Ted & Debra Welch - Southern Ukraine
September 2011 update
Dear Praying Friends,
We are presently in the States preparing to return to Ukraine. Plans at the present time are for Ted to return on the 18th of September and for Debra to return the middle of October. We are staying in the States longer than we expected in order to help our daughter Sharon with some medical problems. Please pray that Sharon will get better. We have had a very busy summer and had some wonderful times with our family We traveled around 20,000 miles this summer and visited 17 different churches. We collected and shipped many musical instruments that people donated for the orphanages.
The opportunities that we have to serve the Lord are increasing each year we are in Ukraine. We are being asked to do more in our local church and in our Bible institutes. I will be teaching a class on spiritual growth this fall. This class will be taught on six Saturdays and involves a lot of preparation. I will also be teaching a one week long class on Christian Marriage the first week of November. I am also scheduled to teach two classes in the spring. Please pray for strength and wisdom to know how to effectively teach these classes.
We also learned recently that we need to raise $650 in support. Next summer we will not be allowed to return to Ukraine unless we have this additional support. We therefore are planning on scheduling meetings with non-supporting churches next fall in order to raise this support. Tentative plans are for us to be home from July through December raising this support. We are making this need known now so that you can pray with us about this need for the next nine months. Please contact us if you are interested in having us come and make a presentation in you church. If you want to contact us you can do so at tedwelch2@hotmail.com.
Please pray for the salvation of Mike and Elle, our Ukrainians friends in Des Moines. She has taught us Russian and we are helping him to learn English. We are hoping they will be saved and then though them to reach many Russian speaking families in Des Moines. Mike likes to fish so Ted has been fishing with him. Mike needs to learn English better so his time with Ted is good practice for him. He recently went to church with us and we were able to talk to Him about the Lord. Please pray for Mike, he told us recently that it was very hard for him to believe.
Depending upon your prayer in Ukraine,
Ted and Debra Welch
We had a wonderful time at Christmas going to the orphanages. We went to Fontanka with a new set of clothes and some toys for each of the 56 boys there. We also went to Nikoliyevka, Ananiev, and Ivonovka and gave away hundreds of stuffed animals and toys. It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces and to share the gospel with them.
Much of December and January was spent preparing to teach a class on counseling in Romania. I prepared the material, sent it to our teammates there to be translated and them was not able to go. My flight from Odessa was cancelled due to snow. Mike Rummey in Romania went ahead and taught the material that I prepared.
The Saga with Donna and Vitya continues. They had a baby boy in December. Vitya is very faithful in attending church and in taking classes at our institute. We are hoping that they will be used greatly in the Lord's work here. They are a wonderful couple and we praise God we had a small part in bringing him to faith in Christ through the Bible study we had with them in our home.
Our classes on Church Administration are going well in Kharkov. This class is on Friday and Saturdays on three separate weekends in March and April. It involved Ted taking on over night train there on Thursday night, teaching Friday Saturday and then returning to Odessa on an over night train on Saturday night. The trains are very noisy and do a lot of shaking, but Ted is getting some sleep. He has a good group of students and an excellent translator.
In March, April, and May we have invited the ESL Bible study to our home for food, games and a devotion time. We are expecting around 20 young people. We are planning on doing a chronological study of the Bible which concludes with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Pray that some of these people will believe in the Lord Jesus.
Debra is now busy preparing material for the ESL club at our church. This is on Sunday evenings at 5:00 pm. It was started to get more young people coming to youth group at 6:00 pm and to interest some unsaved in coming. Pray that God would give her wisdom in knowing how t do this. We have a wide range in ages and in speaking abilities.
We started teaching the book of Acts on Wednesdays in our church here. People seem to enjoy it but attendance has been down because of sickness and other reasons. Pray that God would use this study to get more people excited about serving the Lord and helping the lost to find Christ.
Much of December and January was spent preparing to teach a class on counseling in Romania. I prepared the material, sent it to our teammates there to be translated and them was not able to go. My flight from Odessa was cancelled due to snow. Mike Rummey in Romania went ahead and taught the material that I prepared.
The Saga with Donna and Vitya continues. They had a baby boy in December. Vitya is very faithful in attending church and in taking classes at our institute. We are hoping that they will be used greatly in the Lord's work here. They are a wonderful couple and we praise God we had a small part in bringing him to faith in Christ through the Bible study we had with them in our home.
Our classes on Church Administration are going well in Kharkov. This class is on Friday and Saturdays on three separate weekends in March and April. It involved Ted taking on over night train there on Thursday night, teaching Friday Saturday and then returning to Odessa on an over night train on Saturday night. The trains are very noisy and do a lot of shaking, but Ted is getting some sleep. He has a good group of students and an excellent translator.
In March, April, and May we have invited the ESL Bible study to our home for food, games and a devotion time. We are expecting around 20 young people. We are planning on doing a chronological study of the Bible which concludes with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Pray that some of these people will believe in the Lord Jesus.
Debra is now busy preparing material for the ESL club at our church. This is on Sunday evenings at 5:00 pm. It was started to get more young people coming to youth group at 6:00 pm and to interest some unsaved in coming. Pray that God would give her wisdom in knowing how t do this. We have a wide range in ages and in speaking abilities.
We started teaching the book of Acts on Wednesdays in our church here. People seem to enjoy it but attendance has been down because of sickness and other reasons. Pray that God would use this study to get more people excited about serving the Lord and helping the lost to find Christ.