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.
No comments:
Post a Comment