Dear Prayer Partners:

The cold weather and snow followed me from WV to Odessa!  For a week before my January 12 departure, it was snowing in Princeton, WV and temps were in the teens.  And so it has been in Odessa, even colder!  Last Tuesday in Makarovo it was 22 below O F the morning of the clinic!  Thankfully, the church there now has a heating system.  Some of you old friends may remember that I had a problem with hypothermia there a few years ago when it got this cold. Even with the heat, they couldn't get the auditorium above freezing! So my clinic assistants set up the pharmacy in the kitchen.  Praise the Lord, we haven't missed any clinics scheduled in January.  Lonya had not been able to get to Shamanovka for a month after the blizzard in December. But he found a way through snow-covered rutted frozen fields that bypassed the snowdrifts in the roads. That clinic was in a kind gentleman's 2-room house, where he could only heat one room. I could see my breath in the room where I was seeing patients, bundled in my winter coat, gloves and boots. After a few hours there, it took an hour in the car with the heater on for me to feel my toes again! I am very grateful for electric space heaters. In the government-controlled heating system of Odessa's high-rise apartment buildings, the temperature in my apartment has been hovering in the low 60's. But I stay warm with lots of layers and a space heater.

I was just glad to get to Odessa a couple of weeks ago. My flight from London to Kiev was cancelled due to bad weather. After standing in line for 3 hours with several hundred other stranded passengers, I was given a hotel room by British Air. So I had a free night in London to recuperate a bit from jet lag!  I (and my luggage!) made it to Kiev Jan 14, where Lonya and Luba met me. We faced a 5-hour drive to Odessa, which was lengthened by an hour by snow and fog. Lonya heard the next day that the highway was closed later that day! So thank the Lord we got through in time.  It was great to have the long drive to catch up with them and brush up my Russian.

My new colleague Holly Friesen welcomed me at my apartment.  Holly is a family nurse practitioner whom God has called to serve full-time in the medical ministry in Ukraine. She is now involved in full-time Russian study, but is going with me to a clinic once a month to learn the ropes. Please pray for Holly as she adapts to life in Odessa, studies the language and culture, and gets established in a local church.

I dived right into clinics and village ministries.  Patients still came despite the bad weather. Pray for Tanya, the 37-year-old wife of the church leader in Sahanskoye. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in September, then had surgery in November. She has been undergoing radiation and now they want to do chemotherapy. Please pray for direction for her treatment to be what is truly necessary. Pray for healing if it is God's will. Tanya and Styopa are such faithful servants and have a wonderful testimony in Sahanskoye as they help so many neighbors in need.

Pray for Alla in New Kubanka, who provides us rooms in her house for the clinic during the winter. She has been so interested in spiritual things and had several questions at clinic. Even after listening to the teaching of God's Word for several years, she is still not sure she is going to heaven. Pray for the Holy Spirit to show her the Truth, that she may trust Christ's sacrifice completely for her salvation.

Grisha at Shamanovka says he wants to follow Jesus. Pray that he will fully understand the way of salvation, and be a good testimony in the village. When we finally made it to Shamanovka, he had told everyone that clinic would be at his house, and that his house would be the center for all of our ministries!  Thankfully, he stayed sober the whole clinic day. His neighbor Roman came to talk to Lonya for a couple of hours. This is the young man whose father committed suicide several years ago. Roman is hungry, but taking in cultist teaching as well as Scripture. Pray that he will focus entirely on the Truth of Jesus Christ's gift of eternal life. Sasha is still struggling with his addiction to alcohol, but still asking for help to stop drinking. His wife Natasha wants to know more about salvation. Pray that Lonya will be able to get back to Shamanovka Wednesday for a Bible study with those who are seeking.

Lonya and I were able to get to Nadya's house in Kubanka last Wednesday to pick up on the study of "The Story of Hope". It is exciting to see these ladies learn the Old Testament basis for God's redemption. Lonya is so patient to explain simply these truths and to answer questions from people who know very little about the Bible. Nadya is so hungry spiritually and we do see he growing.

I was saddened to hear of the death of a couple in Kubanka in December whom Lonya and I had visited several times earlier. Tatiana had sent word for me to come see her for an infection in her leg. She was so pleased to see this resolve over the next couple of weeks as we visited her. Her husband was in good health. Lonya had some good talks with him about spiritual things and gave him a New Testament to read.  The last time we saw them was early October. So it was a shock to hear that both of them died the last week of December. There were some rumors in the village that I gave her some bad medicine. It is hard to leave my reputation in God's hands sometimes! But Satan tries to destroy where God is at work.  Their death really shook up Lonya and he said that he needed to be more proactive in sharing the gospel with everyone he contacted. I don't know how he could do more! But it is a blessing to see his tender heart to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Pray that God will overcome the efforts of Satan to discredit our ministry.

The first round of the presidential election took place Jan 17. The field of 18 candidates was whittled down to a run-off between the top two that will be Feb 7. The current president (the winner of the "Orange Revolution") was knocked out in this round. Please pray for God's will to be done, that the new president will not adversely affect the spread of the gospel and missionary presence in Ukraine.

Thank you for praying for me to get my new visa in time to leave the US for Ukraine. Now the next step is registration in the Odessa immigration office. Please pray for this process that is beginning this week.

Upcoming clinics in February:

2    Makarovo

4    Krasnosyolka

9    Bocharova

11   Kubanka

16   Sahanskoye

19   Limaniy

23   Valentinovka

25   Shamanovka/New Kubanka

I would like to pass along a prayer request for our ABWE Church Ministries Institute. You may remember a fire that severely damaged our building several years ago.  The Lord has provided a new facility which is just an empty shell at the moment--the first floor of a new apartment building. Construction teams are urgently needed March--May of this year to produce a functioning institute out of this shell. If you are interested, please contact Tim Rose, the project manager, at tsrose@abwe.cc

Thank you for your prayers for this ministry! God did provide the funds needed for the large medicine order in December.  I am still lacking $200 in monthly support, so please continue to pray about that need.  Thank you so much to all of you who gave gifts for Christmas and end of the year support, and for the regular support that makes these village clinics and Bible studies possible!

Leaning on The Rock,

Miriam

Psalm 62:6-7