Greeting Brothers and Sister in Christ,

Psalms 136:1 says: O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. The Lord is the good Psalmist that wrote these words and with our hearts full of thanksgiving, we praise the Lord with you as we see His goodness poured out to us on a daily basis. The goodness of God as been shown to us through you, and we are grateful for your kind support of us for these many years. Truly our Lord is faithful to each of us and we rejoice in His goodness.

Philippians 4:4 says: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. As we are home on furlough, the ministry in Ukraine continues. The Lord is blessing the churches as a whole, as well as the individual men who are in leadership. We rejoice for God’s power in their lives as they do the work of the ministry. It is through God’s people who lift them up in prayer that the Lord works through them and with them. He has blessed them with new visitors coming to church and many opportunities to evangelize. Truly the work of the Lord is being furthered through them as they prove their faithfulness to God. This is essentially payday for the missionary. The aim of the missionary is to see those men who surrendered to the call of the Lord, serve Him in faith. That is the primary purpose of missions: to see the faith, which was planted in them by sowing the Word of God grow in them and is now being used for the glory of God and for the furtherance of the gospel into the entire world.

Romans 15:25 says: But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. We are glad of the work that the Lord is doing in Ukraine and the joy filling our hearts is beyond measure. We rejoice in God as we continue serving Him where we are. This furlough is not about us relaxing but about us portraying and speaking of the joy of missions to the church. We did not leave the ministry behind when we came home; our desire is to be used of God here in our Jerusalem. The work continues as we preach and teach in the States. God has opened doors into the lives of many people and churches. Our desire is to glorify God and see souls changed through the gospel. God has allowed us to see two people trust Christ as their Saviour. He opened opportunities to preach on streets and at several different events. We have also been given opportunity to teach on missions and the philosophy of missions. We desire to encourage believers in their walk with the Lord in home Bible studies and fellowship. We want to be God’s missionaries wherever we are. If you would like us to come visit your church, we would love to talk about what God is doing in our lives and in missions. We have been in the ministry for over 24 years and 12 of them on the field of Ukraine. We would love to help you and your ministry in any way that we can. We just want to be a blessing.

On a more personal note: our daughter Colleen is getting married on December 27^th of 2008 to fine young man, Brian Burnett, from our church here in Rochester. We rejoice in God’s goodness as He directs in the lives of our children.  

Ephesians 1:16 says: Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Prayer requests:

1.      For the men in Ukraine who are doing the work of the ministry: that God would encourage them and bless them with His presence in the power of the Holy Spirit- Maxim, Volodia, Valentine, Edik, Yura, Sasha, Greecia, Alex and Pasha. For the churches in Kiev, Fastov, Bila Tserkva, and Pytie Gorie.

2.       For our schedule as we travel to report to churches and preach in several Mission’s Conferences. We want to be used of God for His glory and to encourage men onto the mission field.

3.      I will be preaching at our men’s conference here in Rochester. Please ask for God to meet with the men of FBBC and that the leadership in the church would be strengthened.

4.      For the up coming wedding of our daughter. Most of our relatives our not saved; they will hear the Gospel that day. Pray that souls would be saved and that God’s glory would manifested. 

5.      For the health of my wife.   

 
Your Missionaries to the Ukraine,

Mike & Robin Ireland