Dear brothers and families.
We thank God that spring came to Ukraine without any catastrophes and changes in climate. We saw on TV and read the news on internet about tornados and storms hitting America. We pray for those who suffered from them. Moreover, we pray for those who are still spiritually lost.
For our institute the month of April was full of different events, some of them were good and some were sad.
Life of the institute
At the beginning of April, Denton Landon came to teach a two-week course on Jeremiah and Lamentation. Our Institute is always glad when brothers, who can share their wisdom and experience of serving God, visit us.
At the moment, Albert Bagdasaryan and I teach Daniel and Luke to the first-year students, and Howell Ferguson and Victor Semikoz teach James and Revelation to the second-year students.
On April 23, we had a youth conference at the building of our Institute. It was aimed at young people from local churches of Christ. Its topic was “Pass a test for eternity”. Bible classes were taught by Howell Ferguson and me. We had some good time together, enjoying games and friendly atmosphere.
During this year and until now, we are trying to visit different congregations and look for new students. We receive a great deal of help from Howell. At the moment, we have 7-8 prospective students who want to enter the Bible program at the Institute. Please pray that we would find some more students and that they would make the right choice that will influence their life.
We have some sad news: our second-year student, Roman Demchenko, decided to take an academic leave. He wants to finish his studies next year. He didn’t pass several courses, and he became less zealous in studying and serving God. Maybe after some time he will understand that studying and contemplating about the Word of God is the most pleasant activity. Please pray for him and his ministry.
Life of the church in Ukraine
On April 24, there was a joint worship service of churches of Christ held in Kramatorsk. Our group which consisted of 12 people attended the service. Vitaliy Rodichev had a sermon that day. The aim of such services is to encourage brothers and sisters and show them that we are not alone in our decision to follow Christ. There were representatives from Slavyansk, Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka and Zugres.
As for the Central church of Christ in Gorlovka, it’s been doing quite well. They have very interesting youth group meetings. Andrew takes a good care of the church. An average attendance of the Sunday service is about 33-38 people.
Maintenance questions and their solutions
First, we could fix our heating system and started it for a check-up. As a result, it worked well. I hope that we can change some paperwork on the building during this year. That would reduce the bills on heating in winter period.
Second, after the winter and spring thaw, the ground water came up, and we had a lot of water at the basement of the building. So we bought the pump to take out the water. Right now we are thinking about the ways to solve this problem.
We are looking forward to seeing brother Terry Harmon and his family and also Jim Sherman. They’ve done a lot of work to establish and develop the churches of Christ in Ukraine. We respect them deeply and pray for their safe flight.
We are grateful for your prayers and support. Even though there is a big distance between us, we are always with you in the spirit.
Best regards,
Dennis.