Addition to Chmiel’s Update

We just sent out our October prayer update but we have one more prayer request. Our youth camp in the Czech Republic is ending this weekend and we will be taking the kids back to Lviv this Sunday. We just learned that there is an unknown flu epidemic in the Lviv region (read the article below) so please pray for safety for everybody. We would consider keeping our students out of Ukraine a little longer (all schools are closed anyways) but their visa expire on Sunday and we could only apply for their visa extension on Monday morning (everything is closed on Saturday and Sunday) and the students do not want to risk having trouble obtaining European Union visa in the future. So they decided they wanted to travel back to Lviv on Sunday despite the epidemic. Tomasz will take them back to Ukraine. Miriam and Hannah will wait in the Czech Republic. We have couple more meetings with the church in the Czech Republic next week so we planned on one more week in Czech even without knowing about the flu. But after that we would really like to go back home to Lviv. Please pray for the whole situation. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah
Ukraine’s health minister has announced a state of emergency after thirty-three people died from unknown flu virus in western Ukraine, near the Polish border.

Schools have been shut and people have been asked to avoid public places. The Polish-Ukrainian border has not been shut yet but Poland’s Health Minister Ewa Kopacz is considering closing border crossings if the virus turns out to be dangerous for Poles. 
Almost one thousand people, mainly from the Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv Regions, infected with a virus have been hospitalized, including almost 500 children. Hundreds of people have been referred to medical centres and clinics with flu symptoms. 
Preliminary tests have shown that eleven, out of thirty-three fatal victims, have died from swine flu.
“Unfortunately, we have to state that an an A/H1N1 flu epidemic has in fact started in Ukraine," said Kniazevych at a press conference. Ukraine’s Health Ministry is planning to impose quarantine in the whole country.  
The news has caused a panic in Ukraine. People are buying up anti flu medicines, vaccines and masks. As Ukrainian chemist's' are running out of stock, some Ukrainians are going to Poland to get necessary medications. Ukrainian hospitals, which are being stormed by people, will probably have to ask medicine students for help.

Tomasz Chmiels

This week we are at a youth camp in the Czech Republic. As we mentioned in our earlier updates, we are organizing this camp together with a youth group from Oldrichovice (Czech). At first we were really disappointed when instead of ten students from Lviv, we ended up bringing only three. But we are very grateful that those three can be here. What a blessing to see the Oldrichovice youth witnessing to our students!!! What a mature group of young people they are! It is so exciting for us to see our three girls from Lviv being part of this healthy group for a week. We pray that God would use this camp to do big things in their lives and that they would then pass it on to the other students in Lviv.

The three girls from Lviv that were able to come (from left to right): Ira, Katya, Yulia

 

 

Here we are presenting a little bit about our Lviv group during Oldrichovice worship service

A short video of the youth playing a game (one person is trying to get a seat and everybody else is moving trying to always fill the empty seat) http://picasaweb.google.com/chmiels05/HannahDvacatyctvrtyTyden5Mesicu#5397957801580929058

The hard thing about our last couple of months is that it feels like we are traveling all the time. In the picture below Hannah looks happy helping Daddy drive to camp but it is not always easy for her to be traveling all the time, not to be home when it is her bedtime, to be passed around from one youth group girl to another because they all want to hold her etc. But we praise God for His protection during our travels and for helping Hannah deal with all the constant changes fairly well.

Before going to the Czech Republic for the camp, we traveled to Odesa to a youth ministry conference. It was Hannah’s first time on a train and she did really well during those 12 hours of travel.

The conference was for people interested in youth ministry from all the German Lutheran congregations all over Ukraine. It was good for us to be there because we wanted to meet these people to see what our role could be in the future, how we could help them in their ministries. We would love to see healthy youth ministry grow in the Lutheran church in Ukraine. Right now there is not much youth ministry going on in the German Lutheran church at all. Pastor Gross (from Odesa) told us that there are really just two functioning youth groups in the whole denomination, one is in Odesa (where the denomination headquarters is) and one in Lviv (ours). The rest of the people who came to the conference were somehow connected to working with youth but they did not do this on regular basis (they maybe go to a camp as counselors in the summer or help prepare a Christmas program or something but they do not work with the youth regularly during the school year).

These were some of the conference participants. The guy in the blue shirt (third from left) and the guy in the yellow and black T-shirt were speakers from an organization called “Youth For Christ”. They were not Lutherans but we really enjoyed their seminars. It was all Bible-based and Christ-centered. We pray that healthy seeds were sown. It would be wonderful to have people like this, on fire for the Lord and excited about youth ministry, also in the Lutheran church in the future.

At the beginning of October, “Thanksgiving Day” is celebrated in the Lutheran church in Ukraine. Here is a picture of our youth group in Lviv singing and sharing Scripture during the Thanksgiving worship service. If you would like to hear the students sing, you can click here http://picasaweb.google.com/chmiels05/LetoAPodzim2009#5388740701017138338

In our last email update, we asked you for prayers for our visa renewal situation. At first it looked like it would all go really well this year. We submitted all the needed things and the lady in charge kept telling us that it would not be a problem to receive a one-year visa renewal and registration. So even though they charged us almost three times of what it cost last year, we were really thankful that it would be done quickly and without any problems. But then when we went to pick up our passports with the renewal stamp, the lady told us that it was all complicated, things had changed and blah blah blah... In short, we did not receive the visa renewal. What she did was she registered us for three months to her own home address (without our knowledge or consent!) and told us that we need to go to a Ukrainian embassy somewhere outside of Ukraine and again try to apply for a religious visa there. So after we come home from camp, we will again be gathering documents and then we will have to travel to Krakow (Poland) to  apply for a new visa. And only after that we can again try to register... It is really disappointing but we guess those are some of the “joys” of missionary life. :(
We cannot write more now because we are still at camp and there is not very much time for email or anything else besides camp program.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.
Blessings,
Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah

AFLC World Missions Videos

Have you ever watched our videos.  We have a collection of videos describing a number of our ministries.  The latest addition to our playlist is a video from Justo Pillman who is ministering in Ecuador.  Click on the graphic to the right and then go to Justo’s video named “Missionupdate.”  

Paul and Becky Abel

Almost two months have slipped by and I realize it is time to communicate with our web of friends and supporters. We hope everyone has returned to another school year with a desire to do all to the glory of God and give Him thanks in all things. 

Looking Back

We have had a full two months.  I just want to give you a quick overview so that you can rejoice with us and pray for us as you have done so faithfully throughout the years of our ministry in Brazil. Paul had a complete recovery of his voice after weeks of struggling with laryngitis.  Our time in Campo Mourão in September giving a course on courtship and sexuality was blessed by the Lord and we hope the decisions made will be significant in helping young people remain sexually pure.  We taught the classes together this time because of Paul’s weak voice.  As he ministered during the week his voice gradually strengthened. 

The following week we drove to São Paulo to meet my folks and take them to visit a boy they support monthly through Compassion International. Then we returned to Curitiba to spend a wonderful three weeks together.  It is almost hard to believe that this was their 10^th visit to Brazil in the 25 years we have been here.  How thankful we are for their faithful support and encouragement of our ministry!  They kept busy the whole time they were here, painting our house and doing fix-up jobs that we just don’t get around to doing.  Of course we enjoyed sharing our life and ministry and friends with them as well. One highlight for all of us was babysitting for Deborah and Sarah for 10 days while Joanna and Silvio were traveling. We had a great bonding time and memories to cherish for the years to come. We also enjoyed celebrating a host of birthdays.  I feel like I have made plenty of fancy birthday cakes for awhile.  Thanks to all of you who remembered to send birthday greetings to us!

We are praising God for the rentals at the ARCA.  After several months of financial struggle we are thankful to report that we have bookings set in place until the end of the year.  We are breathing a little easier now. Thank you, Lord! We had an Annual ARCA board meeting in September.  Yara has decided to terminate her ministry with the camp for the time being but will continue to serve on the Board. Her husand Carlos continues to work as camp manager.

Paul took a quick trip to Campo Mourão a couple of weeks ago for the funeral of our dear friend Dona Vita. She and her husband have been caretakers at the Bible Camp in Campo Mourão for over 40 years. She was a dear saint and will be greatly missed.

Looking Ahead

The church construction in Borda do Campo is progressing (see photo) and they plan to have the dedication service on November 14^th and move into unfinished quarters to escape the monthly rent bill.

We have started a weekly Bible Club on Saturdays in Campo Largo in yet one more attempt to reach out to the community.  We have had several visitors and are excited about this new avenue of ministry. 

This coming weekend the ARCA is hosting our Second Missionary Conference. The first one was in 2007.  We hope to host this event every other year to encourage our Free Lutheran people in mission outreach.  This year four different workshops will be offered in preparation for a practical mission outreach event in the community on Monday, November 2 which is a national holiday in Brazil. 

The Mighty Fortress Church in São Braz also took the initiative to offer a bi-weekly course for training leaders in our area churches.  We meet together on Tuesday evenings to learn and encourage one another.

We look forward to the arrival of four Canadian young men next week to help with some construction projects around here.  The two short-termers from the States, Jon and Nathan, are still waiting for their visas to be granted, but we hope to see them soon.  One other volunteer, Karyn Ballman, is in the process of applying for a visa to spend some time with us as well.  Please keep these young people in your prayers.

I’ve already have gone on too long and I feel like I have barely scraped the surface. Life and ministry keep us busy all the time.  We are still here because of the mercies of the Lord. We are so glad He never tires of loving people and offering opportunities for men to be reconciled to Him.  His Word through the prophet Ezekiel expresses His desire for all mankind – “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Ez. 18:32

Thanks for praying for us as we lead people to repentance and faith! 

God’s best to each of you!  Love, Paul and Becky

P.S. Our old website is no longer active, but I have put together another one if anyone needs information about us or would like to take a look – www.paulabel.shutterfly.com

Darwin Jackson

"Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear." F. B. Meyer

It's been great to be in full swing again after being sick for so long. I thought I'd never get rid of that thing! The only thing is, we're so busy teaching and preaching we haven't had as much time for fishing... for men. That's a hint for prayer :-).

We're (Alfonso and I) preaching and teaching three times each Sunday in Mascarenas, twice in two different homes and once in the church. Been preaching more often in Buenos Aires, giving Pastor Antonio more time for visiting and just having a break. And twice at the rescue mission each week.

Florencia is working weekends now, but holds the children's Bible school on Thursdays now in Mascarenas, and it is going well with about 13 to 15 kids strong.

On our visitations in Buenos Aires we ran into a family who were very open to us. We'll be visiting them again this Sunday. Please pray for Victor (back slidden after getting out of prison), Fidencia and Xochit (pronounced shochit).

My guitar student/worship leader in the making, is doing awesome (Edgar). I believe he'll be ready to start leading on his own soon.
Mary Ann and the kids are doing great. They have been on vacation all week. They'll be coming back tomorrow. Pray for their travel from L.A.
Pastor Antonio is on vacation as well this week so I'll be taking his place tomorrow. It is a real joy to be able to do this for him.

Thank you all so much for "waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear." Your fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Sykari and Laura

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Jesse Long - Tanzania

God is good and I am excited to have many evidences of His goodness to report in this update!!  I was just looking back at my last update and realized that I didn’t say much of anything about Tanzania.  I guess it was more a report of my time away from Tanzania than anything.

Well, since that time, Ben arrived safely here in Tanzania.  He was a couple days behind me due to a delay in Chicago but we are thankful that both of us ultimately arrived safely along with ALL of our luggage.

Ben and I met up in Arusha where we spent our first couple days picking up supplies for the coming semester and making sure our motorcycles were up-to-date with maintenance and in good shape after sitting unused for the past couple months.  One praise is that Ben was able to acquire a different motorcycle from a Norwegian friend whose term here in Tanzania had come to an end.  His ‘new’ bike is a 650cc (rather than his old 250cc) and is about 5 years newer, as well.  With both of us having bigger bikes (see attached picture), we sure saw a difference in the travel time between Arusha and Mbulu.  More importantly, however, is the peace of mind that results from having reliable motorcycles to drive.  God is good.  Another related praise is that Ben has already found a buyer for his old bike.  It really was a miracle and came about without him needing to put up even one advertisement!!

So, we had a safe trip out to Waama.  We arrived on the 4^th of this month.  Right away that week, we began having meetings with the other teachers to get things set for the school year ahead and especially for this first semester.  In that first week we had 3 different teachers’ meetings and were able to set the start/finish dates for each of the three semesters, propose a date for this school year’s graduation, set the schedule for each semester’s finals, as well as divide up the teaching responsibilities for this semester.  Another praise is that a third pastor has been brought on board to help teach this year.  He is not full-time here at the school and is actually the pastor responsible for overseeing a nearby district of churches but this has its own set of blessings.  Perhaps most significantly is that he receives his salary from his work in this neighboring district and the school gets the benefit of another teacher who they don’t have to pay but is still carrying a full load of classes.  Again, God is good.

Anyway, it was good to get moved back into our house.  Students began arriving on the 7^th and classes started this past Monday, October 12^th.  This semester I am teaching ‘Evangelism’ (a 4-credit course), Philippians (a 2-credit course), English (a 2-credit class), and James (another 2-credit course).

I would like to ask you all to pray for the dean as he has been having some health issues.  We actually have not even seen him yet as he has been in his home village of Haydom where there is a good-sized mission hospital.  I am not exactly sure of what all he is dealing with but I know the problem has particularly affected his legs.  My understanding is that he had surgery of some sort within the past couple weeks but is expected to make it out to Waama perhaps even this weekend.  Again, please keep him in your prayers.

Perhaps the most significant praise is one that I have not yet mentioned.  WE HAVE ELECTRICITY AT WAAMA!!  God is so good.  I received an email while I was still in the States that said the “power was turned on August 26^th” but I had a hard time believing that it was true until I arrived here and saw it with my own two eyes.  It is a whole new life.  We still don’t have internet and virtually no cell phone network at our house but the step that has been taken is a good one.  Thanks so much to all who had a part in this project!!  The school will benefit from this progress for decades to come.

Well, I am sure there is much more that I could tell you but I think I will save it for next time.  Thank you all so much for your ongoing prayers for us and support in so many ways.  God is good and we are excited to be involved in His work in this part of the world.

God bless you all for your part.

In His service,

Jesse Long

Mbulu, Tanzania

Flooding in India

Some news doesn't make international news even though it can affect a lot of people. This past week, the Krishna River in Andra Pradesh hit a flood stage greater than had ever been predicted possible. The rains from neighboring states overwhelmed three dams along the river. 400 villages have been affected by the floods.

Eventually the river bank gave out in the area where we have 4 AFLC churches. The one church has 300 families in it. In the fisherman's village water went on top of the roof of a three story building.

AFLC World Missions has released some emergency funds to help the victims, please consider supporting this relief work through AFLC World Missions.

Kevin Olson, Traveling in India

Ben Jore

Greetings from Waama Bible School! After nearly 3 months in the States, both Jesse and I are back at Waama ready for our 4th year of teaching and showing the Jesus Film!

The brief couple months we had in the States were a huge blessing. I was able to share a dozen times about the work we do in Tanzania! I was also able to meet up with many friends and family and had a very blessed time with all of them. God is so good. But before I knew it, it was time to head back to Tanzania for another year.

The return trip to Tanzania was quite eventful including a two day lay-over in Chicago, which paved the way for a volleyball game with a friend from 1st grade (thank you Facebook!), a tour of London, two overnight flights, a night in Dar es Salaam, and a 10 hour bus ride! And that only got me to within 3 hours of Waama! I felt like I needed to go on vacation again. But God has been so good to us and has given us a couple days of blessed peace and quiet here at Waama before the students come and classes start.

We actually have already had a couple teachers meetings and divided up classes for first semester! Usually this doesn't happen until AFTER the students arrive. This year I am going to be teaching Intro to Biblical History, Bible History 1, Bible History 2, and Bible Customs and Geography. These total 11 credits, 8 of which are new courses that have never been taught and have to be written from scratch. This is by far the heaviest load I've ever had, but I'm excited to teach these classes and love what I do! Classes are scheduled to start on Monday, October 12!

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived at Waama was that all the buildings had power lines running to them! Indeed, all the buildings on campus have been hooked up to the national grid! This is such an incredibly huge blessing, I can't even explain. On behalf of everyone here at Waama, THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for and gave toward this project! This will be a huge blessing for many, many years to come.

Would you praise God with us? Praise him for...

...electricity! This is such a huge blessing and answer to prayer.

...calling Jesse and I back for another year. We are excited to see what God has in store for us this year.

...a great summer. It was great to see so many of you this summer and share what God has been doing over here.

...Adela Hein. This summer I started courting Adela! We are excited to see where He leads us and covet your prayers on our behalf.

Would you please pray for us and this coming school year? Please pray for...

...students. 51 applications have been accepted for the 2009-10 school year. Capacity is 72 and we would love to max out this year.

...protection. We need protection while we travel - Jesse and I travel many kilometers for both ministry and personal needs. We need protection from sickness - Last week there were 20 confirmed cases of swine flu in Mbulu, 5 miles away. Pray for protection from the "pestilence that stalks in the darkness" (Ps 91:6).

...good ministry. With Swahili getting easier and easier, the opportunity for deeper ministry increases. Pray for wisdom, discernment, boldness, and cultural awareness in all our opportunities.

...rain. There is a pretty significant drought across the country. Many crops failed last year (though God blessed Waama with a huge harvest), many livestock are dying, and the government is passing out food by the truckload. Pray that the rains would come soon.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! May God bless you,

Ben

PS We are at the beginning of a new year and many of you are new to this update list and have requested information on how to partner financially with me. Here are two different ways it can happen...

-Write a check, made payable to "AFLC World Missions". On a separate note write "For the ministry of Ben Jore". Then mail to: AFLC World Missions, 3110 E Medicine Lake Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55441.

-For those who would like to support me monthly but don't want to write a check every month, you can set up an automatic transfer. To do this, click here to receive the form, print it and fill it out. Then send it to the above address. If you have any questions feel free to contact me or the World Missions office at 763-412-2013.

Kevin Olson

Thank you so much for your prayers for the work and the ministry in Uganda and India.

After two weeks in Uganda, this is the fourth day in India.

There were some great encouragements in Uganda that I would like to update you on and the training in India was in session the morning after arrival.

Before more updates, some prayer requests include:

- The flooding of the Krishna river in the state of Andra Pradesh is very severe. It has never reached these levels. One large hydroelectric dam has opened all of its flood gates but the incoming water is double the outflow. The water could begin going over the dam before the peak flow hits. Water has already entered the dam and the power has been shut down. Literally hundreds of thousands of people are moving to temporary shelters. Thankfully there have been relatively few deaths. The town, Porta Lanka, that the church we were to visit today is being evacuated, so we won’t be going there. Other AFLC churches along the river’s path are also of concern.

- Our family has also been experiencing spiritual warfare. Everyone of us in our own area of weakness has had to deal with something. Somehow those type of things encourage me more than discourage me. It means that ministry is happening and that the battle to be won is the Lord’s and not something I need to worry about.

Here are a couple of people that I want to give you a snap shot of.

The first is Chris, he was Nate and Rhoda’s gardener. From age 13 on he has been away from home, earning a living on his own and even providing for his family. His history is rough, with illness and problems, but in the same way the Lord has been working in and through him. He was miraculously cured and given a new start on life. This past June he and Sarah were married. They did well to have both the traditional African introduction and the Christian marriage at the same time. Marriage has it’s own challenges as it did for Chris and Sarah, but God is good and has carried them through that as well. Last week, Sarah and her mother-in-law were going to one of three funerals in his family. The motorcycle tipped over and Sarah broke her arm.

Even though he has faced more trials than most of us can imagine, God has carried him through them all and the Lord is using him as a young man to teach and lead pastors that are twice his age. Pray for him and the ministry the Lord is doing through him.

Back in Tanzania

Greetings once again from the beautifully warm country of Tanzania!  It is hard to believe summer is already over and even harder to believe all that has happened since I last sent an update like this.  God truly blessed my time away from Tanzania and I am especially thankful to have been able to see many of you.

For those that don’t know, my summer “break” included time not only in Washington with my family, but also time in Oregon, California, North Carolina, Georgia, Australia, and Brazil.  Actually, in some ways it feels like I needed to come back to Africa to rest but, nonetheless, I would not have traded any of the opportunities I had for anything.

To briefly summarize, after arriving home on the 4^th of July, I spent my first week in Arlington, Washington with most of my immediate family.  My second week was spent in Astoria, Oregon working back at my old desk at LEKTRO, Inc.  My third week included an amazing vacation in Eastern Washington with my good friend Eric Paulson, all my brothers as well as my sister, Esther, and several other friends.  Immediately following that trip, my brother, Joe, and I headed off for our trip to California and Australia made possible by a friend in the airline industry and some frequent flier miles.  We returned from that trip on the 15^th of August and already on the 21^st of August I was again on a plane, this time headed to Brazil for a LEKTRO business trip.  Thankfully, that trip was followed-up by another week back at home in Arlington and those days were followed up by a trip back to North Carolina to visit my sister, Sarah, along with her husband and two boys.  However, as evidence to the fact that my self-diagnosis of having both A.D.D. and hyperactivity is accurate, I scheduled some ministry related business into the middle of that trip.  This took the form of a road-trip down to Atlanta, GA where I met with the staff of Renew World Outreach, the organization responsible for developing the solar-powered audio/video units used in remote villages for showing the Jesus Film.  In fact, I was blessed to have been provided with the money to be able to pick up two more of these units (in addition to the one unit we already have over here in Tanzania).  Ben and I are quite excited to put these three units into the hands of local evangelists as early as possible this school year in order to attempt to nationalize the Jesus Film ministry we have been carrying on over the past three years.  I returned from my trip to the East Coast on the 17^th of September and enjoyed some final days with all my siblings together until it was time to board a plane again heading back here to Tanzania on the 25^th.

So, God blessed me with a full and productive summer.  In some ways I feel like I am still trying to absorb all that happened but it is good to be back here in Africa.  God blessed both Ben and me with safe travel and, though Ben was delayed a couple of days, we are now both here in Arusha and praise God that all our luggage arrived safely as well.  These days have been full of preparations for the coming months out in Mbulu.  We plan to make the trip that direction this Sunday afternoon so that we can have a few days to get our house put together.  As the schedule stands, students should begin arriving on Wednesday, the 7^th, and classes should begin the following Monday, October 12^th.  As we look towards the coming year, please pray for these specific requests:

• Wisdom as we both teach various classes – some for the first time.
• Protection as we travel in this environment on our dirt bikes.
• Blessing on the students who will be studying at Waama this year.
• A prompt and blessed start to the school year.
• Direction and wisdom as we seek to establish these three national Jesus Film teams equipped with the new equipment we have returned with.

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers.  I am always amazed as I am home each summer and experience the love and support so many of you show.  May God continue to bless you all in your specific calling.  I look forward to keeping in touch in the year ahead.  Keep up the great work!

In Christ’s service,

Jesse Long

Mbulu, Tanzania

Chmiels Update

Greetings from Ukraine! New school year is in full swing here in Lviv so we will keep this short. As we mentioned in our last update we lost a volunteer who was helping us last year and was planning to come work with us full time this year so we are thankful for all your prayers as we are still trying to figure out what changes to make so that we would be able to manage the ministry ourselves.

We would also appreciate your prayers for the fall weeklong retreat that we also already mentioned in our previous emails. Right now we are working on all the details together with the youth leader of the Lutheran congregation in the Czech Republic that invited us. We are really encouraged to see the enthusiasm of this Czech youth group and the desire they have to share their faith with our youth. That is an answer to our prayers in many ways and we thank all of you who are praying with us for this retreat.

Another prayer request that we also already mentioned earlier is our visa situation. Our Ukrainian visa and registration expires now in October and we are right now in the process of trying to get a renewal. We submitted our documents last week and we should probably hear from the office this week to see if we will be able to get another one-year renewal. Last year it was a headache to get this done so please pray that, if it is God’s will, that it would go smoother this year.

This weekend, the new bishop of the German Lutheran church is coming to Lviv (pictured on the left) and we were asked to host him, his wife and his translator in our apartment. That will give us an opportunity to get to know him better. If you think of us this weekend please pray that our time with the bishop would be honoring to God and that God would grant us wisdom when we discuss some of the details of our work in Lviv.

If you’d like to see some new pictures from our lives and ministry, we updated our summer gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/HannahJoyChmiel/Summer2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMn83qCFnaC4Kg#

And of course Hannah’s gallery is updated at http://picasaweb.google.com/HannahJoyChmiel/  For those who like baby pictures :) :) :)

And one last thing, we wanted to really apologize to all of you who sent us emails and got no answer from us. We are REALLY BEHIND with emails that need to be answered so it is possible that if you sent us an email at a time when we were not able to write back right away, the email ended up in a LOOOONG line of emails that need to be answered. If you are still waiting for our answer on something that is important, please do not hesitate to write again and remind us and we will try to email you right back. We are so sorry for this. Every day we hope to get caught up and somehow it is not happening :(

Have a great rest of the week,

Tomasz, Miriam and Hannah

Remember Justo Pillman in Prayer

I just wanted to write a quick note and ask prayer for continued safety down here.  I don't get paranoid about it (I should probably be more careful than I am), but recently have realize how many dangers there are every day.  Just in the last couple weeks I've seen the Lord's protection multiple times while traveling.  Traffic feels like a zoo sometimes there are so many close calls.  Also, last Fri. Josue (the pastor's son) was robbed at knife point at 6:30pm one block from the church.  I walk by that corner almost every day, and frequently ride the public transportation as well.  What peace it gives to rest in the Lord, but I also want to be wise in the places I go.  It is by His mercies that we are not consumed.... great is His faithfulness!  Lam. 3:22-26
Thanks for praying!
-Justo