2011 Spring Mission Trip

Matthew 28:19 - ... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ...

2011 Spring Mission Trip - Report 9

Report #9—Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Lord’s Day dawned with bright sunshine!! I think this is the first day that the sun was out all day long and temperatures were moderate. It was the setting for a wonderful day of worship and fellowship and it lasted all day long.

We met for worship and eighteen were present. The children’s class studied the Creation and they drew pictures that will be sent to those supporting my trip. Ivan’s opening remarks were followed with a prayer in which he mentioned the Judsonia congregation and their sending me to the Church here. He prayed for those at Judsonia making mention of the fact that he has come to know many by name and is always encouraged by remembering the times he has worshipped and fellowshipped with them. He next thanked God for those that supported this trip making it possible for me to come. It was a sincere prayer and I wish you could have been present to hear him.

The Bible Class and worship was in the flat where the Church is now meeting. There is a piece of property that has been given to the Church by the city of Ivano-Frankovsk for the construction of a church building. All the papers have been signed and registered and the Church owns the property. Another plot of land has also been gifted to the Church and it will be used in future plans in this Oblast.

The two assemblies today completely filled the room where the Church assembles. It is so encouraging to notice the growth in this congregation. Last night Ivan was telling me that for the past six months the Church has been focused upon maturing itself so it will be strong. Ivan is seeking a strong nucleus around which the congregation will grow. His plan is working very well. Over the last six months I can see a tremendous growth in the male members as now they lead the Church in prayers, singing, scripture reading, the Lord’s Supper, and even preaching. At the first all was upon Ivan to officiate and he had often expressed a strong desire to develop the men’s leadership so he would not be “THE Pastor” in control of the Church. Today Vasyl lead our worship in singing (he was immersed on my last trip); Volodya read Scriptures; Andrew officiated at the Lord’s Table. All did a commendable and proper job. This comes as a result of the special Bible study sessions that the congregation has committed itself to as they meet every night of the week (except Saturday) and spend two hours in an intensive Bible study. Most will come directly from their jobs.

The assembly was simple. The brotherly love was strong and visible. The devotion was evident. The Bible was read, discussed and followed.

Following the assemblies we had a fellowship gathering. Andrew and Marina had brought two “torts” (cakes) and I had shipped over the various mixes of candy that is on the Easter shelves. I had also picked up a large tub of “Double Bubble” gum at SAM’S and had shipped that. The children had been eyeing the bags of candy and tub of Double Bubble but they had neither touched nor asked—they sat politely but their eyes were begging. So I opened the sacks of candy and the response was like slopping hogs—a frenzy of hands holding up different pieces to decide which they wanted. The marvel is that each only took two pieces! I urged them to get more and they did not need any more encouragement. After we visited for a time someone said, “John, the kids want to know what will happen to that bowl of gum?” As permission was given, it was opened in a flash (I have that on video and it will be on the trip DVD for you to watch).

The congregation loves to drink coffee but they did not have a coffee pot. Usually they took a spoonful of grounds and put it into each cup and poured boiling water over it and let it sit and then drank it. That worked well until you forgot that the grounds were in the bottom of the cup and you took a big “last swallow”! I had intended to buy the congregation a coffee pot on my last trip but I had no time, so that was the first thing on my to-do list and yesterday I found a good one and bought it. I had shipped over two bricks of coffee and thought I was good to go but then realized I had no filters! There were no paper towels and with our beloved EPA you could not use toilet paper because it will dissolve in water. So we finally took a dish towel and cut away enough of it that it would fit into the basket and act as a filter (a former US Army buddy of mine told me that one time he and his troops were posted on the German border in the middle of winter and did not have a coffee maker so they took a sock and filled it with coffee grounds and tossed it into a pot of boiling water and that sufficed for the moment!). Thankfully, the whittled down dish cloth worked and no one had to surrender their sock! I was presented the first cup of coffee and it was good.

During the visits today I was talking with Sveta about how people react to the Bible and Christianity. She told me that when she first became a Christian her friends ridiculed her saying she would do better by reading Marx and Engels instead of the Bible. Then she said five years later those same friends came to her saying they had some scrap paper and it was the writings of Marx and Engels and then five years after that they came to her asking if she could get them a copy of the Bible!

Brother Bill Farris has sent a number of the World Video Bible School DVDs over here and Ivan has been busily distributing them. Andrew and Marina took one to show Marina’s grandparents. Marina is very concerned about the spiritual condition of her grandparents and she and Yullianana are doing all they can to get their grandparents to study and obey the Truth. So when they saw the WVBS lesson on the DVD, Marian just knew this would help them to understand. She said they watched the video and said it was good but they thought they had been in the Greek Catholic Church for so long there was no need in leaving. The disappointment shown on Marina’s face as she told of the visit and then she said “Why cannot people see the Truth because it is so simple?” But Marina is not giving up. She says that they will continue to do anything they can because her grandparents are very old and cannot have much more life left.

Many more stories could be recorded but it has been a very long day here and tomorrow looks just as busy. We are to visit the Religious Department and address a problem. Later on in the week we will go to Krivy Rog and Ivan says we may need to go earlier than planned because we have a problem there.

Continue praying for our efforts—you are a part of this work!

John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine