Here I Stand … (October 2017 Update)
October 31, 2017 will mark the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. His theses started the debates that would lead to the Reformation and ultimate separation from the Church in Rome. His goal was not separation but reformation. He wanted to bring the church back to its doctrinal foundations found in the Bible alone. The Roman Church had grown so corrupt and powerful that something needed to be done. Luther’s 95 Theses began the Reformation.
Ultimately the reformation of the Roman Church failed and a conflict ensued between the Protestants (protesters) and the Roman authorities. At the Diet of Worms (1521), the break with the Roman Church was finalized when Luther refused to recant his teachings. At the tribunal to convict him of heresy, Luther stated:
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason…. I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God. Amen.”
So Luther stood only on the Word of God and the Reformation continued. Luther’s stance, along with many others who joined him, resulted in the separation of the church into Roman Catholic and Protestant. It resulted in a return to the Word of God as our sole authority. It returned to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.
This Reformation has changed the map of history, but more importantly, it has changed the lives of many people who came to see that Christ’s death was sufficient for them, apart from the traditions and rituals of the church. Churches and missionaries around the world minister on the same basis as Luther did in 1517: Our conscience is captive to the Word of God. We are here in Ukraine for this one reason: to teach the Word of God to ministers in Ukraine so that they too might have consciences bound to God’s Word alone. So, while we miss our homes and families in the states, we can say with Luther, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God!” Thank you for standing with us so that the gospel of His grace might be spread to the people of Ukraine and the former Soviet Republics!
Preparing for classes …
September began with teaching Soteriology at Kiev Theological Seminary. I especially love teaching this section about what the Lord has done to save us from our sins! We have many issues that we discuss and the students were very appreciative of the lessons. Also, while I was teaching the Soteriology class, I was able to meet the new class of students entering our Master’s program in Biblical Counseling and I was able to see many of the students that I have taught in this program the last few years. I will be teaching them this year in March (2018).
Thank you for praying for our Campus Ministry English Outreach that we have twice a year. This year our classes are from September 25-October 6. We have 175 students enrolled this time and we have already completed 1 week of classes. This is one of the few campuses where we are permitted to use the Bible. This is because the Dean learned English from an American missionary when he was a student and he really appreciates how these classes are taught. We are not allowed to evangelize in class but we can have conversations after class.
Our English clubs meet from 6-9 every night for two weeks. The first hour covers an English topic. The second hour, we read and discuss a Bible passage. In the third hour, we have some fun activities that also reinforce the students’ English skills. We have completed the first week and are beginning the second. During the second week, we also meet with students before classes to discuss their spiritual worldview. We do this from 3:30-5:30 so that we are able to meet with about 16 students. We meet off campus so we are free to discuss spiritual matters. Then we will follow-up with Bible Studies once a week for those who show some spiritual interest. Every year, we see a number of students become committed followers of Christ through this ministry! Continue to pray for us and our follow-up after the classes end.
This year, we are celebrating the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation (1517). On October 31st, I will be teaching some special seminars in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In the morning, I will be teaching a seminar on Luther’s Breakthrough. In the evening, I will do a seminar on John Calvin as a Pastor. I’m working on preparing for these lectures this month.
Additionally, sometime during this fall, I will be working on converting my World History class to an online format. This is really a lot of work, finding videos, developing lectures and projects and getting everything translated and set up. I will be working on this all year and hopefully have the class ready to go by next fall.
Finally, I am getting everything ready for teaching the Prayer and Worship class in Lviv at Ukrainian Baptist Seminary. I will be teaching this class, October 23-27. It is a really important class for incoming students as we talk about the theology of prayer and their person prayer lives. We will also be talking about many issues in worship, especially about keeping a God-centered focus in our worship. Be praying for me as I travel west to teach this new group of students.
Work on the house …
Right now, we are having the insulation installed on our house. We were planning to wait until the end of October to start but the builders said that was not a good idea because the glue and paint they use will not work once temperatures get near freezing in the day time. So we have started the work with what funds we have. We think we have about 2/3 of the necessary funds but still need about $2000 more to finish the job. So far, they have finished about 1/3 of the house and we can already feel the difference on the walls that have insulation. It should really be warm once we get all the insulation on. (The gray color is a glue. We will probably put the façade and color on at the end of the month).
We also had our woodstove installed and we have been using it exclusively for our heat the last week. With temperatures around 0 C at night, we have been cozy warm! And the insulation will help us even more when that is finished. It has been nice to have wood heat again. When we lived in CT, we heated our entire home with just wood all winter. It’s a little bit of work, but it feels and smells great! And it saves a lot of money over using gas to heat.
We have really been pleased with our energy savings already in this house. We built everything with a lot of passive solar heat sinks and we have a heated floor which is very efficient. Our electric costs are also very small since our windows allow so much daylight that we never use lights except at night. Also, all our lighting is LED so that saves a lot too. We have been living in our house since April, and even without insulation, we have spent less in electric and gas and water than we spent each month in our apartment (most Ukrainian apartments are not very energy efficient)! So we are looking forward to even greater savings when the insulation is done.
Once we complete the insulation, we should be finished with all our building projects. We are looking forward to not having workers arrive at 8 am each morning, but more importantly, we are looking forward to not having to spend any more money building the house! We still have major appliances on credit cards that we are paying off, but otherwise, we should be free from building expenses. This will be a real blessing to us, especially in saving a lot of month each month over rent!
Praying for Provisions …
As we mentioned above, we have need for some extra finances to finish the insulation job. But that is really not our greatest need. Over the last 5 months, our giving levels have dropped significantly. We have been hoping to save some money for working on the house in the fall but we have had to use all our extra funds to cover regular expenses. If you would like to help us at any monthly amount, we would greatly appreciate it! We have a small group of supporters that have been very generous in their support of us. Last month, we added another new family to our team of supporters. But we need to add at least 3 more families to get our monthly support back up to regular levels. Let us know if you would like to help by becoming a regular supporter.
Enjoying time with Family …
The best news of September was a new addition to our family: Harlie Noelle Cooper, born to Sean and Meredith on September 28th! We are really blessed to be able to see Harlie by Skype just a few hours after she was born. She was sleeping but Nadia and Kristina were really thrilled to see her too!
Kristina and Nadia continue to be a real source of joy as we watch them grow each month. They continue to love to dance, sing and paint! They also love watching old cartoons from the 50s and 60s, American and Soviet. The 50s and 60s seem to have been the highwater mark for cartoons! They were some of the best. Good color and good stories with clear moral lessons.
But they can have their funny “side-effects.” In Sunday School, one teacher had dressed up some stuffed animals to be Eli and Samuel. When she said, “This is Samuel.” Kristina and Nadia both insisted, “No, it’s Chipolino!” It took some time to explain that they were pretending it was Samuel.
Nadia is trying to do everything like her older sister – which can be a source of conflict often, but we are working through it! She also is trying to be the boss and tell everyone what to do – of course, Kristina does not listen to her. Nadia is also learning to help in the kitchen. She made her first pizza last week! Kristina is working on learning her letters and numbers. The girls love listening to stories from their books. And both love just being silly!
Katya is finishing up her driving school lectures and has starting practicing driving on the road. She’s doing really good in spite of having to learn on a manual transmission!
Praying for Ukraine …
Please don’t forget to pray for Ukraine. The war in Eastern Ukraine continues daily and each week, some of those defending Ukraine lose their lives. We also have a number of graduates and friends serving as chaplains in the army ministering to the soldiers. Pray for them as they minister the hope of the gospel to those defending Ukraine. Also remember to pray for the churches in Ukraine who are trying to minister to the millions of refugees from the war zone.
Thank you for your prayers and for your support! We love being able to teach the Word of God in an area of the world where the believers were persecuted for so many years. Now, we have freedom to teach the Word of God openly. Pray that it will go forth and not return void but will accomplish its purpose. Pray for us as we, like Luther and the Reformers before us, stand only on God’s Word!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
Kristina and Nadia
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