A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IN A COUNTRY RAVAGED BY WAR
Over a year ago, war broke out in Ukraine ...
The world turned its attention to the crisis, pouring resources into responding to the needs of millions of refugees and those trapped in the war zone.
Every Home for Christ ministries in the region responded quickly.
“Our ministries had proven their flexibility and vigilance during COVID-19. This time was no different,” says Gabriel Kosmaly, Every Home’s Eurasia continental director. In the early days, Every Home teams drove vans of refugees out of war zones, loaded the same vans with food and other humanitarian aid, and drove back into the war zones. “This went on for weeks and months,” Gabriel says.
Every Home for Christ ministries in nations surrounding the crisis adapted as well, embracing the opportunity to carry Christ to people who needed him most.
Anatoliy, Every Home’s ministry director in Ukraine, says, “Praise God, the church in Ukraine—the body of Christ—shines! People are finding hope, and followers of Jesus are being witnesses of his love and truth.”
As the war stretches on, we are seeing a unique moment of opportunity for the Gospel in this region of the world.
Every Home Eurasia East Area Director Andrey says, “ Tens of thousands of people received food. Hundreds of thousands received the Gospel. Tens of millions more are ready to receive it. Now more than ever, Ukraine is open to the Gospel. In Russia, millions of people need Christ. Many ministries and missions have left this country. It is so important that we do not leave Russia. God loves them too.”
Every Home for Christ will not leave. We will continue to reach people with hope in and around this war. We will not leave anyone behind. But we need your help.
Recently, Tanner Peake, the Every Home for Christ president and CEO, travelled to a neutral location to meet with ministry leaders serving in countries on all sides of this war. Tanner shares his reflections on that time.
Read on, and then join us in making sure everyone in Ukraine, Russia, and all of Eurasia has a chance to encounter the healing and hope of Jesus.
Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738 ABN: 88001276240 www.everyhome.org.au E-mail: ehc@everyhome.org.au New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 NZBN: 9429043322862 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738 www.everyhomeforchrist.org.nz EVERY PERSON EVERY HOME EVERYWHERE
Every Home for Christ teams distribute humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
From Tanner Peake, PRESIDENT, EVERY HOME FOR CHRIST
I’m on an airplane, returning home to the United States from a trip to the country of Georgia—a neutral location where I was able to meet with partners of our ministry from all countries involved in the war in Ukraine.
I’m shaken.
All I can think is this: they didn’t choose this and we have to do more about it.
A painfully simple, often unspoken fact of reality is that we don’t get to choose where we are born. We don’t choose our parents, our family, or the time we arrive in this world.
And yet, our identities are forged by these things. We are knit together in our mother’s womb. We grow in the context of our family and community. The possibilities of our lives are bound by the era in which we live. The seeds of our growth are planted in gardens we didn’t choose. We don’t, in fact, control some of the most basic plot lines of our own stories. Considering this reality is part of the “numbering our days” the scriptures prescribe in (Psalm 90:12).
Philosopher James K. A. Smith says it succinctly: “Our selves are fashioned; we are adorned with histories that incline us to saunter, swagger, or shuffle. Given our histories, some of us move through the world with a cape; some of us don baggy sweaters we hide behind; some of us still experience the world as if exposed. The question isn’t whether we have a style but which style we’ve (unconsciously) adopted given our histories. We wear time.”
INTERNATIONAL.:
We are all planted and that means we belong to each other. We are responsible to carry Christ to one another. It’s time to do more.
Consider a few examples
Imagine being born into a minority people group living in a dominant culture that is at odds with your own. Imagine lacking simple opportunities to advance within society as a result of the colour of your skin or your ethnic heritage.
Or imagine being born with a serious disability. By no choice of your own, you are physically unable to integrate with society. In fact, depending on where you are born, you might not even be granted the right to live.
Or imagine being born in a refugee camp. A slum. On the streets.
Or imagine being born into a war.
The interpretation of your humanity, to a large extent, is defined by the time and place of your birth. We are not all born the same and so much of who we are is simply inherited.
I’ve long been haunted by this reality. I was born a white male in one of the most affluent societies in human history. I have never touched war, been excluded from society because of my gender, or lacked opportunity because of my religious affiliation. My blue passport has afforded me more privileges than I will ever fully know. I did nothing to earn my own privilege.
It was, in part, this awareness that led me to launch the Oikos initiative across the global ministry of Every Home for Christ in 2019. I knew I had privileged access to opportunities to know the hope and love of Jesus and I was determined to see everyone else in the world have that same access. I passionately believe that knowing Christ should not be a privilege for the few but
a fundamental right of all humanity. Every person, everywhere, in every generation deserves to know Jesus. The Oikos initiative is our commitment to see that happen in this generation.But returning from my trip to Georgia, I am struck again by the disparity of the situation. I’m reminded of why Oikos exists.
Today, children are born in Ukraine in dimly lit hospitals into a national storyline of war.
They don’t yet know about the long-range missiles their president is begging from the international community. They don’t yet resent the enemies on the other side of the brokenness into which they were born. These innocent children may smell the burning rubble but they can’t yet see the pillars of smoke filling their skies. By no decision of their own, their lives take root in a cruel soil.
The same innocence lives in newborn babies in hospitals on the other side of an invisible border. In Russia, beautiful children are born to loving parents. They, too, will step into a storyline of war. But they begin without enemies. They begin without prejudice. They begin with no concept of land that is not their own. This, too, is no decision of theirs.
Tanner meets with Every Home for Christ partners from all countries involved in the war.
We are all planted.
As I reflect on my time with believers from nations at war—leaders I watched embrace with tears in every eye—I am deeply troubled by the way this war violates the innocence of every soul living in these nations. War exploits the uncontrollable facts that surround one’s birth. It co-opts the inherited storylines of time and place and deploys them, maliciously, against neighbours. War leverages the most uncontrollable parts of our identity for savagery.
I think of a ministry partner who came from Russia. He told me how the minority people group from his part of rural Russia were the first to be drafted. They were compelled to leave their homes and kill people they had never met, nor had any reason to be hostile toward. Why? Because, as a minority group, they were out of sight of the national conscience. They were disposable to the Russian government. A whole people group—born into a time and place not of their choosing and by that fact, sent to war. Where and when they were planted made the entire difference.
And then I think of our ministry partner in Ukraine. He told us of the mass graves. The massacres. The inhumane wrath suffered by entire communities. Why? Because they were born in this place, in this time.
They were planted.
Everyone in these nations is surrounded by unacceptable savagery. There is a madness that is beyond our control.
And yet, our call as Christians is to stand in the face of this madness and declare a love that is beyond all of it.
We insist on the dignity, value and humanity of every person—regardless of where, when, or to whom they are born—because they are made in the image of God. We commit to carrying Christ to every single one of them.
We, too, are planted in times, places and circumstances beyond our control. It is up to us to leverage the access and privileges we enjoy to ensure everyone has a chance to know the hope of Jesus.
We can only love others from the place we are planted.
We can only see from the eyes and heart we are given. But we can choose to carry dignity to those who are near and far. We can choose to offer compassion with the awareness of it all. We can choose to see beyond ourselves to a much bigger world, compelled by the love of Christ for every single soul on this planet.
The seeds of our growth are planted in gardens we didn’t choose.
IS HEART-WRENCHING
SAYING GOODBYE IN THE MIDST OF WAR
GIFT S GIVEN FOR UKRAINE WILL ALLEVIATE THEIR SUFFERING AND BRING THE HOPE OF CHRIST’S REDEMPTION
A QUESTION ABOUT TAX DEDUCTIBLE GIVING ...
Jesus said to give “in secret” but that does not necessarily make claiming a tax deduction wrong. He was addressing the heart issue of religious hypocrisy in Matthew 6. When people put their generosity on public display or when they are more interested in gaining a reputation as bighearted benefactors than in serving God, then they sin. Such religious hypocrites have already received their reward—a reputation—and should not expect any further heavenly blessing.
Tax returns are private and confidential documents and receiving a deduction for charitable giving is nothing like sounding trumpets. It would be highly unlikely that anyone would claim a charitable deduction to show off his or her righteous deed to the tax office. It would be a stretch to say that Christ’s teaching in Matthew 6 about giving in secret applies to claiming a tax deduction for charitable giving.
The government has made a tax benefit available to all charitable donors and believers are wise stewards to take advantage of it. The Bible teaches us to make the wisest possible use of the resources God has entrusted to our care (Luke 16:1–18). Rather than paying higher taxes to the government, God’s people receive even greater financial opportunity to further the work of God’s kingdom when they make use of legitimate deductions.
https://www.gotquestions.org/charitable-giving.html
In Australia for the Financial Year ending June 30th 2023 the ATO lists the tax savings allowed as followsTaxable Income Tax on this income $0 to $18,200 Nil $18,201 to $45,000 19 cents for each $1 over $18,200 $45,001 to $120,000 $5,092 plus 32.5 cents for ach $1 over $45,000 $120,001 to $180,000 $29,467 plus 37 cents for each $1 over $120,000 $180,001 and over $51,667 plus 45 cents for each $1 over $18,000
Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from the books of Levitcus and Numbers. For those wanting to do the one-year Bible reading program these chapters are in brackets.
1 PRAY FOR TANNER & BETHANY
PEAKE Tanner is now the International President of Every Home for Christ with a large responsibility for EHC ministries across the word. Please pray for them as they take over the role from Dick and Dee Eastman Leviticus 3 (Psalms 11-16)
2 PRAY FOR DIPLAVE POKHREL
Please continue to pray for Diplave and Sangita as they seek to serve the Lord together. Leviticus 4 (Psalms 17,19)
3 PRAY FOR ERIC AND LORRAINE LEACH Pray God will guide Eric in his leadership as Executive Director in Australia and New Zealand. Pray for Lorraine too with her jobs in the Every Home for Christ office. Leviticus 5 (Psalms 20-22)
4 PRAY FOR YOUR FAMILY - sons, daughters and grandchildren, plus others to come to Christ. Get a piece of paper and write down their names. Get their photos and pray every day for their salvation; eternity without Christ is a long time! Leviticus 6 (Psalms 24-26)
5 BARBADOS Pop. 287,375 Map 207
The Every Home team in Barbados is excited to reach new neighbourhoods for Jesus. They seek partnership with several local pastors and ask for prayer for unity and harmony. Leviticus 7 (Psalms 27-28)
6 MAURITIUS Pop. 1,271,768 Map 6 Pray for revival on the island and that God’s name would be magnified across every area. Also pray for courage, that they would be bold in sharing Christ. Leviticus 8 (Psalms 29,31)
7UKRAINE Pop. 43,733,762 Map 101
We ask for hunger for God’s word and His presence. We know real freedom is only possible when Ukrainians truly allow God to act in their lives. Pray for peace and an end to suffering. Pray for God to work mightily through His people and be their comfort. Leviticus 9 (Psalms 35-36
8CREATIVE ACCESS -
SOUTH ASIA Please pray for the work in this country where evangelism is difficult. Pray especially for materials EHC is producing to share the Gospel. “We have a new gospel literature booklet,” says the team. “Please pray that the Lord may help many people to restore their relationship with him. “ Leviticus 10 (Psalms 37-38)
9 PHILIPPINES Pop. 109,581,078 Map 169 Praise the Lord for recent home-to-home ministry in several provinces. Please pray that all who received the gospel materials would encounter Jesus and request follow-up so they can connect with other believers and grow in their faith. Praise God for the prayers and support of His people in the Philippines. Leviticus 11 (Psalms 39-40)
10 HONDURAS Pop. 9,904,607 Map 182 Pray for such an awakening in God’s people, that they would be called to become labourers for Him in this land. May pastors and their churches be moved in their hearts to go out and preach the Gospel. Leviticus 12 (Psalms 41,53)
11BURKINA FASO Pop. 20,903,273 Map 40 Please keep Burkina Faso in your prayers as terrorism is ongoing in many villages. In the eastern region, people are often threatened and must flee their villages. Please pray that God will protect lives and provide for the needs of those displaced. Pray for the Christians to remain strong. Leviticus 13 (Psalms 55,58)
JUNE 2023
12CREATIVE ACCESS - SOUTH
ASIA Peace, stability and the continuing development of this nation are key prayer requests. Pray as our team works to reach new areas and encourage new believers. Pray for fellowship, unity and protection. Pray also for healing for a ministry worker who had a severe heart attack. Pray for a complete recovery. Leviticus 14 (Psalms 61-62)
13SERBIA Pop. 8,737,371 Map
71 Please pray for all people who responded to the Gospel in recent days. Pray that the literature they read and the encounter they had with Every Home for Christ would touch their hearts and that they would desire discipleship. Pray that each one would feel the presence of the Lord.
Leviticus 15 (Psalms 65,68)
14
SOLOMON ISLANDS Pop.
686,884 Map 152 Please pray for peace to prevail in this country. Pray for ethnic groups to respect one another and embrace each other with the love of Christ. Pray for the EHC ministry as it serves and loves the people as Christ loves them.
Leviticus 16 (Psalms 72,86)
15DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Pop. 89,561,403 Map
19 Please pray for peace and security so that the Every Home for Christ team in the DRC can freely share the Gospel. Pray for our brothers currently in areas where rebels are terrorising inhabitants, that God would give them protection and courage. Leviticus 17 (Psalms 101,103)
CREATIVE ACCESS - NORTH AFRICA We have begun some of our ministry in the north of the country. Please pray for those working in this area as there is not a single believer that we know of. Pray we can break through! Pray also for religious freedom in our country so all people can know Jesus.
16
Leviticus 18 (Psalms 108-110)
17KOSOVO Pop. 1,900,000 Map
72 Thank you for your prayers.
“We praise God,” our team writes, “that we covered all the villages of the municipality of Vushtrri in a recent outreach. Pray many would respond to the Gospel. We are thankful for your prayers and support because without it, we cannot do this great ministry.
Leviticus 19 (Psalms 138-141)
18
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Pop.
10,847,910 Map 192 Pray for the EHC team in Santiago, which is one of the largest areas they will cover this year. Pray for an amazing transformation in the city through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Praise God we have good contacts and partners,” they say, “to impact the city with all of Every Home’s resources and strategies.”
Leviticus 20 (Psalms 143-145)
19CAMEROON Pop. 26,545,863 Map 24 The team asks for prayer for spiritual growth for believers among the Baka people who meet regularly to study the Word. Pray that their neighbours in this region who have remained attached to their traditions may be moved by the Gospel and join their brothers and sisters in accepting Jesus.
Leviticus 21 (1 Kings 1-4)
20
NICARAGUA Pop. 6,624,554
Map 183 Please pray for our team in Nicaragua for pastoral unity, that the pastors already on board with Every Home for Christ might encourage other pastors to align with the vision. Pray that they will have the strength, wisdom, determination and personal committment to carry Christ everywhere, for every generation. Leviticus 22 (Proverbs 1-3)
21
MALI Pop. 20,250,833 Map 49
Pray for the protection of the EHC team and that God would open hearts to receive the message of the Gospel with joy! Pray that Almighty God would watch over the authorities and citizens in Mali and continue to guard them from efforts to destabilise the population. May the Lord build a new Mali for his glory.
Leviticus 23 (Proverbs 4-7)
PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28
CZECHIA Pop. 10,708,981
27IRELAND
Pop. 4,937,786
Map 91 As today marks another day of political discussions for Northern Ireland protocols and deals, we ask for prayer for progress and unity. Pray that the government will be able to find a solution and move on past the stalemate of the past years. Numbers 2 (Proverbs 30-31)
23CREATIVE
ACCESS - SOUTH
ASIA In this nation, sharing the good news comes at great risk. A believer serving with Every Home for Christ wrote, “Recently, our team went to an area where they were rejected and prohibited from entering. Please pray for protection and that this village would be open to the Word of God. ” Leviticus 25 (Proverbs 10-14)
PARAGUAY Pop. 7,132,538
Map 82 Pray for the chaotic economic, social and political situation in Czechia brought on by war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. People are depressed by their circumstances and this is causing hearts to be closed to Christianity. Pray that people here would be receptive to the Gospel. Leviticus 24 (Proverbs 8-9) 24
Map 222 Praise God for the new believers being added to the church as a result of home-tohome evangelism. Pray that the intensity of each pastor, worker and church volunteer would increase exponentially in order that each heart will be moved to fulfill Jesus’ great commandment to make disciples. Leviticus 26 (Proverbs 15-20)
25ANGOLA
Pop. 32,866,272
Map 13 This year, Every Home in Angola is doing concentrated outreaches in their home villages - the places from which their extended families originate. In some places, food, water and basic needs are a concern. Pray God will give favour in these villages and that He would protect us. Leviticus 27 (Proverbs 21-24)
28
SAMOA Pop. 198,414 Map
158 Pray for a prayer advocate to lead the prayer department for Every Home in Samoa. Prayer is key to accomplishing the work of reaching everyone, everywhere with the good news; this position is critical to successful outreaches. Pray more individuals would come to Jesus through prayer and thanksgiving. Numbers 3 (Song of Solomon 1-8)
29THAILAND Pop. 69,799,978 Map 136 Please pray for the election of a new government in Thailand this month. Pray that good and capable people who love the people will come into leadership. May they be honest and faithful. May the corruption be wiped away. May they be good servant leaders of the country. Numbers 4 (1 Kings 5-7)
30
CREATIVE ACCESSCENTRAL ASIA
The leadership of EHC in this nation continues to pray for revival as the hearts of people are closed to the Gospel. Please pray with us for open doors. Numbers 5 (1 Kings 8-11)
26
CREATIVE ACCESS - NORTH AFRICA Please pray for the work in this smaller nation where sharing the Gospel carries risk. There are many challenges and the prayer is for the workers to remain steadfast in their work and be encouraged and protected while they share the news of Jesus. Pray for those who respond to the Gospel, that they would be disciples and grow in Christ.
Numbers 1 (Proverbs 25-29)
Send your prayer request to us and we will pray for you too! 22
