John and Stella White - Developing Church Leadership in the Russian Speaking World DCU, Prospect Ilicha 106-A, Donetsk 83059, UKRAINE January 2009 011-38050-567-6550 jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu http://www.marucheck.net/jw
Shortly after sending you last month's letter, I (John) started to get sick yet again. First, I had problems with my back and took anti-inflammation shots and then pills for a couple of weeks. Then, I started to have pain in, shall we say, a lower place. After seeing a specialist and having his supervisor confirm the diagnosis, I was told that I immediately needed surgery to drain an abscess in my intestinal tract. As you can imagine, this would be pretty scary under any circumstances, but in another country and another language it was even more so. Both Stella and I prayed a lot, and it turned out that God had blessed us with an excellent doctor and correct diagnosis. The surgery was on December 19 and I was able to leave the hospital on the 22nd and I was never more happy to be 'home for Christmas!'
Since I was stuck on my back for quite a while, I had a lot of time to read, and I was able to finally finish a book I had been working on for more than a year: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. In case you were wondering, I read it in English!
Anyway, in War and Peace, the Russian General Kutuzov who defeated Napoleon said that the key to his strategy was only two things: time and patience. With that simple strategy, he saved Russia and defeated one of the greatest armies in history. I realized that in this case, that was what I needed, too. God can use time and patience to accomplish so many things, from the healing of a sickness to the changing of a nation. We just need to add prayer!
After some 'extra vacation,' we've now returned back to work and studies. I'm busy both preparing to teach a new course called 'Worldview and Cults' at our satellite campus and preparing for a PR trip to the States with President Sergey in March. In the meantime, Stella is catching up on her PR work and starting to write her 30 page term paper on the 'Dialects and Accents of Great Britain.' I'm afraid I can't help with that one!
Thank you for your continued time and patience in praying for us and our ministry at DCU.
Of the $1000 per month we need to raise, already $135 per month has been pledged!
If you'd like to help support our ongoing ministry, simply write WorldVenture that you'd like to commit to support us or e-mail us at jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
John and Stella
