Dear praying friends,
It is very encouraging to be writing this ‘update’. So many of our prayer requests are for long term situations. Sometimes the
extremity of needs and apparent slowness of change can subtly challenge our Trust in the Lord. Writing to you reminds me of the fact that you are the Lord’s provision, alongside us in your prayers, caring for the ones we’ve been trusted with. Thank you so very much for your prayers, and for ‘being there’.
And – we do have praise reports, and I’m excited to bring them to you.
First of all though, our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Ukraine. Many of our staff are from Ukraine and Russia,
and most have family in one of those countries. Our hearts are heavy. We pray for the light to shine bright in the darkness, and for true spiritual revival to come to both of these nations. Oxana has family in the Ukraine, and some are now refugees. Please pray for grace, protection, and the revelation of God’s love. Marianna’s family in Russia are in profound shock and deep grief. Marianna’s brother is now considering Aliyah. Please pray for the leading of the Lord, and for strength and courage for them.
Thank you
The update:1) The staff and volunteers’ retreat weekend was great. The theme was “unity”. We had 3 talks from 3 different speakers, addressing:-unity of Jewish and Arab believers in the Land-unity in our teams-organic/relational unity and spiritual/ mystical unity of the BodyThe very make-up of the retreat embodied ‘unity’. We had young adults from a variety of congregations from the South of Israel, as well as a family of our Christian Arab friends.It was a fun time, and also very deep, and we experientially ‘lived’ our learning.
Wonderfully the retreat was financially fully covered. Thank you so much for your prayers.
2) B’s two believing daughters joined the retreat, and we were able to pray together for their sisters, Y and E.
3) M’s daughter B is able to continue with her violin lessons which she loves. Streams in the Desert has been able to purchase a violin for her, and a partner organisation has committed to covering the cost of lessons. This gives B great joy!
4) S had a breakthrough with medical care. She has been referred to a pain management clinic (the appointment is not until the end of May but it gives S hope for the future) and also the possibility of physiotherapy. Both developments give hope. Please pray that solutions to her chronic pain will be found.
5) E has moved to a different (cheaper and smaller) apartment that is much more affordable for her and suits her needs better. Streams in the Desert help pay for some of her furniture.Please pray for provision for some things that are still missing in her new home.
6) Please could you continue praying for the house in Beersheba for Streams in the Desert, Marianna and Anna. We are about to start looking for it.
Shabbat shalom!
Marianna and the team