Larry & Tammy Wood • Eastern Europe
• Everlasting Smiles Christmas Shoebox Ministry — We are so excited for Everlasting Smiles boxes to be coming to Ukraine this year. Because of the war in Ukraine, children and their families are having a really hard time. Many of them have lost their homes and people they love. Their lives have been turned upside down, nothing in their world is normal anymore. The Everlasting Smiles boxes are a great way to let these children and their parents know they are not alone or forgotten. These boxes, filled with items they need and want, will show these children someone cares about them.
But more importantly, giving these boxes allows our team to build relationships and share the gospel with many people who’ve never heard the name of Jesus. Each Everlasting Smiles box you send can make a difference in a child’s life, not just for today but for eternity. Thank you to all of you who helped by giving the gift of Everlasting Smiles to children and their families in Ukraine.
• Where Are We Now? — We are currently living in the Czech Republic serving with ChangeMaker Missionary Milán Bulák and the Evangelical Baptist Church of Jilove. Our main goal right now is to obtain our visas in order to stay and work in the country. It is quite a long, drawn-out process, and we are in a time of waiting now as all of our documents are being prepared and translated into the Czech language. We are working with an agency that specializes in helping Americans obtain their visas. They prepare all the documents, translate them and schedule all appointments. This is invaluable to us since they are professionals and are up-to-date with all of the laws pertaining to visas and immigration. They have scheduled our appointment with the Czech Embassy in Bucharest, Romania for Dec. 7. Please pray that we will get all of our documents prepared and ready to submit with our application, that the application process will go smoothly and that we will receive a positive answer sooner rather than later.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support. We trust God completely and know He will guide us every step of the way.
We are thankful for your support of every kind, but especially for your prayers. These are some specific items you can pray with us about:
• Completion of the visa application process and a favorable outcome.
• Our adjustment to Czech culture and language acquisition.
• Changemaker missionary, Milán Bulák and the Evangelical Baptist Church of Jilove.
• Relationship building and gaining the trust of the Czech people.
• English language clubs beginning in January.
• Continued prayers for our Changemaker missionaries in Ukraine (Sasha and Julia Grebenyuk, Sergiy and Tanya Morozyuka and Oleg and Dasha Hotsyk).
• The shipping and distribution of Everlasting Smiles Shoeboxes.
• For the war in Ukraine to come to an end.
• For opportunities to share the gospel.
• For the gospel to spread throughout all of Europe.
