I can’t believe that we will be returning to Ukraine in a little over 5 weeks. Unfortunately, the war continues! Since we left the end of May, the missile and drone attacks have intensified, and Russia continues to attack Ukraine and make the lives of the people difficult.
Despite the war, God continues to work. Churches are having camps for children and teens. Baptisms are happening and people are finding Jesus. Since we left in May, the Books, Barbeque and Billboards (BBB) initiative has continued. After testing the use of the billboards and finding that it did not have much impact on connecting with people, the leaders shifted the strategy to using posters in community centers, schools and parks and worked with churches to invite people directly.
- This summer we have seen 35 churches sign up to receive books and lead a small group using Building Blocks for Raising Godly children.
- These churches were provided books, a BBQ grill and resources to buy food to share at the small group.
- In total, we have distributed 5800 books that are being used across Ukraine.
- We are in the process of printing 3000 more books, and these will be available for the fall.
Here are some comments from leaders of the groups:
- By the way, I have already conducted this course at a family camp. People really liked it. I will describe how everything went a little later. Soon we will start a group with parents at our home.
- Thank you! We received everything, and yesterday we held the first meeting to get acquainted. Everything went well, the meeting was pleasant, the meat was delicious – the grill works perfectly. (No photos yet, so as not to scare anyone on the first try )) The books are very good, I hope we will be able to be effective in learning with their help.
- Glory to our Lord for this wonderful project! It is simply great for communication in small groups and working with specific categories, such as families of servicemen or the servicemen themselves.
Thanks to all who contributed resources for this project.
In September we will return for 2 weeks of meetings. We will participate in the first session of the Church Planting Academy, a Leadership Conference hosted by the Baptist Union, a pastors leadership group in Cherkasy Region and speak at two churches during our time there plus other meetings with leaders and sharing my book.
In addition to traveling to Ukraine, we are also providing financial support to help with the costs of these meetings. We provide resources for:
- Church Planting Academy
- Leadership Conference
- Children Ministries Leaders Conference (held in October)
- Travel and other meetings.
We are praying that God will provide the $15,000 we need to cover these commitments.
As we get closer to leaving, we will provide a detailed schedule and prayer guide. We appreciate your prayers! If you would like to contribute to our needs for Ukraine, you can donate at Potentialendeavors.com/donate or through Venmo to @PotentialEndeavors.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at Rick.Post@potentialendeavors.com