Category: Ukraine

Overcoming Fear

When I first heard that we were going to visit the war zone in Ukraine, my first reaction was one of fear and uncertainty. Is it safe? How will Americans be viewed in this territory? Weren’t there other regions we could visit? One thing I have learned during our ministry work with Potential Endeavors is that we often do not understand why we are doing something, but we must trust God because he often has a plan for us that we cannot see and often understand.

So as we do in Ukraine, we responded with ok, let’s do it. Saying yes does not instantly remove the fear, but it does remove the control that I often like to have.

On Friday morning we headed off on our journey. Our first stop was in the border city of Kharkiv. We stayed in the home of the Regional Pastor of the Kharkiv region. We were close to the border of Russia, but this was not the occupied territory, so we felt safe. As we went to bed that night, we heard what sounded like gunfire off in the distance. Not sure if that was what we heard, but it certainly did not do much to calm my nerves as we prepared to head into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Serviadonesk. It is the second largest city in the Luhansk region and has become the government center since Russia has occupied the largest city of Luhansk. As we drove, we came to a military checkpoint. Ukrainian army personnel stopped all vehicles. We had to show our passports and explain our purpose in entering the region. I rolled down my window and showed the soldier my passport. When he saw it was an American passport, he got a big smile and said thank you to us. It was a small gesture, but it helped to put my mind at ease and let me know that things were going to be ok on this trip. As we drove, we saw military vehicles – tanks, personnel carriers and trucks which once again reminded me we were close to dangerous places, but I felt safe.

We arrived at the church where we were holding the meeting. This was a gathering of the Regional Pastor, his wife and 15 pastors and church leaders with their spouses. We had a time of sharing with each other and hearing about their ministry work. We heard about the challenging times since the war begin 7 years ago. We heard about the people who have left the region, joblessness, and the level of depression in the area. But we also heard how thankful they were for our visit. We were the first Americans that they had seen since the war began. It gave them hope that maybe others would begin to return and help them as they do ministry.

Those fears that I had felt when I first heard about going to this region were gone. I now saw why God had us make this trip! As we had two checkpoints on our exit, the fear was gone. This experience taught me a few things:

First, my fears can often keep me from doing the things that God wants me to do. I would not have chosen to go to this territory on my own, but I believe this was where God wanted us to be on this trip.

Second my fears are usually based around wanting to be in control. I was not in control of this trip, I just had to go where God sent us.

Third, my fears are based on what I think could happen rather than trusting that God will protect me and take care of me.

We are so thankful that we were able to make this visit. We met some great people and in a small way we were able to encourage the pastors and church leaders to look at their ministry and ask themselves if they should do things differently to reach their communities with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Ukraine

Come and See

We are Going Back!

After 15 months of dealing with the Covid restrictions, we are finally returning to Ukraine! We are so excited to return to continue our work and to see the many friends we have been missing. While we have been able to see pictures and talk on social media, there is still nothing like face to face interactions.

While we have been to Ukraine many times, after this pandemic it feels like we are starting new again. Much has changed in the world since we were in Ukraine last. Travel requires masks, Covid tests, vaccinations and possibly quarantines. Gatherings have been limited. People are encouraged to stay six feet apart. Transportation has changed as have services provided by hotels, like meals. People’s lives have changed due to sickness and deaths. And in Ukraine, worry over Russian threats has increased.

Yet, with all these changes, we are excited to return to Ukraine. We still know that even though conditions have changed, the Good News of Jesus is still the same. We know that now is the time for churches to think differently about how they connect with people. We know that people have moved to more on-line experiences and the importance of a church’s online presence has never been more important. The world has forever changed, so churches cannot go back to trying to be as they were before covid hit.

As we return this week, our theme for the trip is “Come and See”. We took this from The Chosen, which is such a great telling of the story of Jesus. As people met Jesus, they would tell others to “Come and See” what an amazing person Jesus was. Nathanial and the woman at the well, used these words as they shared with their friends, family, and neighbors about their interaction with Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus healed the sick, provided for the needs of the hungry, challenged the teaching of the religious leaders, spent time with the outcasts from society so that He could share the Good News of Living Water, Truth and Life.

Our prayer is that as we share with pastors and church leaders, we can accomplish three things:

Encourage them as they have been leading through a challenging season.
Challenge them to ask the question “Is our church and place where people can “Come and See” Jesus.
Provide them tools to help them make the changes that they need to make them relevant to this changed world.

Be praying for us as we travel. Pray that we have negative covid tests and can manage 20 hours of wearing a mask. Pray for our meetings and time with pastors and leaders that we can encourage and support them in their ministry.

Ukraine

What’s Next

We just got home from an amazing trip to Ukraine and Germany and we had so many amazing experiences. Here are four things that God taught us on this trip:

God puts people in your life every day that are easy to miss!

One of the things I learned on this trip is that God is always putting people in your life for a reason, but in my past, I too often was so busy with my own agenda that I missed people that were on God’s agenda for me. One example of this. When we were on the train from Kiev to Lviv on our way to participate in English camps with Campus Ukraine, we were sitting next to two women. Our train left very early so people slept most of the way, but as we started to pull into Lviv, our friend Dima struck up a conversation with the two women next to us. One of them was a university student, so he introduced us as Americans who were on our way to Lviv to work in the English camp. He invited her to camp, told her when it was and where. She responded with a familiar response – I think I am busy. Well when the camp started on Tuesday night, who walked into our class – the girl from the train. This began a new friendship that I believe God will use in a powerful way.

God has plans for you, if you are patient enough to wait for His timing!

We went on our trip to Ukraine to explore ministry opportunities for the future. We knew that God was leading us to work in Ukraine, but as we left for this trip we had no idea what those opportunities would be. Throughout our trip we met with many different teams and learned about their ministry and what their needs were and how could we help them. As we completed our trip, we had come up with ten different opportunities that were presented to us. One of these opportunities was one that we never expected. We met with a church leader over churches in the Cherkasy region. We went into the meeting not expecting any ministry opportunities to come from it, but God had other plans. It turns out that our meeting was an answer to his prayers. He had been praying for a year that someone would come to help him work with the churches in his region to help them make the changes needed to reach those who need Jesus in their region. I believe this was the very meeting that God had prepared for us to show us what He had planned for us. It is amazing how God puts all the pieces together in His timing!

Take time to listen and ask how you can pray for people!

One of the best parts of this trip was the number of meetings we had with different people from cities across Ukraine. We had meetings with people from Lviv, Kiev, Cherkasy, Chigirin and Odessa. Even though we live 5000+ miles away and speak a different language, we still serve the same God! There are opportunities across the world to share the love of Christ to those who need and are searching for it. While in Lviv, we stayed in a hostel that had a common area that was used as a lunchroom. Each evening after working in the English camps we would sit in the common area and talk. Each night God would bring new people to the table from across the world and we would have an opportunity to talk with them. During our time in Lviv, we had the opportunity to share God’s love and plan for salvation with a man from China, who spoke no English or Ukrainian, but we shared through Google Translate; an atheist from Belgium who was backpacking across Eastern Europe and an American from Philadelphia who was traveling across Europe before starting graduate school. We also had many meetings with ministry leaders working in Ukraine. We could hear their story, listen to their needs and challenges, provide encouragement and then pray for them. It was incredibly powerful to see how God is working through the lives of so many people.

Take the time for that one additional conversation!

On our last day working in Ukraine, we had the opportunity to share with Campus Ukraine Catalytic team from Kiev. We had a fun afternoon of sharing stories, discussing time management and team dynamics. As the day ended and people were off to other commitments, one couple stayed behind because they wanted to ask us something. Their friends were encouraging them to get to the car as they had a train to catch, but they wanted to talk. It turns out that they live in the Odessa area and they work with Campus Ukraine, military families and pastor a church that is striving to reach their community. They wanted to talk because they wanted to ask if we would be willing to meet with them to help them in their ministry. We said yes and gave them our contact information. We have already had one meeting, and I believe that God is going to use this family to make a big impact in their community.

God is so good! We are so excited to begin making plans for ministry with Ukraine in the years to come. We still have many obstacles – like approval of our non-profit from the IRS – but I believe that we know where God wants us to take the next step and continue to remember to TRUST HIM!

Ukraine

Undiscovered Roads

We are super excited to be heading to Ukraine next week. We have meetings with many people and groups and we are praying that God will use this trip to reveal to us where He wants us to be working next.

This is a very different trip for us. We do not have a defined purpose other than to listen to God’s direction. For me this is probably the hardest part. I am not used to doing things without a defined plan and clear outcomes. We have no idea what will come next after this trip.

During this trip, we will be visiting three cities, meeting leaders of three different international ministries, meeting with some church leaders and spending some time with friends. We will be attending an English camp and experiencing a week of what that type of ministry could look like. We are going into each meeting and experience with these two simple questions:

What could we do to help you in your ministry?
Is this where God wants us to give our time and energy?

We do not know what the answer to these questions will be. If this trip is anything like our past seven months, the answer will probably be very different from what we would think or expect. God has a way of surprising us with answers that are very different from what our thoughts or expectations are. We are praying that God will reveal to us His plans in His timing and that we would continue to be faithful and walk through each door as He opens them, no matter what they may be.

We know that this trip is part of His plan and we feel confident that ministry in Ukraine is part of what God has for us. We have no idea what that ministry or work will be. That makes this both very exciting as well as very scary. Learning to be faithful and truly trust God is a journey. Each turn of the road provides another opportunity to challenge our faith and willingness to allow God to lead us.

Here are our prayer requests for this trip:
• That God will reveal to us His plans for Potential Endeavors.
• That we will be faithful to walk through doors that He opens.
• That we will trust God and not try to figure it out based on our own wishes and ideas.
• That we will be used by God to encourage and support others.

Thank you for going along with us on this journey through your prayers and thoughts!