Colossians 1:10 is one of my favorite verses. Many times we are involved in doing good things that are not fruitful for the sake of God’s kingdom. Often it is difficult to tell if our labors are fruitful in the present and we have to wait to see fruit in the future. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse of fruitfulness even in the present. But it should always be our desire, not just to do good works but to be fruitful in those good deeds. So Paul prays for the Colossians: “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” That is our prayer also – we have much to do, but most of all, we desire to walk worthy of the Lord and to please Him in every way. But especially that we might be fruitful in our work.
April is a time of preparation, getting things ready for the fruit that is to come. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work without seeing fruit. But every now and then, God gives glimpses of fruit for His kingdom in every good work. Here are a few glimpses of our work in April.
Fruitful Teaching …
With no class scheduled for April, April is a time to catch up on grading and also a time for some rest and a short vacation with our family.
Usually in April, we have a lighter schedule at the seminary because of a spring break and Easter. We also usually have a faculty in-service training during April. This April was no different as we had training for faculty in using Moodle for our grading and for developing on-line courses for our students.
What impressed me was how much fruit has been produced from teaching the last 22 years here in Ukraine! As I looked around the seminar, I could not believe how many of our faculty and staff are former students of mine. I counted at least 17 former students that are now teaching or on staff at KTS! Additionally, four of these students are serving as Department Directors and one is the new president of the seminary. This does not include other students who are serving as deans and directors at other Bible Colleges and Seminaries in Ukraine. And this does not include all the students that are serving in ministries in Ukraine (usually 40 students per year). We also have students serving in Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Georgia, Poland, and China. What a blessing to catch a glimpse of the fruit that God is producing through our efforts here in Ukraine!
While I did not have a class to teach in April, I still had class work to complete. I have been working on final papers from our Masters in Biblical Counseling class on “Research and Writing for Biblical Counseling.” More papers from this class will be coming in this weekend and I hope to have them all finished in a couple of weeks.
Additionally, I am now working on getting ready for teaching Research and Critical Thinking in May. It will be my last class for this semester and I am looking forward to summer and a little rest! I am also getting my classes together for next fall.
Finally, I am doing some pre-marital counseling with two couples in our church. This takes some extra time but, if their marriages and families will walk worthy of the Lord, then they will also be able to produce fruit for His kingdom through their families.
Fruitful Time with Family
Our main goal for April was to spend some time together as a family. We have not had a vacation since our last trip to the states a year and a half ago. We decided to take a train trip to the Carpathian Mountains. We found a small 2 bedroom cottage in Yaremche that we could rent for about $80 – for a whole week! The place was perfect for us. It overlooked the River Put and we walked down to the river almost every day. The place where we stayed had a sandbox, a grill and a swing. Who could ask for anything more? Most of all, the setting was beautiful and peaceful surrounded by mountains on every side with one road in and out.
The girls loved the train ride. We chose the train because the cost was far less than driving (less than $100 for 4 of us round trip) but also so the girls could experience traveling on an overnight train. It took us 15 hours to get to our destination but we had lots of fun along the way. One of my favorite moments was when Nadia woke up in the middle of the night and said, “Papa, I don’t see myself.” They enjoyed sleeping and eating on the train and watching the countryside change from flat plains to rolling hills to mountains.
We are still working through various home-school curriculums to choose one for this fall. We really need to get everything this month (May) because it usually takes a couple months to ship things here. Our plan is to use a Charlotte Mason approach combined with some Unit Study activities. We are really looking forward to getting started – but we have to make our decision and place our order very soon. Pray for wise decisions as we work toward starting our home school here in Ukraine.
April is also planting season. We spent much of our “free-time” preparing our garden and getting seeds planted. We are expanding our garden a little this summer by adding pumpkins and zucchini. We are also working to add some beauty to our yard my planting flowers and adding a small waterfall. Finally, Jim has been out cutting wood and getting ready for next winter. This includes helping neighbors trim their trees and getting free wood in the process. You can’t beat free wood and happy neighbors!
A Fruitful Time for Ukraine …
Continue to pray for Ukraine. We continue to face regular attacks in the east even though the attacks are small scale. Russia continues to build up her troops around Ukraine and we never really know what this means. Pray for peace in Ukraine. Also pray that our students might continue to minister to our military (we have a number of students serving as chaplains), to refugees and in sharing the gospel in Ukraine.
Thankful that Your Works are also Bearing Fruit for Eternity …
Sometimes it is hard to know if your good works are bearing fruit, especially when giving to support missionaries abroad. Katya and I support 9 missionaries and we enjoy getting each of their newsletters and seeing how God is producing fruit in their lives. Sometimes we forget that our giving to missionaries is producing fruit in many other countries where we cannot serve ourselves. We want to thank you for your giving and your prayers that enable us to serve here in Ukraine and to see the fruit that God is producing through your good works! Thank you for sharing your lives and finances with us! We pray “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
Kristina and Nadia
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