We All Share In the Victory

The crowd at our final concert in Yalta

Our final day has come to a close. We sat sail at noon today, leaving Yalta behind and are still sailing overnight to Odessa. We will all scatter from Odessa and head home.

This morning we had our final devotional time with Michael Gott. He gave us a great reminder from a story of David in I Samuel 30. We were reminded that we all share in the victory that God has given.

This trip is not just about the Singing Men who stand on the platform and sing. It is not just about Michael Gott who preached each night. Some of the greatest heroes of this mission have been our Mission Partners and wives. They have worked behind the scenes doing the small but very important things. We could not have done this without them.

We also could not have done this without you back home praying for us. God calls some to go, but He also calls some to stay back and pray and support. Many of you that have followed us these two weeks have prayed earnestly. Many of you have given money to someone so that they could go. Without you, this would not have been possible.

God gets all the credit, but we are so grateful that He chose to use each of us in this wonderful mission in Ukraine. We cannot say thank you enough for your support. This victory report is as much about you as it is about us. And it is all about God and His amazing work all around us.

This afternoon we had a time of thanksgiving and several shared stories and gave testimony as to how God had worked in their lives. It was a sweet time.

We have much to be thankful for and have seen God’s hand in so many ways.

One great answer too many prayers was the fact that the Black Sea was as calm as it was while we sailed. That may seem like a trivial thing, but many were anxious and nervous about this river boat and how much motion would be on the journey. Many were concerned about getting sick and it affecting us. We have had virtually no real sickness this entire trip to speak of. The Black Sea has really been almost smooth as glass. The hotel manager aboard the ship, Henry Seilers, told some today that he has been on this vessel a long time and he’s never seen the Black Sea like this. We praise God for taking care of us like this.

I hope that you took time to watch the video of Michael Gott earlier today explaining the process for the decisions. That is very important to us that we report with integrity all that has happened, and not just report for numbers sake. But it is the tangible evidence of what God has done. So here is the recap of how God has moved in the hearts and lives of the people of Ukraine and Crimea.

FBC Odessa, 1,000 attendance; 547 decisions

Nikolaev, 1,700 attendance; 757 decisions

Kherson, 1,500 attendance; 596 decisions

Eupatoria, 1,000 attendance; 367 decisions

Sevestopol 1,300 attendance; 738 decisions

Simferopol 1,300 attendance; 574 decisions

Yalta (2 concerts) 1,000 attendance, 419 decisions

On board concert for ship’s crew, 50 attendance, decisions are unknown, but God is working in the lives of many of the crew on board this ship.

Totals: Attendance: 8,850

Decisions for Christ: 3,998 Praise the Lord!!

Once again thank you for praying for us. As soon as we can, we will update these blogs with pictures and more videos. Sorry that we didn’t get as many pictures up as we had hoped for. Check back and they will be there.

2012 Ukraine Mission Team Group Picture taken in Sevestopal, Ukraine

If you are in the Metroplex area, we have a concert on Thursday, May 10 at 7:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale. We would love to have you come join us.