Dear brothers, families and churches,
I want to share with you some news of events that happened at the Bible Institute and in church of Christ in Ukraine in March.
When we read the parable of the soil, we understand how important is the work and the patience of the sower. He understands that his work during bad weather conditions won’t be able to pay off. But still the fields are being worked on and the harvest is getting ready, and every time the sower hopes for the best result. As ministers of God, we shouldn’t lose heart but be constant in our mission. In Slavyansk where our brothers Albert and Stas preach, God added three souls to the church. It’s a joyful and exciting news, because for about two years there were no baptisms in the church in Slavyansk, but now the sowers received the harvest of their work.
Click here to see the pictures.
During last week we have held the planned evangelizing campaigns in 5 different cities with our student being active participants. By this we try to support the church and encourage its members to keep sharing the Good News. I’m sure that this is what the Great Commission is all about. The methods of evangelizing were quite different. In some cities students used tables with free Christian literature, and spreading it they invited citizens to come to church and study God’s Word. In other cities student were walking and spreading leaflets and calendars and also invited people to church. Experience in these campaigns shows that almost all people have heard about Christ and that is good, but what is sad is their lack of desire to get to know the true Jesus and follow the sound doctrine. Some people don’t want to have anything in common with Him. But we shouldn’t give up and should keep looking for those who are in need of salvation.
At the beginning of the month we had two teachers from the US: Garth Hilton and Johnny Mack Young. It’s been a really big blessing, that we have brothers who are willing to work and share their experience. We are grateful for their work and are looking forward to their visits in future. Together with them the first-year students studied the book of Job and the Wisdom Literature, and the second-year students studied Contemporary Religious Thought and the Personal Evangelism. Students were very glad, and it has been a good inspiration before the evangelizing campaign. Also we have not so pleasant news; we had to expel one of the students Sergey, who is a good brother from the Church of Christ in Gorlovka. And the reason for that was his low grades and inability to follow up with the program. We do understand that this Institute trains the preachers and there are certain rules and requirements.
In one of my previous reports I wrote that I care for the future of students and their ministry. We keep praying for that and God is showing to some of them His will. Dennis Yampolets, who is a second-year student, has started preaching in his hometown Nikolayevka, Donetsk region. At the moment the church consists of two people, but that is a good start. I keep asking you to pray for the church in Ukraine and for its future. Since many churches do not have elders, they are not standing firm in God’s teachings. We know that devil doesn’t stop his work for a minute, and we will support and encourage one another as long as we have strength. We thank you for financial support. With its help we do this work for God, plant the Word and train the ministers for the God’s church. Recently I have read a saying in one book: “If one generation in the whole world stops evangelizing, than the next generation will not know Christ”. I don’t know how true that is, but it is better we don’t experiment with that. Ukraine needs God’s sound doctrine, qualified ministers and your help.
We send you our greetings and keep praying for you and your families.
We are confident in the Lord and His protection.
Your brother and coworker,
Dennis