Dear Praying Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

  “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant. . .” Genesis 32:10

            Great is the faithfulness of our Saviour and Lord who supplies all our needs by His grace. We are thankful for your love and care for us as we travel, teach and minister for His glory. Thank you for your kind support of our family. We pray that God’s care and supply meets all your needs for He has surely met our needs through you.

  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28

The report from Ukraine is good and that encourages us as the men who are leading the churches are doing a fine job. They are being faithful to the work of the Lord. This has been a time for them to grow into the leaders that the Lord wants them to be. One of the strongest goals of missions is to produce leaders that love the Lord and are willing to sacrifice all for Him. I have learned this can not be done a part from living among them and learning their battles. The failure of missions comes when we don’t show and teach principles found in the scriptures, where men are called to give up all for Jesus. This can not be taught in a 2 week pastoral training class nor can it be shown through Bible lessons. It must be lived before them in order to make it real. As we lose sight of this principle, I worry about the state of missions. Instead we hire men to do the job that we don’t want to do ourselves. As missionaries we have one tool, the Holy Spirit. If He can’t get the job done, no amount of money can get the job done either. Missions should not be about money it should be about God’s plan, done in God’s way, with God’s control. He has never failed to support His work. What is needed is the leadership of the Holy Spirit in lives of God’s men. Please pray for your missionaries that they would lead by His Spirit to do His will. This has been our goal, and to be honest anything that has been done for the Lord is because of His grace and Spirit, not because of who we are.

  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalms 90:12

The year has seen some changes to our family with the marriage of our second oldest daughter Colleen to a fine young man Brian Burnett. They were married on December 27thso it has been busy time for us, but a wonderful time in the Lord. God is so good to us as we had Jennifer and Josh come from California with the grand kids and Carissa was home from college. We were able to celebrate Christmas together! We don’t know when that will happen again, so it was time of great joy for us as parents. Carissa told us that God has led her to go on a Mission’s trip to Ghana, Africa this summer with the school. As parents we were a more than a little shocked; thinking, ‘Honey you already live on the mission field’! It wonderful to see our children have a heart for missions no matter where it is. Carissa knows that we have no money to give to her for the trip but she is trusting God, and He has been wonderful supplying that need. Carissa amazes us with her trust in the Lord; and her faith that He will see her through. When Carissa called me to ask permission to go on the trip she explained the details and cost. She informed us that she needed $100 for the down payment knowing that we did not have the money nor did she. Carissa said, ‘If God wants me to go He will supply.’ And supply He did, someone at school anonymously gave her $210! She had the money for the down payment and some extra towards the trip. Carissa called to tell us that she had given the $100 down, and as good parents we told her to put the rest aside for the trip. Don’t spend it on anything else. She went on to explain that it was too late, the extra money was already gone. We couldn't believe it, we thought she blew the money on frivolous spending! Then the next words that came out of her mouth shocked us. She said that she had promised God if He gave her anything extra over the deposit, she would give it back to Him. She put it in a special offering. Sometimes the logic of faith is different from plain logic Praise the Lord! God has been supplying Carissa in every step of this trip. He is so faithful and Carissa is trusting the Lord to supply all her needs in Christ Jesus.  

  Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Psalms 116:2

I have enjoyed our time in the states teaching in our Bible Institute and visiting churches, but most of all I have loved getting acquitted again with our home church. I love our church and have thanked the Lord many times for giving us a good and caring church family.  As all missionaries we are ready to return to Ukraine. Our plans are to head back about second or third week in May.

Prayer requests

1.      For the Churches of Ukraine in Kiev, Fastov, Bila Tserkva, and Pytie Gorie. This is difficult time in Ukraine as they have been it hit hard with the finical crisis they have had hyper inflation.

2.      For two new churches to be started upon our return.

3.      For the paper work that needs to be done for our return. We all need new passports and visas.

4.      We will be in three mission’s conferences in March. Please pray that God would use us for His glory.

5.      For the sale of our van here and the purchase of new van in Ukraine

6.      Carissa’s missions trip to Ghana

7.      For the health of our family.

Your missionaries to Ukraine,

Mike and Robin Ireland