Go in peace, be warmed!

Fuel for the winter. It can be a real problem. Nearly every year some generous people donate funds for firewood for the poorest families in a Romany village in Moldova. Last year, the pastor in that village suggested use some of those funds to make the firewood go further. He replaced the door in this elderly couple's home. (The husband is blind.)

They had done what they could with the door. 

It was neatly painted, 

and they had hung a blanket over it on the inside for a bit of insulation. 

That was not nearly enough. 

So the old door was taken out . . .

. . . and a new energy-efficient one put in.

The pastor hopes to work with people in the village to more insulating in the future.

We hope to work with them, too!

Thank you for making this work possible.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  James 2:15, 16, Good News Translation

M. Van Rheenen & K. Holmes

Prayers of the People

Every week, CBF's Prayers of the People includes a personal experience with prayer, a practical suggestion on prayer, and a list of birthdays that week for even more practical praying. (Birthdays include CBF staff, field personnel (and their children), engagement partners, chaplains, and pastoral counselors. This was our recent contribution.

During testimony time at church on Sunday in Poprad, Slovakia, one woman stood and asked that we not forget about the war in Ukraine, the internally displaced people in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian refugees--including the family in their regular pew, one row and a little to the left of our regular spot. We have not forgotten.

In November, Ukrainian Baptists sent a request to Slovak Baptist churches requesting electric generators. Because of increased Russian bombing of infrastructure facilities, including public utilities, many of the churches and related ministry centers reached out in order to provide their own electricity. Not only would the generators be used when electricity was cut, they also allow churches to disconnect from central utilities to help relieve the pressure on already over-burdened systems. 
We reached out to two of the churches we regularly partner with to offer our support for their initiatives. As a result, we were able to provide two generators plus food aid which arrived in Ukraine in December and in January. 

"Your generator in orphanage in Rivne, Ukraine," is the message I received along with the photo above. There was an explanation that there are more children at the orphanage who were not in the photo because they were at a retreat. 

Thanks be to God that you have not forgotten refugees and internally displaced people fleeing the war in Ukraine. 

Shane & Dianne McNary