In Lumine's newest book: Heaven

 In Lumine Media just received a shipment of 3,000 Russian language copies of Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

This book has been in the works for a long time and we are excited to finally have it in stock.

I did the artwork for the cover and I was a bit worried about how it would turn out as it was my first foray into design that didn't rely heavily on type as the main design element. 

[photo thanks to Conor McNamee]

D.A. Carson on the whole council of God

“I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

—The Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:27

I read this excerpt from Carson's essay “Challenges for the Twenty-first-century Pulpit” on Justin Taylor's blog. I often hear churches that tout verse by verse through books of the bible as declaring the whole council of God and I think that here Carson gives a balancing perspective on what that phrase actually means:

When Paul attests that this is what he proclaimed to the believers in Ephesus, the Ephesian elders to whom he makes this bold asseveration know full well that he had managed this remarkable feat in only two and a half years.

In other words, whatever else Paul did, he certainly did not manage to go through every verse of the Old Testament, line by line, with full-bore explanation. He simply did not have time.

What he must mean is that he taught the burden of the whole of God’s revelation, the balance of things, leaving nothing out that was of primary importance, never ducking the hard bits, helping believers to grasp the whole counsel of God that they themselves would become better equipped to read their Bibles intelligently, comprehensively. It embraced:

• God’s purposes in the history of redemption (truths to be believed and a God to be worshiped),
• an unpacking of human origin, fall, redemption, and destiny (a worldview that shapes all human understanding and a Savior without whom there is no hope),
• the conduct expected of God’s people (commandments to be obeyed and wisdom to be pursued, both in our individual existence and in the community of the people of God), and
• the pledges of transforming power both in this life and in the life to come (promises to be trusted and hope to be anticipated).

Global Mission Mondays: Oman

Tonight at our prayer meeting we will be praying for the country of Oman.

Oman is a muslim country of 3.3 million people of whom more than 600,000 are guest workers.  The skilled labor force in Oman is small and many of the larger industries depend on foreign workers.   Omani citizens enjoy good living standards, but the future is uncertain due to Oman's limited oil reserves.  Oman is one of the most developed and stable countries in its region.

Islam is the state religion and that Shari'a (Islamic law) is the source of legislation  gatherings of a religious nature are not allowed in private homes or any other locations except government-approved houses of worship.  Most citizens are Muslims. Non-Muslim religious communities individually constitute less than 5 percent of the population and include various groups of Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Baha'is, and Christians.

The Christian communities are centered in the major urban areas  and include Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and various Protestant congregations.  These groups are organized mainly along linguistic and ethnic lines. More than fifty different Christian groups, fellowships, and assemblies are active in the Muscat metropolitan area, formed by migrant workers from Southeast Asia, although there are small communities of ethnic Indian Hindus and Christians that have been naturalized. Many of the non-Muslims in Oman are due to the historical and cultural influence of India.

Citizens who convert from Islam to another faith, however, generally face problems under Oman's law which specifically prohibits a father who leaves the Islamic faith from retaining paternal rights over his children. The law does not prohibit proselytizing, but the government will stop individuals or groups from engaging in proselytizing if it receives complaints.

The head of state and of the government is the hereditary sultān.  Oman has been ruled by the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty since 1744.

For more information see The Voice of the Martyrs and Wikipedia's articles

The Halle Project comes to town

Last week Tyler Wohlford, Ben Potter, and Drew Barefoot from the Halle Project came out to Kaharlyk to shoot some videos for us and the church here.   Cameron Ingalls came to offer his amazing portrait skills to missionaries.  

I had a great time getting to know these guys,  showing them around Kaharlyk, talking about life in Ukraine and our ministry, shooting video.  I realized how much I've gotten used to the idiosyncrasies of life in Kaharlyk when I saw them stop and take pictures of Soviet vans, tractors parked in a parking space, mustaches, etc.   We had fun and I'm excited about the videos that they will put together. 

Cameron took some awesome photos of Liese and me.  Check out his blog for a great post about his trip here.

Thanks Cameron, Ben, Tyler and Drew!

Seniors' Evening

We just got home from our monthly evening for Senior Citizens at CC Kaharlyk.  We had about 40 seniors come and what seemed like the same amount of helpers.

Each month we vary the entertainment somewhat and this month we had and evening of songs.   So we had everyone from a trio of fourth grade girls to a quartet of "well advanced in years" ladies singing folk songs, as well as performances from various musicians in our church.

Liese and Natasha cooked up a meal in accordance with the Lenten fast that is going on in Ukraine right now.  We aren't sure how many people actually keep the fast, but we try to stick to it anyway just in case.

Global Mission Mondays: United Arab Emirates

Tonight at our prayer meeting we will be praying for the people of the United Arab Emirates.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) consists of seven states, termed emirates (because they are ruled by emirs).  The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the country's center of political, industrial and cultural activities. 

The form of government used in UAE is a constitutional monarchy with a presidential system of government.  When contrasted with other Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia for instance, the UAE has comparatively very liberal laws.  in addition to the Civil Courts, each of the seven emirates maintains a parallel system of Sharia Courts which are organised and supervised locally.

Its oil reserves are ranked as the world's sixth-largest and the UAE possesses one of the most-developed economies in West Asia.

In 2010, the UAE's population was estimated at 4.9 million of which just under 20% were UAE nationals or Emiratis, while the majority of the population were expatriates.  23% of the population are non-Emirati Arabs and Iranians and the majority of the population, about 50%, is from South Asia. 

The population of the UAE has a skewed sex distribution consisting of more than twice as many males as females.  About 88% of the population of the United Arab Emirates is urban.

Islam is largest and the official state religion of the UAE, though the government follows a policy of tolerance toward other religions and rarely interferes in the activities of non-Muslims.  However, it is illegal in the UAE to spread the ideas of any religion apart from Islam through any form of media as it is considered a form of proselytizing. There are approximately 31 registered churches throughout the country.  76% of the total population are Muslim, 9% Christian, and 15% other (mainly Hindu and Buddhist).

Global Missions Monday: Bahrain

This week our church will be praying for the country of Bahrain. 

Bahrain is an archipelago of thirty-three islands in the Persian Gulf.  It has the freest economy in the Middle East, and is tenth freest overall in the world.  Unlike other countries in the region, its prosperity is not solely a reflection of the size of its oil wealth, but is also related to the creation of an indigenous middle class.  The government is a constitutional monarchy. 

In 2010, Bahrain's population grew to 1.2 million, out of which more than 54% were non-nationals.  Though majority of the population is ethnically Arab, a sizable number of people from South Asia live in the country.

The official religion of Bahrain is Islam, which the majority of the population practices. However, due to an influx of immigrants and guest workers from non-Muslim countries, such as India, Philippines and Sri Lanka, the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined in recent years. According to the 2001 census, 81.2% of Bahrain's population was Muslim, 9% were Christian, and 9.8% practiced Hinduism and other religions.

While Islam is the main religion, Bahrainis have been known for their tolerance, and churches, Hindu temples, Sikh Gurdwara and a Jewish synagogue can be found alongside mosques. The country is home to several communities that have faced persecution elsewhere.

There are ongoing protests against the royal family right now that have resulted in the police killing protestors and the Saudi government sending troops to help break up the protests.  The protests have been going for a month now.

[information from wikipedia]

Winter 2011 Newsletter

Global Mission Mondays: Praying for our city

Each month our church prays for a different government department, public utility, or other service provider in our city.   Corruption is ingrained into every area of life in Ukraine and one of the ways that we as Christians are seeking justice is to pray for those with authority to change.  We want to see the gospel spread into every level of our city so we are praying for public servants and those who work to keep our city running that their eyes would be open to the gospel.

This month we will be praying for the Gas Company.  This year there are rumors (some pretty reliable) that the Gas Company in Ukraine is pumping air into the gas lines to thin the gas a little in order to build up their profit margins.  This means everyone getting low quality gas which doesn't burn as well with the result of them needing more gas than in years past.  For some this will mean that they fall into a higher bracket for yearly use and have to pay double the amount they paid last year to heat their homes.

So tonight at our weekly prayer meeting we are remembering Provers 11:1 "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight" and praying the way that the Gas Company sells gas would be just.  We are remembering Psalms 103:6 "The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed" and praying that God would work righteousness and justice for those who are trying to heat their homes and paying twice as much as they should.  And we are remembering Matthew 5:44 "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" and we are praying for those who make decisions about how to sell gas that God would save them, change their hearts, and bless them with His life-changing grace and mercy.

This month we will be praying for our local gas company's director, office workers, welders, meter readers, emergency response teams, and accountants that God would bless them with His salvation.

Exciting In Lumine projects

This year In Lumine is working on its biggest project yet: The Jesus Storybook Bible in Russian and Ukrainian.  This full color illustrated children's bible goes through the bible showing how the whole bible is about Jesus and is one of the best children's bibles around. 

Through a generous donation we have all the funding for the Russian edition.  Our original goal was to print around 2,000 in Russian in order to get the ball rolling for a larger print run in Ukrainian but interest in this book has been so high that we are hoping to print about 10,000 instead. 

For the Ukrainian edition our goal is to work with as many organizations as we can find that work with at risk children, orphans, and children who live in boarding schools to distribute as many bibles as we can at cost.  With the interest we've had so far in the Russian edition we are aiming at printing about 20,000 to distribute at cost to organizations that will give the bibles away.  This will depend on how many organizations are interested, but there is a possibility of printing twice that amount and of getting this bible to thousands and thousands of children throughout Ukraine. Contact us if you are interested in getting involved with this project!

Check out The Jesus Storybook Bible website for more information on the book and In Lumine's website for more information on In Lumine.

This year we are planning on also publishing A Praying Life by Paul Miller and Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin.   A Praying life is probably the best book on prayer that I've ever read and I'm really excited about having it available in Russian.  We are also working with the ministry SeeJesus.net to translate a study guide for A Praying Life that they have put together so that the book can be used by bible study groups, home groups, and book clubs to deepen the prayer life of the Church.  Worship Matters is an awesome book on worship that we've been talking about publishing for a while as it would be a huge help for the Church in Ukraine and Russia. 

Children's Festival with Samaritan's Purse Gifts

Over the last two weekends our church hosted 3 festivals for children at which we distributed shoe box gifts from Samaritan's Purse.  We've been helping distribute Samaritan's Purse gifts for about 4 years now and each year they arrive sometime mid February so our church decided this year to not try to have a Christmas theme but to just have a special event for children as well as their parents.

Liese and I were out of town for the first couple of them, but by all accounts they went well.  Here are some pictures that Micah Claycamp took:

And a video that Christy Claycamp put together: