God has been allowing us to see Him act in so many amazing ways that I am truly excited and feel privileged to be called one of His children through the work of my savior Jesus Christ! God is amazing. Of course we knew that, but I have been reminded of that many different ways in the past few weeks. We are eager to share these stories with you when we return and I am sure that we will have many more by then.
Things are going well, although, they are also going somewhat differently than we expected. Which I suppose is actually what we expected:-)
I will attempt to share one really cool story, which is actually the story of how God is weaving many little stories together in a way only He could do. I apologize in advance for the length of this email!Many of you are familiar with the comparison of the tapestry or need point to our view of what God is doing. If you look at one side of the tapestry it just looks like a confusing mess of thread and knots, meanwhile, it makes a beautiful picture on the other side. In the last week God has brought many of the lose threads He has sown into our lives and allowed us to see a very small part of the picture He is making.
Some of the "threads":
* A few years ago we got involved with a ministry in with Ukrainian kids visiting U.S. and in Ukraine.
* The youth pastor at our church at that time mentioned to us that the some people he knew from his seminary in California (a seminary known for its solid Christian theology) had been involved with starting a seminary in Ukraine - Irpin Seminary. He wondered if we heard of it, if it was near the area we visit and just wanted to make us aware of this connection.
*Joelle and I both read an awesome book that was recommended by the pastor of a Ukrainian Baptist church back home. The book is called Beyond the Rapids. I believe I can say for both of us that God used this book to change both Joelle and I as it described the lives a one devoted Christian family who lived through severe persecution in Soviet ruled Ukraine. The way Alexei Brynza and his family truly trusted God with all aspects of their lives in true and humble submission and the amazing things they witnessed God do as a result was truly convicting and inspiring. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Alexei went on to found a well known, Biblically solid seminary still in Ukraine today- Irpin Seminary.
*During our time in Ukraine last summer we ended up attending a church that has a love for the Lord, however, even though we couldn't understand much of the teaching due to the language issue, we weren't so sure it was a church where God wanted us to attend regularly. This happened through the suggestion and introduction of by our helper here in town.
*Upon returning to Ukraine this time we did not want to feel obligated to continue attending this church even though we made some friends there and even kept in contact with them. We wanted to seek and wait for God's provision of and direction to a solid, Bible teaching church. We waited until just last Sunday.
*Also upon arriving to Ukraine we were told that it would be very good if we attended(or least visited) a particular small Baptist church here in town since they sometimes work with the people we are helping here and since this church helped with the paperwork necessary for us to stay in Ukraine beyond 90 days.
*Again, we had an unsettled feeling about getting locked into a church here that we really don't know too much about. We were especially concerned about this since we realized that there may be the possibility that some of the children we are hoping to reach out to here could end up attending church with us. The Bible is very clear on the severity God places on leading others astray. With that in mind, we set out to do some research to see if there might be a solid Bible teaching church in the area that shared the same theology that we believe to be God's Truth and prayed for God's direction.
*After researching on the web, seeking to advice of some believing friends back home and emailing an Eastern European Believer working with the Slavic Gospel Association in Chicago; such a church was brought to our attention. Amazingly, there was a small church plant from this association right here in our small town in Ukraine. We were very eager to visit it and needed to find out the details of when and where they were meeting.
*My SGA connection in Chicago told me that the pastor of the church did not speak English and said "he was not friends with his computer", but his son spoke English.
*The next day we spoke to the friends that we came here to help with ministry who reminded us that it was important for us to go to the Baptist church that they told us about when we first arrived. They said it would be OK to visit this other church, but said it was very important to connect with the church they were recommending.
*Our excitement was brought down a little, but we figured it couldn't hurt to at least make a showing at this Baptist church once in a while, but that we would still try to find this other new church.
*we waited for an email from the pastor's son to tell us where this new church was, but he didn't reply in time so we decided that we really should go to church this Sunday and that we would go visit the recommended Baptist church while we waiting to receive more information about this new church God had answered our prayer with. Hopefully by next Sunday.
*When we arrived at the little church, surprisingly, I was greeted by someone who spoke perfect English and then by the very friendly Ukrainian pastor who I had met before on a previous trip to Ukraine. This new man translated my conversation with the pastor for me. The pastor asked me if I had ever heard of the Slavic Gospel Association? You may see where this is going - but wait there's more.
*It turned out that we unknowingly were in the very church I had been directed to through prayer and research and I was speaking to the pastor's English speaking son who was there that day. Later, I found out he hadn't been there in 2 or 3 years since he is on staff and often preaches at his own church about 60 Kilometers away.
*He interpreted for us throughout the service and afterwards as we ate lunch in the tiny back room kitchen of this small house church. (and for our home church friends - yes we did sit in the front row:-)
*I asked the pastor if he was familiar with the Irpin seminary - it turns out that he was among the first men to attend this seminary! He knew, had many stories about and much respect for Alexei Brynza and his wife Valentina. We could not belief how God was bringing all these things together right before us as we shared a meal with someone who personally knew the people we learned so much from through the Beyond the Rapids book.
*The pastor did not realize there was a book written about his friends, but was nearly in tears as he looked through it and the pictures of many people he knew and loved as he sat next to me on the couch in our living room later that afternoon. This was an amazing experience.
There is even more to this story but this is already getting way longer than I was planning. Sorry for the length of this email, but I really had to share just how awesome God is (as you already know)and wanted to write it out before I forgot the details. This and other experiences have just confirmed to us that we are where God wants us. We are not always clear of exactly why He wants us here or even how long He wants us to stay here, but every time we have doubts or uncertainty and commit to seek and follow Him anyway, He usually reassures us with something like this. Praise Him!
