Our week

Monday: Had to go to Kiev to pick up official notarized translations of our passports and marriage license so that we could finish our registration process. Then in the afternoon Liese and I went to the local notary to sign an official petition that I was willing for my wife to be registered at the house that I own. Liese, unfortunately had a migraine.

Tuesday: Started the process of replacing our front door and windows of our entrance way.


Wednesday: Finished installing the windows and door.

We finished by early afternoon and then we went to help out at the church's monthly evening for senior citizens.

Thursday: Didn't go to the rehab center this week as they were busy with building projects for their pig farm, so instead Liese and I worked in the yard cleaning up leaves and the construction mess. We spent the evening with the Vitenko family from our church, with whom we've been getting together to talk about some of the questions they have about their faith.

Friday: Took a day off/sabbath day. Found out the registration process is done and we are registered as living in our house. Went for a walk in the park.

Saturday: The plan is to have a meeting in the morning, set up the digital projector at church so we can finally go digital with our overheads, worship band practice, and then relax.

Break it down

5 thoughts on Faith

Today while studying for Sunday's sermon on Hebrews 11:29-28 I read a sermon that John Piper preached on that section. He brought out five points about faith that I think are very helpful in thinking about faith.


...1... Through our faith God can and does work miracles and acts of providence to bring practical earthly help and deliverance to his people.

...2... God does not always work miracles and acts of providence for our deliverance from suffering; sometimes by faith God sustains his people through sufferings.

...3... Having faith is not the ultimate determining factor in whether you suffer or escape, God is - God's sovereign will and wisdom and love.

...4... The common feature of the faith that escapes suffering and the faith that endures suffering is this: both of them involve believing that God himself is better than what life can give to you now, and better than what death can take from you later.

...5... Those who love God more than life and suffer willingly awaiting something better than what this earth can offer, are God's great gifts to the world.

Thoughts after a (molotov) cocktail

We've been in Ukraine about 8 years now and have gone through different sorts of hardships from pickpockets, to break ins, to harassment, and now to the threat of a group burning down our buildings. This week I've been thinking about all of these and how we react.

One of the things I've been thinking about is what I would like to have in life vs. what God has called me to as a Christian (just a Christian, not a missionary).

What I want:
- a warm, clean, efficient, good-looking house
- my family to be safe from harm
- peace and quiet
- family nearby
- good health
- to be able to afford to buy things that make life easier

What I have been called to:
- life as if my home was in heaven, not here on earth
- joy in the midst of suffering
- persecution for my faith
- serving the needs of others more than my own needs
- give because God has given to me

There are a few things that can be added to both those lists but those are the things that I have been contrasting in my head the last few days as I thought about the reality of a group of people attacking our church and given the reason that we are a protestant church. I realize that God doesn't call us to an easy, quiet life. Sure, God may give that to us but that is not the reward for being a Christian.


Liese and I have also been discussing the difference between suffering (in a general sense) and persecution. The reason we started to talk about it is because so often in response to things like this attack on our church people say things like "this just shows you are doing something right". That is an encouraging thing to say, but I'm not sure how true it is. I mean, were we doing something wrong before this sort of thing happened? So often adversity on the mission field, in a church anywhere, or on a mission trip is counted as a spiritual attack that is meant to stop us from finishing that good thing we started. And yet Jesus says that persecution is simply a result of us being like him, and Paul says that simply living godly will lead to suffering. Suffering is for our good, to purify us and make us holy. It is how God disciplines us and teaches us. Peter wrote that fiery trials are sent from God to test us. James said to consider it a joy when you are in various trials, knowing that trials produce in you many good things.

Suffering then is a sign that God is working in your life to make you holy and more like Him. It should be part of every Christian's life. It shouldn't always be considered a sign that whatever work you are doing is a great threat to satan and thus worthy of a satanic assault.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods, crime, war...all these things bring suffering with them and yet they happen to everyone. God allows them to happen in our lives because through them He wants us to turn to Him as our great treasure instead of the things of this world.

We are going to suffer as God's way of purifying our faith. CS Lewis said that pain is God's megaphone to the world. This suffering and pain is for our good in the same way that children are disciplined for their good. Adversity and hardship are what makes us strong mature believers. Adversity is not out of the ordinary, a special attack, a sign that satan is not happy, a sign that the kingdom of this world is being threatened, or an affront to the kingdom of God. It is God's plan for our life to force our hearts to choose between this world and the world to come, to choose between our own selfish pleasures and God. Perhaps in God's plan suffering includes an attack from the enemy etc but I really don't think that should be the focus of what is going on. Peter and James and Paul all mentioned the fact that there is a spiritual war but none of them talked about it in regards to suffering, adversity, or persecution. By faith that we press on in spite of suffering knowing that Christ has already won the victory.

In the same way persecution for your faith should be a normal thing for a believer. And by persecution I mean physical attack, or physical hardship, not scorn or jest. It should be expected that we live such radically different lives from the world that the culture around us will be angry at us and want us out of the picture. Not that we are trouble makers, antagonizers, or the like. But simply that we are different in a way that threatens the status quo so much that people don't like it.

Those are some of the thoughts I've been having the last few days.

More than just vandalism

For the last couple years some teenagers who think anarchy is really cool have been throwing rocks through windows at our church. The last incident was a year ago and we had hoped that it was the last. But this morning someone decided to break a window and throw a molotov cocktail into the childrens' ministry room.

We are not sure who exactly did it but we are pretty sure it was the local chapter of an ultra-nationalistic group of radical extremists, or as they are called around here "hooligans". We are still not sure how the police are handling the case, but we are going through with the paper work to file it as a case of arson and an attack with purpose to destroy property and harm people. Here is a picture of the room:

It didn't burn too much, mostly just a few square feet of floor boards, the wall, a chair, and Magdala's super cool golf ball game. Most of the damage is the soot that is covering everything.

Over the last few weeks various churches have been out on the streets promoting events like Seventh Day Adventist bible studies and a Charismatic healing crusade. This act of violence against our church could just be a reaction from this group against a perceived threat to Ukrainian culture by protestant churches. They spray painted on the side of our church "Scram Sects!" (at least that is how Liese translated it, and I like her translation).


We are praying about what steps to take for better security of our building and we'll be looking into a video surveillance system (because the police don't really want to try to track down who could have done it with no proof) as well as putting metal shutters on our first floor windows.

We have been studying Hebrews as a church and talking about holding fast to your faith in suffering, persecution, and having your possessions looted. This will be an interesting time for our church as we learn how to react to something bigger and more threatening than a broken window.

Summer 2009 Newsletter

I finally finished putting together a pdf newsletter of our summer.

Click here to download it.

Fall Colors

Back in Rehab

Today I went out to the village of Sloboda (about 2 miles outside Kaharlyk) to the rehabilitation center that our church works with there. We had been doing a weekly bible study for the last year or so but stopped for the summer. Now that harvest is over we've decided to start the bible study again and today was the first day.

There is a whole new group of guys there (6 in all right now) and so I introduced them to the inductive bible study method and we started studying Colossians. Most of these guys will be here for about 9 months as they have already spent a few months in rehab in a center in Kiev.

After the bible study I went with Kyril (who runs the rehab center) to see the buildings they built over the summer for pig farming. The rehab center tries to be as self-sustaining as it can by farming, raising livestock, and having the guys in rehab working at local farms. Kyril had the idea to start a small scale pig farm in order to be more self-sufficient as well as provide longer term work for those in the rehab center if they should want to stay and work after completing the program. This summer they built a barn that will hold around 40 pigs. Right now they have about 15 pigs and over the next year will continue to expand.

Pondering Sunday's Sermon

It's not called faith, that which doesn't involve risk.
It wasn't genuine faith unless, consequently, it's said that it was no risk.

(and 22 words at that).

John Newton on controversy

Liese found this letter from John Newton and I thought it was worth posting as his thoughts on controversy are very helpful in how we conduct ourselves in an argument.

Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace. Yea, I would add, the best of men are not wholly free from this leaven; and therefore are too apt to be pleased with such representations as hold up our adversaries to ridicule, and by consequence flatter our own superior judgments. Controversies, for the most part, are so managed as to indulge rather than to repress his wrong disposition; and therefore, generally speaking, they are productive of little good. They provoke those whom they should convince, and puff up those whom they should edify. I hope your performance will savor of a spirit of true humility, and be a means of promoting it in others.

....We find but very few writers of controversy who have not been manifestly hurt by it. Either they grow in a sense of their own importance, or imbibe an angry, contentious spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their attention from those things which are the food and immediate support of the life of faith, and spend their time and strength upon matters which are at most but of a secondary value. This shows, that if the service is honorable, it is dangerous. What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?

Monthly Evening for Senior Citizens

This week we had our monthly evening for senior citizens. We served holubtsi with a layered salad and fruit salad for desert. Wayne shared from John chapter 3 about Jesus' meeting with Nicodemous and a couple from our church sang a few songs. Everyone enjoyed the evening and I had a good time talking with one couple about how they used to listen to American radio back in the 1950's (and of course about how badly things are going with the state of this world).