Dov and Olga are continuing to shine a bright light in the dark brothel district of Tel Aviv as they set up a table offering free food, Bibles in Russian, Arabic, and Hebrew to addicts...
Rescue those being led away to death;hold back those staggering toward slaughter.(Proverbs 24:11)
I often ask myself: why does it seem that relatively few believers feel the urge to share the Good News with other people? Why do many churches, instead of focusing on evangelization, tend to spend so much time, energy and financial resources on various projects that have nothing to do with salvation of human souls? When I look at myself, I often feel that though I evangelize regularly I could have cared more for the unsaved and could have done more than I do now.
Why is that so? Why do we evangelize so little? The main reason, in my opinion, is lack of love and compassion for people in general and for sinners in particular. We do not care enough for our neighbors. But even those of us who do love other people sometimes seem to take the gravity of God's future judgment too lightly. In our minds we know what awaits those who enter eternity without Christ, but our hearts do not weep for the lost. We grieve more for those who suffer physical pains than for those who are on the way to eternal spiritual suffering. We often care more about total strangers who have got into a traffic accident than about our close relatives and friends who can get into hell any given moment. We do not fully comprehend that according to the truth about God's judgment and salvation, the future of the healthiest and strongest of sinners is a million times worse than that of the sickest and weakest of believers whose inheritance is in Christ (Eph. 1:18).
Another explanation for the fact that we do not pay enough attention to sharing the Gospel in our every day lives is that we do not talk much about evangelization in our churches, though it is one of the most important commissions given to us by the Lord. Speaking about love as the first commandment, how can we assume we love our neighbors if at the same time we can watch with a frightening indifference how multitudes of people are heading for hell?
Dear praying friends, please pray that the eyes and hearts of God's children would be open to evangelism, that they would participate in ministries that ultimately aim for conversion of human souls and that we would not let ourselves rest until the last sinner repents.
NEWS, SPECIAL EVENTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS
We are very grateful to God for everything He does in our ministry and we pray that He would help it grow and develop even further.
It is joyful to see new people join our Negev groups and congregations. Some people return after a long absence -- like T., a woman from Dimona, whose son is a drug addict serving time in prison. Please pray for her and for others like her -- that God would bring back more people who attended our congregation in the past but then left it for different reasons. Pray also that God would give our Negev groups leaders they desperately need.
Our Tel-Aviv Bible studies for drug addicts go on very well. Up to 15 people attend, and some of them do so regularly. One day we met an addict, D., and invited him to participate in our studies. He came and then also told us he lived in a shelter for homeless people, which was occupied by 70 more addicts. He invited us to come to the shelter and share the Good News with all its occupants. Please pray for this opportunity.
Please pray for more ministers who would help us work with the addicts. We would like to have more Bible studies in Tel-Aviv during the week. We also need a woman to help us in our work with prostitutes. We keep holding Bible studies for them, but fewer women attend them now.
Please pray for our new Bible study groups in Ashdod, Ashkelon and Bat-Yam. The Bible study in Ashdod is attended by the parents of four drug addicts from Bethel rehab center in Haifa (run by my co-worker Maxim), and also by a girlfriend of one of these addicts. They are very open to God and say He answers their prayers and gives them peace. Once a month Maxim brings the sons from Haifa and we have a Bible study for the parents and their children together! Please pray for this group and for the development of this ministry in general -- that we would be able to reach more parents of drug addicts.
The group in Bat-Yam began when I met a young man, A., a believer who fell but is returning to the Lord now. He invited me to start Bible studies at his home -- where he lives with his mother who is addicted to alcohol. Please pray for her: she was present at two Bible studies, but then she missed another two. A. also has an ex-girlfriend, K., who works as a cashier in a brothel, and one day he asked me to visit her. I did so, and we had a very good talk. It turned out that since her childhood she had understood God existed and had prayed to Him. In the age of 15 she attended a church for a short period of time, but then she fell under bad influence of her peers and left the Lord. Now she wants to return to God and start a normal life. She hates her job and wants to leave it, but it is not easy for her because of complicated financial problems. Please pray for both A. and K. Their life stories remind me of the prodigal son parable...
Thank you for your prayers for our family! We are all doing well now. Please pray that we would be able to take a helper for Yossi. We are thinking to ask the authorities for an official long time care worker.
Thank you for all your prayers and support, and may God bless you!
Dov and Olga Bikas
Rescue those being led away to death;hold back those staggering toward slaughter.(Proverbs 24:11)
I often ask myself: why does it seem that relatively few believers feel the urge to share the Good News with other people? Why do many churches, instead of focusing on evangelization, tend to spend so much time, energy and financial resources on various projects that have nothing to do with salvation of human souls? When I look at myself, I often feel that though I evangelize regularly I could have cared more for the unsaved and could have done more than I do now.
Why is that so? Why do we evangelize so little? The main reason, in my opinion, is lack of love and compassion for people in general and for sinners in particular. We do not care enough for our neighbors. But even those of us who do love other people sometimes seem to take the gravity of God's future judgment too lightly. In our minds we know what awaits those who enter eternity without Christ, but our hearts do not weep for the lost. We grieve more for those who suffer physical pains than for those who are on the way to eternal spiritual suffering. We often care more about total strangers who have got into a traffic accident than about our close relatives and friends who can get into hell any given moment. We do not fully comprehend that according to the truth about God's judgment and salvation, the future of the healthiest and strongest of sinners is a million times worse than that of the sickest and weakest of believers whose inheritance is in Christ (Eph. 1:18).
Another explanation for the fact that we do not pay enough attention to sharing the Gospel in our every day lives is that we do not talk much about evangelization in our churches, though it is one of the most important commissions given to us by the Lord. Speaking about love as the first commandment, how can we assume we love our neighbors if at the same time we can watch with a frightening indifference how multitudes of people are heading for hell?
Dear praying friends, please pray that the eyes and hearts of God's children would be open to evangelism, that they would participate in ministries that ultimately aim for conversion of human souls and that we would not let ourselves rest until the last sinner repents.
NEWS, SPECIAL EVENTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS
We are very grateful to God for everything He does in our ministry and we pray that He would help it grow and develop even further.
It is joyful to see new people join our Negev groups and congregations. Some people return after a long absence -- like T., a woman from Dimona, whose son is a drug addict serving time in prison. Please pray for her and for others like her -- that God would bring back more people who attended our congregation in the past but then left it for different reasons. Pray also that God would give our Negev groups leaders they desperately need.
Our Tel-Aviv Bible studies for drug addicts go on very well. Up to 15 people attend, and some of them do so regularly. One day we met an addict, D., and invited him to participate in our studies. He came and then also told us he lived in a shelter for homeless people, which was occupied by 70 more addicts. He invited us to come to the shelter and share the Good News with all its occupants. Please pray for this opportunity.
Please pray for more ministers who would help us work with the addicts. We would like to have more Bible studies in Tel-Aviv during the week. We also need a woman to help us in our work with prostitutes. We keep holding Bible studies for them, but fewer women attend them now.
Please pray for our new Bible study groups in Ashdod, Ashkelon and Bat-Yam. The Bible study in Ashdod is attended by the parents of four drug addicts from Bethel rehab center in Haifa (run by my co-worker Maxim), and also by a girlfriend of one of these addicts. They are very open to God and say He answers their prayers and gives them peace. Once a month Maxim brings the sons from Haifa and we have a Bible study for the parents and their children together! Please pray for this group and for the development of this ministry in general -- that we would be able to reach more parents of drug addicts.
The group in Bat-Yam began when I met a young man, A., a believer who fell but is returning to the Lord now. He invited me to start Bible studies at his home -- where he lives with his mother who is addicted to alcohol. Please pray for her: she was present at two Bible studies, but then she missed another two. A. also has an ex-girlfriend, K., who works as a cashier in a brothel, and one day he asked me to visit her. I did so, and we had a very good talk. It turned out that since her childhood she had understood God existed and had prayed to Him. In the age of 15 she attended a church for a short period of time, but then she fell under bad influence of her peers and left the Lord. Now she wants to return to God and start a normal life. She hates her job and wants to leave it, but it is not easy for her because of complicated financial problems. Please pray for both A. and K. Their life stories remind me of the prodigal son parable...
Thank you for your prayers for our family! We are all doing well now. Please pray that we would be able to take a helper for Yossi. We are thinking to ask the authorities for an official long time care worker.
Thank you for all your prayers and support, and may God bless you!
Dov and Olga Bikas
