romania and 18 in Bulgaria, where children and adults get one good meal per day.

•  “Coats for Kids” was started in 2008 by the Leach family.  One year they distributed 1,000 winter coats, 1,000 pairs of socks and 25 pairs of shoes to the neediest children in his village churches.

•   In 2002 Casa Julia Children’s home was established in Romania. They are raising 11 abandoned children, giving them a safe, loving, Christian home.

 

The Lord has consistently met our needs. We praise Him for His loving provision, and for your obedience to His moving in your hearts.

 

In Christ, Rev. Mike Nixon                                                                                                                     To God be the Glory!

 

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Since 1991 the Lord has kept the doors open for Charity Baptist Mission to help feed the poor in Bulgaria and Romania.

 

The following are the basic costs for carrying on this work.


Bulgaria

•  We are supplying food for 18 churches daily. Monthly it costs about $175 per church.
•  Over 300 children are fed each month through theses churches.
•  Ten of these churches feed between 20 and 30 children daily.

•  The churches are pastored by 8 national pastors trained by the missionaries.
•  It costs roughly $8.50 to feed a child for the month or 29 cents per day.
•  We need at least $3,150 each month to continue this work.

 

It's been a long time since we've gotten in this amount for the feeding.  Currently, we receive less than $2,000 per month, so many of the missionaries give out of their monthly support to help with this endeavor. Even with their help, we had to cut the feeding down due to lack of funds.

 

We can't afford to buy beans every month. Sometimes we have to buy fewer potatoes, rice, and/or oil.  This month cabbage will be cheap, so we'd like to get each church a couple barrels of cabbage: they pickle it and use it the rest of the winter.  If we had the funds, we could also buy more potatoes this month while they're cheap and then store and use them in the coming months. 

 

Romania

•  We supply food for 20 feeding centers which feed 15-20 people at each location.
•  Each month we buy 7,500 loaves of bread for around $2,200 dollars (at 29 cents per loaf)
•  These are distributed throughout the Romanian feeding centers.
•  Roughly 280 people are being fed each day at a cost of $2,550 each month.
•  That comes to about $8.90 per month for a child/person.
•  Our Missionaries oversee 15 churches with the help of 7 national pastors.

 

In addition to the bread we are spending about $2,000 a month for food plus about $500 - $600 a month all together on rents and water for the 16 places that prepare food for children.  This includes some food for the National pastors and their families.  We also have churches in some very poor villages where not only the children, but all those that come to the church can be fed.

 

 

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 - Please click on the following link for -
 

A SUMMARY OF 35 YEARS ON THE MISSION FIELD 1975 - 2010

 

(An overview of what the Lord has done through Sr. Missionary Ralph Cheatwood, who is over the work in Bulgaria and Romania)

 

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“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”  1 Cor 13:13

 

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