Sacrifice of Love

A special thanks to the Women's Missionary Auxiliary (WMA) of Bethel Baptist Church in Cabot, Arkansas for their generous gathering of materials for a new ministry direction I have undertaken. In southern Ukraine on the 28th and 29th of April, then again May 3rd, I will do three separate seminars entitled "Heritage of Faith." These are for ladies to document their walk of faith through pictures, photographs, and story. They will be creating a scrapbook album that will be a witness of the steps along the path of Christian growth. It will be something they can show their unbelieving friends that will help them understand their faith. You see, in this culture, when friends get together, they often bring out the photo album to help break the ice. We have seen many photo albums when we have gone to visit in homes. So now I am helping people to make albums they can use to witness and will be a legacy for their children to understand their mothers Christian journey.
Thank you WMA of Bethel for your support in this. May the Lord bless you for your giving.

Jeff Returns from U.S. Prison Mission

Those who have prayed I give my heartfelt thanks. Jeff and the whole delegation of prison officials returned today tired, but well. Jeff is rejoicing over the whole affair and the state of the men who went. He said he saw some real changes and open hearts to the idea of ministry in their prisons.

Jeff also enjoyed a short visit with our two granddaughters Julia and Jordon, well and of course their mama, Sarah. Sarah was a real blessing to help Jeff run around and renew driver's licenses and other such mundane, but necessary tasks.

A Room for the Little Ones

Well, it has been a long time in coming, but at last we are starting to see the work turning into a children's nursery. Bethany Baptist Church of Bucha will soon be a place where young mother's can bring their little ones and still attend services. In the past when a new baby arrived usually no one would see the baby or the mother for at least the first 6 months. That has been the norm. Now that is changing. The walls have been painted in green and yellow like giant puzzle pieces and sub-flooring has been put down. Now there are two very important items needed for which we pray the Lord would provide. One is the need for a bio-toilet. This is needed because the nursery is located in a basement room too far from any plumbing and a bio-toilet is the least expensive and most logical answer. Bio-toilet is what you have in motor homes or sometimes at camp sites. It is all self-contained. The second item needed is flooring for this room.

If you would like to participate in this need you can mail contributions to the BMA of America, PO Box 30910, Little Rock, Arkansas 72260, labeling your check as "Bucha Nursery Room."

Little Church in the Village

A few weeks ago Leah asked me to accompany her to the church in Nova Zelesya where she has started a craft ministry. This is a tiny church in a tiny village. On the way in through the village we started praying for the church, the children, the ministry and the village. Leah said there could be just a couple kids or even up to 12. There is an orphanage in this village, but the teachers don't always want to bring the children to the church. Services started with two little girls. I always told Leah it didn't matter how many you had, work with what God gives you. Just before time to excuse the children for Sunday school in comes the orphanage group.

I enjoyed watching the Sunday school class. They did games, Bible story and crafts. The orphans are rather rowdy with no mom or dad to discipline them, but they all had a good time and went home with a craft that would be a reminder of Jesus.

Easter in Ukraine will be the last Sunday of April. Pray for this small church and the young pastor who leads it. He wants to see it grow and Leah has been helping with the children's ministry for over a month now. She is excited about helping a small church to grow. Lord bless.

Ukrainian Prison Delegation at Breakfast

Starting on left front is Bill Gothard from Institute of Basic Life Principles with Jeff Franks next to him. Beyond that is a mix of Americans and the Ukrainian prison delegation. While at the Chicago area institute Mr. Gothard gave a talk about the Seven Needs of All People. Afterward he led them in a prayer of salvation. They all prayed as Ukrainians are very obliging and would never refuse their host's request, but God knows who may actually have made a sincere prayer.

They have visited several prisons. Please pray that their hearts would be open to bringing the prison ministry they have seen back to each of their area prisons and that they would actually come to know God themselves. They will fly back to Ukraine on the 12th, arriving on the 13th.

Ukrainian Prison Delegation in Chicago

All these men are Ukrainians with the exception of the second from right on front row who is Bob Holyfield the host of the group. Jeff took the shot in front of Lake Michigan with Chicago skyline in background. Pray for these men as they travel this next week that God would open their eyes and hearts to the value of ministry in their prisons. Please also pray for Jeff's health as he is doing a lot of translating and his voice doesn't always hold up.

Ukraine Prison Warden Delegation to U.S.

From April 3 to April 12 I am accompanying a group of 9 officials from the Ukraine Department of Corrections to visit American Prisons for the purpose of seeing how Bible Study helps to lower the rate of recidivism (repeat offenders) in US prisons. This opportunity arose through the prison work of our BMA National Missionary Pavel Pochapsky and his work with Lt. Charles Speer of the Little Rock Police Department, then a member of Temple Baptist Church in Little Rock. The visits in the prisons are being coordinated by Prison Chaplain Bob Holyfield from the Institute in Basic Life Principles in Little Rock, AR. Please pray for the Ukrainian officials who are traveling with me and especially for Coleen and Leah who will remain in Ukraine during my absence.

Also, I ask you to pray for me that I will be filled with God's spirit of love, power and wisdom so that all eyes will be on, or in most cases turned to Jesus Christ. The souls of many Ukrainian prisoners await the Gospel. Keep them and the need for new churches in the prisons in your prayers as well. So much seems to depend on how these officials will respond. However, I believe Lord's response to your prayers will truly pave the way!

In His Love,

Bro. Jeff

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. Ps 41:1-2

Our Daughter, Leah

It seems like so little to say thank you for those who prayed for Leah when we were in the states, but we are very grateful for your prayers. For a time, while we were in the states, it was a question as to whether she would return with us or not. We were willing to trust God in how he led for her future, but we are pleased that she returned where she can continue with her education and has the support that will continue to direct her along a Godly path.

Back in Bucha

We have returned to the north of Ukraine. It is always good to be back in your own bed, though part of us didn't want to leave the Crimea where we long ago started a work. It was good to be in churches there and see the work they are doing.

Our director Jerry Kidd is now here so we will have a nice time of fellowship with him and the opportunity to discuss current mission work and future possibilities. Today he met a new missionary couple who will be BMA missionaries to an area in western Ukraine where there are no churches. A couple of Sunday school classes at First Baptist Church of Carthage, Texas have made this possible with support that will allow this couple to move and start a work in that region. We are so grateful to see God's moving in providing for this need. It was only a couple months ago the opportunity/need was presented to us and then almost immediately the Lord raised up a sponsor to send this young couple.

International Women's Day, March 8th

This is a holiday recognized all over Europe. Women are honored by husbands, children and friends. It is similar to our Mother's Day, but includes all women.

Simferopol Baptist Church was having a Women's Day banquet so I invited Tanya along with her 9 year old daughter, Anastasia. There was a good message of God's grace that I was happy for Tanya to hear. Even little Anastasia was very attentive.

The next day we went to the little church in Nikolaevka that meets in the old Soviet cultural center. Jeff and the pastor preached. I took some kid's prizes to give to the children's workers. Thank you to those who send beads and old jewelry. The woman was very pleased to receive the bracelets, key rings, frig magnets and doodads I made.

Sunday afternoon I invited Tanya, Anastasia and now, Tanya's son Maxim, to come to church at 2 p.m. in Simferopol, which all agreed. We even got to sing the song we sang for Women's Day in front of the whole church. What fun. We have witnessed to this family for a long time and ask your prayers for them. Our hope is that they will continue to attend this church after we are gone.

Alina Being Creative

Top: Alina and her handy work, Bottom: L-R Tanya (Alina's little sister), Coleen, that's me in the background in blue, Alina laying down, with her mom, Luda in the foreground. On the right side is Judy in back, cousin Luda and Pastor Bob.

Alina

Yesterday the Lord blessed Jeff and I so much with a trip to Simferopol to be with a young woman named Alina. She has been bed bound for 5 years with a bone condition that has her bones slowly disintegrating. It is a very sad situation, but at age 15, if you saw her countenance, you would have no idea there was any problem. That is the power of the Lord in one's life and the joy he can bring. I brought my beads and we made necklaces and bracelets with all the family members. Well, Jeff and Pastor Bob didn't want to make any, poor sports. There was a joyful spirit and lots of Russian conversation. We finished our time with tea and cookies before we said our good-byes along with promises to come again. Please pray for this lovely young lady.

Afterwords we had a nice dinner out with Bob and Judy. We discussed ideas of doing a seminar to train church workers in using crafts for evangelism, plus doing a Faith Scrapbook for the ladies when we return in late April.

The Little Church in Nikolaevka

Sunday morning awoke with drizzle on the windows, like mini-magnifying glasses distorting the view out our window. With the rain, and being Sunday, there was considerably fewer walking out front. By the time we left for services the rain had abated. Nikolaevka is not very big so we walked the five minutes to church.

Service was held in the run down Soviet community center, second floor, third door on the right. The members rent this room that is about 16' x 24'. It's pretty shabby, but no one seems to notice. Today we were able to share communion with this little church as is the tradition here on the first Sunday of each month. Bread is broken right there and all sip from one glass goblet.

It was a time of hugs and renewing friendships with many we've known since our arrival in '94, but hadn't seen since last year. We all sang, in Russian, then Jeff was the first to preach. He talked about Nicodemus asking how to be saved. The pastor gave his message followed by more singing and communion.

We were excited that Yevgenie (Eugene), whom we invited to attend, agreed to meet us at the church. Jeff has been sharing Christian literature and talking to him when we were here last year and this time as well. Please pray for him.

Grace to you. "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:10-11)

The Joy of God's Love

Today at Simferopol Baptist Church in the city of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine we had 9 young ladies ages 14 to 30 along with Anastasia, a 4 year old who also participated (with a bit of help) in making bracelets and necklaces in celebration of God's love for us. I say in celebration of His love because, as I explained to them, the materials with which we worked came to us from people who love the Lord and understand about His love. Thus they pass on that love to us by sending those materials. Plus it was his love for them that even had them in the church in the first place. As they worked we talked about helping one another, about older helping younger and younger respecting and honoring those older. Lastly, I told them to remember God's love when they wore those things and I spoke to them about why as women God put the love of beauty into our hearts and how they were to use that to put beauty and love into the lives of those around them. Judy VanSant, the pastor's wife brought goodies to eat and made tea. Thank you for your prayers. The Lord blessed and it was a time of shared joy.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.." John 3"16

God's Beauty

Today is another day of study and preparation. Tomorrow we will go to Simferopol Baptist Church (about a 45 minute drive), Jeff will visit his good friend Bob Van Sant, the pastor, and I will be with his wife Judy and lead a class for young girls. Bob and Judy began the church for the deaf in Simferopol about 10 years ago. If you are interested in their history you can read about them here: http://bobandjudy.net/

I will make bracelets with the girls, but more importantly than that, I will talk to them about the Savior and all he has done for us. As the girls work to create something beautiful, I will speak to them of the beauty of God and how he gave us touches of beauty on earth as a foretaste of heaven. He put the love of beauty in our feminine hearts because he is the original author of all that is beautiful. And in expressing that beauty it is the Spirit's purpose that we use it to demonstrate our love for those around us. We do this by how we care for those God has brought into our lives, by how we keep our homes and by how we share His spirit with others. You see I am not talking about physical beauty in one's body, but of course, dressing neatly is part of showing honor to the Father and to one another. It really is all about God's beauty and glorifying Him.

Our Saturday begins with your Friday night, if you are in America, so when you go to bed please say a prayer for us. We need the Spirit's lifting to do anything of value at all.

Grace to you. Psalm 37:23-24 The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Why Crimea?

We are here for a specific purpose. Jeff is writing missionary training materials and preparing for his next mission trip to Armenia where he will do two events. The first is training Armenian missionaries and the second is to teach a Bible conference for believers from a closed Islamic regime. Jeff baptized nine people from an underground church last year who came out of one of these countries. This is a door God opened that we are very excited about and would appreciate your prayers.

We come to Crimea because it is a good place to hide out and not be daily, sometimes hourly, interrupted with demands that are normal on the mission field, but make getting certain tasks accomplished rather difficult. The quiet here is wonderful...until the local church discovers us, that is.

As for me, I am preparing for a girl's evangelism activity in Simferopol (Crimean Capitol) on Saturday. It will be in the Simferopol Bible Church with young girls. In addition I am preparing a pattern book to give to children's workers when I do trainings with them as I did recently with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). That event was just a few weeks ago. It was a CEF training for workers from eastern Europe. The training resulted in an invitation to Belarus to teach there and three other invitations for around Ukraine. My main purpose was to give workers a vision of the value of using crafts as a tool in their evangelism of children and their families. Praise God that He helped me to accomplish this.

Nikolaevka, The Crimea, Ukraine

Nikolaevka is a seaside resort. I say that tongue-in-cheek because it is just a sleepy little village on the shore of the Black Sea, but in summer, like mushrooms popping up after a rain, it comes alive with vendors catering to the vacationers who come here to enjoy the sea.

We arrived several days ago, but as mentioned earlier, there are communication problems that we are still working on. We hope to have that solved soon. Until then I won't be here much.

I have a funny memory of this place and our early times here. Our first seven months I had no language, we had no car and no phone, thus no computer contact. By that time, I was suffering from feelings of isolation and a bit depressed when we finally got a phone line. Then I could do email and felt like I'd gained new life. I was no longer cut off. Well, somehow, I guess through some visitors, the word got out in the village that we had a computer. From that, people conjured up the idea that we might be spies. I still laugh when I think of this, but you must remember that it was 1994 when we arrived, then computers were only in government buildings. Today that, of course, is not the case and upon arriving we discovered, in fact, that there are a couple of wi-fi hot spots in the neighborhood. Unfortunately not close enough to access. Welcome to the 21st Century Nikolaevka.

The Crimea is our destination tomorrow. The plan is to rise early and make the 14 drive in one day. I say the plan, so if we schedule leaving by 6 a.m. we might get out of here by 9. Leah will be here to hold down the fort as she's working in Kiev. It may be volunteer work, but it still is treated as a job and they need her. Praise the Lord for the opportunity.

The Crimea is a peninsula in the Black Sea on the southern edge of Ukraine. It used to belong to Russia, but Khrushchev had a Ukrainian wife and so they gifted it to Ukraine. Nonetheless, it still remains rather autonomous with their own government and capitol city Simferopol. The village of Nikolaevka sits on the western side of the Crimea and was our first mission home. It is the head village of what, in Soviet times, was a collective farm over seven other villages. The population is about 4,000 and it sits right on the Black Sea. The land there is quite flat (farmland, grapes and sunflowers) and uninteresting, but on the opposite side from us (on the east) there are lovely mountains. Occasionally we get over there.

When I say village, that word here, true to form is synonymous with backwards, behind the times, out of the loop. When we moved there in 1994 we heated with a wood/coal burning stove. Our first winter was pretty chilly inside, not so much from the cold weather, but from Jeff learning how to manage a good fire. Of course, I used my feminine rights and would nudge him (the man of the house) out of bed on the cold mornings to go start the fire again before we all had to face the frosty house. By the second winter he had it pretty well figured out. There really is an art to building a fire that will last all night long. Pretty sharp guy!

Well, since I have to finish packing, I will make this short, but while there I will tell you more about our early experiences in Nikolaevka. Oh, that is, remember I said village, if we have a good enough internet connection. That is always a big question. Too-taloo!

Some days on the mission field are about missions and some days are about working out the details of living. Today was one of those. Nothing happens fast or simply in Ukraine, but God uses these things to work on our character and for that we praise Him. Jeff went to the company who dug our well to find out why we still have poor water. While Jeff did that I was home with the plumbers who were taking care of the breakdowns that occurred while on furlough. Things are starting to work better Hallelujah!

Today Leah helped me organize scrapbook materials that arrived a few days ago. I must start making more examples for the classes I will be teaching. This evening Leah went to the leaders meeting for Yablonka. That is the name of a neighboring town where we have a church plant. It meets in a basement bomb shelter built in Soviet times. She works with youth girls on Saturdays there.

Our thanks to Ray and Becky Crawford of Carthage, Texas for how they so bless us along with Becky's Sunday school class for sending craft goodies. The children are so blessed and they have such joy in creating pretty things.

Thanks for your interest in coming here. God has taken good care of us and for that we praise Him. I hope to get some pictures on here in the future, but I have to figure out how to do that first.

Greetings

If this is your first time to visit our blog then we welcome you. You will find here some of the goings on of our day-to-day life as well as our mission work here in Ukraine and further abroad. We'll try to be serious for those of you who want to know seriously what is going on here, but we can't guarantee that this blog may not trip and fall into some silliness at times. After all, life is just too short to be serious all the time and if you can't have a little fun then things just get toooo boring.

OK, so this is Coleen writing. I'll probably be the one twisting your ear most of the time (well, I guess eye would be more appropriate) since Jeff is gone a lot or surgically attached to his computer trying to keep up with all the email. I do help with this as well, but some things the boss just has to do himself. As for Leah, well she has been pretty steeped in busyness herself, but we might be able to get her on now and then.

Now if you don't like what goes on here then you can blame Cindy Williams of Conway, Arkansas. Those of you who know this crazy lady will understand. She is the one who started all this. She sent us a blog address of one of her mannny kids, or so she thought, and it sent us directly to this "create a blog" site. Never did find the kid's site. Oh well, nice try Cindy! Now you know who to blame!

As many of you know we returned in mid-January from almost 6 months furlough in the U.S. We had a wonderful time, renewed many friendships, but sure came home (Bucha, Ukraine) tired. We always said we would rest when we got back to our own beds. However, a whirlwind of meetings and conferences was waiting for us. Now, a month later we are starting to adjust. Praise God for his mercy.

We are grateful to all who looked after us, friends and family, and for all the loving support we felt while there. What a joy, but bittersweet when you have to leave. Yes, we love all of you, but we are glad to finally be back in our own home.

Jeff started the day with one of our missionaries and a time of fellowship, reporting and prayer. Volodya is a really sharp, intelligent young man who is working to start new churches. Jeff is mentoring him and he has a sweet family with two young boys.

Later in the day Jeff went to the "banya" This is very much Ukrainian custom of steam bath. That was a time of fellowship for Jeff and Alyosha. Jeff has been mentoring Alyosha for many years. Alyosha was a former drug addict who got saved and is now in seminary and active in ministry.

With Jeff gone and our old Daihatsu trapped in the yard from the new fence built (without the gate yet) while in the U.S., I jumped a bus to the church this afternoon to meet one of the ladies there who came to help prepare crafts for Sunday school. Since it was only she and I, we had a good time of fellowship and I learned a lot about her and we got a lot done. PTL!