New School Year – New Opportunities! (September 2015 Update)
Classes began a week ago and I have already been through one class. The first class this year was a Worship class with our 4th year students. It is always a special joy to be with the 4th year group. They have learned so much and they are already applying what they have learned in ministry. This class was a worship class taught by Sergey Bochko. The class was entirely in Russian so I really had to concentrate to catch everything. I think I understood almost all and was able to participate (in Russian) in the many discussions that we had.
My next class will be in Lviv in Western Ukraine. I will be teaching Worship and Prayer at the newly formed Ukrainian Baptist Seminary that Katya and I helped with last year. We are both looking forward to being back in Lviv and seeing the students firsthand. Be praying for me as I finish up the syllabus and work on PowerPoints and lectures for this class that comes in the middle of October.
At the end of September, we will be having 2-week intensive English clubs at the National University. The last two years, we have had over 400 sign-up for classes and we were able to take only about 200. Be praying with us as we prepare for these classes and as we reach out to non-believers on the campus. After the classes, Campus Ministry workers will follow-up individually with students and we will also conduct some evangelistic Bible Studies.
Also, in September, our church will begin a weekly (Wednesdays) English Conversation Club to reach university students. Also, small groups will be starting again in September and we will probably be hosting a group in our apartment.
At the end of October, Campus Ministries will be having 2 week English Clubs at the Poly-technical University. I helped with this group the last two years and I will probably be working with them again this year.
Finally, in early November, I will be teaching Church History at Kiev Baptist Seminary. I’ll be working with a Ukrainian professor mentoring him for teaching this class alone. So that means we will be meeting together in the fall to work on the class also. Additionally, I will be mentoring another student as we teach 1 Corinthians together in April. But we will be working on the class this fall to get ready for the spring.
Documents, Documents, Documents …
We are still working on documents for Nadia, myself and Katya (Kristian has all hers). I need to get a new Ukrainian visa before the end of September so that I can stay and teach here in Ukraine. Katya needs a new US visa and Nadia needs her passport so they can visit the US in December. We have most of the paperwork completed but we are trying to squeeze in Embassy appointments to get everything finalized. Be praying that we can get all these documents done before we head back for Christmas.
The Situation in Ukraine …
Please continue to pray for peace and safety in Ukraine. Over the weekend, 100 policemen were injured and 3 were killed in protests in front of the Ukrainian congress (Duma). While the war in the east continues to drone on (with 1-2 Ukrainian soldiers killed a day), it appears that we are now facing some internal struggles as well. We have a very small, right-wing group that tends to be very violent when they don’t get their way. This makes the already difficult situation for Ukrainian lawmakers even harder. We also have parliamentary elections coming up in October.
Additionally, there have been a number of attempted terrorist bombings and bomb attempts. Most of the persons captured have been Russian citizens and even Russian military (although Russia claims they are not active personnel, even though documents show otherwise). Be praying for peace in Ukraine. Peace in the east as well as peace in the country. If you did not get a chance to see the video showing what the “ceasefire” looks like in Eastern Ukraine, here is the link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIe5N51I_RU. Please pray for peace so that Ukraine can return to normal.
Most of all, pray for the gospel to be spread in Ukraine. We have students in every area of Ukraine (although some have been prevented from coming to classes from Lugansk, Donetsk and Crimea). They are preparing for ministry and they are reaching out to young people and starting new churches. Due to the current crisis in Ukraine, many are also involved in refugee work. Pray for many open doors for them.
Thank you again for your prayers and support for us! As we start a new year, we are aware that God has given us an opportunity to train and equip Ukrainians for ministry as well as reaching out to university students with the gospel. Thanks for helping us do this ministry here!
By His Grace,
Jim, Katya, Kristina and Nadia
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