Oleg Demedyuk is a believer from L’viv. At his request, we recently started a Friday-night Bible study. Currently, we are studying the book of Romans.
Recently, I received an email from a young man named Serhii whom I discipled several years ago. A friend from Serhii’s church had inquired about finding someone who could disciple him. Serhii suggested that he contact me, and he did.
The first time we met, Oleg shared his testimony, and we spent some time getting to know one another. I explained a bit about what we do here as missionaries, and also suggested some ideas on how we might best spend our time during future meetings.
Normally, when a person expresses interest in studying the Bible, I like to start in Genesis. But since Oleg already had a solid foundation (he’s been saved for several years and faithful in his church) we decided to begin in Romans.
Each Friday evening, we read through a portion of Romans, look up key cross references, and discuss Paul’s teaching.
Oleg has also begun some limited involvement in our Bible First ministry. For example, we recently received a letter from one of our newer students who raised some objections to the doctrine of the deity of Christ. The student offered several verses in defense of her ideas, even going so far as to suggest that Jesus is merely an angel. I showed Oleg the letter, and he did some study on his own, researching the various points in the letter. This of course led to some great discussion on the deity of Christ. We’ve reached out to the student and suggested a Skype call to address her letter, and we’re waiting for a response.
I’m excited about this new discipleship relationship with Oleg, and I would appreciate your prayers for us as we move forward. In particular, pray that God would open clear doors for Oleg and others like him to become involved in the Bible First ministry.
Family Update
Here at the Steele household – which some of our Ukrainian friends warmly refer to as “Joshua’s Kingdom of Ladies” – there’s never a dull moment. Our little girls are steadily growing into little ladies, with Abigail in particular taking on more and more responsibility in the home.
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From the left: Rebekah, Kathryn, Abigail, Hosanna. It’s hard to believe that Kathryn is nearly a year old!
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Kelsie has crafted an excellent school program, and each morning finds the children happily (most of the time) seated at their desks, working through their assignments. In the afternoon, Abby and Rebekah have a few add-on subjects, such as typing lessons and a Bible class with Dad on Fridays.
It’s hard to believe that Kathryn is nearly a year old! As I write this newsletter, she is just beginning to walk on her own. Her smiles bring no end of joy and laughter to our family!
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On Thanksgiving, we all had a “ball” at the bowling alley!
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Our little girls are quickly becoming little ladies. :)
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Bible First
We are excited to report that God is continuing to bless the impact of Bible First in Ukraine! In particular, our prison ministry is growing. In fact, since CMO ended this past summer, we’ve been enrolling an average of one new student almost every day!
Trevor Brown and I are also continuing our programming efforts, working diligently to bring Bible First to the web. We feel that making the course available in electronic format will open many new doors to reaching the lost for Christ.
Next Summer…
Registration for next year’s Carpathian Mountain Outreach project is now open! CMO 2016 will begin on June 20, and the deadline for submitting applications is April 1. We’ve also put together a brand new CMO web site! Check out all the latest details at www.cmoproject.org. As always, we appreciate your prayers for this ministry, and for the young men who are even now making preparations to come.
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How You Can Pray
- Praise the Lord for Ukrainians who are hearing the Gospel as they study the Scriptures with Bible First
- Pray for a strong team for CMO 2016.
- Pray for Oleg and I as we continue our discipleship meetings.
- Pray for strength and wisdom for Kelsie and I as we homeschool our children here in Ukraine.
- Pray that God would continue to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ through the Bible First outreach.
- Pray for peace and liberty in Ukraine.
