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A letter from Nadia Ayoub in Ukraine

June 2014

I lift up my eyes to the hills from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. … The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore (Psalms 121:1–2, 7–8).

Dear Friends and family,

Greetings to you all from west Ukraine. With people here I give thanks to God for the peace and safety we have in the west part of the country. Indeed, God hears your and our prayers. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement and support.

All received an Easter bag

Thank God on April 16 I arrived to Budapest, Hungary, at 6:00 pm, and I found the taxi waiting for me, and we drove about four hours to get to Ukraine. It was midnight. I was looking forward to reuniting with the Roma children, and it was surprising to them that I came back again to be with them. I was happy to find all healthy and to be able to celebrate Easter with them. 

After the Easter story, they received their gift

Readjusting to life in Ukraine is taking time, but the work with the Roma children is going on. I still visit with them in their homes. The house we prepared for the Roma Mission Center is not ready yet; there are a few things that need to be finished. People are not trained professional technicians, and it is taking more time to do the needed work. The renovation work is harder and more expensive than it was in Tajikistan. Thank God I have had a chance to have the driveway cemented, and we have a new gate and front fence—not fancy, but working and new.

Latzi and Sabina

God did a miracle for us. There was a very heavy, tall metal pole standing in the driveway, which they had used to pull water from a well, but the well dried out and we needed to cut this pole down. The day before the cutting I was very concerned about cutting that pole, and at night I was praying about it. God protected one of the workers who was cutting  down the heavy metal pole, expecting it would fall to one side, but the pole fell to the other side of the house, and the worker tried to push the heavy pole with his body. By God’s grace it only scratched his shoulder. Four workers and three of us couldn’t believe that this man was alive and he got only a small scratch.  Surely this was God’s miracle—he has saved the life of the worker and protected us from all evil as in the prayer in Psalm 121 above.

Pray we can use the house for VBS at the end of July. We expecting a Dutch group to come and help with some of the yard renovation and the VBS.  

Even Victoria, 8 months old, got her chocolate Easter egg

Lord willing, during July and August we will work with about 20 children who are entering first grade this year in September. Then from September we look forward to having the preschool program start in the Roma Mission House. We are praying for a means of transportation, a minibus, to bring the little children to the center. 

I need to get my Ukrainian visa, which I usually get for one year because it needs so many documents and money and means traveling 100 KM to the capital city  of Karpatalja on the west Ongvar (Uzshhorod). Pray it will be granted without complication.  

God’s miracle

Marta continues to learn how to teach and lead the work, and the children love and respect her. Yesterday she was so glad to learn from her son that she will be a grandmother for the first time.

New gate and driveway

I have received a young music teacher to work with us. He has just graduated, worked one year in the local school, and then felt he would like to do mission work. His name is Roland Kadar. I pray by God’s grace to be able to train him. He will be a great help especially with the many Roma boys.

Petervolvo preschool group

The news of the disturbance in other parts of Ukraine makes people in the Karpathian region rather nervous and afraid. Also much of the humanitarian aid does not come anymore, jobs are scarce, and inflation is going higher and higher—already gas increased 37 percent and petrol 60 percent and accordingly the price of all products went up. Also the draft is starting, calling young boys of Hungarian background to join the Ukrainian army—children who do not know the Ukrainian language. So the families are trying to make false documents to save their children from the army. That costs so much that some families with many boys try to emigrate to Hungary. The region is quiet because many of the Russian and Ukrainian tourists who usually visit the hot springs in Karpatalja did not come this summer. 

We have a cool and rainy summer. The rain spoiled the cherry crops with its warmth, but we have very good apricot and peach crops. 

Thanksgiving prayers

  1. Thank God for peace and safety in the area and peaceful agreements and the election of the new leaders and right choices.
  2. Thank God for my returning and slowly adjusting to life here.
  3. Thank God for the safety of all my friends and healthy children.
  4. Thank God for much renovation work that has been finished.
  5. And thank God for saving the worker from danger during the renovation.

Prayer requests

1.   Please pray for the peace of the country and safety for all the young people in the army.

2.   Please pray for my landlord's health—she has lung cancer and was told it is very advanced; she hopes to live the 5 more years they expect she has.

3.   Please pray for the completion of the renovation and that soon we will be able to move the program in.

4.   Please pray for the groups that come to help with summer programs in different places.

5.   Please pray for God to provide for the ministry with the Roma children and their families.

6.   Please pray for more workers to be trained and stay in the work with the Roma.

Roland, the new helper

I pray God will encourage you, and I thank you so much for your prayers and partnership in God’s work. But if you are for the first time reading about the Roma people in the Peterfolvo-Karpatalja-Ukraine, would you consider becoming a partner and join the mission of the church?  God be with you all and bless you; have a blessed comfortable summer.

Serving Christ with you,

Nadia Ayoub

The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 322
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