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Hawes Family Update--June 8, 2008
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--- Don't give God limitations ---

You know how in our last update I said there were three options for us as we decided where to move. Well, I was wrong. God had a forth option.

It all started to come into focus a few weeks ago when Jody went to the city of Kharkov to work with a GEM TEFL ministry team teaching English. While she was there she met some wonderful people and saw many opportunities for us both to be more personally involved in ministry. The church where she was at was the location of the second computer center eDOT put into Ukraine. And along with another church in the area they were very interested in expanding their ministry using our new mobile computer center model. Kharkov also, while being the second largest city in the country, was a much more peaceful place than Kiev. It was farther east, close to the Russian border, and so more people spoke Russian than spoke Ukrainian. And to top it all off the cost of living in Kharkov was less than Kiev. Well, to make a long story short, after praying, consulting with our mission, and considering our options we have decided to make the move to Kharkov.

Please be in prayer as we make this transition. It's been a busy past few weeks, but God has provided an apartment for us within minutes of the church. Jody just got on the train today to make the 250 mile trip to Kharkov to get the apartment ready for us to move in to in a little over a week. It's difficult leaving the people and ministries we have gotten to know and love here in Kiev, but we know God has something new planned for us. Please pray for the kids as change isn't easy. Please also pray as we make new friends and discover what the Lord has for us in Kharkov. Once we get settled one of our first tasks will be to find opportunities for continuing language learning.

Want to know where Kharkov is? Follow this link.
maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=108786380971584007274.00044df7e2b3e078b53cd


--- Some of the things God was doing in Kharkov ---

Here are a few excerpts from a report my eDOT colleague Sue Hoxie wrote about the outreach teams in Kharkov a few weeks ago.

"The Kharkov outreach was just fantastic, both on the TEFL and the eDOT side. At the Central Baptist Church where we were, the pastors are very excited about the whole mobile laptop outreach concept. I think they were also quite surprised at how many non-believers the outreach actually brought to the church service."

"Last night a lady from our class--about 60 or so--gave her life to Jesus in front of the whole church. She had been in a bad car accident several years ago with her husband and he was killed. She turned to alcohol. The first night she came to class, she had been drinking. I think she lost all her front teeth in the accident. She was so cute when she smiled--she had no front teeth and two gold teeth on the side. After she went up and repented, she just couldn't stop crying and smiling. It was so cool because you could actually see that God had freed her."

"There was another student who was already a believer, but not a member of that church who spent hours talking to Matt (one of the team members), Sasha (one of the church members) and me. I think she was starving for fellowship. She lives with her grandmother who was also there. She has made some bad decisions in her life and I think she was just full of worry and anxiety and maybe remorse. She came to the service last night too ad sat with me. She said that as she was praying that morning, God set her free from all of this. She said she was just crying for about a half an hour and her grandmother asked what was wrong and she said she could hardly talk. Then she said that her heart felt so free from all of the pain and worry and that she could really feel happy again."

"There was a very poor family with three little kids who came to the class. One of the very kind church members brought them. You could tell she was just intent on loving them and bringing them to a place they could experience His Love. They were obviously both alcoholics, and they looked really 'ashamed' is the only word I can think of. At first they would not look us in the eye, but they were starting to warm up by the last day. And one of the team members was taking care of the kids while the parents were learning the computer."

"There is just story after story. There are so many people who are just starving for love there--they just want someone to smile at them or give them a hug. The pastors even said the team was so open and showed Jesus' love and people are not used to that and that the Americans were really an example to the believers in the church. Honestly, I don't think Gennadiy or Alexander, the two pastors, could get over what happened. They just went on and on about it."

Praise God for great computer and English outreaches in Kharkov.



Thank you,

Andrew Hawes
-- for Jody, Josiah and Elena


Email: GetHooked@Fish4Him.net
Web: http://www.Fish4Him.net

Greater Europe Mission
http://www.gemission.org