Thank you all for your paryers. 2 weeks ago July, 1, the couragous heart of our dear sister Natasha stopped beating. Her body was lying still in the once Promise Land, in the hospital in Israel where a week back she underwent a very expencive and risky marrow transplant surgery - her last chance to fight luekemia...

But her eternal soul - the breathing of Our Heavenly Father - has not died. Saved by her faith that she proclaimed so many times through times of laughter and times of suffering she went through - her soul rests in peace at a place where she can meet Father of Faithful - Abraham, Esther, Ruth, John the Baptist, Peter, James and John and many righteous people of all times and nations... To await together the Day of the return of our Lord Jesus, when the last trumpet sounds and the dead will rise and then we, living, will be lifted together with all of them into the New Jerusalem in Heaven and so we will be together with God forever. So comfort each other with these words....

Natasha left here on earth her loving husband Yuriy and a little daughter - adopted girl Veronika. (see Natasha's story below).

We thank all of you for your prayers and support. Please pray for Yura that he would find comfort under the loving wings of God, Father of Mercy and God of all comfort.

Her story:

Natasha made a decision to become a disciple of Christ. As a single young Christian she prayed to God after her baptism that he would give her a husband who would be a faithful Christian and a spiritual man of God. She finished her prayer with the following words, "God if such man has not been baptized yet -let him be baptized in the next month." Amazingly enough her future husband Yura got baptized in April 1997 – the next month!

Natasha was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000 - a year after her wedding to Yura Nikolayev. This newlywed young woman went from the honeymoon straight into three years of chemotherapy. God was working and the therapy led to six full years of remission! During that time Yura and Natasha adopted a baby girl Veronika who was born 27 days before her adoption!

Unfortunately in 2008 the leukemia returned.

Even in this difficult situation the Nikolaev family doesn't grow weary - they serve as coordinators of Kids Kingdom for children 4-6 years. in our region. They are also in charge of our book table in the Kiev church.

If you call Natasha on her cell-phone - and right now she is going through a five day course of chemo - four hours on the IV every day, seeing the platelets level in her blood dropping daily... you will still hear her joyful and encouraging voice. She is very grateful for every phone call and every SMS. She responds with some encouragement or a Bible scripture...

When asked if she is ready for death... she replies that she is not going to give up to that cancer - and she has faith that God can do a miracle as he has done before. After going through a marrow transplant, the Nikolaevs are prayerfully dreaming of becoming parents again and adopt another little girl.

Please pray for Natasha and for her husband Yura. Pray that this chemo will lead to remission so that the bone marrow transplant could be done during the remission. The surgery will take place in Israel after Natasha is stable.

For the last few years, at every Sunday service, the name of Natasha is mentioned in a prayer for the sick and needy in the North region of the Kiev Church of Christ. Natasha says that she has a lot of hope that God will answer the prayers of many that have agreed to ask their Heavenly Father together.

Every year there are 160,000 new people diagnosed with cancer in Ukraine Every hour there are 20 new cases of cancer diagnosed and 10 citizens of Ukraine die from cancer every hour. (information from The Ukrainian National Institute of Cancer)…Almost 100,000 die from cancer every year here and 35% are people younger than 60 years old.

By the year 2020 the amount of new diagnoses of cancer in Ukraine will reach 200 thousand a year. In some regions of Ukraine several years ago there were more than 300 people with cancer for every 100 000. The overall rate of cancer in the USA is 8-15 people for every 100,000.

More than 30 % of people diagnosed with cancer in Ukraine die in the first year after the diagnosis. A couple of years ago this rate was 41%. Today every 270th person on the planet is diagnosed with cancer. In Ukraine though it is every 50th.

The medical scientists say that the number of people with cancer will grow in Ukraine. That is all because of the catastrophe in Chernobyl that happened almost 24 year ago. The growth of diseases after a nuclear catastrophe usually happens in the 25-30 years after the case. So here is our sad situation here. Even this Friday (March 2010) I attended a funeral of one of our sisters who was 37. She died of cancer. She was a happy and spiritual person. She got married in the church and had many friends.

This is the third death because of cancer for the last 30 days in our region. Usually when a disciple in the Kiev church dies it is from cancer...So to see Natasha so full of hope and not giving in to fear is an amazing sign of faith in our God. Please pray for her and her family…

P.S. (March 18th, 2010) By the time this article was published Natasha finished her chemo therapy course. For 5 days after chemo there were no signs of recovery. We in Kiev Church were praying and some were fasting for God do a miracle. We asked to pray all the disciples in DT group on FB. And March 17th - the next day after we started to fast - Natasha's white blood cells level started to grow slightly. God is faithful!

By now - April 1st - Natasha almost recovered after chemo therapy she went through in the beginning of March. Because of prayers of disciples and by the grace of God Natasha's blood test results are close to that of a healthy person. This coming Sunday - April 4th - Yura and Natasha are flying to Israel, Tue 6th she will start the preparation to the surgery, that will take place hopefully April 16-17.

Right now the Nikolaevs family does not have the complete amount of money to pay for the surgery - they still need about 10% of it. But they rely on God's grace and a miracle that God can do through support of brothers and sisters.

If you are willing to help Natasha - please use the financial information below to donate:

Correspondent bank Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas.New York. USA
SWIFT BKTRUSS33
Correspondent account No. 04-412-977
Beneficiary bank JSC INDEX BANK.41 O.Gonchara Str.
SWIFT INEJUAUK
Beneficiary NAME _Yuriy Nikolayev
Beneficiary account 26255400840505

We will keep you updated about Natasha's condition. Thank you for your prayers!

P.P.S of April, 9, 2010 - Right now Natasha and Yura Nikolaev are in Israel. Natasha is getting prepared for a marrow transplant surgery. Please keep praying for her!

If you know of great examples of courage and faith in your women's ministry please send them to nadine.templer@dtoday.net or meghna.thomas@dtoday.net