Adventures in Ukraine

 Dear Family and Friends,

So much has happened these past 6 weeks since we started our journey to Eastern Europe, traveling to Ukraine, Romania, Venice, and Croatia! We’re currently in Ukraine (again), having just finished an amazing conference with our team in Izmail, ministering in Odessa, and now heading to Poltava on an overnight train.  Thank you so much for your prayers - God hears you and is answering beyond our expectations!   

While at the retreat described in our last newsletter,  I sat casually one afternoon with a group and asked, “Can you tell me any testimonies of where God did something miraculous in your life since the war started?” I heard many wonderful stories that day.  Here is one of them:

“I (a mother) and my 2 children are now living in England.  We attend a weekly Ukrainian refugee home group where one of the ladies there shared her story”:

“‘We had been hiding in a bunker with about 30 other Ukrainians for a month.  Frightened but compelled, my husband and I with our two small children finally decided to leave, even though the sirens and bombings continued. We got in our car and began driving towards the first Russian checkpoint.  They let us through!  We approached the second checkpoint.  They let us through again.  Then gun shots fired upon our car! Bullets everywhere.  My husband kept driving. Later when he was able to check the car’s condition, he noticed something miraculous. When he took the carseats out, he saw there were gunshot holes in the back of them, but they had only gone through half way!  Only God could have done that!  I did not believe in God before, but now I do!’”  

This lady gave her life to the Lord that night in England at the Ukrainian refugee Homegroup.

This past week we’ve been in another part of Ukraine called Izmail where our team was invited to do another pastors’ conference.  The Holy Spirit moved powerfully in all the meetings.  No one was in a hurry to go to bed - most chose instead to stay in His beautiful holy presence and worship up till 2:00am. Encounters, healings, joy, visions, freedom, deliverances.  We always pray they receive everything they need.  We believe they did!  Thank you for your part - your prayers are powerful.

On Saturday, many refugees in the community came to our center to receive food for their families.  Our hostess preached a salvation message in their language and many accepted Christ.

On Sunday afternoon children came from the community for a kids club and a little later, the youth came.  Brian had a wonderful time with the youth.  They enjoyed his stories and had so many questions about the world and our missionary life!  By the end, he gave the gospel message and many accepted Christ!

On Monday, word had gotten out that we had food, so more people were at the gate.  Among them were four ladies from the preschool next door - the director and her three staff. Natalia, our hostess, explained the gospel to all four ladies and they all gave their lives to the Lord!  Two of them, however, were in a lot of pain. Natalia called me and Simon (our teammate) over, asking us to pray for them. Being new believers and having no time to think or be told they couldn’t be healed, they agreed easily and eagerly to receive prayer for healing! As you can probably already guess, God healed them!  One lady had pain in her neck, shoulder and back. She said it was VERY painful.  She was also suffering from depression and explained a little bit of dark history in her life. As we prayed, she said she felt the presence of God come over her.  She had never experienced this before of course, and described it as tingly, warmth, and a little wooziness (with giggles). She said “something” left, and was filled with peace. So fun and such a privilege to see people born into the family of God, then healed and delivered at the same time!

We have been in Odessa now for the past 3 days. It is truly a beautiful city. 

Two nights ago a Messianic church invited us to do a healing service after they began Yom Kippur, which is the highest holy day for the Jewish people, also known as Day of Atonement. Odessa has many Jews, so it was a blessing to celebrate with our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters. 

For the healing service, Simon taught a little, the team shared a few healing testimonies, and then Simon began activating them to pray for each other.  Our team leader, John, misunderstood the pastor about the time the service needed to end. The church had rented a large conference room in a hotel for this special meeting and had a specific time they needed to be out. Way before Simon was ready to end, he was told he had 5 minutes left.  When he got this information, he ended his instructions abruptly and quickly dismissed everyone! He felt bad about this, but then we started hearing testimonies of how people were getting healed earlier during the teaching and testimony time!  When it came time for them to pray for each other, many said, “Oh, I’m already healed!”  So Jesus had it covered.  The time change was not a surprise to him.  Even on the way out, a frail, skinny, pail man asked me to pray for his kidneys.  Having no time basically, I laid my hands on his back and prayed quickly. He said, “I feel warmth in that area!” Another lady on our way out said she thinks she has breast cancer but hadn’t been to the doctor yet.  I quickly prayed for her with my translator and she started crying.  She said she had a vision of a snake going up a stick. Then Jesus took a sword and chopped the snake’s head off!  I asked how she felt and she said before her breast was “tight” and now it felt “loose.”  All I know is Jesus showed up and something good happened! Lol All this happened within 2 minutes.  So much for needing long religious prayers!  Our time for teaching and activation was short, but people were experiencing a touch from God in minutes all over the room. I’ve never seen so many healings and encounters in so little time before!

Last night the same church invited us back to do the whole service, emphasizing healing once again.  Brian taught and I led the activation afterwards.  The Holy Spirit flowed so peacefully and effortlessly through everyone, as they all participated in praying for each other.  So many got completely healed in minutes.  Among these was a man with knee pain for 5 years.  At the meeting he said his pain was at a level 7.  After receiving prayer, it was a 0!  

We spent the day today with friends of John, our missionary team leader.  They showed us their food and supplies for the refugees stored in the underground catacombs beneath their church!  

Odessa and other cities here have miles and miles of catacombs under them, dug out in the early 19th century.  Now they serve as bunkers during this war. No official gatherings are allowed, including churches and schools, if they do not have adequate bunkers.  Consequently, many schools are only doing it online. 

As we were leaving Odessa tonight on our train, the air-raid sirens were sounding as we heard an anti-aircraft shoot down an Iranian Kamikaze drone.  

We are hearing that two more drones were shot down after that. We know God is with us and leading us. We covet your prayers as we head closer to the front lines now. Our team will be splitting up as many churches want us all at the same time.  We will also be visiting some villages recently liberated, bringing them needed food and supplies with a local pastor. 

Lots of Love,

Lorena and Brian

Ways to give

Use the QR code for digital donations or our support address for checks:

Transforming Lives Ministry

1908 S El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

"This Week Felt Like Heaven"

 Dear Friends and Family,

“This week felt like heaven!”  “I haven’t been able to sleep so peacefully in months.” “It’s so nice to not hear sirens going off all day and night.  It’s so peaceful here.”  These are some of what the Ukranian pastors and their families told us last week as we all gathered in the beautiful mountains of eastern Ukraine for a time of refreshment and encouragement.  The Holy Spirit moved so wonderfully in all our meetings.  Many different denominations were represented, but that didn’t matter.  God’s love, joy, and peace took center stage, as pastors, leaders, wives, teens, and children united as one Body, receiving healing, refreshment, and strength throughout the week. As you can imagine, the families were elated to see each other after being separated since the beginning of the war.  Wives and their children came from all over to join their husbands who cannot leave Ukraine - surrounding countries including England, Poland, Israel, Germany, Canada, and România. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A VIDEO OF OUR TRIP

We had a great team. One family specialized in first aid and crisis management. They taught workshops for those who are helping on the front lines.  Two ladies specialized in trauma counseling, some spent time with the youth and children, others of us divided into small teams to pray over couples, individuals, and families for healing, prophetic words, encouragement, etc. Many of us encouraged them in the Word of God, with Brian teaching two of the evening sessions.  All went extremely well.  Everyone kept saying how peaceful and encouraged they felt.

The days were varied, allowing time for the families and couples to have fun together.  In the pictures you’ll see the beautiful mountains that surround the retreat center.  One day we all hiked to the top of one of these mountains. Some took the chair lift, which is a ski lift in the winter. At the top we all took communion and prayed earnestly for Ukraine.  It was a powerful time of intercession.

The worship was glorious.  Many had never experienced the presence of God so powerfully before.  We know many of you were praying for these brothers and sisters to be filled and refreshed by the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for your prayers - everyone felt them!  The Holy Spirit did not disappoint.  Upon leaving, some even said, “We felt like we were in heaven!”

After the retreat, some of our team had to go home, while the rest of us traveled on to Ivano-Frankivsk where we were asked to speak on healing and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Again the Holy Spirit did not disappoint.  We took turns sharing testimonies of God’s miraculous healing power, Brian preached from the Word of God, and then the Holy Spirit came in glory as we prayed for them.  No one wanted to leave, even though the service was over hours before we stopped praying!  So many received healing.  Finally John, our leader and driver, said we had to go even though no one wanted us to leave.  We still had an eight hour drive through the mountains back to Romania ahead of us. So reluctantly, we said our good-byes to our beloved Ukranian family.  We will probably be back though, as we’ve already received invitations to do two more conferences in other areas of western Ukraine.  

Today our teammate, Teresa, and Lorena went to a local YWAM base where they were invited to minister to a group of Ukranian women refugees.  Some of these ladies didn’t know Jesus personally yet, but by the end, they all felt the presence of God powerfully.  Tanya, our Ukranian missionary friend who took us and translated for us, said the YWAM leaders always have a program planned for the ladies, with speakers lined up or a special activity.  Today for the first time, however, they didn’t!  Since we had just returned from Ukraine, Tanya had not had time to prearrange our coming. We were not on their schedule in advance. Yet when we showed up, they welcomed us warmly and said we could share and do whatever we wanted!  It was definitely a divine appointment.  Two minutes before the time we were told the meeting should end, we asked if we should stop.  They all said, “NO!”  No one wanted to leave, even though they were “excused.” So we kept sharing and prayed for each of them individually with prophetic words and encouragement.  Like the church I described above, this group too was so hungry for God.  We went on for two more hours! Even then, they didn’t stop us.  Finally, we were the ones who said we needed to go.  God is so good. Everyone felt His presence and were touched in many ways.  

Thank you so much for your prayers. You are impacting the Kingdom of God in mighty ways - more than you realize.   Hopefully from this letter you are at least seeing a bit of the fruit resulting from your prayers.  They are so important and appreciated!  Thank you again. 

Lots of love,

Lorena and Brian

Ways to give

Use the QR code for digital donations or our support address for checks:

Transforming Lives Ministry

1908 S El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

We are at the Airport heading to Ukraine

 Aug. 22, 2022

Dear Family and Friends,

We are at the airport! 

Today we begin our journey to Eastern Europe to be a part of a pastor’s conference in the country of Ukraine.  As we wrote in our last newsletter, the Ukrainian men have not been allowed to leave the country, though many of their wives and children have left. The local missionaries, John and Tanya Lynch, are bringing the pastors’ wives and children back into a safe part of Western Ukraine for a week.  Most of them have been separated for over six months!  Our desire is that these families who have gone through so many difficulties would have powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit.  

Prayer Request - pray for the safety of our team and all of the pastor’s and their families as they travel to Western Ukraine. 

We will be traveling with our good friends Bruce and Terresa Muller.  The Mullers are amazing worship leaders and teachers.  Bruce and Teresa pastored a Calvary Chapel and have been missionaries in Europe.  Last Wednesday at midnight, Teresa had to go into the ER with abdominal pain. They discovered she had appendicitis and by Thursday night they removed her appendix!  However, they are still traveling with us today to Europe!  She is recovering well but still experiencing some pain.  Please pray for her speedy recovery.

After this pastor’s retreat, we will continue ministering in Ukraine and Romania with the local missionaries, encouraging the churches and refugees.  We would really appreciate your prayers for our trip!  There are so many people that are displaced and traumatized.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would supernaturally touch and heal each one, both physically and emotionally.  A friend of ours recently went to Moldova and said all the churches were jam packed, filled with many Ukrainian refugees.  He said congregations were a mixture of Christians and nonChristians, but by the end of the services, they were ALL Christians!  The Holy Spirit showed up, bringing much healing, peace, and joy, and salvation.  This is what we want to see as well.  We know the harvest is ripe and feel so privileged to go. Thank you for your prayers.  We will keep you updated on our blog as much as possible!

Many Blessings,

Brian and Lorena

Ways to give

Use the QR code for digital donations or our support address for checks:

Transforming Lives Ministry

1908 S El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

Greetings from Mexico

Here is an update on our ministry and plans for the summer.  

First, the church in Mozambique is so encouraged to be open and receiving discipleship training!  So far this year, we have been able to conduct 36 seminars.  At each of our three day seminars we provide food, teaching, and free discipleship books.  In January we had another 2,000 books printed.

Seminar taught by one of our teams in the Nampula Province

Second, please pray for our missionary friend Kent.  He has been helping us provide the refugees in Nampula with much needed food and supplies.  In March we paid for the distribution truck to be fixed and insured but Kent has been sick with malaria and gone through so many trials that he has been unable to continue overseeing these distributions lately.  

Third, we are currently in Mexico.  We have been here since May 29th and will travel to the States in a couple of days.  We went to a fantastic missions conference for a week and stuck around to celebrate our anniversary.  Today, June 12th, we are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary and we are more in love than ever! :)

Fourth, before heading back to Asia, we are flying into Romania and then driving into Ukraine to minister to pastors and their families with our Ukranian missionary friends, John and Tanya Lynch.  God spoke to Brian recently that we would be invited to Eastern Europe to help. That same afternoon, John and Tanya asked if we could come teach at their pastors’ conference in Ukraine! So we quickly said, “Yes!” As you probably already know, the Ukranian men have not been allowed to leave the country, though many of their wives and children have left.  The Lynches are hoping to bring the pastors’ wives and children back into a nice safe part of Ukraine for a week, uniting the families and receiving with us a refreshing, encouraging time in the Lord together.  A place has already been reserved. Please pray for safe travels for everyone, healings, and most of all, powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit as these brothers and sisters face all the difficulties from their war torn country.  

We are pictured here with the Lynch Family at our Missions Conference in Mexico.

Fifth, after teaching in Eastern Europe, our plan is to go on a ten day hike starting in Northern Italy.  Brian is using the training for this trek in an attempt to get back to full strength after his accident where he broke his femur.  He is getting much stronger and hopes to be back to normal by the beginning of the trek in September.  We will let you all know how it goes!  

Scene of hiking in Northern Italy 

Sixth, we’re heading back to Asia!  We are so excited that things are opening back up!  Our plan is to continue our discipleship ministry in several “Christian” islands of Indonesia that have gone astray by combining their faith with witchcraft.  These islands are neglected by the government, since they don’t follow the mainstream Muslim faith.  Consequently, they are poorer, without government aid for education or development.  But the good part is that we have freedom to teach, preach, educate, pray, see people healed, saved, and delivered, in the schools, churches, or anywhere!  (In the rest of Indonesia it’s illegal to do this.) We’ll be joining a powerful small Indonesian team, some of whom we’ve already met. We have other amazing open doors as well, but you’ll hear more of those stories later!  

Thank you for your prayers and support!  

Lorena

Merry Christmas!

 

Brian's Roofing Accident

 

Dear Friends and Family, 

It’s been 12 days now since Brian’s roofing accident.  Stepping into an unsuspecting hole covered by a thin sheet of insulation, my friend Rebecca and I heard a scream.  Running to the back of her house, we found Brian on his back groaning in pain.  "I heard my femur snap!" he managed to say between rapid shallow breaths. We quickly called 911.  Soon the ambulance and fire truck arrived. They gingerly slid him down the ladder on a rescue stretcher and rushed him to the emergency room. At Mission Hospital Laguna Beach, they put Brian’s leg in traction, which greatly relieved his pain. Thankfully, Brian received excellent care as he underwent a 4-hour surgery the following day. We appreciate all the prayers from those who knew of his accident and covet your continued prayers as he undergoes a four month healing process. The doctor and physical therapist say Brian is doing well.  He has a wonderful attitude, determined to give thanks in all things.1(see footnote)  He’s even decided to work on finishing a book he started, since he won’t be able to walk normally for a few months.  

The future looks bright.  Wonderful new doors are opening up in Asia. More news to come as this unfolds.  Meanwhile, we will continue to work remotely on our seminars and relief work in Mozambique.

Prayer requests

Pray for Brian’s speedy recovery

Pray that physical therapy will get him back to 100%

Pray for funds to pay our $5,000 insurance deductible and $3,000 co-pay. 

Pray for our ongoing ministry to 1,000 refugee families in Nampula, Mozambique.

Donations by mail:

Transforming Lives Ministry

1908 S El Camino Real, San Clemente, CA 92672

Electronic Donations:

Paypal and Zelle are under pastorbrianwood@gmail.com

Cashapp is under $TransformingLM

If you can't go to the city - go to the "bush, bush".

The latest lockdown in Mozambique began two weeks ago, to everyone’s dismay.  But our seminar teachers responded enthusiastically with, “We want to still continue!  The people are hungry for the Word and want to still gather together! We will go to the far out-lying areas where the government is not patrolling.”  We weren’t sure about their safety, but chose to honor their courage and determination.  Here are some pictures of one of last week’s seminar gatherings in the “bush bush.”