AFCI World News

Home for Seniors in Ukraine nears Completion

BY: Al Moore

THANKSGIVING … with the apostles Paul and Timothy we say to you saints in Christ Jesus … Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:2-5)

 
We are overwhelmed at God’s goodness. Last week we visited The Father’s Arms home for seniors in the village of Motovilevka, 1½ hours from the center of Kiev. A Ukrainian business man has provided quality insulation AND labor. As we walked inside we were amazed as it’s so close to being finished. The heating is in the floors. Many Ukrainians have given their expertise, time, efforts, and monies. The orphans that live there in the orphanage have done some work.

Here’s what yet needs to be done:

Tiles to be purchased for floors and walls in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry. In the corridors and rooms will be quality linoleum to be purchased and installed. Painting is to be done in the bedrooms, dining and visiting area. Doors to be purchased. We trust in a couple months the elderly ones will come in. Also, the outside walls will have a final layer for ultimate weather protection.

We were told the American Embassy can provide items as stove, refrigerators, freezers, etc. etc. for humanitarian purposes. Some beds, mattresses and furniture have been provided.

New Doors Opening in Ukraine

BY: Wally Vasylovych, National Director

At the end of last month I participated in Regional Pastors’ Conference where I spoke about our LifeWorks course and our Family Club ministry. There were pastors and church leaders from about thirty churches. As a result, we have already received invitations to come to many of the churches to train them on how to use our LifeWorks materials.

At this conference I learned that in another region of Ukraine (Zakarpattia – Hungary), there are churches who want us to come with LifeWorks. We plan to go to Zakarpattia in winter. The ministry is expanding across the nation as more and more pastors here from others how helpful our material are in reaching out with the love of Christ.

Continued Prayer needed for Rodica in Romania

BY: Gelu Paul

Eight months have passed since Rodica returned from the States, after her second chemo therapy series.  In July the tumor indicator moved up from 5 (in April) to 960.  As you may already suspect, Rodica's cancer seems to have return to attack her liver.  In July Rodica has spent nine days in a naturist Medical treatment center only to notice that her liver began to "cry" heavily.

Please pray with us as we agonize for almost a month now trying to understand what to do next to help Rodica fight cancer and stay alive!

We would like to thank you for your friendship and constant support, all these years, as we traveled through the valley of shadows of death.  Your friendship, fervent prayers, and massive support, helped us find comfort in our tribulations, joy and hope, and fruit in our ministries.

Reaching out to the Addicted in Poland

BY: Zbigniew Chojnacki

Since 2004, every May and September we hold special evangelization meetings for people who are addicted to alcohol. Last May, 78 people, men and women, came for weekend to spend time sharing and learning. Several gave testimonies of how God changed their lives and freed them from their addiction. On the last Sunday when I was preaching, about 15 men and women came to the front and asked for forgiveness and to get a new life. We knelt down and prayed that the Lord would make them new persons. That was a very special time to see how God can work in very difficult lives.

One person, Romek, came for prayer and knelt down with me. With much crying he prayed loudly and asked the Lord for help to be clean from his sins and to be out from the garbage place where he lives. His prayer touched the hearts of many others. Since that time he has stopped drinking and has made big progress in changing his life.

This month, from September 16–18, we will have the sixteenth Ostroda Sobriety Days. We pray that the Lord will give us new blessings and more people will experience the touch of Christ. Romek is very happy now and waiting impatiently to share his testimony with other alcoholics and tell them how much God has changed his life.

A Changed Life at Camp in Poland

BY: Zbigniew Chojnacki, Poland National Director

Every summer AFCI Poland holds camps for children. This year they held two camps and God touched the lives of several children, age 7-12.

One special boy was 12 year old Tomek. He came with his younger brother. In previous years he attended several camps organized by non-Christian organizations. Unfortunately, because Tomek was not so good, he was thrown out of the last camp before it ended. Then he came to Ostroda to attend our camp.

Tomek thought that he could boss people around and do what he likes. But very quickly he noticed that we had a different code of discipline - nobody curses, and the children try to be kind to each other. At the meal time they are nice to each other and help at the table.

So many things were very new for Tomek. He was very rebellious and disobeyed our rules, and he was sure he would be thrown out of the camp on the next day. What a surprise that we were kind and tried to help him. We prayed and showed him a lot of patience. Through our Christian influence we saw how quickly Tomek started to change.

Very soon we saw how much his little heart was opening for God’s love. He also began to be more open for other children and even started helping them at the table. By the end of camp Tomek and about twenty other children invited the Lord Jesus to their hearts. He and many others left the camp with hope to meet again in the next year.

Today we pray for Tomek and the other children and teenagers. That the Lord will continue the change that took place this summer. Also we believe that the parents of the children will see the difference and will come closer to God through the witness of their children.

Prayer and Outreach in Slovakia

Interdenominational Prayer Week in Nove Zamky

Palve Cekov, National Director for Slovakia, wrote to say, “I was asked to preach on the last meeting of a week of prayer emphasis in our city. The youth sang a few songs and I preached on the theme: “Jesus is the door of Salvation.” After the meeting we prayed for our government, our churches, and people in need living in our town.”  Prayer opens doors and changes lives.

Visit from South Korea

A group of 8 young people from Korea came to visit Slovakia.  The team visited and witnessed in the towns of Jelka, Kolarovo, Nove Zamky, Surany, Novy Svet and Dvory nad Zitavou. Through their testimonies, songs and dramas they presented the Gospel to Hungarians, Slovakians, and Gypsies living in the nation.

A Partnership between Spain and the USA

For the past few years, one of the AFCI church plants in Spain (Parqueeste Church in Seville) has been working closely with North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA, in a strategic partnership of ministry to create a relevant church model for the Spanish people. Parqueeste has built relevant environments to build a bridge between the church and the public at large.  Though this partnership of ministry, God is reaching people in Spain who previously had no relationship with Christ.

Pepe Miranda, the pastor of Parqueeste Church, has tried many creative ways to connect with people in his city.  He writes, “One Sunday we had a special school of flamenco Sevillanas doing a workshop and the whole church was filled with non-Christians. Many were relatives and friends of people in our church. Some said they do not like ‘church,’ but they do like ‘our church.’” We are on track! We thank God for allowing us to see fruit. New people are coming and we believe the best is yet to come!”

New GrowthWorks Course in Spain

A few years ago, John North (National Director for Australia) wrote a 10-week course for church members in his nation to help people get unstuck in their Christian faith. Samuel Santos (National Director for Spain pictured above) saw the course and remarked, "This is exactly what the Spanish Church needs. But we need to modify the course to speak more directly to our specific culture." John and Samuel began to work together to make this a reality, and this year GrowthWorks videos and book are being published in Spanish.

Samuel writes, "Many Christians in churches across Spain have lost their ability to experience the abundant life Christ offers. It is not that they don't want to grow in their faith. It is simply that they lack the knowledge of how to grow and experience Christ in a vibrant way every day." The GrowthWorks course brings together small groups of Christians each weak to listen to a short video and then interact on what it means to live the Christian life. Thousands of lives have been changed by the course in Australia, and now AFCI Spain wants to see the same thing happen in churches in their nation.

Reaching out to a Postmodern Population

 
 
The foundation of an AFCI church plant in Vilanova is relationship building. It is within the context of relationships that believers can most effectively share the Good News of Christ. "Right from the beginning, the simple act of offering coffee before the service has become a powerful way to create a friendly environment that encourages fellowship and welcomes everyone without question," writes Samuel (the lead pastor and National Director for AFCI Spain).  "On the other hand, most churches in Spain would find it inappropriate to have a cafeteria in the sanctuary, missing an opportunity to reach out to visitors."

To create relationships in the community, the church has become involved in several local social projects, like helping plant trees alongside other volunteers from the city.  This gives the opportunity to build relationships outside of Sunday morning, and has opened doors to share the love of Christ and invite people into the relevant worship services of the local church.  Each week new people are walking through the doors of the church, seeking more of what they have already seen in the lives of the members.

Ukrainian Outreach to Youth

Wally Vasylovych is AFCI’s Ministry Leader in Ukraine.  He recently helped lead a Christian camp for youth attended by 96 young people, more then a half of which were non-Christians. Wally writes, “We shared the Gospel every day and in the end gave everyone an invitation to receive Christ into their lives. Of the boys and girls attending, 36 received Christ as Savior and Lord. Right after camp we began follow-up work with them using the AFCI LifeWorks course. It is great tool and the youth are very interested to come and learn about Christianity. We have meetings with them now each Sunday afternoon.”