Dear Friends and Partners in Evangelism,
Thank you for your faithful support. We work as a team and, together with you, we move forward and see God’s powerful blessing on the ministry. We have just celebrated Easter; significantly my TV/online message was from Paul’s letter to Timothy about suffering hardship for the sake of the Gospel and, in so doing, to share in the sufferings of Jesus. Paul says, if we suffer with Him, we shall be raised with Him. In effect, if we share the experiences of Jesus on earth, we shall share His Glory in Heaven. And for me, the greatest blessing of Easter is Resurrection.
As I write this, I am about to go to Ukraine. In addition to meeting many church leaders, I shall be preaching in Kyiv. Despite the war the church is full of people praying for their nation!
Shortly after my return, I will go to Germany to renew my relationship with our German friends and partners where Eurovision began as a charity in 1988. It all started with our East/West Conferences held in Karlsruhe from 1988 to 1992 which were an act of faith and prophesied the fall of the Iron Curtain. For me these conferences in West Germany were the springboard which saw the real revival reach both Russia and Ukraine. This time my visit is to hold a powerful Day of Prayer for Ukraine on April 29th in Altensteig. Germany is part of my ‘vision for Europe’ and I want to join with some of the churches to hold further Days of Prayer, not only for Ukraine but also for Germany.
On my recent visit to Uzbekistan in March, we had a powerful conference of youth leaders; 200 registered but 290 came, representing 30 churches, 29 cities and 7 different countries! What a challenge, these are the active youth leaders from persecuted Moslem countries. We are reaching young people who are actively supporting our future evangelism! This is what happened in Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s; it was the young people who led the move of God! The response in Uzbekistan was powerful, all left with a new Fire from the Holy Spirit!
Our programme is continuing during May with a National Day of Prayer with support from all the denominations in Armenia. There will be more Days of Prayer this year in Central Asia, Ukraine and Germany. This is where you are so important. The most powerful backup to everything we do is the Power of Prayer; it always has been the power behind my ministry. I have always, since my teenage years, had a powerful relationship with the Lord through prayer. I still go back to places where I met with the Lord almost 80 years ago, to remind Him of what we shared then and still do now!
I love the challenge facing us as we work in Central Asia. This is an important mission field because two of the countries in the Caucasus, Armenia and Georgia, were the first Christian countries in the whole world and held firm against Islam, though surrounded by active and aggressive Moslem nations. The whole of Central Asia and Caucasus have survived communism but need a move of God to bring evangelical truth and power to withstand today’s threat from secularism as well as Islam. Central Asia is 90% Moslem, but we have a miraculous opportunity to breakthrough with the support of local evangelical churches. Yes, there is persecution, but so there was when I was working in the former Soviet Union!
God is a wonderful Father and encourages me through the Holy Spirit. I can hardly realise that when I was in my 60s, an age when many people are slowing down and thinking of retirement, I was spending 3 months at a time in Siberia – 30 years ago! Now in my 90s, I am taking on this latest challenge in the Caucasus and Central Asia! But the miracle is that the Fire in me is burning more strongly now as I grow older. We are in the last of the ‘Last Days’ and although we know that persecution and godlessness will increase according to Scripture, I know positively that the Power of God through the Holy Spirit will be increasingly available to those who ask! Read the parable of the talents: God looks for faithfulness and increase in what He has called us to.
One of the most precious Scriptures God gave me all those years ago as I struggled as a young evangelist with a wife and twin babies was, ‘You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you that you should bring forth fruit and it will remain.’ Remain it has, as seen all over the former Soviet Empire. Those twin babies who slept in a carry cot behind me on the platform while my wife led the worship and I preached Jesus, are my strongest supporters now! It is the faithfulness of God that I love so much – He keeps every promise! And when He healed me of lung cancer 20 years ago, He gave me two promises: ‘Health and Healing’; I have both!
It is good that I can keep in touch with you. I see all of you as part of my wider ‘congregation’. Thank you for your help – keep praying and giving – I will need your continuing support over the coming years as I will not stop preaching Jesus whilst there’s breath in my body!
Thank you, and God bless you and answer all your prayers. If you need healing, yes, we will pray, but also, I encourage you to do what I do – keep praying until the answer comes!
David
Thank you for supporting this vision in prayer and through finance. We appreciate every gift and pray God’s blessing upon your life. ‘I always thank my God when I pray for you, because I keep hearing of your trust in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people… I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people’ (Philemon 1:4-7, NLT).
Vadim Preobrazhenskiy writes about our work together in Ukraine, ‘On a constant basis, cooperating with churches, seminaries, and organisations we hold social projects in Kyiv and in West Ukraine for refugees, internally displaced people, orphans, and children from suffering families, to bring some love and positive changes into their lives. Right now, we receive many requests for generators, people need food, and there is huge damage to infrastructure, but even greater damage to people’s souls. Ukraine will need strong support before and after the Victory. For us living in times of war means not only resistance to the enemy and fighting for freedom, but it is also fighting for our values which can’t be changed even by the enemy whom we face. Thank you for the privilege to spread mercy around the nation and thank you for sharing the same values!’