David Hathaway

Georgia and Kazakhstan Ministry Report: April-May 2025

At the beginning of May, something extraordinary happened in Batumi, Georgia. We gathered 1,000 Adjaran Georgians - Muslims by background - in a hotel ballroom for three unforgettable days. And there, David preached Jesus to them... not just as a prophet mentioned in the Koran as Isa Messih, but as the living Son of God, risen in power! Whilst in April, David arrived in Kazakhstan on his 93rd birthday, marking 75 years in ministry. Leaders from across the Almaty region came to be encouraged by a man who served through 30 years of Soviet persecution - and over 30 more in the turbulent years that followed. Still tireless, still passionate, David continues to inspire with a faith that never fades. For details on these missions trips visit our website: eurovision.org.uk

Called to Suffer, Chosen to Stand / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 8) / Chapter 3

Husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honouring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God’s blessings, and if you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers.
And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead, pray for God’s help for them, for we are to be kind to others, and God will bless us for it.
If you want a happy, good life, keep control of your tongue, and guard your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Try to live in peace even if you must run after it to catch and hold it! For the Lord is watching his children, listening to their prayers; but the Lord’s face is hard against those who do evil.
Usually no one will hurt you for wanting to do good. But even if they should, you are to be envied, for God will reward you for it. Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way.
Do what is right; then if men speak against you, calling you evil names, they will become ashamed of themselves for falsely accusing you when you have only done what is good. Remember, if God wants you to suffer, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong!
Christ also suffered. He died once for the sins of all us guilty sinners although he himself was innocent of any sin at any time, that he might bring us safely home to God. But though his body died, his spirit lived on, and it was in the spirit that he visited the spirits in prison and preached to them - spirits of those who, long before in the days of Noah, had refused to listen to God, though he waited patiently for them while Noah was building the ark. Yet only eight persons were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. (That, by the way, is what baptism pictures for us: In baptism we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water but because in being baptised we are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our hearts from sin.) And now Christ is in heaven, sitting in the place of honor next to God the Father, with all the angels and powers of heaven bowing before him and obeying him.
Since Christ suffered and underwent pain, you must have the same attitude he did; you must be ready to suffer, too. For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power,' (1 Peter 3.7-4.1, TLB)

Beauty That God Sees / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 7) / Chapter 3

Wives, fit in with your husbands’ plans; for then if they refuse to listen when you talk to them about the Lord, they will be won by your respectful, pure behavior. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words.
Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on jewelry, or beautiful clothes, or hair arrangement. Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit that is so precious to God. That kind of deep beauty was seen in the saintly women of old, who trusted God and fitted in with their husbands’ plans. (1 Peter 3.1-5, TLB)

Following Jesus Through Suffering / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 6) / Chapter 2

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor.
Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2.11-25, NIV)

Living Stones & Royal Priests / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 5) / Chapter 2

For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2.6-16, NIV)

Christ: The Chosen and Precious Foundation / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 4) / Chapter 2

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ (1 Peter 2.1-6, NIV.)

Chosen before the creation of the world / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 3) / Chapter 1

[Christ] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures for ever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1.19-25, NIV)

Call to holiness / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 2) / Chapter 1

'Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
'Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’
'Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.' (1 Peter 1.10-19, NIV)

A living hope / 1 Peter Bible Study (Part 1) / Chapter 1

'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.' (1 Peter 1.3-9, NIV)

Obedient to the Word of God (Part 3) / 1 Kings 17&18

In 1 Kings 18, after three years of drought and famine, the Lord speaks again to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” This is fascinating – Elijah now knows that rain is coming, but the exact timing hasn’t been revealed. There are still key events that must unfold first.
Elijah encounters Obadiah, Ahab’s servant, who is out searching the land for any sign of water or grass in hopes of keeping some of the livestock alive. Elijah tells him to go inform Ahab that he is in the area. But Obadiah is afraid – he worries the Spirit of the Lord might whisk Elijah away again, and if Elijah disappears, Ahab will surely kill him in his fury. Still, Obadiah delivers the message, and in verse 17, Ahab and Elijah finally meet. Ahab accuses Elijah, saying, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” It's ironic – this wicked, idolatrous king blames Elijah for the nation’s suffering. But Elijah boldly responds: “I have not made trouble for Israel, but you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals” (v18).
What follows is one of the most dramatic moments in the Old Testament. Elijah calls for a challenge – he summons the prophets of Baal to prove once and for all who the true God is. He declares, “The God who answers by fire – He is God!” The prophets of Baal go first, preparing their altar and crying out to their god. They even cut themselves in desperation. But nothing happens—no fire, no voice, no response. Elijah mocks them, knowing full well their so-called gods are lifeless and powerless.
Then it's Elijah’s turn. He rebuilds the altar with stones, arranges the wood, places the sacrifice on it—and then does something extraordinary: he drenches everything with water. Not once, but with twelve barrels of water, until the sacrifice, the wood, and even the trench around the altar are soaked. It raises a good question – where did he even get all that water in the middle of a drought? But more importantly, Elijah sets the stage for an impossible miracle.
And then he prays.
As Elijah calls on the name of the Lord, fire falls from heaven – consuming not only the waterlogged sacrifice and wood, but even the stones and the water in the trench. It’s a breathtaking, undeniable act of divine power. God answers, and there’s no doubt left about who the real God is.

Obedient to the Word of God (Part 2) / 1 Kings 17&18

In 1 Kings 17, God instructed Elijah, “Go to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon – she will provide for you.” So Elijah obeyed. When he arrived, he saw the woman gathering sticks and said to her, “Please bring me some water – and a piece of bread as well.”
She responded, “There’s a severe famine in the land. I have almost nothing – just a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood to bake one last meal for my son and me. After that, we expect to die.”
Elijah said, “Don’t be afraid. Go ahead and make the bread – but make a small cake for me first. Then prepare something for you and your son. For this is what the Lord says: The jar of flour will not run out, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”
She did exactly as Elijah instructed, and just as God had promised, the flour never ran out, and the oil never failed. Day after day, in the middle of a drought and famine, her household was sustained.
This is a powerful illustration of what happens when we trust God. While the world may be in chaos – scarcity all around – God's provision never fails. The flour represents physical sustenance, and the oil often symbolizes anointing. Neither ran dry because God's word stood firm.
But the story doesn’t end there. Before Elijah ever reached Mount Carmel and called down fire from heaven, the widow faced another crisis: her son fell gravely ill and died. In her grief, she cried out, thinking God was punishing her for past sins.
Elijah took the lifeless boy, carried him to his own room, laid him on the bed, and stretched himself out over him three times. He cried out to the Lord, and God heard his prayer – the child came back to life.

Obedient to the Word of God (Part 1) / 1 Kings 17&18

If we obey the Word of God, what we have will not run dry until God fulfills every promise. There is a great responsibility on us to obey God; our obedience will affect unbelievers. If we as individuals, and collectively as the Church, are disobedient as King Ahab was in 1 Kings 16:33, then God's anger is roused. We are called to be 'salt and light'. Salt is a purifer and preserver; if the salt loses it's saltiness, it is of no use anymore. There is a danger today that the Church is abandoning the commands of the Lord to adjust to society; I cannot overemphasise this need to obey God's Word. 
'Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
'Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
'So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
'Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”' (1 Kings 17.1-14, NIV)
 

Knowing you have eternal life / 1 John Bible Study (Part 15) / Chapter 5

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.
If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5.13-21, NIV)

Whoever believes in Jesus has life / 1 John Bible Study (Part 14) / Chapter 5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5.1-12, NIV)

The Spirit of Christ / 1 John Bible Study (Part 13) / Chapter 4

The Spirit of Jesus, or the Spirit of Christ, sometimes referred to as the Spirit of God, is the Spirit we receive at conversion. Receiving the Holy Spirit is a totally seperate baptism. You can only receive the Holy Spirit after you have received Christ. The first Scripture I want to refer you to is from Romans 8, 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death,' (v1-2). In this passage it is clear that through Christ we receive the Spirit of Life, this is your conversion. In verses 9-11, Paul continues referring to the Spirit of Christ, 'You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.'
Like Jesus, we must receive the Holy Spirit in order to be effective in ministry. The Holy Spirit is the empowerment. The reason I first received the Holy Spirit was because I knew I had to preach the Gospel – with lives changed, souls saved into the Kingdom!

We live in Christ and He in us / 1 John Bible Study (Part 12) / Chapter 4

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4.12-19, NIV)