We have been very active in our ministry experiences with the youth and children at Perechin. We will have a picnic with them Sat., May 7th. We are also maintaining some Christian education classes, mountain outreach, and preparations for visiting groups in June and July.
Please stay informed with the most and latest news of our ministry at the ministry website of Carpathian Evangelistic Christian Center http://carpathianevangelists.org/
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Announcing our Website
We are so happy to be able to better inform you about our ministry at our new website: http://carpathianevangelists.org
So, we are moving our blog to our ministry website beginning April 2. We will continue to check blogspot periodically and put a reminder post there to be sure you know where to find our blog. Thank you very much for following us and praying with us.
Please check our website http://carpathianevangelists.org
So, we are moving our blog to our ministry website beginning April 2. We will continue to check blogspot periodically and put a reminder post there to be sure you know where to find our blog. Thank you very much for following us and praying with us.
Please check our website http://carpathianevangelists.org
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
March Last Weekend Ministry
We had a full weekend of ministry activities for this last weekend of March. Tim had gone to Stopia's earlier Saturday morning to go to the forest to find some good dirt for planting things on the balcony at our apartment. It looked like it was going to be a poor day, and it did shower some, but they were able to get some dirt.
We traveled to Perechin, where we had what might be considered a normal service with the youth and children. We mean "normal" because it was the first time that we did not have some special event or cooking, or a craft. We had 12 kids present this time. Stopia conducted a lesson for the children on the continuing theme of the Christian soldier, then afterward they played a game. During the youth service Stopia presented a lesson and experiment on the theme that we are the image of God. It was really good to return to some time to influence the young people with some lessons and discussions.
On Sunday (Mar. 27th) we returned to Perechin to worship and offer the Word there. Volodia, the pastor was away and Tim and Stopia ministered to the folk there. Tim offered a message on the theme: "Praying in a Pagan World" modeled on the life of Daniel.
We traveled to Perechin, where we had what might be considered a normal service with the youth and children. We mean "normal" because it was the first time that we did not have some special event or cooking, or a craft. We had 12 kids present this time. Stopia conducted a lesson for the children on the continuing theme of the Christian soldier, then afterward they played a game. During the youth service Stopia presented a lesson and experiment on the theme that we are the image of God. It was really good to return to some time to influence the young people with some lessons and discussions.
On Sunday (Mar. 27th) we returned to Perechin to worship and offer the Word there. Volodia, the pastor was away and Tim and Stopia ministered to the folk there. Tim offered a message on the theme: "Praying in a Pagan World" modeled on the life of Daniel.
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| Tim & Stopia Preaching at Perechin |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Chornoholova Visit for Summer Plans
Two passages from the Word come to mind from Tim's and Stephen's excursion to Chornoholova yesterday. Chornoholova is a mountain village of 1,200 people approximately 35 miles from the city of Uzhgorod, where we live. The Lord commanded, "Thou shalt not steal;" and instructed, "whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet."
It was a pleasant day as Tim & Stephen arrived at Chornoholova. It was still mostly cloudy and cool, but later the sun broke through and made it a very nice day. The snows had melted away from the village several weeks ago according to the villagers, though snow could be seen higher in the mountains.
The purpose of the trip was to solidify contacts for summer VBS's and the youth camp planned for July. It was our hope to be able to secure some lodging at some cabins there owned by an individual. There are not hotels and not even much of a store. We inquired about the cabins, and in doing so were screamed at by a truck driver who nearly ran us off a bridge, but his threats were harmless. We were directed to the office of forest control, where the employees provided the telephone number of their boss, who owned the cabins. Stephen called the man and initially he stated that his cabins were only for friends and family. Stephen was not dejected at first and tired again, thinking the man thought we would be just a group of drinking vacationers and would break the place down. He spoke to the man again and explained that we were a Christian group and we needed the cabins for a visiting American group. The man was excited and agreed to allow us use of the cabins. Then he asked Stephen what kind of Christians we were, and Stephen explained that we were evangelical Protestants. The man immediately changed. He apologized that he would not be offensive, but he did not initially know we were not Orthodox and that he believed we were those who caused division. He said he would not so much as let us cross the threshold of his door! We cannot say we were totally shocked. This is the response sometimes and merits the thinking of Jesus' words quoted above. It makes you feel like stopping at the village edge, getting out of the car, and shaking the dust from your shoes, dumping your floor mats, and more! But we persisted with the Lord's help and the rest of the day was very encouraging.
We later went to the house where the local policeman lives. We found him at the front of his house working. It is an incredible answer to prayer that God has led us to this young policeman. Almost 100% of policeman in Ukraine are unreliable, and many are just plain crooks. But Vitia is the nicest and most helpful fellow we have found in Chornoholova. He invited us in for tea, where we met his wife and blessed them for the arrival of their new baby. We had tea and cookies and then went back out. Vitia spent the next two hours helping us make contacts, answer our questions about information about the village, look for property prospects and make plans for the summer ministries. He pledged to us the use of civic property and to protect us when we came from the presence of drunks. Wow! Praise the Lord for this wonderful contact the Lord has led us to. As we were driving around the village looking at places we came to the end of what you might call a street. We were in our black Nissan Xterra, which would be interesting for everyone because it is very different. But what the people did not know is that we had as a passenger and guide the village police officer. Vitia was not on duty, so in plain clothes. So we arrive at the end of this street and as we came to a stop to look at a place, a man who was obviously an alcoholic came ambling from around the corner of the last house with what appeared to be three or four pieces of scrap metal in his hands and under his arms. Tim did not understand everything that Vitia and Stephen were saying in the car, but when we stopped, Vitia, the police officer, got out and began to walk in front of our truck. Tim asked Stephen if we should get out as Vitia walked to meet the man. Tim thought that Vitia was going to talk to the man about the property, expecting that he was the owner. Stephen said, "No, do not get out. Vitia is going to ask the man what he was doing with that metal." We could hear Vitia speaking to the man in a strong voice, obviously inquiring to what he was doing. The man dropped the metal and just stood in his tracks motionless, and dumbfounded. There he stayed as Vitia got back in our truck and we turned around and left. Vitia explained that the man was a drunk and that he was stealing metal, which may not even have been scrap, from the house to sell to get a little drinking money. Wow! He sure was caught unexpectedly by a plain-clothed officer in a strange vehicle. The Lord said, "Do not steal."
Tim & Stephen met with the director or the civic center (they call a culture club--a former Soviet concept) and the mayor of the village and had very encouraging response. Thanks to the Lord.
After a lunch, further exploration in the mountains beyond Chornoholova resulted in knowing about where we will locate the youth camp in July.
It was a pleasant day as Tim & Stephen arrived at Chornoholova. It was still mostly cloudy and cool, but later the sun broke through and made it a very nice day. The snows had melted away from the village several weeks ago according to the villagers, though snow could be seen higher in the mountains.
The purpose of the trip was to solidify contacts for summer VBS's and the youth camp planned for July. It was our hope to be able to secure some lodging at some cabins there owned by an individual. There are not hotels and not even much of a store. We inquired about the cabins, and in doing so were screamed at by a truck driver who nearly ran us off a bridge, but his threats were harmless. We were directed to the office of forest control, where the employees provided the telephone number of their boss, who owned the cabins. Stephen called the man and initially he stated that his cabins were only for friends and family. Stephen was not dejected at first and tired again, thinking the man thought we would be just a group of drinking vacationers and would break the place down. He spoke to the man again and explained that we were a Christian group and we needed the cabins for a visiting American group. The man was excited and agreed to allow us use of the cabins. Then he asked Stephen what kind of Christians we were, and Stephen explained that we were evangelical Protestants. The man immediately changed. He apologized that he would not be offensive, but he did not initially know we were not Orthodox and that he believed we were those who caused division. He said he would not so much as let us cross the threshold of his door! We cannot say we were totally shocked. This is the response sometimes and merits the thinking of Jesus' words quoted above. It makes you feel like stopping at the village edge, getting out of the car, and shaking the dust from your shoes, dumping your floor mats, and more! But we persisted with the Lord's help and the rest of the day was very encouraging.
We later went to the house where the local policeman lives. We found him at the front of his house working. It is an incredible answer to prayer that God has led us to this young policeman. Almost 100% of policeman in Ukraine are unreliable, and many are just plain crooks. But Vitia is the nicest and most helpful fellow we have found in Chornoholova. He invited us in for tea, where we met his wife and blessed them for the arrival of their new baby. We had tea and cookies and then went back out. Vitia spent the next two hours helping us make contacts, answer our questions about information about the village, look for property prospects and make plans for the summer ministries. He pledged to us the use of civic property and to protect us when we came from the presence of drunks. Wow! Praise the Lord for this wonderful contact the Lord has led us to. As we were driving around the village looking at places we came to the end of what you might call a street. We were in our black Nissan Xterra, which would be interesting for everyone because it is very different. But what the people did not know is that we had as a passenger and guide the village police officer. Vitia was not on duty, so in plain clothes. So we arrive at the end of this street and as we came to a stop to look at a place, a man who was obviously an alcoholic came ambling from around the corner of the last house with what appeared to be three or four pieces of scrap metal in his hands and under his arms. Tim did not understand everything that Vitia and Stephen were saying in the car, but when we stopped, Vitia, the police officer, got out and began to walk in front of our truck. Tim asked Stephen if we should get out as Vitia walked to meet the man. Tim thought that Vitia was going to talk to the man about the property, expecting that he was the owner. Stephen said, "No, do not get out. Vitia is going to ask the man what he was doing with that metal." We could hear Vitia speaking to the man in a strong voice, obviously inquiring to what he was doing. The man dropped the metal and just stood in his tracks motionless, and dumbfounded. There he stayed as Vitia got back in our truck and we turned around and left. Vitia explained that the man was a drunk and that he was stealing metal, which may not even have been scrap, from the house to sell to get a little drinking money. Wow! He sure was caught unexpectedly by a plain-clothed officer in a strange vehicle. The Lord said, "Do not steal."
Tim & Stephen met with the director or the civic center (they call a culture club--a former Soviet concept) and the mayor of the village and had very encouraging response. Thanks to the Lord.
After a lunch, further exploration in the mountains beyond Chornoholova resulted in knowing about where we will locate the youth camp in July.
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| A view of a section of the village of Chornoholova, Ukraine |
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Busy Tuesday
We were so delighted to be reminded that God's Word is saturated with blessings. Today we were reading in Numbers and though the reading there might be considered irrelevant, we came to this at 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Isn't that a huge encouragement? See that all that is from the Lord toward us. God does not wish to withhold anything, as some people mistakenly believe. But God wants to make our life blessed and graced.
Well, today we were blessed in a one and one-half hour Russian language lesson, and then it was off to the center of Uzhgorod to care for necessary business. There we met Stephen who was uncomfortably nursing a tooth the dentist had just worked on.
We finished business in the city and then returned to our apartment where Tim and Stephen read papers for one of the classes. In the late afternoon Jason and Kolya came to join the class for Christian Ethics.
Tomorrow, Tim and Stephen are planning a venture to Chornoholova to make more inquires about evangelism and camps there this summer. Please pray for this important time of exploration and inquiry.
Well, today we were blessed in a one and one-half hour Russian language lesson, and then it was off to the center of Uzhgorod to care for necessary business. There we met Stephen who was uncomfortably nursing a tooth the dentist had just worked on.
We finished business in the city and then returned to our apartment where Tim and Stephen read papers for one of the classes. In the late afternoon Jason and Kolya came to join the class for Christian Ethics.
Tomorrow, Tim and Stephen are planning a venture to Chornoholova to make more inquires about evangelism and camps there this summer. Please pray for this important time of exploration and inquiry.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
March 18 Youth/Children's Ministry at Perechin
It was a cool, rainy day as we arrived at Perechin. We came about one hour earlier than usual to meet an agent who is showing us property. We had one place we wished to see more intently, so the agent met us and we viewed the property more closely. The particular property is quite nice because it is rather large and flat. There is a house, but inside it is in various stages of repair and rather worthless for our purposes. Unfortunately, the inflated prices here determine that they are asking about twice what the place is worth. It will sit unsold as far as we know.
The Perechin children have been mandated to go to school on Saturdays because of the many days they must make up for closures due to sickness. This affects our services greatly because at about the time we begin the children are just getting out of school. Some do not make it to our services because of this conflict. However, we were still delighted, in spite of this circumstance, to have nine youth and children come to the meeting. Stephen conducted a normal service for the kids about the Christian soldier, and later we had a discussion time with the youth about how they might know there is a God. It was a fun and profitable time of question and answer.
The Perechin children have been mandated to go to school on Saturdays because of the many days they must make up for closures due to sickness. This affects our services greatly because at about the time we begin the children are just getting out of school. Some do not make it to our services because of this conflict. However, we were still delighted, in spite of this circumstance, to have nine youth and children come to the meeting. Stephen conducted a normal service for the kids about the Christian soldier, and later we had a discussion time with the youth about how they might know there is a God. It was a fun and profitable time of question and answer.
Birthday Fellowship at Kohutka's
March 19th means it is both Stephen's and Vita's birthday. They share the same day for their birthday, but one is older than the other by one year exactly. You may ask them which one is older! Yesterday evening after ministry at Perechin, we were invited to share in the family fellowship to celebrate this birth anniversary for our wonderful helpers Stephen & Vita. Four of Stephen's brothers came and his parents to add to the group fellowshipping. Cheryl had much fun designing and making a cake for the occasion. Vita and her sister had prepared many pans of tasty pizza and a chocolate cake. Everything was so tasty and we all had a great time at the fellowship.
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| Cheryl's present to Stopia & Vita |
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