We need to have a plan, strategy, vision, and God will amend it if he needs it. Believers in Acts had all three. They went to key cities, the capitals of the provinces as they preached the good news. There they preached at the synagogues or main gov’t buildings. From there the gospel was flowing naturally through all the joints and natural connections to the smaller places in the region. Soon the whole area was saturated with the good news. Were there any changes to the pattern? There were. And there will if we let God lead us. But God wants us to use our smart mind and planning abilities in the gospel preaching. Too often, we see Christians that do not have a plan or a strategy, not saying a vision. This is especially true here in B-stan.

Church Plant In Moscow
It is hard to believe that it is right in this moment there is a new church being planted in Moscow. Brother who was saved and raised in our church in Ufa, along with his team, answered the call. Many of you know him. Please pray for the success of this endeavor. Pray for a good rental hall and a heart of the landlord.

Men’s Club
Please pray for our men’s club participants. One old man – Anatoly – is not doing well. He also must take care of his even older mother. Because of that he has to stay home. He has been of great help for me for many years.

Kazakhstan
Due to rapidly deteriorating situation we have to relocate across the border to Kazakhstan. We had to make this decision for the safety and well-being of the family and the ministry. Our initial plan is stay there for two months. We remain in contact with all our key leaders on the ground. That will sure incur some unplanned expenses on us. Our estimates show us, we are going to need $600 per month for the total of $1200 for the duration of the trip. That is the price of the tickets and rental place.

Friends and Family
Tim is becoming a leader in his basketball team. And it is also so cute to see how a six years old Christina’s reciting a bible verse.
Continue to pray for Liliya’s father. We cannot say for sure but we are making attempts to speak the gospel into his ears.
Thank you once again for your faithful prayers for us, our family and ministry. We have been humbled and overwhelmed by your love and partnership.

You can make tax deductible contribution to Ufa Bible Ministries which is recognized by the IRS as a 501c3 non-profit entity. Make checks payable to:
Ufa Bible Ministries
PO BOX 1761, Columbia, SC 29202

Many Answered Prayers at a crucial time
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Greetings loved ones! Please forgive me for this September
newsletter coming so late to you! If you’ve been following our updates on
Facebook, you know a lot has been keeping us quite busy.

First of all I’ll start with an update on Liam. We finally got him
in for surgery and he’s currently recovering from that. The poor kid had
been dealing with a hernia for months and we didn’t realize it until August.
We took him in to the doctor and they said it would “heal on its own.” Once
the hernia doubled in size, that answer didn’t sit right. After much research,
Larena found out that this type of hernia not only doesn’t heal itself over
time, but if it becomes incarcerated could lead to a life threatening situation.
On top of that, the longer you wait from diagnosis, the greater the risk of
incarceration! It was a stressful battle, but Larena was able to finally get
an appointment within a week. As the date approached, we were
anticipating the feeling of relief on the other side of the surgery. However,
the week leading up to Liam’s surgery Anora came down with some sort
of sickness that had similarities to the E-coli infection that put her in kidney
failure just two years ago. We took her in to get checked and they found
trace blood and protein in her urine. She eventually bounced back, but we
think she may have picked up a respiratory infection at the doctors office,
which she then brought home to Liam. The poor guy got sick with a high
fever and trouble breathing the night before his surgery, meaning they had
to postpone his surgery! This was super stressful for us, because Larena
had fought so hard to get the surgery date. Thankfully we only had to wait
another week. This past week we were able to take a 3 hour drive out to
Dublin and finally get the surgery he needed. Interestingly enough, when
they got in there they found that he actually had two hernias in one! The
surgeon said he must’ve been in serious discomfort. Well, he’s home now
and recovering. The challenge now is keeping him from running too hard,
jumping on something, or falling as he climbs all over things. This kid is
so active, it’s hard to explain to him that he may pop a stitch if he’s not
careful. Please pray he recovers fully, thank you!

Praise God the work on the ministry space in town is going
really well. We have had a hard working crew helping us paint and prep
the space each week. The main room and entry way has been primed and
painted, along with the kids ministry room. We are getting close to being
finished painting the kitchen and bathroom areas, and my office space has
one full coat of primer on it now. It has been so nice having a painting
crew join me each week. One girl, a Lithuanian who has been living in
Galway for many years has been helping paint 1-3 times a week for the
past few weeks. She loves helping, and is super excited about our vision
for building a community of believers among the young people in Galway
City. She has also become a huge answer to our prayers for someone who
would be willing to baby sit the kids!

The word’s getting out about what we’re doing, and people are
stepping up to help in huge ways. A few weeks ago I got a message from
a girl named Jill, who used to run the youth program at a church up the
road from GCF. Her and her husband Conor had been living up north in
Donegal for a while, but were moving back down for a few months to have
their baby in Galway. She remembered me talking about this city center
dream years ago and offered their help in any way I needed it. Conor has
been with me at the space each week, painting, assembling furniture, and
helping hang the TV. He’s been a tremendous help and I’m so thankful
for him. It was great to reconnect with him as well, because years ago I
was his designated mentor as he went through CCI Academy courses.

A woman named Anne also contacted me a few weeks ago and
saw online that we had a space in town. She was super excited to hear
about it because she (and many others) had been praying for something
to come to Galway City Center for years. We knew her from our previous
church and she told me about a few people who lived in town who she
would want to invite to our services once we started. These are people
who were either too far away to get over to any church outside of the city
or they might be too intimidated to step foot in a church like that. The
cozy atmosphere of our “home church” style would speak to these people
a little better. Anne has been coming in each week to help clean and
prepare the space for ministry. She has also offered to make decorative
signs for the walls. Just the other day, Anne came up to me and handed
me an envelope for the ministry. Inside it was €500 for furniture! It’s the
first Irish investment! We are just so blessed by her generosity, her
excitement for the ministry, and her willingness to help and invite others.
As she worked, she started sharing very helpful and creative ideas about
ways in which to reach the community. As a local Irish woman, we value
her suggestions tremendously. It’s important for us to meet the needs of
the local community & connect with them in a way that is most efficient.

Thank God for all of the excitement surrounding this church
plant, and for the many people who have come to help. We’re so grateful
for these folks, and for others like David, Aaron, and Michael who have
also helped us paint and move heavy objects. We’re also thankful for
everyone who has invested financially in this project. We only have 30%
of our startup budget left to raise, and just €12,000 left to raise for the
ongoing annual budget. Thank you for being a part of this amazing dream
come true. Thank you for sharing our video and website with your church
leadership teams. Thank you for all of the connections, for stepping up
and going above and beyond in your donations towards this ministry, and
for your constant prayer and intercession! Thank you for being there with
us every step of the way! We are so thrilled about this exciting season that
is finally is upon us! God bless you all. ~The Johnstons

Prayer
Requests

We would be honored
if you would pray with
us concerning:

Please pray for Liam’s
healing, that this situation on
will be over in Jesus name.

Please pray for the
continued work needed to
be done for the space to
be ready to have a Sunday
service!

Please pray the people
who have supported this
work, that they too will be
blessed for everything
they have given to help us!

Please pray for the
following individuals we
are currently ministering
to on the streets:
Thomas
Costa
Nadia
Brian
Martin
Pray for salvation and for
breakthrough!

News from Paraguay: August-September-October 2022
Dear loved ones and friends.
Greetings, love and blessings from Paraguay.
It took us a while to get this newsletter to you…
All that we can say is that the Lord is in control of everything and that is very comforting!
We give thanks with a grateful heart for all that has happened and is happening here!
Onward Upward…😅🙄☺
A song called: “Greater Victories” comes to mind when trying to write this newsletter that I have started to write and rewrite again and again.
It describes the last couple of months way better than I could do it! And it puts things back in perspective…
                           GREATER VICTORIES… (song and lyrics by Kirk Allen)
Will you slide down the mountain, will you fall down the side?
Will you flow like a fountain, giving water of life?
Will you turn to the darkness or reach for the light of greater victories?
Yes, we thought that the last one was enough in its time!
But we’re growing and learning that we’ve still got to climb,
in spite of our problems, in spite of our fears…
Greater victories, greater love…
You’ve got to keep on going, you’ve got to sacrifice
You’ve got to keep on giving the rest of your life
For you know that when you do, it’s waiting there for you…
THE GREATEST VICTORY and GREATEST LOVE!!! JESUS
Holding on tight…☝👇👈👉👍👎
It feels like the last three months we have been on a roller-coaster.
Without a break our church members and their extended families have struggled through serious sickness, surgeries, unexpected deaths and accidents. Robert and I took turns as well getting sick.
That’s the news in a nutshell! It took a toll on the church and on us, but His Grace was and is sufficient.
Going through it was rough, but it also brought forth the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” afterwards.
As a result…😢😰🤕😷😭🤔😑😇
It shook us all up, and brought families closer and in various cases some of their extended families received the Lord as their Savior, which made it worth it all!!!
For some it was a long and painful road and it still is: to find out that God is Sovereign and that Jesus is Lord!
The song: “Through it all, I came to trust in Jesus” came immediately to my mind and it’s so true!!!
Some of those families were at odds with one another for years and didn’t even speak with one another because of their differences in what they believed or did not believe at all.
Now, because of the witness, care, love, patience and lots of prayer and tears on the part of our precious couples in the church and us, their families who were against our church are reacting favorably and even starting to attend church. Here are two stories we want to share with you of the very many we have stored in our hearts.
Lila, our secretary…👩
As you know we serve in a rural church which is on the grounds of the Methodist Camp.
The people there are precious, hardworking people of the land and most of them never want to see a doctor in their entire life until it’s too late!
One of these cases, among others, was the mother of Lila, the secretary of our church. Her mother Mari was diagnosed with pancreas cancer and died within three weeks of diagnosis. Mari was a devout catholic and so were her siblings and neighbors living around her.
Her daughter Lila had become part of the Methodist church 7 years ago and married a young man of the church named David who became the father of her 5-year-old son who was abandoned by his real father. We wrote about David in other newsletters.
He is the young man who almost died of Covid and has been struggling for a long time afterwards.  (Long hauler symptoms) He is also our praise and worship leader.
Lila’s Dad; Regino, had become part of the church 7 years ago as well, but due to pressure from his wife’s family he gave up church altogether and said that all churches were full of hypocrites…
He did know his Bible and had played hymns on the accordion in the church. He had gotten a stroke afterwards and was finally recovering…this should have brought him closer to the Lord, but that was not the case!
Lila and her mom did all they could to get him back on his feet.
The family of Lila’s mom’s side, always had seen everything outside of the roman catholic church as a sect and would have nothing to do with Lila and her little family.
Then when Lila’s mom suddenly fell sick and was diagnosed with pancreas cancer the whole family was in panic. Mari went to the hospital and never made it back home alive…
The hospitals here are not like the hospitals in the U.S…
One family member has to be there 24 hours to supply food, help the patient, buy the medicines and go from pharmacy to pharmacy because the hospital has almost nothing available.
And with Lila’s mom’s situation, no one was allowed but one family member only.
Lila was extremely distraught by the fact that her mom never had opened up to the message of Salvation even though she had tried to share with her over the years but her mom was taught that (Maria,) Mary, Jesus’ mother would see her through it all.
Robert and I did all we could to help them by praying, with counseling, visiting and providing the needs but weren’t allowed to be with her.
David, Lila’s husband, was very much loved by her mom and he was most of the time with her.
Praying with her, sharing with her and sleeping at night under her bed on a mattress and a blanket to be able to assist her or call the nurses.
I would share things everyday by WhatsApp, step by step and encourage her and David would let her listen…
She finally responded and understood what Jesus had done for her.🙏🙌
Everyone, church and family were hoping and praying for a miracle, and the miracle came but not in the way we had hoped for.
Just a few days before passing away David was able to lead his mother-in-law to Jesus and Jesus gave her peace.
Lila went to see her and could be with her at various times, sharing and praying as well.
The day before Mari passed away, Lila was at home and able to share with her dad and brothers and God’s Spirit took over. Especially with her dad, he repented deeply and declared that the Holy Spirit had broken and touched his heart. For the first time Lila could freely share from her heart and her brothers received Christ as well.🙏🙌🙌🙌
The next morning David came home to take a quick shower and to go back to the hospital and Mari’s older grandchild, Tatiana, stayed with her. As she sat with her grandma she heard her talking without stopping.
She asked her grandma with whom she was talking and her answer was: Jesus! 🤗😇
Then a few minutes later she died and went to be with Him.😇🙌🙌🙌
David and Lila had just missed those last few minutes with her which was very hard on them, but they knew that she had gone to be with Jesus which was such a consolation for them.💔💛❤
Then there was the problem with the whole family about how she should be buried the catholic way, because she had been catholic all her life.
Her husband, Lila and her brothers wanted the wake in our church because they couldn’t manage it at their home. So, we arranged that the wake was held in our church and it was done quietly, respectfully and a dear Methodist brother gave a beautiful message in the Guarani language for the people present.
The next morning Robert and I were in charge of the funeral when the siblings and neighbors demanded that Lila’s mother would be brought back to her home so that they could pray for her the way their religion requires.
To avoid problems for all the family, Lila’s Dad, Lila and us decided to keep the peace and brought Mari to her home and gave them respectfully the time to mourn and pray the way they knew.
During the funeral some members of the family tried to stir up strife, but the Lord showed us how to keep the peace and how to share Christ and to be a testimony of His love. We also handed out a message to everyone entitled: “Our going home is our graduation”. A Salvation message in a way that they could clearly understand.
Afterwards many of them came up to thank us and show their appreciation.
The Lord had been the Peacemaker 🙌😊💛😊
Now little by little Lila and her family are still reaching out to them and they are not ignored anymore but respected. Lila’s Dad is coming to church and he plays hymns again on the accordion. Something that is still difficult for him due to the stroke he had, but he is managing well and it helps his spirit and heart.
Four of Lila’s nephews are coming to Sunday school now as well. Please keep them in your prayers.
Baby dedication…👶💖
We had a beautiful baby dedication again and this time it was a little girl! Sabrina, the cutest little thing!
She and her family are so very precious! And we thank the Lord for them.
Blas his fall…👷🤕😔🙏
Many of you will remember Blas and his two daughters Anahi and Pauli.
In 2019 He, his wife and his daughters got baptized in our church and that same year his wife Marisa died of a ruptured appendix in the hospital.
They went through very hard times but got back on their feet. They kind of steered away from the Lord for a while but we kept loving them, checking on them and praying for them…
Then we got the news that Blas had had a serious accident. He was working on a very high wall, connecting alarm wiring when he slipped and fell on his back. The MRI showed that he had broken a vertebra (disk) in his back. They told him that he could have been paralyzed. He was admitted to the hospital and now has to wear a back brace for 3 months and absolute rest. He was in so much pain. He is doing better now. It’s almost 2 months since that happened. Now he is back in church. He gave his testimony how much he realized that he needed the Lord! It shook everyone up!
His daughters are real troopers and the whole church family backed him up with prayers and love…
He also went with two of our men’s group to the men’s conference for two days this month.
There he also shared what the Lord was doing in his life!🙌🙌🙌
Robert and I have also taken turns in getting sick…😔😷
There were so many things going on with different families in the church and then we started having health problems as well. It was nothing compared to what our church family went through, but very bothersome…
like intestinal problems, colds, dehydration, not being able to eat, and vertigo which was really debilitating.
Robert bounced back pretty quick from the times it hit him, but with me it took longer!
I found out that my cholesterol level was very high (necessitating a strict diet) and I had a problem with vertigo. (BPPV) I still have problems with it but much less and thank the Lord for that!
We are still working and witnessing. The Lord keeps us and heals us every time. His Word is powerful! Construction of the Sunday school…👷🛠
This has been going very slow, what with Covid, all the interruptions of other sickness, winter weather etc. But we are almost finished! We are very grateful to the National Methodist Men’s Society for coming out to our church to help with the construction. They are planning another visit in a few weeks to finish stucco and perhaps paint and tile.
We have the electricity installed. The doors and windows with glass installed. Most of the inside walls are finished and ready to paint. So, we are almost ready to inaugurate it and begin using it for Sunday classes. Praise God!!!🙌📖✏🛡
The children of the neighborhood…📖🍱
As we told you before the children of the neighborhood come every day for snacks with the condition that they memorize a verse. It has been going well and some of them have memorized their salvation verses and go on to other topics. The one- and two-years old quote the verse: God is Love ❤or just say, Jesus loves me.😍
It’s the cutest thing and then they get their snack and say: “Gracias Pastor”.🤗
One of the older ones had just learned Rev 3:20. And when he came the next day he screamed loudly:🙋 “Pastor, I stand at the door and knock, if you hear my voice and open the door I want to come in and have my snack!” Of course, he received it when he quoted the verse the right way! Ha! They are something else and so very precious and help each other memorize so that they all can have a snack.
Since over a year now we are back to personal counseling and praying outside the church walls as well and the Lord is really blessing it! Robert and I receive people at home and it is wonderful to be able to do so!
The church members go on Tuesday prayer night to visit different families, pray for them and with them and have fellowship in song and Word time. It has been a real help and inspiration!🙌🙏👨👩👴👵👧
Evaluation…📖📝
We just had our evaluation as a pastoral couple of the church and depending on the outcome the bishop will decide if we can continue in this church. We love this church and its people and really hope we can stay, but it is up to the Lord for He is our Shepherd and we have come this far by faith: Psalm 16:11.💛 📖
There is much more to share and we will send you a continuation next week!
It’s Robert’s Birthday today!🕯 73 years “young”! The Lord is so good to us! Serving Him and others we have been so blessed!!! We thank the Lord for all of you.🙏🙌💞
Love and greetings from Paraguay wrapped up in prayers and His Peace… John 14:27.💛
 Your missionaries: Joy and Robert Varga.

Little Hands, Little Feet

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We have had a very
successful 6-week Good News Club in St. Leonards. Boys and girls
heard the Gospel for the first time. Parents have seen a positive
influence in their children’s lives. It culminated with our church hosting
a BBQ for the families of the community. Good News Club families
are now quite interested in attending church. As a result, I will be
starting a children’s ministry at our little church next Sunday. We used
to have a children’s ministry, but since being back after COVID, there
weren’t children coming regularly enough to have a Kid’s Ministry on
Sundays. It is an exciting time for our church as after the BBQ people
are getting more enthused about outreach to these families. We will
be expanding Good News Club to meet two terms next year and have
already planned a couple more BBQ’s at the beginning and end of
next year’s Good News Club.
In other Good News Club news, City and Longford continued their
studies of the Life of Christ. We finished the Term by making tie dye
bunting with the words from Hebrews 13:5b on it which they can
display in their rooms. Next Term will be all about the last week of
Jesus’ life which can be pretty sobering and impactful.
This school holidays, the little town of Cressy had a holiday club all
about Space. We learned that God Speaks through Creation and
through His Son. There were many children who hadn’t been to any
other CEF programs, but not many of them live in Cressy. It was
mostly children visiting their grandparents for school holidays. So,
there is still much work to be done to reach the children who actually
live in Cressy.
On a final note, as you are getting this newsletter (if by email) much
of this region of our island as well as farther west is underwater in
floods. I am lucky enough to live on high ground, but there will be
much clean up needed. We were to be ministering at a fair tomorrow,
but I’m not sure if it will go ahead. You can pray for us that this heart
breaking devastation to livelihoods and property would draw people to
seek Christ.

Prayer Requests:
• Pray for several children
who were very interested
in the Gospel at St
Leonards and just didn’t
quite understand yet that
they would come to
church with their families
and receive Jesus as
their Saviour.
• Pray for our church as
we get back to having
Kids Ministry next
Sunday.
• Pray for the boys and
girls in Longford and City
as they continue to be
discipled this upcoming
school term.
• Pray for comfort for those
who have lost everything
in the floods and that
they would seek Christ.