October of ministry
The month of October started with the 7th year of the Slavic Ladies Retreat, September 30 - October 3rd. If you’re not familiar, I (Tanya) and a team of ladies organize a retreat for women from all over the country every year. This year, we had 300 women from 22 states and the presence of God came so incredibly we left home in absolute awe. We have a program and great speakers, and an amazing worship team - the Lord truly blesses us with the best of the best. But His presence is what we are after most. When He comes - He transforms lives. We have had the opportunity to hear so many testimonies of what God did that weekend - healing of body and soul. He brought forth a word for everyone individually. Our theme this year was, “born for such a time as this!” And when the Lord had given me this theme there wasn’t a war going on between our countries - so it was so timely now. What a time to be the Lord’s bride, His hands and feet - to be His voice.
In addition to the spirit-filled services, we had workshops: floral arrangement, calligraphy, hosting & entertaining, art & painting, fervent prayer, and biblical counseling. We also had a “give back” workshop where the ladies were able to write a letter and make a parcel for an orphan mama in Ukraine. We shipped three x-large boxes to Ukraine through the Agape organization in the face of Vera Fedorchuk, who led the workshop.
We had a chance to make new friends and memories for a lifetime. We are so so grateful for God’s faithfulness and leading.
You can see a recap video of our time here:
On October 9th, we were able to visit NJ and celebrate Tanya’s dad’s 60th birthday and nephew, Demik’s 12th birthday. It was important to us to be there for our dad, as every day that he lives is a miracle from the Lord. He had multiple heart attacks in his lifetime and his heart is working at a small percentage and he is a high risk for cardiac arrest. For the last year, he has been wearing a life vest by doctors’ orders but is now recommended to go forward with surgery. We are praying for the Lord's intervention in his health but are grateful for every day that he is alive. Celebrating his 60th with family and friends around the table is all that he wanted and we are so thankful we had the opportunity to be there.
On Thursday, October 13, I (Tanya) flew out to speak at a Ladies Conference in Jacksonville, FL to Living Stream Church. I graduated from SMBS, which is a Bible School founded at this church, in 2011. You can imagine the joy that it was to go back to a church that was once my second home and serve the wonderful women there. The theme of the conference was “Faith moved by Love” and the Lord gave me a message on -
1. An encounter that plants faith
2. A discipline that produces faith
3. A love that moves faith
Living Stream Women’s Ministry team welcomed me so warmly and I truly felt at home. They have an incredible team of women who are so passionate about the Lord and carry such gentleness, honor for one another, and favor on them. It was an honor to serve with them.
I also had the great privilege of staying at sister Natasha Bodarenko’s house. She is the widow of the late Pastor Vitaliy Bondarenko, who has had a significant impact on my life. I remember he had a father's heart and I always thought to myself, “if I will be in ministry one day I want to love people the way Pastor Vitaliy does.” And I’ve got a far way to go but I am grateful for the example I had to look to. Sister Natasha took the time to share with me all that the Lord had done in their lives as they walked by faith. It was like an extra conference for me - one where I was convinced over and over again that if you simply trust the Lord with all your life He will always take care of you and be glorified through you. My heart loves to sit in the company of older men and women who have walked this path before us - it’s like reading a good book, so much wisdom, insight, testimonies, and God’s faithfulness.
If you prayed for me for this trip - thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is a terrifying thing for me to say yes to speaking on stage - it’s so out of my comfort zone. But with your prayers and the message the Lord put in my heart, I was able to be obedient.
Here is the link to the message I shared if you’d like to take a listen:
A special thank you to my friends and family for watching the kids so Patrick wouldn’t miss any school days.
During the time that we were away with the kids, Patrick dedicated the 5 days to prayer & fasting and had an incredible visitation from the Lord. God spoke so intimately into his heart about desiring to draw him in more, more into His presence, into His goodness and into the things that break His heart. It is so true that the more time you spend in word and prayer the more you crave it.
I flew back on Sunday night and Monday and drove back with the kids to Summit.
That same week, on Thursday, October 21st, Patrick drove out to upstate NY (about a 5 hr drive) to speak at FGC Youth Camp. It was extra special for him as that is the church that he grew up in and we were members in for a few years before moving to NJ.
The theme of the camp was: “Words and Deeds” and God gave him a message on Word before World. By joining with the world we separate ourselves from God. By beholding Him, we gain His character, we become people of the word. I also spoke on finding strength and anointing for our ministry.
He also had the opportunity to spend time in fellowship with the youth, sing songs and pray together.
We honor the work that Leo & Tanya Shut are doing within that ministry and pray the Lord continues to use them to impact the young people.
We ended off the month with Alumni Weekend at Summit, October 28-29. This is a time when students from all over the world who attended the Summit come together and spend the weekend sharing testimonies of where God has led them, worshipping and praying together. We had the opportunity to see the fruit of the school and the type of warriors for the church and the Kingdom it produces.
That same weekend, on Sunday, it was an honor to be invited to Pastor Pavel & Haley Maftey's installation service. Half the church was filled with Slavic people and we even got to hear some Ukrainian songs and messages - which warmed our hearts especially. Pavel comes from a family of 14 and they have been gifted with beautiful voices and the ability to play different instruments - it was a joy to hear them glorify God throughout the weekend.
They are an incredible couple and their obedience to the Lord to pastor this church is so inspiring. It impacts the entire community and through the Wednesday worldwide prayer meetings goes beyond - to the whole world! The service from the beginning to the end testified that God was appointing them into this ministry and men were simply recognizing that.
As for the month in Summit International School of Ministry, here is one of the highlights.
Day of Waiting
Day of waiting was held on October 20th. This is a day set apart for the whole school body to come together to spend the entire day worshipping and praying. Just the idea that we can stay together as a school seeking the Lord amazed me and showed me that God is at work and something great is happening in this generation.
The whole day was filled with testimonies of what God is doing but also students opening up their struggles. It doesn’t matter if you’re home on the couch, at work, or at bible school - you’re in spiritual warfare at all times. But the main word that was spoken by Dr. Teresa Conlon (president of the school) really encouraged me personally. She spoke on the topic: “Going into enemies camp” based on 2 Kings 7:3.
Here are some of my notes from her message.
- Personal despair turned into national despair, and the leadership was not walking in faith. Four lepers were chosen to bring help to their city. Many times we find ourselves low, and weak. God takes our brokenness in the middle of despair, He takes the least of us and brings hope to the entire nation. The only hope they had is to move forward. As long as you’re a child of God you will have the strength to get up and go forward. The enemy fears this. A group of people said, “we will rise in our weakness because we’re still the chosen people of God, vessels He can use.” God is working, He takes the least and uses it for His victory. God caused them to hear noise that made the enemy flee. I am a chosen vessel of God, I'm gonna be trained to rise, doesn’t matter what’s around us. If He speaks I’ll listen doesn’t matter how it sounds!
This is just one day and one service that I experienced, but being here every day and spending time in the word and fellowship really encourages my faith. It encourages me to continue believing and fight not only for myself but on behalf of my family, church, and community. I believe God is calling us to fight on behalf of this generation.
Finally, we want to say a big thank you again to each one of you who has been supporting our journey. We truly rely on your prayers and support. We are grateful to those of you who invest into our family financially; we hope to one day share in detail how much your support has impacted our journey and faith. May the Lord reward you a hundred fold!
With love,
The Levchyk’s
