My dad just returned from the Ukraine on Wednesday July 4th. He had been invited to teach the local leaders of churches the Biblical foundation of ministry among families and young people. It was wonderful to be in Lubbock so soon after he returned from his trip. I have been blessed to hear many stories, I have seen many pictures and learned about the differences/similarities of our societies. I was truly blessed to hear about his work while he was there and I thought I would share a bit with y'all.
This is a picture of the church building in Mariupol where the seminar was being conducted. It looks very different from our church buildings here. They whitewash everything there, not sure why. During the course of ten days, there were seven congregations that were represented in 16 attendees. Two congregations were from Mariupol, one from Kramatyorsk, one from Dneipropetrovsk, and 3 from the Donetsk region. There were several members of the local churches that were able to attend some of the studies as well.
This is a statue of Vladimir Lenin. It is strange to realize that not too long ago this was a communist nation and now the gospel is being shared freely there.
Sasha (on the right), the minister and his wife Iera. Dad said that this wonderful couple was full of enthusiasm and sincerity.
The teachers and students shared a meal together every day. Dad (foreground-green shirt) said he enjoyed the food, it was always a feast of unusual, but not altogether unfamiliar foods. Everything was presented in the finest way possible by the ladies of the congregation. The lunches together also included the workers who were there involved in Friend Speak, an outreach using Bible reading to teach English.
This is little Olya. I think it is evident that dad was missing his grand kids. He latched onto sweet Olya and she loved every bit of attention she received from him! Dad says that he quickly learned how to play "cuck-coo" with Olya. ("cuck-coo" is there version of "peek-a-boo")
This picture was taken during one of their class sessions. Natasha was dad's translator. He said she was incredible at translating all of his teachings though it did take some getting used to since this is the first time his lessons have been translated. He said it made him really think about every word that he was teaching and there were a few rough spots when he discovered
that some of his "Texan" doesn't translate into Russian.
This is dad enjoying an adventure to a downtown market. He saw many interesting things there. In this picture he is trying to decipher the fishing paraphernalia...not quite Cabelas!
This is a picture of the church building in Mariupol where the seminar was being conducted. It looks very different from our church buildings here. They whitewash everything there, not sure why. During the course of ten days, there were seven congregations that were represented in 16 attendees. Two congregations were from Mariupol, one from Kramatyorsk, one from Dneipropetrovsk, and 3 from the Donetsk region. There were several members of the local churches that were able to attend some of the studies as well.
This is a statue of Vladimir Lenin. It is strange to realize that not too long ago this was a communist nation and now the gospel is being shared freely there.
Sasha (on the right), the minister and his wife Iera. Dad said that this wonderful couple was full of enthusiasm and sincerity.
The teachers and students shared a meal together every day. Dad (foreground-green shirt) said he enjoyed the food, it was always a feast of unusual, but not altogether unfamiliar foods. Everything was presented in the finest way possible by the ladies of the congregation. The lunches together also included the workers who were there involved in Friend Speak, an outreach using Bible reading to teach English.
This is little Olya. I think it is evident that dad was missing his grand kids. He latched onto sweet Olya and she loved every bit of attention she received from him! Dad says that he quickly learned how to play "cuck-coo" with Olya. ("cuck-coo" is there version of "peek-a-boo")
This picture was taken during one of their class sessions. Natasha was dad's translator. He said she was incredible at translating all of his teachings though it did take some getting used to since this is the first time his lessons have been translated. He said it made him really think about every word that he was teaching and there were a few rough spots when he discoveredthat some of his "Texan" doesn't translate into Russian.
This is dad enjoying an adventure to a downtown market. He saw many interesting things there. In this picture he is trying to decipher the fishing paraphernalia...not quite Cabelas!
A wonderful trip. A great success. God is definitely at work in the words that He shared through dad. Hopefully dad will get the opportunity to return and see all that God has done through him! We are very grateful that God issued the call to the Ukraine and that dad was quick to answer that call. We are thankful to have dad home again safely
after such an amazing adventure!
after such an amazing adventure!
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