February 2024 Ukraine, UK
UKRAINE Two more cameos from our recent work there.
It was in the 1990s that we baptized sister Vera and then some years later her daughter Svetlana. Now the family have been displaced from their home in the Russian occupied areas of Ukraine and after a terrifying journey across the front lines, have been given a derelict home in a remote village to live in. They've got the place functioning and sown crops and gathered geese and other animals to live off. Although there's a chronic amount of mould in the property:
When we baptized Svetlana around 20 years ago, she was pregnant with ANDREJ. He is with them now, and now we baptized him, using water drawn from the well and melted snow:
So there was great joy for all us all round as now three generations of the family are in the Lord- and so firmly committed to Him. They killed one of their geese for us and we had a true meal of rejoicing followed by a breaking of bread. Vera's husband is in his 80s and in poor health, still behind Russian lines, and not getting any medical help. They're very distressed about this and indeed we need to pray for all of our dear ones whose families are now divided by the front lines. In this family you see the triumph of the preaching of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ, in the face of so many distractions. You can see a video of our time together
and the baptism at
https://youtu.be/bihzGKmoyt8 
Sister Nana and brother Alexei are in a similar situation, they too managed to cross the front lines, leaving behind all they had, including beloved family members. They too were are living in a derelict wooden house which had so many gaps and holes for the heat to escape from. But Alexei has worked like a trojan every day since we last visited them. They are a stellar example of making wonderful use of all the help we and others have provided. That derelict house has been insulated by brother Alexei, new ceiling, insulated walls, he's built a large shed so the provided firewood can be kept dry, and they have made vegetable beds, a chicken coop and cages for rabbits. So they have meat, eggs and vegetables. All the same, it's a far cry from the life they once had, living in an apartment with heating and water all at the turn of a tap. We really take our cap off to them for how they've used the support given and how they in their 70s have accepted the change of life. Again we had some food with them and broke bread together. You can see the Ukrainian flag on the wall above their table, signed by Nana's son and his friends who have recently been called up into the army. He's not baptized and so we do pray he returns safely at some point. Mark took a video of all the wonderful work done by Alexei and the progress made on that derelict property, as well as the
breaking of bread-
https://youtu.be/hf8UovWk1bI 
UK Since returning from Ukraine it's been playing catch up with all the British people wanting to be baptized. We've lost a regular helper at our
Lunchtime Church so again, we put out an appeal for any to come and help us on a regular basis.
ROBERT had studied our material online and earnestly wished to meet and be baptized. He works as a teaching assistant but his real passion is to share God's Truth with others. Here he is with his
NEV Bible:
And then there was IRENE an older, humble London lady who has been watching
Croydon Church in a Pub online and would love to attend but is limited by health and domestic issues. She shares her knowledge of the Bible with so many people, going to visit the elderly and home bound and sharing all she knows of God's word with them. Just such an amazing sister, quietly working away for the Lord in her immediate housing area. She first came to Christianity when a previously difficult dope smoking neighbour stopped smoking dope and changed... and she asked her why. There's a video of her baptism and her chatting about her efforts to spread the word in the houses
around her at
https://youtu.be/hSqO9NSHEQY 
Finally there was DEAN, originally from Croydon but many years living in Swanage. He was once a South London Crystal Palace football hooligan [on the organizational level of their various antics] who 20 years ago decided to quit the bad life and just get away from the Croydon scene and moved to Swanage where he has a job. However only more recently he moved towards God and as he put it, "I wanted to find the Truth". He says he found that Truth in the Bible and began studying it. He says he went to all seven churches in Swanage but found none of them were following the Bible and were disinterested in baptizing him. He says he prayed daily for two months for someone to baptize him, and then one day he prayed from the heart for this... and then minutes later he saw us on YouTube. Back in good old Croydon... there were people preaching the Truth and baptizing people. He got our number and called us and thus we got in touch. He was so desperate to be baptized, we agreed to do it in the cold water. Evia and Duncan saw a cheap hotel nearby on Booking dot com... muttering that "this'll be cheap and cheerful" they booked it but found it was just cheap because it's Winter and out of season, and in fact the hotel had a small pool. So the Lord saw our willingness to face the cold water... but gave us a lovely warm pool for the baptism. You can hear Dean's wonderful story and
PRAYER POINTS - For those recently baptized
- For wisdom in how to help our dear ones in Ukraine
- For more helpers in south London
- For those facing military service call up issues
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks