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.

Tim & Stopia Preaching at Perechin

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.

A view of a section of the village of Chornoholova, Ukraine

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.

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.

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.

Cheryl's present to Stopia & Vita

March Hints at Spring in Ukraine--Fire!

During the past several weeks winter snows have melted away and the western Ukraine landscape reveals the residual effects of the long period of freezing temperatures and snow---a grayish-brown hue of dead stubble and trees in late dormant state. But there is one new, additional ingredient in this seasonal mix--smoke. There seems to be an incessant urge to rid the land of what deadness remains after winter and encourage some green to push forth, so for weeks there has been the haze and smell of smoke in the air as many places in the countryside are burned. A few evenings ago Leah looked out while we were eating and exclaimed, "Look at that outside!" We looked and the entire hillside was on fire across the road from our apartment and behind the university dorms. It was a huge blaze which caused us to be concerned because we knew there were a few isolated houses there. In the photo below you may easily see that there are buildings all around the fire and even an Orthodox Church above the blaze. We thought perhaps there might be some firetrucks come, but none did. The fire persisted to blaze and we actually soon forgot about it. The next day Cheryl and I walked through that area and nothing seemed to be burned but dead grass and unwanted bushes. It certainly looked to us the evening before that the fire could have easily gotten out of control, but thankfully did not.

March burning

Week # 8 Practical Christianity at Kamyaniza

What a transition the season has made since we began this class eight weeks ago. We remember traveling out to Kamyanitza from Uzhgorod when the roads were frozen and the countryside was a pristine white. Yesterday evening, however, it was in the upper fifties and raining heavily.
The class was not as well attended last evening, perhaps due to the heavy rain and that some may have had to work. Two of the older ladies who come regularly to listen were not there, and also three other youth girls who are involved significantly in the studies were not present. The brother of one of the girls explained that his sister had to work.
We covered topics about conscience and discipline last evening. We developed the idea that the conscience is the inner being, or the inmost soul of the person. It may be regularly defined and qualified in the epistles of Paul particularly. Paul talks about a pure and a good conscience, but also a guilty and a seared conscience. In John 1:9 there is the development that the Light (referring to Jesus) is the Truth that enlightens every man's heart. It is understood that was is being revealed to man is the truth, but more significantly is that it must imply that this means of revelation must be through what we understand as the human conscience. It is the conscience of man that is at least a part of that being in us which may be termed the heart. Here it is where God has printed His witness to morality, holiness--His image. Though it is radically alien to Him, it is here where we might say that grace can go before grace.
We also began a section on the disciplines of the Christian and why they are important for development.

Week #8 Christian Ethics Class

We were glad to have Kolya back with us for the class last evening.
Our class considered topics relative to the importance of the Ten Commandments. As the summation of the moral code God has ordained, the Ten Commandments to form the basis for the proper relations we have with God and other humans. Each commandment has a clear principle as its basis, and further reveals the character of God. It might be asked to the person who dismisses the Ten Commandments as binding, "Can you honestly tell me one thing that you find which is truly bad in these moral precepts?" The modern relativist, or naturalist, might try to dismiss them, or may not wish to admit to them, but when he/she is violated in one way taught against in the Ten Commandments, suddenly they wish to appeal to authorities for justice. Often, it is these same people who are hypocrites, and scream the loudest when seemingly violated. Its like the leftist, political activist, who campaigns vehemently against laws which would protect the victim of a crime, yet when someone attacks their home and steals their stuff, they are screaming for justice.
We are nearing the last weeks of our class and ask you to pray for the fellows as they complete assignments. This class has been a true benefit to students and instructor as well.

March Second Weekend Ministry

The weather made a tremendous turn toward spring yesterday in the Zakarpatia Region of Ukraine. Temperatures reached into the fifties under a mostly sunny sky. Today (Sunday), even more sunshine helped it reach to 63 degrees!
It was a nice day for the ministry at Perechin. When Stopia, Cheryl, and I arrived, some of the youth were already there and had been organizing and cleaning. We were so happy that they are becoming self-motivated to help.
Cheryl went to work immediately involving the youth girls in another cooking instruction. They made some brownies and macaroni & cheese. They had never experienced macaroni & cheese before. They all decided that it was tasty. They were not able to get too involved with cooking because the facility available has no sink, oven, counter or anything. We had to bring utensils, bowls, mixers, and even a microwave. But all in all the youth had so much fun and they were able to cook enough to share with the younger children when Stopia finished the service with them.
Later, Stopia met with the youth and offered them a practical lesson from the Bible
Today (Sunday) we returned to Perechin, where Stopia led the service and Tim offered a sermon based on Gen. 6:5-6. We were so encouraged because after the message one lady of about sixty years of age came forth to pray for repentance. We did not understand all of her prayer but she prayed sincerely with tears. Stopia reinforced her prayer with prayer he offered also. Praise the Lord for this victory.

A makeshift kitchen

Some of the youth girls enjoying macaroni & cheese and a brownie

Scouting Prospective Sites for the Christian Center

Yesterday Stopia and Tim spent the afternoon in Perechin looking at some sites for potential development for the Christian center. Only a couple sites held some prospect, and that not very great. Only one held our attention because it did have a salvageable house on the property and enough land to expand. However, the sellers want an incredible 30,000 Euros. That's about $45,000! Property here is unbelievably inflated. We would estimate that a similar property in the US may be worth 20-25,000. Please pray with us as we seek this important way to develop the Christian center here in Perechin. We want that the Lord would reveal perfectly where and how to progress.

Perechin Ground Level-March 10, 2011

Here is a photo from the east side of Perechin looking across the railroad toward the west. In the photo can be seen the commuter train, called an electrichka traveling toward the north. In the background is the Perechin Timber & Chemical Plant, a producer of consumer and industrial charcoal. The plant was established 118 years ago in 1893. The plant employs hundreds of people and is responsible for the "vinegar" odor in much of Perechin and its environs.

Gas Prices

We have heard some of our family and friends complaining about the escalating gas prices in the US. We do not know if it would be any comfort, but sometimes things look better in comparison. So, consider yourself fortunate to only being paying $3.40. We are paying $4.45. Though we buy in liters, the equivalent gallon would be $4.45. Our prices for gas have risen 45% since October.

Christmas Cards in March?

You've heard of snail mail, but this is a story about snail mail in slow motion! We were just informed by many family members and friends that they received the Christmas cards we sent in early December. Wow! It only took about 3 months! Sorry these were so late, but we have not a clue what happened. Perhaps they were left sitting at an agents station? Or maybe left in a bag or under a box? At any rate we are delighted they came to you. We have had an extremely high rate of trouble with the mail this term, both sending things and receiving things. Several things loved ones have sent to us we have never received. We wonder if many of the thank you cards we have send have gotten to you also? We are now wondering what in the world to do when we have to mail our tax preparation details to Bro. Olsen in Florida. Will they be held up until June? Will they be lost? Please pray about this situation for us.

Week #7 Christian Ethics Class

Last evening we conducted our seventh week Christian Ethics class. Unfortunately, Kolya could not attend and we missed him. We continued our study theme of responding to relativism. In a nutshell, moral relativism is logically impossible. It is not coherent nor consistent with the reality of objectivity. If a relativist disagrees with you, stating that you ought not, or should not, push judgment or morals on them, they have just contradicted, logically, their (false) assumption of relativism. For relativism to be absolutely true there can be no objective absolutes. This means they can not hypocritically appeal to any sense of ought, for then they are appealing to something objective. You see, the relativist wishes everything to be subjective--self-validated. But this cannot be logically true when they object to you pushing morals or criticizing them. The next thing they want to appeal to is a sense of tolerance. But this too the relativist twists to a modern meaning to insist you must affirm or agree with them with respect to their personal sense or right or wrong (which is morality anyway). When you will not affirm their ideas they wish to label you intolerant (which is judging me and logically violating relativism). They do not accept that the true meaning of tolerance is to imply that you really disagree with them. You may tolerate unwillingly and reluctantly their view to generate a sense of peace, but you certainly are not obliged to accept, nor affirm, their view. Tolerance implies disagreement.
Please pray as we continue to train the minds of these students.

Dedication Service for Baby Timothy Kohutka

We were at the Kamyanitza Church yesterday evening for the very special service committed to the dedication of Stephen's and Vita's son Timothy. Their son is now two months old. Joining the congregation were members of Vita's family traveling from Tyachiv Region, about 100 miles southeast of where we are located. Also, some members of Stephen's family attended. All four grandparents of Timothy were present.
It was a tremendous privilege to be present to share in this family service. It was a time of family rite as the young family deepened their trust in the Lord and committed themselves and their child to the service of God. Tim was honored to be able to offer a challenging message from the life of Samuel. Near the conclusion of the service there was a prayer of dedication offered in a series from the grandparents, Stephen, Vita, and finally the pastor. The family was presented a very nice volume about Christian history and a bouquet of flowers. Following the service there was a huge feast at the Kohutka home, where three of Stephen's brothers and two of Vita's sisters joined the fellowship.
Praise the Lord for Stephen & Vita and their commitment to yield their family to the will of God.

Perechin Puppet Show and Woman's Day Service

Weeks of praying, planning, and building came to culminate in our Saturday afternoon youth and children's service in Perechin. We planned the service in relation to Woman's Day, observed in Ukraine March 8th. We had sought to make special invitation to the mothers of those youth and children we minister to each Saturday first, and then to community people as well.
We arrived several hours prior to the service to finish preparations and allow Stopia time to rehearse the presentation. When we neared the facility where we had the service we were so pleasantly surprised to be greeted by eight youth, who were so excited that the "big day" had arrived. But their excitement was not only witnessed by their early arrival, but it was written all over their faces. They were lit up with joy and excitement. In addition, they had conceived and developed completely by themselves a nice, artistic advertisement and announcement which was fixed to the fence outside the building. They had also made some paper flowers. We were so happy and encouraged with their sense of self-motivation. Wow! Praise the Lord!
Other youth and children arrived in time and we had 14 of those who we see most every week. Cheryl made some tea and was preparing to finish the cakes for refreshments to have to honor the mothers who would come. During this time, she had both eager boys and girls to help her. Girls helped finish decorating a cake and the boys--well Bro. William Gale used to tell us, "boys will be boys." They were intensely interested in the popcorn Cheryl made in a microwave! And once Cheryl and the girls finished the decorating the boys soon learned that that left over icing had to go somewhere. Yep, efficiently squeezed through the decorating tube into either hand or even directly in the mouth!
Service time came and we were absolutely astounded at the people who gathered! We were so thankful that God helped us to plan, prepare, and announce the special service. Altogether we had 30 children, 10 adults, and one dog squeeze into the little building. We were shocked that double the number of kids came which we usually have on a Saturday. We did not have as many mothers as we had hoped, but several mothers of those children we minister to came and were sincerely thankful. You might see in the photos below that numerous older people came. This was interesting, but for us we just thank the Lord for having had the opportunity to progress the witness that we are here to minister the Gospel.
During the program the children sang some songs, Stephen shared what we do on normal Saturdays, Tim shared the vision of our Hope in Perechin, and then the kids did an outstanding job with the puppet show. It was so cute and funny. But it really had a serious perspective as it related what happens when a child disobeys parents. It was great!
Afterward we served some cake that Cheryl had prepared and soft drinks.
Of the artwork the youth did on the puppet stage, we just had to share one photo of a true piece of European art. Tim suggested in their scenery that they needed some kind of an animal. The youth seemed to be reluctant to paint anything, so that day when we were painting we saw Stopia pick up a brush and go to work. When he finished Tim laughed so hard at his cow--but purely in fun. It was really good, and far better than  we could do. But just the portrayal of its stance or something seemed somehow humorous.

Stopia's masterpiece-- "The European Grazer"

Is that what popcorn is?

Boys with an appetite looking for more popcorn

The announcement the children had made themselves.

How sweet!

Singing at the beginning of the service

Many of our wonderful guests

The puppets appear and present

Most of the 30 kids, some of the parents, and one dog!

Practical Christianity Class #6

Cheryl and Leah traveled with me out to Kamyanitza and visited with Vita and the baby while Stephen and I went to the class.
We had fifteen attend the evening class. We covered sections relating to the Word of God and determining the will of God for people. We showed how that God's Word must be primary and that therein is abundant and sufficient revelation to lead us to determine proper choices concerning the will of God for our lives. This often becomes confusing or mysterious to us, but that is not God's fault or intention. Sometimes we must be patient and allow other factors to lessen the complexity of the situation and allow God to work. Other times we face the frustration of what John Wesley termed wandering thoughts. We try to communicate with God but find ourselves distracted by a multitude of influencing thoughts. Some of these may simply be the stressful consideration of the daily responsibilities; others may be caused by the excitement of anticipating some special experience; still others may be the attempt of the influence of the powers of evil to thwart our attempts to communicate with God and find His will for situations in our lives. At any rate, God's will can be known. It is important to understand that the Christian who desires to live in the fullest harmony with God's will must know God's Word both in statute and principle. Many people become frustrated and confused because they can find no lead from God in specific circumstances they face. Dr. Allan Brown, professor of Biblical Studies at God's Bible School & College teaches what he terms the "UPSA principle". This acronym means that there is a universal principle which can be applied in specific applications. This is important for multitudes of situations. For example: you will not find a direct statute in the Bible declaring whether a person might smoke cigarettes or not. Is is wrong? Science has overwhelmingly determined that it is wrong from a physical, or health, viewpoint. But what about morally, or in the life of one sincerely trying to live n relationship to God? Since you will not find a direct statement against smoking, you must try to determine if there are any principles stated within the Bible that would apply to such an experience. In this case, the universal principle is that God has created us fully in wonder and with respect to the physicality of our humanity. We know that smoking destroys one's health and Paul, at least, had God's revelation which treats our bodies in the most sublime respect. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:7) declares that our bodies are synonymous to God's temple; where God resides; priceless with respect to the cost which we were bought through Jesus' blood. This principle applied to smoking, and a multitude of other experiences, can help us determine what to choose. This is an example of many situations we encounter.
Didn't mean to rattle on but we did have a good class. This particular subject area seems to be new ground for some of the students. Please pray for our classes as we next consider the place of conscience in our lives.

Catching up From Intensely Busy Days

Tuesday, Stopia wanted Tim to help him pick up something in the city which was too big for him to haul on the public transportation. But it had to wait for Russian language class first and then lunch. Only then were we able to go across the city and meet him and get that which he wanted to haul. Tim returned to our apartment and worked on office tasks and class preparations until Stopia came along. They worked for an hour and one-half translating students' papers. By that time it was nearing five o'clock and Jason and Kolya arrived for Christian Ethics class.
The Christian Ethics class was a busy time. We had a quiz, discussed some assignments and had some lectures about how to respond to moral relativism. We wish we had proper time to elaborate here but we just want to say that moral relativism philosophically is absurd. It is logically impossible because: it is a moral position in that it proposes to justify what is right or wrong from the standard of one's own choice; and it implicitly presupposes there can be no sense of justice, civility, etc. This is so because if every person's determination of morals is independent of a standard which is constant, consistent, and absolute, it would be impossible, and illogical to think of any concept of justice, evil, etc. There is only meaningless individuality and chaos. Perhaps the most troubling factor of moral relativism is the desire of the adherent to a philosophical system of belief which deceivingly justifies an immoral lifestyle. People want no morals impinged upon their conscience so they may feel free to practice the wrong which would be condemned if they submitted to an absolute standard of morality.
After our class Tim took Stopia back to his home at Kamyanitza and returned after nine. Then he was able to have some supper. What a long and fulfilling day!
Yesterday we made a special, mid-week trip to Perechin to continue our preparations for this Saturday's special service. We had eight of our youth come. This was possible because the schools are still shut down due to a high number of kids having the flu. We erected our wall and stage for the puppet drama and practiced for the service. We returned home after dark. You may see some of our photos below making preparations.

Beginning to paint the wall and stage

Nearing completion! These youth are artists!

Finished. You can see puppets when they are practicing.