Dear Praying Friends and Family,   Bible Institute Graduation: With great gratitude, I am glad to announce that we have finally graduated the students who stuck it out till the very end of Bible Institute. We started with 17 and had only 5 finish all the courses. Many could not finish due to the economic instability of Ukraine. These graduates received over 1200 hours of instruction and worked very hard to receive their certificates and degrees. It was a big load and a lot of hard work. Listening to these students give their testimonies of how the Lord had changed them as a result of constant exposure to the Bible, prayer, witnessing, and fellowship made it well worth the work. I am grateful for the help of Brother Case Kline who helped with the load and another brother who also taught a couple of classes. We would not have been able to finish this in a 3 ½ year period without them.

Helping People: The Bible says that our Lord Jesus “went about doing good… (Acts 10:38).” I don’t have the apostolic signs (that would be nice!) to heal the sick and do miracles but we have a God who can! We currently live and minister about 100 kilometers north of Odessa in the interior of Ukraine. We do not have the conveniences of the city here and the people are much poorer. Thus we are surrounded by poverty and hardship. We are thankful for the generous love offerings that you give that allow us the privilege of helping people. Most of the time I do not mention these things in our prayer letters for several reasons, one being that I never want them to think that we are making merchandise of them (2 Pet. 2:3). They too have access to the internet and can read missionary prayer letters. I know of Christian nationals who left missionary’s churches because they thought the missionary was being dishonest with their supporters. Despite all this, I decided that it would be a blessing and an encouragement to you to see some of the faces of the people that you have helped recently so that you can pray for them.             First, please pray for Grandma Raiya. She received Christ in our church 25 years ago. She is a huge blessing to us and doesn’t flinch to witness to others. She is both sweet and bold. She was a sniper during WWII when she was just a teenager. She developed a blood clot in her leg which led to gangrene. The doctors will not amputate because they say her heart cannot take it. Her daughter has quit working and is caring for her full-time. She has had gangrene since August and is fighting for her life. My wife is trying to help her get her heart stronger so they can amputate while trying to keep the gangrene from spreading. Please pray.

I’ve mentioned a sister in our church named Galya in past prayer letters. One of her daughters broke her arm three years ago. The doctors didn’t use pins to put it back together. Instead, they wrapped the bone with some type of thread that doesn’t dissolve. Galya brought her to Naomi when a large hole opened up and it began oozing. We told her to immediately go see a specialist and that we would pay whatever the cost. She will be in the hospital for over a month for operations and further care. The bone had grown around the thread and they are doing what they can so that she can have normal use of her arm as she grows. The doctors have had compassion on them and are writing off almost all of the hospital and doctor’s fees. We are covering the medical expenses.

My assistant’s son, Vanya, had some problems during childbirth. He is not developing properly and does not speak well. We have paid for many different medicines and clinics in the past with no success. Naomi found a doctor in the USA who will take Vanya as a patient via video consultations. We can get their blood work done here and translate it for him. His first consultation is scheduled for Thursday next week and we are praying that he is able to help.             We have also been helping a national evangelist over the past four or five years. He now has six children and lives in a one-room house. His chimney collapsed and destroyed their roof and interior in their home, while his wife was pregnant. Their home was uninhabitable so he sent her away while he tried to clean up the mess. We sent them help with the doctor bills and with his house so she could return. He called and thanked me for the help. He said, “Brother, out of all the other churches in Ukraine you are our biggest supporter. You give more than all others. If it weren’t for you we would be eating out of garbage cans.” Such a statement does wonders to warm the heart and I am thankful to God for being allowed to help like this.

Miscellaneous Ministry News:The Lord blessed us with one lady receiving Christ in our church and she has been attending ever since with her little boy. Please pray for her growth.              Thankfully we successfully applied for an extension to our residency permits. The quarantine caused big delays in our paperwork. We made it by two days, but were not able to apply for Samuel’s residency permit. We are not sure what will happen at the airport when we leave. I’m sure it will not be pleasant and will result with us paying some fines. Please pray that there are no other problems.              The Lord’s people have been very generous in sacrificially giving towards the building project. We are very glad to announce that we have 50% of the funds needed for our new church building. We pray that we will begin in spring when the ground thaws. Until then we will continue to pray, work, and save. We want to thank all of you who have prayed and given towards this project which will greatly help establish this church in the area and help her reach out even farther into the area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   Furlough:  Since January this year we have been in prayer about the Lord’s timing in returning to the USA for furlough. Our biggest prayers were about the strength of the ministry, plane tickets, housing, and a vehicle. We are still somewhat concerned about the ministry due to a few billygoats who keep causing problems. Other than that all is good. The Lord amazed us with the generosity of one friend of mine who paid for all of our plane fare! Praise God! Housing is also taken care of where our family of eight can stay. All that is left is the vehicle. Please pray we find the right one.            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