Saturday, May 10, 2014

The real face of life in Ukraine - Please don't forget those who are suffering there!



   Leslye and I just got back from a week in Ukraine. It seems the news from Ukraine is slipping to 2nd page status. But the general situation is deteriorating evidenced by this letter from a friend in Ukraine who is part of the Messianic Jewish congregation we helped to plant there in 1995. Please pray for this family who now have no work and little natural hope to find any. If you want to help this family please let me know as soon as possible. Shalom, David Schneier

   "Today, on may 8, 2014 on the eve of great Victory day there are a lot of rumors in Odessa and Ukraine as a whole. Even the residents of Moscow are a little afraid of the fact that Ukrainians are allegedly preparing a major terrorist attack in Moscow. In turn Ukrainians fear that the Russians will commit terrorist acts either in Ukraine or in Moscow and accuse Ukrainians. 

   Yes, all this affects the tense atmosphere in Odessa. Today I was in the Privoz (big open air market). Private vendors that bring in private products (milk, vegetables, meat) are trying to sell all products by the evening to leave Odessa because to stay in the city is too dangerous. In the stores there are lines because people are buying goods of the first necessity. Many are storing water in large quantities. We don't do that. We believe in the Lord and hope that all this tension is just intimidation and pitting people against each other. And the sad thing is that this comes out! People have become quite aggressive and scared. In our daughter's school, typically, the class is visited by 30 students, but today there were only 5 children. The rest stayed home because their parents are afraid to drive them to school. At drama school were my husband works the school has completely abolished lessons.
 

   Ah, Yes! I totally forgot to tell you one very unpleasant news! My husband's ship where he works as a music director suffered some damage (fire or explosion), and the cruises in Ukraine were abolished altogether. Now, we need your support in prayer that he finds a new job. The incident on the ship occurred one day before the beginning of the cruise so we were left with nothing. Pray for us please!
Tomorrow we plan to spend at home in prayer. We know that your congregation has not abandoned us! We are confident in your prayer support! Thank God for your hearts!
"

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Back to Alabama



     Leslye and I have made it to Dallas on the way to Birmingham tonight, hopefully by 10:30 pm. The Dallas airport was shut by thunder storms so we had to circle for a while before landing. The arrival terminal was unusually empty when we arrived because many of the planes had been diverted. Praie the Lord that we were allowed to land.
     It has been a long trip but totally worth it. Tomorrow night we'll be at Beth Hallel to begin our sharing, with our team members help, about our incredible experience in Ukraine. Updates about what is going on there currently hopefully will begin tonight on this blog. Our live stream on Friday nights at 7:30 pm is still going but our web page is down. To access the livestream you would have to locate the link you used to get to our livestream in the past. Hopefully all will be well with the web page soon. Love and Shalom, David & Leslye

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Separatists backed by Russia attack a police station in Odessa where their co-conspirators were being held

    We're at the Warsaw airport waiting to travel to Paris on the way back to Birmingham. We just learned that, today, Russian backed separatists attacked an Odessa police station where their co-conspirators in the riots yesterday were being held. Some video can be found at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27277231. Please keep up the prayer as these brazen attempt to destabilize Ukraine continue. Shalom, David and Leslye Schneier