Tuesday and Wednesday Events - Ukraine Trip

Tuesday, we began by taking a trip to a Rehab home for men hooked on alcohol and drugs.  Pastor Vitaly (far left) led these men to the Lord in his church in Ternopil, but found the men were addicted to alcohol and drugs and couldn't get victory over it.  He began this home way out in the village to help the men stay away from their bad influences and put them in an atmosphere of Bible study, hard work, and accountability.  

We sat around the living room and the men sang and gave testimonies of how God worked in their lives. It was a time of giving God glory for intervening in their lives.  This home needs additional funds to complete the building.  They raise their own chickens and rabbits, as well as work a large garden for food.  

After the trip to the rehab home, we visited Pastor Vitaly's church in Ternopil.  This is a city of 230,000 people and over 30,000 college students.  Pastor Vitaly started the church from scratch 5 years ago and has seen alot of souls saved.  In this picture is Tony Quirici, myself, Sam, and Pastor Vitaly.  Tony is from New York and has been to Ukraine numerous times.  He is alot of fun to be around.  

Below is Pastor Vitaly's new building.  They are meeting in a rented facility right now and can only have the facility on Sunday, because of the cost.  This building, when it is finished, will let them have a place 7 days a week.  They will be able to have an office and classrooms for Sunday School and youth meetings.

We spent the night with Pastor Vitaly and his family out in a village.  They are a very sweet family.

Wednesday morning, we left and traveled back to Kiev.  On the way back, we stopped and saw this man, Leonid.  He is the tallest man in the world at 8'5".  He is slouching a bit in this picture, but still towers us.  He has recently been saved after Tony got a burden for him several years ago and started witnessing to him.  Leonid had a tumor in his pituitary gland that caused growth hormones to explode.  He is not in the Guiness Book of World Records, though, after denying permission for them to put him in.  

Wednesday evening, we had dinner with Pastor Igor Boloshov and his family.  Igor is also the director of the Servicemen Center in Desna.  He preaches at a nearby church plant.  He served in the special forces of the Soviet Union army before coming to Christ.  What a blessing it was to hear his testimony, as well as his wife, Lana.  

Lana fixed us a really good Ukranian meal. 

Monday - September 19th - Ukraine

On Sunday evening, I had the privilege of preaching at the Pukhova Church in Kiev.  This is the largest independent baptist church in Kiev and a church with a wonderful history and testimony.  They are getting ready to celebrate their 50th anniversary and are expecting many guests from around Ukraine.  Many pastors have gone out from this church to start churches in Ukraine and surrounding areas.

Below is the pastor of the church at Pukho, Nikolai Velichko.  This pastor has been at the church for over 40 years and is a pioneer of the independent Baptist movement in Ukraine.  He has spent time in prison, as has many others in his congregation during the time of the Soviet Union for the sake of the Gospel.  What a spiritual hero!

After the PM service, we headed to the Kiev train station.  As you can tell, I was pretty amazed by what I saw - a modern technologically advanced train station.  Too bad the train wasn't as modern.  We took the 9 hour train ride in the old Soviet Union box car train.  But thanks to two sleeping pills, I never heard a sound and slept all the way to Lutsk.  

 Once we arrived in Lutsk, we went to the house we are staying and cleaned up and had some breakfast.  Then, we headed into the city of Lutsk, a city of 300,000 people on the western side of Ukraine.  There, we toured this castle that has been maintained since the 1300's.  Lutsk has seen many battles over those years, as it has been highly sought after land by Russia and Poland.

This is Pastor Victor, who pastors in Lutsk.  His church runs about 100 and they are seeing fruit from the preaching of God's Word.  He and his wife are allowing us to stay with them for a couple nights.  

These five men are pastors in Belarus.  They drove over to meet us and to hear Dr. Larry Oats teach a seminar.  The economy in Belarus is near collapse.  The people are struggling severely and the churches stay under persecution from the government.  These men are faithfully serving the Lord and making an impact for God.

The church in Lutsk, where Pastor Victor leads has a wonderful outreach ministry to children off the streets.  They come into the church to get warm meals, participate in activities, Bible studies, and evangelistic outreaches.  The church makes contacts with their parents in hopes of reaching them.  Several parents have been saved and are now faithful members of the church.  Other wayward teens have been saved and one young man is preaching now.  Here, BIEM is doing another Bible distribution with care packages to these needy children.  What a blessing it is to see a ministry of such great compassion.  

Dr. Oats, dean of the seminary at Maranatha Bible College, teaches pastors from Belarus and Lutsk about the dangers of post-modernism and the Emerging Church.  The pastors had alot of questions and benefited from the seminar.  

God has given us a great trip.  My heart is so full as I have seen how God has opened amazing doors for the Gospel in this area of the world.  Missions truly is the heartbeat of God!

Saturday and Sunday - Ukraine Trip

On Saturday, we took the entire day to see the sights of Kiev.  The picture below is a Ukranian Orthodox Church.  We went into the church and observed the ceremony.  How sad it is to see that no Bible was read from and no Gospel shared.  The people believe that they find grace by being around the relics of dead saints.  

This a  picture of the Kiev skyline with the skyscrapers in the background.  Kiev is a large city, about 2.5 million people.  It was totally destroyed after World War II, but has been built back beautifully.  The downtown area is really a great tourist attraction.

Here I am with Sasha, one of the BIEM church planters, who is planting a church in Turkey.  Sasha has a unique ability to make connections with influential people.  He has already led several Muslims in Turkey to faith in Christ and baptized them in the Mediterranean Sea.  We are standing inside the Russian Orthodox Monastery.  We went through the catacombs where dead saints are buried and watched as worshipers prayed for some of the holiness of these saints to be imparted to them.

Here I am pictured with Sam Slobodian, who is a member of our church at Mt. Tabor.  Bro. Sam travels much with BIEM and we don't get to fellowship together often.  We have enjoyed doing so this week.  Here we are in front of a beautiful fountain in Kiev.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to be with one of our missionaries, Pastor Anatole.  He has started a couple of churches and is preparing to start another.  This is the building where his current church meets.  I am pictured here with Pastor Anatole, Bro. Sam, and Larry and Colleen Oats, a sweet couple from Wisconsin who have joined us on this trip.

Ukranians celebrate Thanksgiving all month during September, but it is up to each individual church to choose which Sunday to celebrate thanksgiving as a church.  This Sunday was the special day at Pastor Anatole's church.  This a ceremony, where the church thanks God for the physical bread as well as the spiritual bread, the Bible.  

I was given the opportunity to preach one of the sermons, with the help of a translator.  There were two other sermons besides mine and many songs by the choir and congregation.  The service lasted over 2 hours, and then we stayed afterward to eat together.  There were close to 200 people in attendance in a building that would maybe seat 150 comfortably.

After the service, those who were visiting received a gift, a free Ukranian Bible and other literature that they desired.  As you can see, the Bibles were a big hit.  The people here are very hungry for God's Word.

Trip to Ukraine - Friday, September 16

Today, we were able to visit a state run orphanage and distribute children's Bibles and care packages to about 80 children.  It was heartbreaking to see these children, who have for the most part, grown up in homes of alcoholics and drug addicts.  There are 300,000 orphan children in Ukraine.  The majority of them get involved in crime and prostitution when they get out.  BIEM has the privilege and open door to conduct evangelism and Bible studies there and is involved in humanitarian aid to the orphanage.  If your church would like to get involved in putting care packages together or helping to buy a nice hardback children's Bible for $3, you can contact BIEM through their website.

Dr. Larry Oats from Maranatha Baptist Bible College and myself with some of the children from the orphanage.

Eugene and myself distributing care packages to the children.

This boy is happy with his new children's Bible and care package.

With Bro. Slobodian's help, I am explaining to the children that Americans gave for these Bibles to be given.

After that, we were off to lunch at a pastor's home and then to see the church that has been built in the town of Fastiv.  This church is about 15 years old and the pastor is getting up in years.  Pray that God will lead a younger pastor to take his place.  The older pastor shared his testimony with us.  As a baby, he was abandoned during the war.  A lady found him and brought him to a church service.  There, a couple took them as their own son and raised him.  Later, he was saved and called to preach.  This man's son is Eugene, the Ukranian director of the BIEM mission.  What another amazing story of God's grace and sovereignty!  

We are eating borscht (soup) which is always served at the beginning of each meal.  Also fried chicken!  

Anatole and Hala and their children.  Anatole has graduated from the seminary and is the assistant pastor for Pastor Mikhail in Fastiv.  

The church in Fastiv.  It took about 10 years to build.  Pastor Mikhail did all the woodwork himself.  BIEM planted this church in a theater and then helped raise the funds for materials to build the building.  

Me, Pastor Mikhail, and his son, Euguene, the Ukranian director of BIEM mission

Thursday Pictures and Events - Trip to Ukraine

We started off Thursday with a trip on the Kiev Subway.  That was quite an experience.

Next, we were off to see a church building in the 2nd most affluent region in Kiev.  Pastor Nikolai has been pastoring this church after being the rector of Kiev Seminary for several years.  The church has outgrown its facility and running over 200.  God has provided this new building for them in the heart of the residential area of their region.  There are 300,000 people in that region.  Most of the people live in high rises just a short distance from the church.  The building is under construction and they are not able to occupy it yet.  Pray that the Lord will supply the funds needed to finish this construction project in this critical area of Kiev.

After that, we had lunch with Eugene and his wife, Sophia.  He is the director of the BIEM mission and acts as Bro. Slobodian's right hand man here in Kiev.  We had a wonderful time with his children.  Here is a picture of me and their daughter, Solomia

Following lunch, we traveled over an hour to a military base, known as Desna.  It was the 2nd largest military base during the time of the Soviet Union.  God has opened up a door for a church to be constructed right on the base.  Pastor Igor is leading this church and they are also in a building program.  On one side of the building is their auditorium and on the other side is a Servicemen's Center.  It is a place for servicemen to come when they are off duty and have recreation, instead of going to the bars.  The prayer is that this tool can be used to reach many of these soldiers for Christ.  Pastor Igor has a wonderful testimony of how he was saved out of a life of drugs and alcohol. He was being trained as a teenager to be a part of the Russian Mafia.  He is truly a picture of God's grace and has a burden for these soldiers. 

Pastor Igor

We drove back to Kiev to be the guests of an afternoon kids club, where Eugene and the mission are trying to get into for Bible studies and Bible distribution.  The kids put on quite a show for us.  Here is a picture of myself with two of the kids dressed in Ukranian garb.

After that presentation, we had dinner with Pastor Anatole and his wife, Natasha.  Pastor Anatole is one of our missionaries at Mt. Tabor and a faithful man.  He has planted 2 churches already and is getting ready to plant another church on the other side of his town.  God has given him favor with the town mayor, and the mayor has agreed to give a piece of land for the new church building.  Pray that funds will be provided for the construction of this building.  

Pastor Anatole and his wife, Natasha

Wednesday Pictures and Events - Ukraine Trip

Today, we had a group of Iranian men come to cook lunch for us.  Pastor Ali (far left) and Abbas (far right) cooked.  Abbas was offered a job as the chef in the Iranian embassy but turned it down knowing he would be under constant surveillance since he is now a Christian.  It took Abbas six years from the time he first heard the Gospel to accept Christ.  Pastor Ali has started a church and has about 15 Iranians attending.  All of them have been converted and are witnessing to other Iranians in the area.  There are thousands of refugees in Kiev.

We also presented them with 200 complete Bibles in the Farsi language for them to distribute as well as 24 MP3 players to distribute.  The MP3 player has the entire Bible on it in the Farsi language, as well as testimonies from these Iranian believers.  They are set to where you cannot delete the content on them.

In this picture is (from left to right) Pastor Ali, Myself, Sam Slobodian, Pastor Nikolai Velichko, Dr. Larry Oats, and Abbas.

After lunch, we went to a village about 1 1/2 hours from Kiev.  A man from the seminary went to this village 6 years ago to plant a church.  He and his wife live at the church.  Here is their picture.  There are only about 300 people in this village and the church runs about 20 or so.  God has also blessed them with a large piece of land to build a new building on.  She fixed us a wonderful meal in their home.  This village has never had American visitors.

Trip to Ukraine - Pictures from Tuesday

I wanted to share some pictures and some of the stories of these people I have met on my trip.  This is Anatole and he is a church planter in the Ukraine.  He served in the military for 25 years, was called into the ministry, graduated from seminary and has started 2 churches.  He is getting ready to start his third church.  Our church at Mt. Tabor has the privilege of partnering with him as he plants churches in the Ukraine.

Included in the picture below is a group of Iranian refugees who have converted from Islam to Christianity.  They are studying in the seminary now here in Kiev.  They have a group of about 15 Iranians that have their own service here and are trying to reach other Iranians in Kiev for Christ.  How wonderful it is to see God at work in bringing people from Iran to hear the gospel and be saved.  He is calling out people from all nations to be a part of his bride.

The Iranians are the first four on the first row, as well as the 2nd from the left on the back row and the one all the way to the right on the back row.  The man on the back left is Vitaly, the director of the seminary and also is planting a church in Kiev.  The third man from the left on the back is Dr. Larry Oats, who is teaching at the seminary all week.  To his right is Sam Slobodian, the director of BIEM.  To my right is Oleg, a church planter in St. Petersburg, Russia.

This is Sasha, and he is planting a church in Turkey.  In just a few months, he has seen 3 Muslims saved and baptized and is working on others.  He was in the Ukranian special forces in the military before getting saved and surrendering to ministry.  

God is using BIEM in a wonderful way.  In the 20 years they have been planting churches in Russia and the surrounding areas, they have planted 103 churches and constructed 43 church buildings.  To God be the glory!  It is wonderful to meet these brothers and sisters in Christ from the other side of the world and get a taste of what Heaven is going to be like.  

Trip to Ukraine - Tuesday, September 13th

I have been given the opportunity to go on a missions trip to the Ukraine with one of our church members, Brother Sam Slobodian.  Brother Sam is the director of BIEM, a mission agency in Danville, IN.  Through his ministry, and the ministry of his father, Peter, God has raised up many churches throughout the Ukraine and Russia.  Thanks to my church, Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, for financially supporting this trip.

We left on Sunday afternoon from Indianapolis to Detroit.  Then, we connected quickly and began a 7 hour flight to Amsterdam.  After a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam, we connected to a flight to Kiev, Ukraine.  We arrived on Monday at around 4 PM, but it was only 9 AM back in Indiana.  There is a 7 hour time difference here.

Kiev is a city of 3.5 million people, about the size of Chicago in terms of population.  From the airport to the place we are staying, we had several big traffic jams.  And after stopping off at a local pizzeria, we headed to the BIEM office for supper.  We got cleaned up just in time to head over to the Temple of Salvation Baptist Church (aka Puhova Church here in Ukraine).  It is the largest independent Baptist Church in the country and runs close to 1,000 each Sunday.  The pastor has been there for 40 years and was a pioneer of the underground Baptist movement here during the time of the Soviet Union.  As many as 30 people in that congregation have experienced imprisonment for their faith in Christ.

At the church, a group of 50 or so pastors and students from the seminary attended a seminar on Post Modernism taught by the Dean of the Seminary at Maranatha Baptist College, Dr. Larry Oats.  Dr. Oats has been at Maranatha about 40 years as well.

After the meeting, we came home and quickly went to bed.  We were extremely tired after the long trip and very little sleep on the plane.

I will have another update with pictures this evening, which will be tomorrow morning for you back in the U.S.