Yermakou Family Review
This has been a tough but blessed year for the family of Hleb and Sasha Yermakou and their growing generation. Now that the school year is over, it might be a good idea to let you know what we went through and what we are expecting to happen in the new future. But before that let me thank you so much for supporting us in prayer and lifting us up before our precious Lord. Without these prayers it would have been very hard to remain faithful and happy as a family.
To start off, let me say that the biggest event was of course our new born Mark. He waited for quite a while before Sasha and I were able to hear his first cry. But he waited until a very special day – February14. This only amplified our assurance that it is only love for God and for each other that holds our family together.
Praise God Mark is a very healthy child and apart from short time in hospital (ear and throat problems) he never gave us any trouble. He was able to travel with us around Belarus and even to Ukraine. He smiles a lot and our other kids absolutely love him.
Yahor just turned 9. When he was three we were very afraid he would develop autism and would not be able to even go to a regular school. But thanks to the mercy of God he successfully completed his second grade and as I write this he is in active fellowship with his classmates (enjoying a birthday party for one of them).
Boris will be seven in September. Yesterday was his last day at the kindergarten, so they had a big graduation party. He needs to have some minor heart surgery in September and we would appreciate your prayers for the safe operation.
Both Yahor and Boris are very interested in spiritual matters. Their Sunday school teacher is very happy for them. They ask a lot of questions about Jesus and how to be a real believer.
Yana is a princess of course. Being the only girl in the family, she wants to be a boy, so it is very hard to have her wear a dress, she prefers blue jeans and boy toys. She also asks questions about God.
Sasha and I are evermore in love with each other. We took a great trip to Kiev, Ukraine and it was a lot of fun. It is hard to spend time with just each other because the kids take a lot of time. But when we can afford just several minutes which we can afford for ourselves, it is precious time. Sasha is the greatest helper in the ministry one could ever imagine. She helps educating our kids in spiritual matters as well as taking some care of the teenage girls in the ministry.
Our parents are not getting any younger, and Sasha’s dad had a stroke. Her mom is also struggling with her heart and it is hard to walk for her. My mom is struggling through her ear problem. This causes us to be more involved with our parents and go visit them in their towns more often.
I would have not been anywhere near where I am right now without our precious family. Please, keep praying for us. More specifically, pray for:
1) Boris’ surgery. It is not expected to be a hard one, but it is the heart, and we all know that it takes some faith.
2) Our parents’ health. They are a great help to give us encouragement, they help us to stay with the kids etc. None of them are believers, so even more, pray for their conversion.
3) Our apartment. We may get an apartment but there is still too much paperwork to do.
4) We may need to move temporarily to a new place of ministry. Waiting for a specific answer is hard in itself, so please pray for God’s will in it.
Love you and thank you very much for being with us.
Hleb, Sasha, Yahor, Boris, Yana and Mark Yermakou
