Posted April 20, 2009
Paetkau's Place
Previous editions of the News & Notes are posted in the News Archive
#109 March 2009 Paetkau News & Notes
"Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I would prefer to see Ukraine again before I do." This was my earnest prayer during our travels through the country of Georgia. A fascinating country, just to the southeast of Ukraine, filled with history and interesting people. The 5 days we were there were only enough to give us a brief picture of what has taken place, and also what could take place.
The five day were spent meeting with a number of ministry leaders in four different cities, as our purpose was to ascertain what were the possibilities for building a bridge for ministry, over which the Ukrainian evangelical church might travel as it looks to be part of reaching out in different ways to the former Soviet Union. The needs are great in Ukraine, but there are Ukrainian church leaders who see that they need to look more to what God would have them do beyond their borders. Their ease of travel etc is different than a westerner, and therefore they have a great opportunity to be part of impacting the Eurasian continent for Christ.
The evangelical church in Georgia is small and struggling. After speaking with the different leaders, we all came away with a greater sense of the freedom that we have to share the Gospel and minister in Ukraine. Leadership here is looking to see how the Ukrainian church can partner with the body of Christ there, assisting with camps, training and other ministries. It will definitely be interesting to see how God works out the details over the coming years.
After returning from Georgia, I felt much safer travelling on the roads in Ukraine. Here, at least there is an attempt at following the traffic rules. More on the various experiences there in a moment.
In the meantime, life in Sumy continues to be very interesting. At the beginning of the month, I had the opportunity to teach a course here in Sumy at the college. This was my last course for this year, and it went well, and I am thankful for the opportunity. It was nice to have it finished though. The college has one more session, early in April and there is a teacher coming from the US for that.
Lanae has begun to take riding lessons here at a local stable. This is the interesting part - it is free as she is under 15 yrs old. So once a week she has a 1hr plus lesson. The stable has around 100 horses there, 30 are owned by the stable, and the rest are boarders. Some of the privately owned horses there are very impressive - champion thoroughbreds and others breeds similiar. She is really enjoying it. Of course, she also has the joy of learning how to clean out a horses stall etc. So, a good experience, and stretching language-wise.
The Sumy region has many cities and villages that do not have an evangelical church, or any church for that matter. Many of the evangelical churches that do exist are struggling due to a variety of factors. The leadership of the regions largest evangelical denomination met and have put together a plan where the larger churches will assist the smaller in various ways. Our church, Sumy Church of Grace, is responsible for the southeastern area of the region. We held a one day conference with members of 4 of the churches there in the region this month, taking 15 of our members to meet with those there. It was an interesting meeting. On our way home, a few of our members made this comment, "I thought we had problems. I see now that we are very healthy!" So, there is a lot of work ahead. Each Sunday different members of our church are travelling to minister within one of the 8 churches that we are assisting. At one church in a large town (over 7000 people), significant progress has already been made. Rather than only 2 people for morning service, now there are 9. The members there have a desire to reach their community, but over time people have moved away to the city, immigrated etc, and they have struggled along, slowly dying. But there are many who do not know Christ there, and there are believers there who need assistance both in growing spiritually themselves and in reaching out to their communities. In August there will be 3 5-day dvbs camps held at 3 of the churches. Please pray for these ministries.
Summer isn't very far away, and we are working on the plans for the camps that will be taking place. In June we will be holding two weeks of 5-day kids clubs in the 12 neighbourhoods around our church. Each day, we will be holding 5-6 three hour clubs (3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon). A really simple ministry format, as part of building bridges into our community and gaining awareness for the church. In July we will be having a 10 day kids camp, a 10 day jr high camp, a 5-8 day sr high extreme camp (either hiking or boating down the river), a 4 day family camp and a 4 day sr high/college yth festival. So there is a lot on the plate, and lots to plan and prepare for. Please pray for a) the planning b) the workers c) the finances (if you would like to take part financially, click here for the donation form).
The camp conference center project is continuing to make progress. During the month of March we did a lot of ripping up of old floor boards, and have started to fill in the crawl space with dirt and old bricks etc in preparation for pouring cement and laying tiles. That job is one that will take a while to complete, but we want to have it well under way prior to camp. Shall have to see how that goes.
A few have asked regarding the ministry center building project at the church. With the world-wide economic crisis, the company that is building the center in trade for space to build apartment buildings has run into credit problems, so the project is on hold. God knows what is best, and it is out of our hands, so the body here is waiting to see what God has planned next. In the meantime, we are busy ministering in the area surrounding the church, looking to see God reach out to the many surrounding the church through the members of our church and its ministries.
An interesting ministry that has been taking place over the past year is the presentations to teachers in the public schools, regarding teaching ethics to middle school students. The regional government has asked the churches to facilitate the teaching of ethics from a Christian viewpoint to the children. So a number of our members are involved in this ministry, doing seminars, distributing books and teaching material etc. God has opened the door for this ministry, and it is exciting to see the good response that they have received.
Back to Georgia…..
Georgia is famous for its fruit and for the wines that are produced from its vineyards. One of the by-products of the wine making process is what they use to create "Georgian Snickers". They put shelled nuts (walnuts etc) on a string and dip them in this toffee-like concoction, almost like making candles. Then when it hardens it looks like what you see hanging in the picture of the fruit stand. It is actually fairly tasty, but it definitely sends your sugar levels up.
As a result of the war with Russia in 2008, thousands of people have been displaced into refugee camps. These camps consist of homes that were built by the gov't with western help (see left). Some of the camps have natural gas, water/plumbing and electricity all connected to each home. Others don't - water is from a well and the toilet is an outhouse. But the camps all look similar. Rows upon rows of square homes, with a little patch of ground surrounding each for the owner to someday plant a small garden etc. One such camp has 10,000 people in it, 3000 of those are children. They don't have a school, park, playground, soccer field, anything like that. Two of the churches that we visited have ministries to these refugees in two different locations. These are huge ministry opportunities, but the church in Georgia is small. They see the needs and the opportunities, but can only do so much. Pray for those who are involve in these ministries, for wisdom, strength and stamina.
Prior to the Sunday a.m. service that we attended, the pastor said that we could share as God led. So, the 4 of us made a plan - one Ukrainian and one westerner. During the service, the pastor said that the 4 of us were all going to share - so change the plans a bit. While Steve was up sharing, the pastor leaned back to me and said, "John, do you sing?" I knew where this was going. "No." "What, you don't worship God in song?" "Yes, but not as a solo for church." Pastor Victor leans over and whispers "John can play guitar". "How about Steve?". "No, he doesn't either" "John can play the guitar very well", Victor adds again. I try and diplomatically get him to be quiet. "How about Amazing Grace in English, and then we will join you as a congregation?" "that's a good idea, John", says Victor. Those two pastors are birds of a feather… So Steve and I did an impromptu duet. It turned out fairly well J.
We did a number of things impromptu, especially since our itinerary was being planned by the day, depending on the contacts we had, and then the resulting contacts that they had etc. We went with the desire to get a big picture of what was taking place, and God gave us that. We also had the opportunity to experience the people and the culture, which was a very enriching experience. But like I said, it was nice to see Ukraine again.
That is all for now.
Talk to you soon,
John
4 the 5 of us sumites.
"Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I would prefer to see Ukraine again before I do." This was my earnest prayer during our travels through the country of Georgia. A fascinating country, just to the southeast of Ukraine, filled with history and interesting people. The 5 days we were there were only enough to give us a brief picture of what has taken place, and also what could take place.
The five day were spent meeting with a number of ministry leaders in four different cities, as our purpose was to ascertain what were the possibilities for building a bridge for ministry, over which the Ukrainian evangelical church might travel as it looks to be part of reaching out in different ways to the former Soviet Union. The needs are great in Ukraine, but there are Ukrainian church leaders who see that they need to look more to what God would have them do beyond their borders. Their ease of travel etc is different than a westerner, and therefore they have a great opportunity to be part of impacting the Eurasian continent for Christ.
The evangelical church in Georgia is small and struggling. After speaking with the different leaders, we all came away with a greater sense of the freedom that we have to share the Gospel and minister in Ukraine. Leadership here is looking to see how the Ukrainian church can partner with the body of Christ there, assisting with camps, training and other ministries. It will definitely be interesting to see how God works out the details over the coming years.
After returning from Georgia, I felt much safer travelling on the roads in Ukraine. Here, at least there is an attempt at following the traffic rules. More on the various experiences there in a moment.
In the meantime, life in Sumy continues to be very interesting. At the beginning of the month, I had the opportunity to teach a course here in Sumy at the college. This was my last course for this year, and it went well, and I am thankful for the opportunity. It was nice to have it finished though. The college has one more session, early in April and there is a teacher coming from the US for that.
Lanae has begun to take riding lessons here at a local stable. This is the interesting part - it is free as she is under 15 yrs old. So once a week she has a 1hr plus lesson. The stable has around 100 horses there, 30 are owned by the stable, and the rest are boarders. Some of the privately owned horses there are very impressive - champion thoroughbreds and others breeds similiar. She is really enjoying it. Of course, she also has the joy of learning how to clean out a horses stall etc. So, a good experience, and stretching language-wise.
The Sumy region has many cities and villages that do not have an evangelical church, or any church for that matter. Many of the evangelical churches that do exist are struggling due to a variety of factors. The leadership of the regions largest evangelical denomination met and have put together a plan where the larger churches will assist the smaller in various ways. Our church, Sumy Church of Grace, is responsible for the southeastern area of the region. We held a one day conference with members of 4 of the churches there in the region this month, taking 15 of our members to meet with those there. It was an interesting meeting. On our way home, a few of our members made this comment, "I thought we had problems. I see now that we are very healthy!" So, there is a lot of work ahead. Each Sunday different members of our church are travelling to minister within one of the 8 churches that we are assisting. At one church in a large town (over 7000 people), significant progress has already been made. Rather than only 2 people for morning service, now there are 9. The members there have a desire to reach their community, but over time people have moved away to the city, immigrated etc, and they have struggled along, slowly dying. But there are many who do not know Christ there, and there are believers there who need assistance both in growing spiritually themselves and in reaching out to their communities. In August there will be 3 5-day dvbs camps held at 3 of the churches. Please pray for these ministries.
Summer isn't very far away, and we are working on the plans for the camps that will be taking place. In June we will be holding two weeks of 5-day kids clubs in the 12 neighbourhoods around our church. Each day, we will be holding 5-6 three hour clubs (3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon). A really simple ministry format, as part of building bridges into our community and gaining awareness for the church. In July we will be having a 10 day kids camp, a 10 day jr high camp, a 5-8 day sr high extreme camp (either hiking or boating down the river), a 4 day family camp and a 4 day sr high/college yth festival. So there is a lot on the plate, and lots to plan and prepare for. Please pray for a) the planning b) the workers c) the finances (if you would like to take part financially, click here for the donation form).
The camp conference center project is continuing to make progress. During the month of March we did a lot of ripping up of old floor boards, and have started to fill in the crawl space with dirt and old bricks etc in preparation for pouring cement and laying tiles. That job is one that will take a while to complete, but we want to have it well under way prior to camp. Shall have to see how that goes.
A few have asked regarding the ministry center building project at the church. With the world-wide economic crisis, the company that is building the center in trade for space to build apartment buildings has run into credit problems, so the project is on hold. God knows what is best, and it is out of our hands, so the body here is waiting to see what God has planned next. In the meantime, we are busy ministering in the area surrounding the church, looking to see God reach out to the many surrounding the church through the members of our church and its ministries.
An interesting ministry that has been taking place over the past year is the presentations to teachers in the public schools, regarding teaching ethics to middle school students. The regional government has asked the churches to facilitate the teaching of ethics from a Christian viewpoint to the children. So a number of our members are involved in this ministry, doing seminars, distributing books and teaching material etc. God has opened the door for this ministry, and it is exciting to see the good response that they have received.
Back to Georgia…..
Georgia is famous for its fruit and for the wines that are produced from its vineyards. One of the by-products of the wine making process is what they use to create "Georgian Snickers". They put shelled nuts (walnuts etc) on a string and dip them in this toffee-like concoction, almost like making candles. Then when it hardens it looks like what you see hanging in the picture of the fruit stand. It is actually fairly tasty, but it definitely sends your sugar levels up.
As a result of the war with Russia in 2008, thousands of people have been displaced into refugee camps. These camps consist of homes that were built by the gov't with western help (see left). Some of the camps have natural gas, water/plumbing and electricity all connected to each home. Others don't - water is from a well and the toilet is an outhouse. But the camps all look similar. Rows upon rows of square homes, with a little patch of ground surrounding each for the owner to someday plant a small garden etc. One such camp has 10,000 people in it, 3000 of those are children. They don't have a school, park, playground, soccer field, anything like that. Two of the churches that we visited have ministries to these refugees in two different locations. These are huge ministry opportunities, but the church in Georgia is small. They see the needs and the opportunities, but can only do so much. Pray for those who are involve in these ministries, for wisdom, strength and stamina.
Prior to the Sunday a.m. service that we attended, the pastor said that we could share as God led. So, the 4 of us made a plan - one Ukrainian and one westerner. During the service, the pastor said that the 4 of us were all going to share - so change the plans a bit. While Steve was up sharing, the pastor leaned back to me and said, "John, do you sing?" I knew where this was going. "No." "What, you don't worship God in song?" "Yes, but not as a solo for church." Pastor Victor leans over and whispers "John can play guitar". "How about Steve?". "No, he doesn't either" "John can play the guitar very well", Victor adds again. I try and diplomatically get him to be quiet. "How about Amazing Grace in English, and then we will join you as a congregation?" "that's a good idea, John", says Victor. Those two pastors are birds of a feather… So Steve and I did an impromptu duet. It turned out fairly well J.
We did a number of things impromptu, especially since our itinerary was being planned by the day, depending on the contacts we had, and then the resulting contacts that they had etc. We went with the desire to get a big picture of what was taking place, and God gave us that. We also had the opportunity to experience the people and the culture, which was a very enriching experience. But like I said, it was nice to see Ukraine again.
That is all for now.
Talk to you soon,
John
4 the 5 of us sumites.
My hair after traveling through
the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi
the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi
(l-r) Ukraine Team members:
Me, Sumy Church of Grace pastors Micheal (Misha) Peminenko (Associate Pastor), Victor Nechai (Senior Pastor), & Steve Wooden (SEND Ukraine Area Director) standing in front of a statue of Stalin, the former Soviet dictator in his birthplace of Gori, Georgia. There is a huge museum located here dedicated to this man. During the recent war with Russia (spring 2008), the city of Gori was badly damaged, but the Russian troops took care not to damage any of the museum or the property it sits on.
Me, Sumy Church of Grace pastors Micheal (Misha) Peminenko (Associate Pastor), Victor Nechai (Senior Pastor), & Steve Wooden (SEND Ukraine Area Director) standing in front of a statue of Stalin, the former Soviet dictator in his birthplace of Gori, Georgia. There is a huge museum located here dedicated to this man. During the recent war with Russia (spring 2008), the city of Gori was badly damaged, but the Russian troops took care not to damage any of the museum or the property it sits on.
