September marks a major milestone in our ministry as I begin my 21st year teaching through Teaching Resources! 20 years ago, Jim came to Ukraine to teach the first class at Kiev Theological Seminary. Since that time, Jim has taught an average of 4-7 classes every year in Ukraine. We have seen many graduates go out from the seminary. Additionally, Jim has taught in many other countries, including Haiti, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia and Bulgaria. These years have been filled with great ministry, memories and an abundance of God’s grace! Here are a few of his memories.
20 years of Teaching Ministry …
First Trip – Russia and Ukraine … Quite an Introduction!
It would be impossible to forget my first trip teaching overseas. To save money, I decided to combine teaching at two places – Russia and Ukraine – making my first trip nearly a month long. I flew to Moscow’s international airport, then transferred to its domestic airport on the other side of town. From there, I took a plane to Kiev. In Kiev, I discovered that I had forgotten my notes for classes there! I contacted Debbie and she began the process of faxing all my notes to me through AOL dial-up in Kiev (that was all we had then). It was not only a dial-up at 9600 bauds, but the phone lines were so old that we were continually being disconnected. We spend most of two days faxing my notes so that I was able to teach the classes in Kiev.
From Kiev, I flew back to Moscow and we took a train to Nishny-Novogorad. Our contact was supposed to get us 1st class tickets on the train, but instead, he gave us coach tickets with someone else’s name to save money! We were in a sleeper car with 2 other Russian men who insisted on us having a drink with them! Neither I nor the other professor travelling with me knew any Russian and we soon had two angry, drunken men upset because we would not drink their “Russian wine”. They kept saying we thought our American wine was good and Russian wine was bad. Fortunately, one of the men was in the army in East Germany and he knew German. In my terrible German, I was able to explain that we did not drink any alcoholic beverages. That seemed to satisfy them and they fell asleep soon afterwards.
The teaching time in Nishny-Novogorad was great but I was shocked by the responses of the people we met on the streets and on the buses. Once they found out that we were Americans, they were so glad to meet us. They all said we were the first Americans they had ever met and they never expected to meet an American because Nishny-Novogorad had been a “closed” city to foreigners because it was the main nuclear submarine base in Russia. I’ll never forget when seeing the pictures of the pastors of the church on the back wall – there were probably 20-25 pastors from 1921-25. I asked why and one older gentleman sadly made a gun with his fingers and said, “Bang, bang.” I understood that they had all been killed by communists in those early years and I realized that these people had persevered in their faith against unbelievable odds.
Nimes, France … A Church in Revival!
There were many other trips to follow but I will never forget teaching in Nimes, France. It was one of the most beautiful settings I have ever taught in. The church/seminary was located in southern France in an old chateau. Also the church there was experiencing a time of revival. I arrived on Sunday afternoon to teach a one-week class on the Cults. On the way from the airport, the Dean assured me that I would only be introduced at the Sunday evening service – I would not be preaching. However, after the worship time, the pastor got up and introduced me and said I would be preaching tonight! I did and after the sermon, the pastor had another announcement: We would be meeting an hour before classes began every morning (7 am) and “Dr. Ehrhard will be preaching to us each morning!” So I did.
After the Monday morning service, he had another announcement: I would be preaching in a special service each evening before dinner! So I taught from 8 am until 6 pm, and then preached at the 7:00 service. After the service while we were all having dinner, my translator informed me that their tradition included a Q and A session for an hour after the dinner too! So around 10 pm each evening, I returned to my room to look over notes for the next day, got to sleep after midnight only to wake up about 5 to get ready to do it all over again! I have never been more exhausted in all my life but it was also one of the really special times in my life to be part of a revival movement!
Teaching in Belgium … An Amusing Moment!
I taught in Belgium every other year and one year I was asked by the president of the seminary to consider leading a new department focusing on the Puritans. So we sat down with the Dean to talk about this and the Dean began by asking if I had read “Pecker.” I told him I didn’t think so. He was shocked and said everyone who knows the Puritans knows “Pecker.” I told him there were many Puritans and I did not know them all. He continued to be amazed and said it was impossible to teach about the Puritans and not have read “Pecker.” I asked for some titles of his works, and the Dean said he did not know any but everyone knows J. I. Pecker. Then it clicked – I said, “you mean J. I. Packer?” “Yes, of course, that’s what I’ve been asking, ‘Have you read Pecker?’” Trying not to laugh, I replied that I thought I had read everything Packer had ever written and that seemed to satisfy him.
Teaching in Bulgaria … No Means Yes!
Another interesting experience was teaching in an Assembly of God seminary in Sofia, Bulgaria. The hardest thing to learn was that, in Bulgaria, no really means yes. I was teaching a class on the doctrine of God and whenever I ask if the students understood, they shook their heads, “no.” So I tried to explain it again but got the same response. That’s when the translator turned to me, smiled and said, “You probably don’t realize that in Bulgaria we shake our heads ‘no’ when we mean ‘yes.’” It helped to understand, but it was still difficult to realize they were saying “yes” every time they shook their heads, “no.”
One of my most memorable experiences in teaching also took place in Bulgaria. The seminary was an Assembly of God school and openly Arminian. I was a Calvinist teaching about the sovereignty of God in a theology class. The dean of the seminary was my translator. After a few days of teaching, she came to me and said, “This class has been a wonderful experience for me. Usually I go to bed praying about all the evil and battling with Satan and I wake up worrying about the battle with Satan for the next day. But this week, listening to all the passages about God’s sovereignty, I’ve been going to bed praising God for His protection and for His control over every detail of my life!” That’s what right theology will do for you!
Many other Wonderful Experiences …
I could write about many other wonderful experiences since coming to Ukraine 20 years ago. Most of my time has been spent teaching at Kiev Theological Seminary which also celebrates its 20 year anniversary this September. During most of those years, I taught 4-5 classes traveling back and forth from the US. We’ve had students from Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia, Moldova, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Lithuania (and one from France). In 2010, I married Katya and moved to Ukraine. In all those years, I have taught nearly every student who graduated from the seminary, all of whom are ministering in Ukraine (some have moved to the states). In 2014, our first daughter, Kristina, was born. In 2015, Nadia was born. This spring, we decided to buy some property owned by relatives moving to the states and we began the process of turning a large one-story garage into an even larger two-story house. We’ve made a lot of progress: we now have all the walls and subflooring and we are working on getting the kitchen in. It still looks like spring to be finished but it has really been an amazing (and strange) experience building a house in Ukraine!
House Update …
As we mentioned, last month, we are almost completely out of finances for building. We decided to slow the building process down and build with the monthly money we receive. We are ready to do the kitchen cabinets but we are waiting until we have the money to do them. If you want to give a gift of any amount to help just designate it to 1700–Housing and we will use it for completing our house in Ukraine. Any amount would greatly help us out!
We are moved …
A couple of weeks ago, we moved out of our wonderful apartment in Kiev to a village about 20 minutes south of the city. So far, we love it. It is peaceful and quiet here. We have an (over)abundance of fruit of all kinds. And we are near the new house so I don’t have to drive every day to coordinate construction.
The kids love being outdoors. Nadia gets up every morning, puts on her shoes and stands at the door and cries to go outside! She wanders around under the fruit trees, raising up one hand toward the fruit above and utters, “oh!” She is amazed that fruit just falls from trees and she can eat it! Every day, the girls are eating apples and pears and enjoying living in the country. Kristina loves jumping on the trampoline and running up piles of gravel pretending to be an Olympic pole vaulter (we watched Lexi Weeks, our friend from Cabot, compete in the Olympics). Kristina’s Russian is also amazing. She picks up new words every day and she can really carry on conversations in Russian. We realize that we will need to work more on her English. She understands perfectly but she tends to answer in Russian. That’s no problem for us, but we realize that English speakers will not be able to understand what she is saying!
Teaching begins next month …
Classes have already begun at the seminary and I will be teaching soon. I am working on syllabi now and this week, we will be having interviews and introductions for the new entering class. In September, I will be helping with the Worship class at KTS. In October, I will be travelling to Lviv to teach classes on Prayer and Worship at Ukrainian Baptist Seminary. In November, I will be teaching Church History at KTS. So I have a busy semester ahead. Be praying for me as I begin my 21st year in Ukraine!
Christmas in America …
It looks like we will be returning to the states for the holidays again this winter. My son, Todd, is getting married in December and we want to be there for the wedding. We will be spending time in Cabot with Joy and also in Fayetteville with Sean and Meredith. Joel and Alyssa will be up for the wedding and the holidays so we look forward to seeing them too! Our time will be short but we hope to see many of you then, even briefly.
25 Years of Ukrainian Independence …
25 years ago, Ukraine upset the balance in the Soviet Union by voting for independence from the Soviet Union. Over 90% of the voters voted to leave the USSR! This led to hard times in Ukraine with inflation reaching a world-record 10,000%. But the people of Ukraine were committed to independence and they survived to build a better society. They continue to face hard times as Russia is doing everything it can to force Ukraine back into its sphere of influence. Russia has invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine and there is still a war going on in Eastern Ukraine that will hinder the growth of the country for many years to come. We have many students serving in the East and we pray for their protection and for the gospel to continue to go forth under difficult circumstances.
The military situation in Ukraine seems worse than ever before. Russia has built a forward attack base on Ukraine’s northern border with nearly 50,000 troops on “ready” status. Additionally, Putin has built up the forces in Crimea to 50,000 also with attack helicopters and tanks at Ukraine’s southern border. Many believe Putin is getting ready to attack from the north and the south while continuing their offensive in the east, encircling and surrounding the bulk of Ukraine’s military. Additionally, Putin keeps talking about Kiev’s failure to seek peace and he has been talking about the possibility of all-out war with Ukraine. Please pray with us for peace in Ukraine.
Thank you for your prayers and support! It is hard to believe that 20 years have passed so quickly. We have been able to touch so many lives with biblical and theological teaching during those years and it is because we have had so many faithful supporters, most of whom have supported us consistently from the very beginning! Thank you again for allowing us to minister in Ukraine!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
Kristina and Nadia
Teaching Resources International 