Construction group at work

Thank you for your prayers. Here are some results and requests...

We thank you for praying for the volunteer project we shared with you in our last prayer update which involved a remodeling project in one of the churches we partner with here named Ordzinokidze (don’t try to pronounce it). The project went very well, and the group from Florida, along with some of the church members, were able to finish out a meeting hall where the church will worship while they continue to do other work on the building. We praise God there were not injuries or major difficulties, just a lot of hard work and great relationships. This was a great, hardworking group from East Brent Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, which has come now five times to work with us here. We do appreciate partners like them who have come back to work with us many times.

The two photos are from their project. Before we share our upcoming prayer requests for this next week, I want to give a brief family update. Many of you have been here, or through some other connection know us in some way personally, and ask us about our two daughters who grew up here in Ukraine. So, here is a brief update...

Rebekah is finishing her 3rd year at Louisiana Tech University, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Graphic Design. She did an internship last summer at LifeWay in Nashville. This summer she will serve as a summer missionary in Prague, doing media work for the IMB office that services the Central and Eastern Europe region. We are working out a side trip for her to be here in Ukraine for a few days as well. Hannah is finishing her freshman year at Louisiana Tech University, where she is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. She will be here with us in Ukraine most of the summer, helping out Mike a lot with projects and groups here. He is not at all sad about that.

This is how you can pray for ministry here in the next couple of weeks: Please pray for the group from Alabama which arrives on May 3. We will be doing medical clinics and reading glasses in 3 towns during a four day period. We ask you to pray that God will draw people to come to the clinics, where they will receive medical treatment, but will also hear the gospel and receive literature. Please pray that hearts will be receptive and understanding of the truth they will hear. Pray for the Ukrainian workers who will continue to work in these locations after the clinics are over. Pray for the long term relationships that will begin through this project, so that seeds planted now will bear fruit in the months to come. NEVER FORGET that your prayer is frontline mission action, literally touching what happens here. Nothing happens without it.

Mike and Linda Ray