August 10, 2012

• Our first visitor to Kiev + Residency status gained + the church growing = God’s blessings!

  Life has been very busy here in Kiev over the past few weeks. The last 10 days of July, my mom (Jan Rainey) was with us. She was our first visitor to Kiev, and wow, did we have a great time! During her time with us, we gave her the whirlwind tour:

       -     We visited churches and worshiped the Lord with many brothers and sister in Christ here in Kiev.

       -     We took an excursion with our Russian language instructor, Olga, and Dr. Fletcher Tink (a visiting professor from

             Nazarene Theological Seminary) to see many of the history religious sites in the city.

       -     We visited the Kiev Zoo.

       -     We had lunch in the home of Al and Natalie, some of our Ukrainian friends.

       -     We visited our Russian language instructor’s home in the forest.

       –     We had fun one day at the water park in Dream Town.

       -     We entertained a group of 18 (mostly teenagers) in our home for an evening of fun and Bible study.

       -     We visited a monastery and were able to have mom enter the catacombs where many monks lives for years.

       -     And my mom watched the kids so that Jenni and I could go on a date.

  My mom’s heart was visibly moved by the people of this country. She loved on our friends… and she loved on complete strangers… in the way that only my mom can do. What a great memory for us, for her, and for Bekah and Sarah!

  One of the highlights of our time together was our excursion with our Russian language instructor, Olga, and Dr. Tink. Olga led us to an area of the city where two churches (St. Michael and St. Sophia) stand facing each other at opposite corners of a street. What we discovered was that the day we had chosen for our excursion was the anniversary of the Christianization of all Russia. In 988 AD, Prince Vladimir I made Christianity the religion of the land and marched the inhabitants of Kiev to the river. Everyone, by order of the prince, threw his/her idols into the river and was baptized.

  So, here we were in the midst of a grand celebration. We climbed into the bell tower of St. Michael’s where we had a great view of the procession. At the same time, the bell ringer began to do his job as the procession marched from St. Sophia’s Cathedral to the river. During the procession, the young man who was ringing the bells motioned us into his cubical. He invited us to ring the bells WITH HIM! What a great experience for us all!

  This past Sunday, the church plant (in Pozniaky) where we have been attending on Sunday evenings moved its service time to the morning. The first Sunday service with the new time was held outside at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) camp. We had 45 people in attendance and had a great day! Many in attendance are brand new to the church and many are new believers. It is exciting to see God building His church and to see God’s people reaching out in love. Many of these people at Pozniaky originally met our church through mission outreach teams from Nazarene Universities this summer. Through their ministry input, in addition to effective and loving follow up from the Ukrainians at the church, the church is growing! Praise God for partnership in ministry!!!

  We praise God for receiving our one-year residency status this past week! This part of life here has been quite the journey. We have learned much in the way of patience and trust in the Lord. There are still some details we need to work out with Bekah and Sarah’s status, but we know that God will help us navigate these roads in the days ahead.

  I am preaching at Kiev First Church this coming Sunday and am excited to share God’s Word again.

  I also have some upcoming trips to Armenia, Germany, and Russia in the month ahead. Please pray for God’s grace and wisdom as I visit brothers and sisters in Christ in each location.

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