Partners in Mission

From May 9-19 we were privileged to have a mission team from Peachtree City United Methodist Church with us, interacting with our youth, helping us with repairs on two apartments that two of our young men have been given and participation in worship with St. Luke's UMC.  These folks hail from Peachtree City, Georgia and brought with them a wide range of mission experience.   Below is a picture of some of the group worshipping with us on Sunday at St. Luke's UMC.

Led by missions pastor Stephen Soulen and member Ted Reissing, one of the big helps of the group was to do some repairs on the apartments two of our street children, now young men, have received from the city government after we helped them to file the documents necessary to prove their being without family.   Athough the apartments are in a new building, the construction quality is not the best and some needed repairs were made on one of the apartments.  A broken door was repaired, a new sink and tub faucet installed and a good cleaning job was done in the apartment.  

While the apartment was being repaired, the rest of the group interacted with the children at the St. Luke's center, involving them with crafts, games and other fun.   One member of the team, Debra Shoaf, helped complete sewing a worship banner which is a cross with hands on it.  The hands are outlines of the children who attend the St. Luke's center's activities.

At the end of the time they had with us, the group took the kids to the Kiev Botanical Gardens where the lilacs were in bloom.  All had a wonderful time and we all deeply appreciated the time Peachtree City spent with us.

Back from General Conference

Whew! Helen and I just returned from the whirlwind event known as General Conference. The theme of the conference was a Future with Hope.   As the clergy delegate from Ukraine, replacing Alexander Merzlikov, our pastor in Lugansk who could not attend due to health reasons, I had 10 conference days which started at 7:00 am with a meeting of the Eurasian episcopal area delegation and usually ended around 11:00 pm at night or later.  Our lay delegate, Olga Tyshkovetz, and English instructor at the Lviv State University was very active, speaking on the floor of General Conference at least 4 times!  During the debates, many of us delegates had a Hope for a Future that was the end of General Conference.

 I had been told of the long days and the exhausting schedule.  I was also warned about being bombarded with material from the various caucus group and agencies which tried to persuade delegates to vote one way or the other.  But what I didn't expect was to be inspired!  The worship was wonderful: incredibly inspirational, powerful preaching and spiritually uplifting.  To see the whole process work gave me renewed vision for the United Methodist Church.  I left feeling that our United Methodist Church really does have a Future with Hope.  Here is our delegation, all two of us, hard at work.  Can you find us?  Olga is sitting to my left.  She's the one who isn't bald.

 

If you would like to know more about General Conference and what was discussed, I recommend the blog of pastor Adam Hamilton, delegate from Kansas East Annual Conference who had a daily report from General Conference along with thoughtful discussion of all the major issues.  You can find it by clicking here for the main page of the blog.

Check the Recent Posts section in Adam's blog to find the posts on General Conference.

General Conference

Helen and I leave for the USA tomorrow morning, or in about 9 hours. I am the clergy delegate from Ukraine for General Conference, the once-in-four-year meeting of the United Methodist Church with delegates from every Annual Conference in the world to meet and do the denominational business including considering changes to the Book of Disciple, the document which sets theology, policy and structure for the United Methodist Church. The elected delegate was Ukrainian, Alexander Merzlikov, pastor in Lugansk, but for health reasons he could not attend. I was the alternate delegate, so I will attend in his place. Pray for us as we make the long flight over. Helen has been assigned the new Area Financial Representative for the General Board of Global Ministries in Ukraine, so she will be in New York for some training while I am in Ft. Worth at General Conference. We also get a few opportunities to meet with some people from our supporting churches, but not many as time will be tight. If you wish to call us while we are in the US, send a request for the number to ukraineumc@gmail.com. State who you are and your connection to us or some aspect of our ministry.

Under the Weather

The flu just isn't fun. Slows down things quite a bit, but fortunately, my bout did not last too long. And it also came just after I returned from Lviv.
Lviv is the third or fourth largest city in Ukraine, the "capital" of the western, majority Ukrainian speaking portion of Ukraine. It is about 70 miles from the Polish border and a very beautiful city with many historic buildings.


This is an inside shot of the Church of the Transfiguration, one of many churches in Lviv. This part of Ukraine is home to the Greco-Catholic Church, a church which pledges it's allegiance to the Pope and has it's own Cardinal, but uses Orthodox liturgy and has married priests.

Lviv is also home to Ukraine's oldest University and where we have a thriving UMC student ministry. I was there last week for a charge conference (and also picked up the flu) and found the United Methodist Student Center to be a bustling place. The ministry, founded by GBGM missionaries Fred and Stacy Vanderwerf, has a student center right in the center of town very near the university. The Center is open all day long where students can come and surf on the net for free, hang out with friends or attend an activity. English lessons are offered 4 days a week, twice a day, which is a big draw. A new class starts every 5 weeks. Each time a class starts, around 60 new students show up to take the course. Of those, 4 or 5 usually stay to take part in the other activities, which are small group bible studies, a compassion ministry group, the Pigrims class, a bible study/worship time on Thursdays and United Methodist worship services 2 times a month.

The Lviv UMC student center is interdenominational in it's activities, but the students know it is sponsored by the UMC and can choose to come to UMC worship if they desire. Overall, 90-100 students come through the doors of the center every week. It's an exciting place to be. I didn't have my camera with me, but some students took some pictures for me. As soon as I receive them, I will post some.

Prayers from the least of these.

Today in church, just our seventh service, we asked for prayer requests and then had a time of open prayer. Two of our children-at-risk, one 9 years old, had the same prayer, "Help mom not to drink and to get up tomorrow to go to work". The nine year old then listed several other names of relatives asking that they not get drunk. Life is tough at nine when you are the one responsible for your mother's work attendance. This particular nine year old lives with 6 other brothers and sisters, grandmother and her mother, all in an one room apartment with about 140 square feet. Bathroom is down the hall with water from a pump on the street since the inside water was cut off long ago. Puts my own prayer life into perspective.

Life Needs.

Pray for Ivan S., one of our street youth who was slashed in a knife fight and is on the lam from the police since he violated his probation. He was in church today. We got him to an emergency room to get stitched up. He has a lot of potential, but his street life weighs him down. I will be in Moscow for the next few days in a Cabinet meeting, which is a meeting of district superintendents with the bishop. Pray for that as well!

Conferences and More.

The European General Conference Delegate Consultation in Kiev came off well with surprisingly few unexpected events. One delegate was delayed at the airport 9 hours and there were a few illnesses, but most of the delegates from 14 countries and 5 bishops came in on time, without delays, lost luggage, hale and hearty. We were also worried if the meeting would fit into the main room of our St. Luke's street children center, but with some creative arrangements of the tables, they all squeezed in. The delegate conference was the first test of our new center to host an event, but with work, organization and help from the kids, I think we passed.


The first night was at the conference room of the Kozatsky hotel where the delegates stayed, with the praise team from Istochnik UMC showing off Ukrainian talent.



Istochnik Praise team.


Tight fit, but cozy fellowship for the plenary session at St. Luke's Children Center.


The kids helped to keep the kitchen on time serving lunch.


Worship and Communion at St. Luke's with participation from our kids.


A Happy Norwegian Superintendent!