Abigail Hope and Rebekah Praise, Christmas Eve 2008

We spent Christmas Eve with our dear friends, the Beals.

Abigail delighted with her new gift.

A Christmas morning smile

Eating yummy turnovers for breakfast.

There's nothing better than spending Christmas with the one you love.

Rebekah thought opening presents was pretty fun!

A happy daddy with his girls.

Thank you to our parents, siblings, and friends, who sent boxes over or gave us gifts to make the day special! Merry Christmas everybody!

To view more pictures, visit our Picasa Web Album.

“Yes! and Bohdan, who sat next to me, was able to locate all the Scripture references as we went.”

“And we had ALL guys! It was a men’s Bible study!”

“And our new rock climbing friend came too, and stayed the whole time.”

“It seemed like you really had their attention during the preaching.”

If you could’ve overheard Joshua and I after English Club/Bible study this evening, you would’ve heard something like the above. We were greatly encouraged and excited, to say the least. We had a great group of six men tonight, many of whom showed key signs of interest in God’s Word.

Joshua preached from John chapter 15 and hit on some powerful subjects. One clear theme, among others, was that in Christ is LIFE, and outside of him there is NO life. I had proverbial tingles down my spine from the simple yet clear truths presented that could change these men’s lives forever if they get ahold of them.

Thanks so much to all of you that are making a special effort to pray for this ministry. Know that you are making a difference in the kingdom of God. We believe that God is drawing hearts to Himself. Please continue to pray with us for the salvation of those who are coming.

The latest version of our newsletter, Overseas Field Report, has now been posted to our blog. To download it in PDF format, please select “Download OFR” from the right-hand menu, or click the link below:

http://www.OFReport.com/download-ofr/

If you would like to receive Overseas Field Report by regular mail, just send us an e-mail request. There is no cost for subscription to our newsletter. We appreciate your continued prayer support for our ministry.

The Christmas tree makes our house so cheery during the dark winter days.

Here is what I did today...

These will be decorated tomorrow at a small Christmas party Joshua and I are hosting.

Abby thought these were pretty fun.

Taking your own picture with a Nikon D40 is not that easy. (The girls were sleeping; otherwise, they would've made better photo material. =) )

Ministry Update

Our good friend and missionary here in Ukraine, Denise Hutchison, helps us tremendously by keeping up our Correspondence Bible Course of over 300 students. She and Nathan Day are responsible for grading lessons, sending out letters to students, addressing envelopes, and much more that goes into maintaining this course. Denise is going to be leaving for the U.S. this weekend, and Nathan is also in the U.S. visiting family. This means that the whole responsibility of the course will be on our shoulders and the Beal’s over the next month or so! Our ministry obligations are already mushrooming, so we would appreciate your prayers for us as we take on this additional job.

These lessons just arrived from the printer today.

Anya shows interest in the Gospel of John.

Our second evening of English Club and Bible teaching went off very well! 11 people came to participate in the evening’s events, most of whom were present for the teaching of the Word!

Listeners intent on the preaching

Taras has expressed particular interest in studying the Bible.

Joshua engaged in one of his favorite activities.

The microphone you see clipped on Joshua is not for voice projection, it’s for recording. Each preaching session is recorded on CD for distribution to other Ukrainians, many of whom we may never meet personally.

Jessie reads a discussion question during English Club.

Everyone enjoying some fellowship time.

Tea anyone?

P.S. Wanted: Prayer Warriors! On our way home from this last meeting, Joshua and I were discussing how neat it would be if people in America would stop to pray just as we were beginning each Tuesday night session. We are seeing God’s blessing on this ministry and would love to have the prayers of the saints behind it. Our desire is that individuals would completely set aside what they’re doing, even for five minutes or so, and pray for the salvation of these souls, every Tuesday at 11:00 am central. (Ukraine is 8 hours ahead, so you would be praying exactly at the time we are starting our evening meeting.) If you would be willing to participate in prayer for us consistently in this way, please send us an e-mail and let us know. We would be encouraged!

The postal worker’s eyes widened as I handed her my 3 large stacks of business envelopes. “So many lovers to write to, eh?”, the gray-headed gentleman next to me teased with a twinkle in his eye. I don’t usually enjoy trips to the Ukrainian Post Office, but this one was important. Joshua and I had spent all weekend preparing this mail-out for those of our Bible Correspondence students who live in the L’viv area– 228 in all. As I sat and licked each individual stamp, (no self-adhesive here!) my thoughts ran in a continuous cycle: Will this person come? Lord, draw their hearts to you. I wonder how many will be there. Will they come? Bring those who are ready to hear, Lord!

Not long ago, an acquaintance named Roman approached Joshua and asked the worn out question that missionaries hear quite regularly, “Do you teach English?” Joshua gave him his usual answer, “If you can find a group of ten dedicated people who want to learn, call me and we’ll talk about starting an English club.” While most who ask never call back, it wasn’t long before we heard from Roman again, saying he had found 8 people who would come.

Our friend Roman (left) with his friend, also named Roman.

About this same time, our missionary team had been making plans to resume the Audio Bible Study that we had carried on over the past fall and winter. Last year, our students could come to hear weekly teaching from the book of John, with each session being recorded on CD for distribution on a wider scale. We did see fruit from this ministry, but only a very limited number of people came to the meetings regularly and it became difficult to continue them.

With Roman’s call, the decision was made to initiate “An Evening of Christian Fellowship”, combining both the English Club and the Audio Bible Study (ABS) into one effort. Through the mail-out, we invited all our local students to come to one or both of the teaching times. First we would gather for English teaching and discussion; immediately afterward would follow Bible teaching on various themes or from the book of John.

The invites were taken to the Post Office and sent. We waited and prayed.

Tuesday, December 2nd came. That night we had 8 people join us for the English Club! We discussed topics such as terrorism, why bad things happen, and how much governments should be involved in prevention. This led right into the message Joshua had prepared for that evening: Why does God allow evil in the world? All but one stayed to hear the teaching of the Word! Everyone enjoyed coffee and tea afterward and seemed at ease interacting with us. Many were anxious to practice more English. One man in particular, named Taras, told Joshua that the reason he came was because he was anxious to study the Word of God.

From left to right: Taras, Bogdan, Anya, Dasha, Kelsie, Marian.

We are grateful for this beginning, but our prayer is that more people will be reached through this ministry. English is a powerful drawing card that we hope will attract others. Please pray for Roman, Roman, (there are two men by that name) Dasha, Anya, Bogdan, Evelina, Marian, and Taras, that they would continue to come and be changed by the message of Christ.

Walter Williams, an economics professor at George Mason University, said this in his introduction to The Law:

I must have been forty years old before reading Frederic Bastiat’s classic The Law. An anonymous person, to whom I shall eternally be in debt, mailed me an unsolicited copy. After reading the book, I was convinced that a liberal-arts education without an encounter with Bastiat is incomplete. Reading Bastiat made me keenly aware of all the time wasted, along with the frustrations of going down one blind alley after another, organizing my philosophy of life. The Law did not produce a philosophical conversion for me as much as it created order in my thinking about liberty and just human conduct.

If you love freedom, you will be blessed by reading The Law. Here’s where to get it:

PDF text online | Free audio book | The Law in Russian

Can't you tell we had a lot of fun this year?

With the end of the project, the Steeles have been enjoying a few quieter days.

Abby and Rebekah lounging in their pajamas.

We love having Daddy home more often!

4th Anniversary!!
Joshua and I took a 6 day get away trip to Krakow, Poland, over our anniversary!

On the train together

We camped out at a rock climbing site for the first three days of the trip. The rain ruined most of our climbing plans, but Joshua did get one 70-80 foot climb in!

This was one BIG rock!

It takes quite a lot of gear to get up that high.

Where's Waldo...uh...I mean, Joshua?

If you think I was nervous about this climb…well, you’re right! Joshua admitted it was quite a challenging route.

Kelsie was able to practice and improve at this indoor climbing gym.

On the night of our anniversary, we ate at a very quaint traditional Polish restaurant. Here we’re trying sausage and quail egg soup in bread bowls.

Best friends and lovers

Happy 3rd Birthday, Abigail!
We had a blast doing fun things together on Abigail’s birthday. We opened presents all throughout the day, playing with each one. We even saved some until the following morning! It’s hard to believe our little girl is already three.

Make a wish! (We're still learning to blow out those candles.)

New toys are so entertaining!

Posing with Daddy and her new dolly, our big 3-year-old!

Abby's not the only one who is getting bigger! Rebekah Praise, 8 months.

Yes, we finally did it. I know it’s been a while in coming, but what can I say? I thought about it a lot. Isn’t it the thought that counts?  Anyway, if you’d like to read the latest OFR, just click Download OFR. God bless!