Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In my monthly report I’d like to share with you the news about the ministry of our Bible Institute and some local congregations.
October was a very warm month this year. We didn't need to turn on the heat either in the church building or in the apartments rented for our students. We were able to save some funds even though the weather turned now as I'm writing this letter. And we are expecting some lower temperatures from now on.
The following subjects were taught in October: for the first year students - Hermeneutics (by Dennis Sopelnik), Christian Evidences (Albert Bagdasaryan) and for the second year students – Inter testament Period (by Terry Harmon) and Introduction to Greek (by Valentin Tsiopa). I always try to encourage local Instructors to help the ministry of the Bible Institute, and this time Valentin Tsiopa helped with teaching Greek. He is one of our graduates and has some good foundation to teach the course.
I'm very grateful to Terry Harmon who came to Ukrainian in the capacity of our Instructor. He tries to carry out a few ministries in the same time. Being the preacher of the Church of Christ in Rapid City, SD Terry is the coordinator for the Ukrainian branch of Bear Valley Bible Institute. As always, Terry Harmon encouraged us and presented an excellent example of a true minister of the Lord.
Currently all of our students are involved in the evangelism in different parts of Ukraine. Most of them went to Lviv to help out the local congregation. The other part of the student body went to the Eastern Churches of Christ in the cities of Kramatorsk, Slovyansk and Konstantynivka. Most of them took active part in the congregational work. They preached, taught Bible lessons, visited the sick and struggling with faith. I'm very thankful to all the local preachers who cared to let our students have the opportunities to serve.
In the middle of October, I attended the youth group seminar in Kamenskoe. I met a lot of young people and told them about our Institute's ministry. Some of them were interested in applying. I hope their commitment will get even more serious.
And one more exciting news. Our local minister Konstantin and we are trying to establish a cooperation with a local boarding school and get their official permission to work with their students. We ask you to join us in prayer for the ministry. They house about 80 children whose parents are either deceased or deprived of their parental rights. They are from 6 to 16 years of age. God can open the door for us to serve these children.
We are truly grateful to everyone who supports the work of the Bible Institute. We are thankful for every dollar that you will sacrifice for our ministry in Ukraine. Thank you very much!
Your brother and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,
Dennis Sopelnik