FLASH MOB IN MOSCOW 2012

What a crazy, delightful ever changing world!  Who could have thought that in 2012 young  people in Moscow would put on a "flash mob" happening, dancing to an 83 year old American song written by a Russian born American Jew (Irving Berlin)?  

CHRIST AND ISLAM by Jeff Franks

More Muslims are coming to Christ today than from any other religious background. Two weeks ago I led a Bible conference in Istanbul with 26 people from a closed access country.  Twenty two were believers in Jesus Christ, all from Muslim backgrounds. Of the 22 three were UN refugees because of persecution from authorities. 4 participants were Muslims who wanted to know the Bible and were attracted by the message of Christ. One of them, a young mother, gave her heart to Jesus Christ and asked for baptism. We need to pray for Muslims, and find ways to reaching them with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for every last one of them.  Please let us know that you are praying.  It would bless our hearts.

"MY REDEEMER LIVES" BY NICOLE MULLEN

This will warm your heart as the holidays approach.

UKRAINIAN HUMOR

Once we were visiting with a friend in the south part of Ukraine called the Crimea.  It's where we lived for over three(of our almost 20) years before moving up north near the capital.  He was talking about the difficulties of life in their little country village.  We understood as we saw the challenging lifestyle he was referring to.  He was not brooding and in fact was laughing and joking.  As he talked I marveled at his "take on things."  I finally said to him that I could see this was a difficult life and yet he laughed and joked about it.  His answer has always stuck with me.  "We laugh because otherwise we would cry."  It is the method of survival for so many in Ukraine when life is challenging, and not a bad one.  I'm sure under the laughter there may at times be some bitterness, but such he did not betray.  When life has given me a bad pill I've looked at it this way.  I can get bitter or I can get better.  I choose the latter.  Trusting in Christ allows me to know he has a plan for my life and it sometimes includes challenging experiences.  His plan is to continue to refine us like silver to be more and more the image of Christ.  I am grateful to be one of His children, to have been chosen to know Him.  Put your trust in Him and he will never forsake you for he loves you like no other can love you.  He is the author of love itself.  God is love, love is of God.  Believe in it.  Trust in it.  He waits for you and joys in your fellowship. 

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephanian 3:17

JOY IN TRIALS

Matthew 6:28-29

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Siberian Iris from my garden.

The verse above speaks to me of how we should trust God in our care.   He has all the details of our life worked out.  This verse refers to our clothing, but it is everything.  "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9.  I'm so grateful that He does direct my steps.  Even through the trials and difficulties of life we can trust him for all our needs.  Lily from my garden.

Isaiah 40:8 

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Crocus in spring.

A "flower" in my life "faded" recently.  It was the passing of my father's life into eternal rest in the arms of his Savior.  He died November 23rd in the early morning hours while his family surrounded him in love.  As the "flower fades," I trust the word of God for this new stage in my life.  His wife of 37 years, Diza, also trusts Him for her next steps.  Please pray for her as her life changes dramatically with a move from California to Florida. In all things we are trusting and accepting.  For this trust,  I may mourn the loss but I have joy in my heart.  I hope that you trust in such a way that you have joy ever present, despite the circumstances.   Iris, also from my summer garden.

A.J. Jacobs: My Year of Living Biblically

As Christians we so often have our attitudes on how to witness to unbelievers.  Sometimes we are trained in this through the church and often we are not. Unfortunately we so often come across with Biblical lingo and ways of talking that the unsaved person simply cannot relate to or understand, much less find purchase in.  Too often, because we don't know how to reach someone we tell them to read the Bible.  Sometimes we give them a specific book to read, but if there is not something that touches them deep inside, even that may not go very far.  Thus is the value of developing ongoing deep relationships with such people so we can gradually bring them along into a love relationship that is characterized by Christ himself.

I'm posting this "Ted Talk" because it was a good reminder of how so many unbelievers think.  It helped me to be reminded in how to relate and not relate to them.  Here is a man who "Lived Biblically" for one year.....a grand experiment for him.  I shake my head to think one could indulge so deeply and not know Christ, yet, it illuminates the need to build relationships with such people.  When you shake your head and want to turn it off (as I almost did), don't.  This is how so many think and it is important for us to understand them so we can bring them to Christ and his love.

SUNDAY SCHOOL IN UKRAINE

Sunday school in Ukraine.  Ministering to the little ones.  They sing and learn to pray, but mostly they learn about love.

Two of the cute little ones learning about God's love.

The very youngest Sunday school making crafts, their favorite thing to do.

Some sweet little girls showing off the craft they will take home to mom.  Don't you just love that smile?

Kvareli Lake, Georgia, Eastern Europe

Last week I had the rare blessing of accompanying my sweet husband Jeff to one of his long term fields of work, being the country of Georgia.  He's been working there for 15 years training native pastors and missionaries in starting new churches, but it was my very first time.  This was a special event so I was privileged to also be invited.  It was the First Annual Congress of Baptist Churches of Georgia.  There were pastors and missionaries from all over Georgia as well as men from America and many surrounding countries.  For me it was a chance to put names and faces together of people I've heard about for years.  We attended two days of meetings and they took us one day on a tour.  Jeff was asked to give an address to the meeting, as did several other people.  It is always his joy to be there as there are so many brothers that he has come to know and love over the years.  Men with whom he's heard their struggles and has been in their homes and churches.  Today I am thankful that I had the opportunity to finally see this breath-takingly beautiful country that suffers from poverty, poor infrastructure and the whims of politics.  Soon I'll show you more of this lovely country.

GIVING YOUR CHILDREN AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

There is so much we want to pass onto our children, but maybe one of the most important things after salvation is there understanding that this is not our home.  This is not where we'll be forever and we shouldn't get too comfortable.  Too often even we ourselves get too "at home" in this life.  Enjoy this article for an "eternal view."  http://thechuppies.com/2011/04/i-dont-want-our-kids-to-feel-at-home/

THE ATTITUDE OF COMMUNISM

This was a very interesting post a fellow American missionary in Ukraine posted on Facebook recently.  It speaks about the past of this former Soviet country and the way some still think today:

"Spent time listening to a government official explaining how "community" has fallen apart in Ukraine. Under Soviet days, everyone was watched out for and kept in various forms of community. There were workers unions, the Communist Party, Consomols Party (teenage Communist Party) and Pioneers (grade school equivalent of Boy Scouts). Everyone fit into a part of the community that created the Soviet Union. Today, with no parties or unions, people are left to themselves, lonely, hopeless and generally drunk. With no party or club to tell them what to believe in, there is nothing that unites the people."

When you hear such things it helps me to understand how badly this nation still needs to know Christ.  Pray for us as we minister here.

 

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY CONFERENCE

Two Ukrainians, One American and 11 Russians spent last weekend in Kharkov, Ukraine praying and listening to what God was saying to them through His Word.  Jeff, my husband,  the American, was richly blessed and greatly encouraged by each and all of them.  Please pray for these folks who recently went through the pain of a church split.  Jeff is on the far right.     

HANDMADE FANS

This is a sampling of some fans that went to a group of Texas ladies.  One of the ladies had seen what we did with the kids this summer and thought it would be a nice idea for her group.  So 25 of these pretties flew off to Texas not long ago.  I know it seems late for fans, but things stay hot in Texas a lot longer than in most other places.  They all have Bible verses on both sides so they will be a nice witness.  And another benefit is that they really work well to blow  the heat off your brow.

LOVE FROM NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA

This is a touching bit of history from North Platte, Nebraska.  I found it very moving.  You will too.

CAR ACCIDENT IN UKRAINE

For those of you who didn't see this on Facebook.....August 26th Jeff had an accident one block from home where he was hit by another driver running a red light.  In the U.S. this would be a no-brainer as to fault, but this is not the U.S.  Jeff was sited as not yielding to oncoming traffic (we think there was a pay-off from the other driver, common here).  Jeff was not hurt other than minor bruising and we praise God that it was only a mini-van and not a semi-truck as so often travel that road.  The following was written by Jeff during one of his morning devotional times just a couple days ago:

Devotional Thoughts from my SOAP devotional this morning, based on the following verse:

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,  that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,  who are Israelites. (Romans 9:1-4)

The unfairness of being struck at an intersection by a driver who was running a red light, only afterward to hold in my hands a citation from the militia, which found me at fault for the accident, causes me to see Pauls words in verse 1 in a special light.  His subject matter, the salvation of his fellow Jews, was different (and glorious at that!), but whereas before I was enamored with his subject, today, because of these recent events, I am enamored with his passion for truth.  I think it is a special, blessed occasion, a moment of true grace, when someone can speak the truth and his concience bears witness in the Holy Spirit of God.  Today, I have this grace.  I am glad that amidst all the lies surrounding the accident that I can say, "I was partially at fault for failure to anticipate a car running a red light at the intersection."  All the while I know that the greater guilt rests on the violator.  I am also speaking the truth, and I am not lying, and my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I would pay for this accident and accept guilt ten times over if only it would lead to the violator, Andrey Aleksandrovich Yakimovich, receiving the mercy of God, and coming to repentance, being born again in God's Holy Spirit.  Therefore, on September 11, 2012 I go to court with peace in my heart, not worrying about the outcome, and leaving all in God's holy and righteous hands.


I write out my morning devotions (using the S.O.A.P. method), and shared it with Coleen. I didn't intend for it to wind up so public on Facebook. Thank you all for your prayers, for which I am all the more sure that the Father's will will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer = SOAP, in case someone doesn't know this method. You select a passage and ask the Lord to lay one or more verses on your heart. Then in your journal (or computer) you write the verses (S), your thoughts (O), what you will do in obedience (A), then write out your prayer (P). I share this with church planters and with every person who seriously wants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

MISSIONS TO RUSSIA

 Pavel (Paul) and Tanya Gerashenko are Ukrainian friends of ours who became missionaries and are now living in Russia working in an enclave of Turkish (Muslim) people.  Below is Tanya's letter.

 She has started a children's club. I"m sending her craft materials to work with the kids.  So happy to be a part in helping this mission effort get started.  Please pray for them and their 3 boys.  The littlest is there at the table.

Hi sister!
I want to share that today was the first day of the home club for the girls, there were five girls. We have made ​​some very interesting crafts: jewelery made ​​from beads and a rose and candy. I bought gifts for all the colored balls are in the waters swell and become big beautiful balls, and we were talking about a rainbow and how it all started. Noah and God's promise. They first heard the story of Noah. Of course, thank you for some of the parcels, they are very helpful for the club (do crafts). And if you still want to tell you that it for this ministry, I would be very grateful, as there is still a need. Also, please send ideas. I want to carry out twice a week for girls, and twice for the boys. Therefore, ideas and different ornamental material very much needed.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
With love your sister Tanya.
Sending photos.

ROMANIA TRAINING FOR PASTORS & MISSIONARIES

My husband, Jeff Franks took this picture.  He was part of a team of three who trained these men in Romania this past week.  From Little Rock, Arkansas were Larry Barker, the tall guy on the left and our Director, Jerry Kidd in the light shirt, front row middle.  The rest are all Romanian pastors and missionaries who were very encouraged from the training.  This is what Jeff usually does on his own, but he said it was nice to do it in a team.  We love being a part of God's work in training and encouraging men from around the world to expand God's Great Commission.

BOTANICAL GARDENS, KIEV, UKRAINE

 Not long ago my husband Jeff and I did something we so rarely do.  We took a full day off and away from home.  We went to the botanical gardens in Kyiv (Kiev) where we'd been once in spring and once too many years ago.  In the spring there was a wonderful sculpture art exhibition.  It wasn't wonderful because I loved the art so much as I was so happy to see something like this going on.  There were so many people walking around the park and enjoying the pieces.  The botanical garden in Kyiv (one of two) is very big with a lake and many different kinds of gardens.  It's too big to explore in one day.

 Looking at the city across the river from the gardens to part of the city in the distance.

 This church is on the edge of the park. They had a beautiful garden on their grounds as well.

My sweetie, Jeff, doing his thing.  He loves photography and diligently studies it for a hobby.  See his Facebook page for lots of beautiful pics:  Jeff Franks Ukraine, to find him.

One of the sculptures.  Rather Stalinesk, but interesting to see how people's minds work.  You can see there are hills in the park too.  Come visit and we'll take you there.

CHRIS TOMLIN

Chris Tomlin: God Of This City from southpacificband on GodTube.

A missionary song if I ever heard one, but it applies to your town too.

BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH KID'S CAMP

 Isn't she a cutie.  She liked getting her picture taken.

 Beautiful butterflies. Each craft goes home with a Bible verse on it.

 Our craft team helpers. Some Americans and some Ukrainians. I thank God for helpers.

The older kids making their CD case craft with a verse and pictures. We had so much fun.
Please pray for our camp this week.

TENT CAMP IN MORSHUNE, UKRAINE

This week is fun for families at the Belichi Bible Church tent camp.  They are located in a beautiful thick pine forest just north of a small lake about an hour away from the capital, Kiev.  Dan and Cindy Williams (first pic) of Antioch Baptist Church, Conway, Arkansas, have come from Conway as they do every summer to teach Bible and English.  They are such a blessing to the camp and we are so grateful for all the people that help make it possible for them to come.  The next picture is my sweet husband, Jeff who goes out and participates with the camp each year too.  That's his quarters for camping.  The last picture is the mess tent, sewn by one of the Ukrainian ladies.  This is not only where they eat, but where they view evangelical films each night.  Please be in prayer this week for those who will trust in God for salvation.