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Вивчення Біблії: Питання (От Иоанна 6:16-21)

ЭТО Я, НЕ БОЙТЕСЬ

От Иоанна 6:16-21

Ключевой стих 20

1. Стих 16. Что сделали ученики после того, как Иисус накормил толпу и они насытились? Как они могли бы себя чувствовать после этого? Прочитайте Мар.6:45. Почему, согласно Марку, ученики отплыли первыми? Как Иисус смотрел на людей? (Мар.6:34)

2. Стих 17. Почему Иисус взошел на гору? О чем Он мог бы молиться? Что они могли бы чувствовать пересекая озеро без Иисуса?

3. Стихи 18-19. Что произошло, когда их лодка выплыла в море? Как они отреагировали, когди увидели Иисуса?

4. Стих 20. Что сделал и сказал Иисус? Чему Он хотел научить их о Себе? Чему эти слова учат о наших страхах?

5. Стих 21. Что произошло, когда ученики узнали Иисуса? Чему мы можем научиться о том, как преодолевать жизненные бури?

Вивчення Біблії: Проповідь “Рецепт плодоносной жизни” (От Иоанна 6:1-15)

РЕЦЕПТ ПЛОДОНОСНОЙ ЖИЗНИ

От Иоанна 6:1-15

Ключевой стих 6:5 : "Иисус, возведя очи и увидев, что множество народа идет к Нему, говорит Филиппу: где нам купить хлебов, чтобы их накормить?"

Каждый человек имеет какой-то план в своей жизни, к чему-то стремится. Если кто-то ничего не хочет, и ни к чему не стремится, то он или слишком старый или совсем умер. Также, каждый хочет добиться чего-то положительного. Я не встречал человека, который в своем дневнике записал такой жизненный план: «Хочу стать бездельником и неудачником». Однако, осуществляя свой план и встречая на пути большие и маленькие трудности, многие опускают руки и остаются ни с чем. Мы назвали эту проповедь «Рецепт плодоносной жизни». Пусть Бог научит нас через нее побеждать трудности, угодить Ему и принести много плодов.

Первое, «где нам купить хлебов, чтобы их накормить?» (1-5) Обратимся к 1-ому стиху: «После сего пошел Иисус на ту сторону моря Галилейского, в окрестности Тивериады». В предыдущей главе Иисус посетил купальню Вифезда в Иерусалиме и исцелил 38-летнего больного. Так как Он сделал это в субботу, Иудеи начали с Ним спорить спор и хотели убить Его, на что Иисус ответил им, что Он – Мессия, посланный Богом, Который дает вечную жизнь. В этой главе Иисус находится уже не в Иерусалиме, а в Галилее, на берегу Галилейcкого моря. Очевидно, что между 5-ой и 6-ой главами прошло какое-то время. Об этом времени ничего не сказано в Евангелии от Иоанна, однако другие Евангелисты рассказывают, что перед событием, описанным в этом отрывке, Иисус посылал Апостолов проповедовать Евангелие. Эта проповедь была успешной, но после нее ученики очень устали. Окрестность Тивериады, куда направился Иисус, была местом пустынным, и Иисус хотел, чтобы Его ученики там отдохнули. Здесь мы видим, что Иисус серьезно относился к отдыху Своих учеников. Мы – не роботы, и нам также нужно восстанавливать силы для служения. Физически отдохнуть не так тяжело – достаточно хорошо поесть, посмотреть хороший фильм и выспаться. Но духовно отдохнуть тяжелее. Нам нужно искать, как получить хорошую духовную подзарядку – это может быть личное изучение Библии и молитва, участие в конференции, семинаре, чтение книг и т.д.

Однако отдых учеников не получился. Посмотрим на стих 2: «За Ним последовало множество народа, потому что видели чудеса, которые Он творил над больными». В то время, да и сейчас, там, где есть чудеса или даже возможность совершения чуда, собирается много людей. А если еще это чудо исцеления, то собирается еще больше. Поэтому нет ничего удивительного, что к Иисусу пришло так много людей чтобы исцелиться или просто посмотреть на чудо.

Итак, к Иисусу и ученикам пришла большая толпа людей. Как они приняли их? Чтобы вы сделали, если бы к вам пришло много людей? Однажды я был на приеме у одного мелкого начальника. В открытую дверь я услышал, как он жаловался своей секретарше: «Эти люди ходят сюда и ходят. Сколько это будет продолжаться! Мне даже поесть некогда! До обеда никого не пускать!» Многие люди терпеть не могут других людей. Они хотят жить сами, отдельно от других, поэтому отгораживаются высокими заборами. Они любят, когда к ним записываются на прием, или звонят, перед тем, как прийти. Они также любят повторять пословицу: «Чем больше я узнаю людей, тем больше люблю собак». Они готовы жить с кем угодно – с кошками, собаками, попугаями и хомяками, но только не с людьми. Однако как Иисус принял этих людей? В Мк.6:34 говорится: «Иисус, выйдя, увидел множество народа и сжалился над ними, потому что они были, как овцы, не имеющие пастыря; и начал учить их много». Иисус принял этих людей. Здесь мы узнаем, что такое настоящий пастырь. Пастырь – это человек для других. Человек, который терпеть не может других людей не может быть пастырем. Пастырь любит других людей, несмотря на все их недостатки. Приняв людей, Иисус начал учить их много. Эти люди были жалкими, потому что они были как овцы, не имеющие пастыря. Они не имели смысла и направления жизни. Они не знали, для чего родились в этом мире, что им нужно делать и куда идти. Они не знали пути в Царство Бога. Поэтому Иисус учил их много.

Иисус сжалился над ними также и потому, что они были голодны. Обратимся к стиху 5: «Иисус, возведя очи и увидев, что множество народа идет к Нему, говорит Филиппу: где нам купить хлебов, чтобы их накормить?» Здесь мы видим, что Иисуса заботят наши физические нужды. Он знает, что нам нужно есть, где-то жить и во что-то одеваться. Иногда мы думаем о будущем и спрашиваем себя: «Как будет?» Живя на съемных квартирах, мы чувствуем, что живем на птичьих правах. Но нам нужно знать, что Иисус заботится о нас. Поэтому подобно тому, как поют птицы, нам также нужно петь песню благодарности Иисусу за Его заботу.

Читаем дальше, стих 6: «Говорил же это, испытывая его; ибо Сам знал, что хотел сделать». Оказывается, что заодно с тем, что Иисус хотел накормить людей, Он хотел еще и испытать Своих учеников. Иногда мы не знаем, каков другой человек, какова его вера, и вообще, что у него на сердце. Более того, мы иногда сами не знаем себя хорошо. Много людей вообще думают, что у них нет недостатков. Поэтому время от времени Иисус нас испытывает, чтобы показать нам наше состояние, и чтобы мы раскаялись и знали, куда двигаться. Он воспитывал Своих учеников пастырями, более того, будущими Апостолами. Естественно, что их должны были заботить другие люди. Ведь если пастыря совсем не заботят другие люди, то ему лучше стать дворником. Поэтому Филипп должен был ответить примерно так: «Иисус, я также озабочен тем, что эти люди голодны. Я сейчас пойду искать, где можно купить им хлеба». Однако как ответил Филипп? В стихе 7 читаем: «Филипп отвечал Ему: им на двести динариев не довольно будет хлеба, чтобы каждому из них досталось хотя понемногу». Динарий – это заработок за один день, двести динариев – за 7 мес. – сумма немаленькая. Но даже ее было бы недостаточно, чтобы каждому досталось понемногу. Филипп имел ввиду, что задача накормить этих людей слишком нереальная. У них нет 200 динариев, но даже если бы и было, этого все равно не сделать. Поэтому Филипп ничего и не делал. Хотя все, что говорил Филипп было правильно, это нисколько не решало вопрос. Это была просто удобная отговорка, когда не хочется ничего делать. И если бы эта история на этом и закончилась, то это была бы очень печальная история, записанная в Евангелии. Много историй в мире так и заканчиваются. Но там где есть вера и Иисус, у тех историй есть продолжение. Слава Иисусу!

Второе, «здесь есть!» (6-9) Посмотрим стихи 8 и 9: «Один из учеников Его, Андрей, брат Симона Петра, говорит Ему: здесь есть у одного мальчика пять хлебов ячменных и две рыбки; но что это для такого множества?» Тут на сцену выходит еще один ученик Иисуса – Андрей. Вероятно, он слышал разговор Иисуса и Филиппа. Андрей тоже хорошо видел что людей великое множество, что место здесь пустынное, что у них нет денег. Однако, в отличии от Филиппа, Андрей начал искать какую-нибудь возможность накормить людей. И пока Филипп думал, что невозможно накормить пять тысяч человек, так как у них нет денег, Андрей нашел пять хлебов и две рыбки у одного мальчика. Что двигало поступком Андрея? Вероятно, им двигала любовь к людям, пришедшим к Иисусу. И он искал возможность накормить их, он был готов отдать все, что у него было и что он мог достать. Кроме этого Андрей сделал еще один важный шаг – он принес то, что нашел, к Иисусу и сказал: «Здесь есть у одного мальчика пять хлебов ячменных и две рыбки; но что это для такого множества?» (9) Хотя Андрей понимал, что этой еды явно недостаточно, своим поступком и словами он выразил Иисусу свою веру. Андрей верил, что Иисус может умножить еду. Перед Ним стоял Всемогущий Бог, Который сотворил небо и землю, и для Которого нет ничего невозможного.

Тема сегодняшней проповеди «Рецепт плодоносной жизни». Это слово – отличный материал для того, чтобы составить такой рецепт. В своей жизни мы встречаем разные трудности – и большие и маленькие. И у Андрея мы учимся положительному духу – не опускать руки перед трудностями, искать даже малейшую возможность решения и трудиться. У человека, который верит во Всемогущего Бога, ищет возможность и трудится – нет отчаяния. И наоборот, ленивые, которые даже не берутся за дело, всегда отчаиваются.

Я немного интересуюсь шахматами. Сейчас самый большой рейтинг у 22-летнего юноши из Норвегии, его зовут Магнус Карслен. Недавно он побил рейтинг Гарри Каспарова, который продержался 13 лет, и который многие считали недостижимым. Естественно, многие искали причину успеха молодого норвежца, говорили даже, что он гипнотизирует своих соперников. Однако в конце концов нашли, что его секрет в том, что они имеет положительный взгляд на любую позицию и ищет возможность победить. В результате Магнус выигрывает ничейные позиции. То есть там, где другие гроссмейстеры видят только ничью, и где компьютер также показывает ничью, для Магнуса все только начинается. Он берет такую позицию и выигрывает за 20-30 ходов.

Есть серьезные психологические исследования по поводу того, какие люди приносят плоды в жизни. Оказывается, что не самые умные и талантливые. Приносят плоды те люди, которые, по словам психологов, умеют «держать удар». Они умеют справляться с неудачами и разочарованиями, не опускают руки и продолжают добиваться цели. Автор притч учит так: «Пойти к муравью, ленивец, посмотри на действия его, и будь мудрым» (Пр.6:6). Когда у меня есть время, я люблю побродить по лесу. Глядя, как муравьи копошатся в своем муравейнике без устали и без уныния, я ощущаю, что усталость и всякое уныние покидают меня и наступает время для новых возможностей.

Однажды мне посчастливилось путешествовать по Америке. Когда мы посетили Вашингтон, больше всего меня впечатлил не белый дом, а статуя Авраама Линкольна. По всему было видно, что Американцы уважают и любят этого президента. Я заинтересовался его жизнью. Оказалось, он родился в бедной семье, его родители были неграмотны. Однако он не отчаялся. Он верил в Бога, читал Библию и много других книг и постоянно учился. Чтобы научиться юриспунденции, он ходил послушать выступления адвокатов за 30 миль. Бог обильно благословил его и использовал в Своем деле.

5 хлебов и 2 рыбки выглядят очень скромно. Если бы ученики Иисуса в ответ на его вопрос подкатили эшелон с хлебом – это выглядело бы солидно, но у них было только 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки, так что Андрею пришлось добавить «Но что это для такого множества?», чтобы кто не подумал, что он сошел с ума и действительно думает, что 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки чем-то могут помочь. В противовес мирские дела выглядят солидно, богато и торжественно: шикарные офисы, дорогие машины, толпы журналистов. Но если мы смотрим на историю, духовное дело всегда выглядело как 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки. Иисус родился в хлеву, и Его жизнь зависела от двух простых бедных людей Иосифа и Марии. Но рождение Иисуса изменило историю мира. Когда Иисус призвал 12 учеников, также не трубили в трубы и об этом не написали в газетах, но благодаря им Евангелие распространилось по всему миру. Служение UBF также выглядит как 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки. Но Бог благословил его, и через него многие услышали об Иисусе и приняли Его в свою жизнь. Итак, какие же 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки есть у нас? Наши 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки – это утренняя молитва. Хотя это незаметное дело, но Бог слышит молитву и отвечает на нее. Также, когда мы начинаем день со слова Бога, то растем духовно. Проповедь Евангелия – это также 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки. Студгородки часто кажутся неприступной Иерихоноской крепостью, но даже если мы просто с молитвой и верой обходим их, то Бог совершает Свое дело. Изучения Библии, подготовка еды и уборка в церкви – это также 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки. Пусть Бог научит нас у Андрея не опускать руки, а трудиться тем, что у нас есть для Господа и через это совершит великое дело.

Третье, Иисус благословил пять хлебов и две рыбки и накормил пять тысяч (10-15). Взгляните на стихи 10,11: «Иисус сказал: велите им возлечь. Было же на том месте много травы. Итак возлегло людей числом около пяти тысяч. Иисус, взяв хлебы и воздав благодарение, раздал ученикам, а ученики возлежавшим, также и рыбы, сколько кто хотел». Хотя Андрей принес очень мало еды, Иисус оценил его веру и благословил ее. Он воздал Богу благодарение и благословил пять хлебов и две рыбки. Тогда произошло чудо! Хлебы и рыбки умножились, так что все насытились, и осталось еще 12 коробов. Наше дело маленькое – как 5 хлебов и 2 рыбки, а Божье дело – как еда для 5 тысяч. Отсюда мы узнаем, что Бог есть источник всех благословений. У Него достаточно благословений для всех, кто придет к нему!

Взгляните на стихи 14,15: «Тогда люди, видевшие чудо, сотворенное Иисусом, сказали: это истинно Тот Пророк, Которому должно придти в мир. Иисус же, узнав, что хотят придти, нечаянно взять его и сделать царем, опять удалился на гору один». Увидев чудо, люди захотели сделать Иисуса своим царем, чтобы Он постоянно творил чудеса и кормил их хлебом. Ведь тогда им можно будет даже не работать! Иисус пришел пострадать и взять на Себя грехи мира, а сатана предлагал Ему стать царем и человеческую славу. Иисус чувствовал опасное искушение, и решил бороться с ним в молитве. Он оставил людей и удалился на гору один. Там Он молился Богу. В молитве Он решил повиноваться воле Бога и идти по пути креста.

В сегодняшнем отрывке мы составили рецепт плодоносной жизни: пастырское сердце, вера во всемогущего Бога и позитивное мышление. Коротко это называется «Вера 5 хлебов и 2 рыбок». Такая вера – это не только интеллектуальное упражнение. Она должна быть видна в жизни. Вера должна быть видна в том, как мы решаем маленькие и большие проблемы в нашей жизни. Когда мы верим и уповаем на Бога, Бог открывает пути для решения, и мы может творить Его дело. Аминь.

(п. Яков)

Вивчення Біблії: Питання (От Иоанна 5:16-47)

РЕЦЕПТ ПЛОДОНОСНОЙ ЖИЗНИ
(Вера 5 Хлебов и 2 рыбки)

От Иоанна 6:1-15

Ключевой стих 6:5

1. Стихи 1-4. Где произошло это событие? Опишите нежданных гостей, появившихся там. Почему они пришли?

2. Стихи 5-6. Что Иисус сказал, увидев большую толпу, пришедшую к Нему? Что это говорит нам об Его сердце по отношению к ним? (Мар.6:34, Мат.9:36) К кому был обращен вопрос Иисуса? С какой целью Иисус задал этот вопрос?

3. Стихи 7-9. Как ответил Филипп? Как Андрей отличался от Филиппа? Как он верил в Иисуса? Также думайте о мальчике который всю свою еду отдал Андрею.

4. Стихи 10-11. Что Иисус сказал Своим ученикам сделать, и почему? Почему это могло быть не таким простым делом? Что затем сделал Иисус с хлебами и рыбами? О чем говорит тот факт, что Он принял веру Андрея?

5. Стихи 12-15. Какие еще указания Иисус дал Своим ученикам? Чему мы можем научиться из этого события о сердце Иисуса? О Божьем благословении? О том, как быть плодоносным?

Вивчення Біблії: Проповідь “Но перешел от смерти в жизнь” (От Иоанна 5:15-47)

НО ПЕРЕШЕЛ ОТ СМЕРТИ В ЖИЗНЬ

От Иоанна 5:15-47

Ключевой стих 24 : "Истинно, истинно говорю вам: слушающий слово Мое и верующий в Пославшего Меня имеет жизнь вечную, и на суд не приходит, но перешел от смерти в жизнь"

В прошлый раз мы говорили об исцелении. Иисус — целитель, Он исцеляет всякую болезнь и немощь. Сегодняшнее слово — продолжение этой темы. Кого можно исцелить? Только того, кто живет. Если человек уже умер, то единственный врач, который им еще интересуется — это патологоанатом. Иисус не только исцеляет. Главное желание Бога Отца и Иисуса Христа — дать вечную жизнь. Что такое вечная жизнь, как ее получить, кто ее дает — это тема сегодняшней проповеди.

Во-первых, Я делаю то же, что и Отец.

Посмотрите стихи 15,16: «Человек сей пошел и объявил Иудеям, что исцеливший его есть Иисус. И стали Иудеи гнать Иисуса и искали убить Его за то, что Он делал такие [дела] в субботу». После того, как бывший больной, которого исцелил Иисус, узнал Иисуса, он сразу пошел к иудеям и объявил, что его исцелил не кто-нибудь, а Иисус. Почему он это сделал, не понятно, но понятно, что иудеям очень не понравилось, что Иисус исцелял, тем более в субботу. Они начали наезжать на Иисуса: «Иди отсюда, богохульник! Это как можно было даже такое подумать: осквернять субботу и исцелять в такое время! Как тебя только земля носит!». Потом они начали говорить людям, которые видели исцеление и прославляли Бога: «Не слушайте его. Этот человек не от Бога. Если бы он был от Бога, то он чтил бы субботу. Ишь, какой, думает, если может исцелять, то все сразу будут думать, что он от Бога. Да побить его камнями, как говорил Моисей!».

Как Иисус ответил на их обвинения? Посмотрите стих 17: «Иисус же говорил им: Отец Мой доныне делает, и Я делаю». Иудеи знали, что есть некто, кто никогда не перестает делать. Это Бог. Он дает дождь, ранний и поздний, повелевает ветру и дует, дает жизнь и дыхание всему. Прямо сейчас, в субботу, иудеи могли посмотреть вокруг и увидеть, что солнце не остановилось в небе, птицы не застыли посередине полета, вода течет, ветер дует, а люди продолжают дышать. В субботу Бог не бездельничает, Он обеспечивает нужды всего мира и даже больше. Иудеи хорошо поняли, что сказал Иисус. Иисус не только указал им, что они неправильно понимают субботу, но и то, что Бог Его отец. Фактически Иисус назвал Себя Сыном Бога и признал Себя равным Богу. «И еще более искали убить Его Иудеи за то, что Он не только нарушал субботу, но и Отцем Своим называл Бога, делая Себя равным Богу» (18).

Посмотрите на стихи 19-21: «На это Иисус сказал: истинно, истинно говорю вам: Сын ничего не может творить Сам от Себя, если не увидит Отца творящего: ибо, что творит Он, то и Сын творит также. Ибо Отец любит Сына и показывает Ему все, что творит Сам; и покажет Ему дела больше сих, так что вы удивитесь. Ибо, как Отец воскрешает мертвых и оживляет, так и Сын оживляет, кого хочет». Конечно, Иисус мог бы сказать: «вы меня неправильно поняли» и не идти на конфликт с иудеями. Но Иисус наоборот подтвердил: вы все правильно поняли, Я действительно Сын Бога, я действительно знаю, что Бог делает на небе и делаю то же самое на земле. Более того, вы увидите дела больше, чем это исцеление. Вы увидите воскресение мертвых.

Во-вторых, в Иисусе есть вечная жизнь.

В сегодняшнем слове Иисус минимум четыре раза говорит о вечной жизни. И также четыре раза говорит о суде. Причем, стихи о вечной жизни и о суде идут по очереди: про вечную жизнь, потом про суд и снова про вечную жизнь и снова про суд и так четыре раза. Это значит, это очень важно и что суд и вечная жизнь очень связаны между собой. Кроме того, и суд и вечная жизнь во всех этих случаях сильно связаны с Иисусом Христом. Мы все это рассмотрим. Сейчас давайте рассмотрим что такое вечная жизнь и как нам войти в нее. Посмотрите на стихи 21, также 24-26: «Ибо, как Отец воскрешает мертвых и оживляет, так и Сын оживляет, кого хочет», «Истинно, истинно говорю вам: слушающий слово Мое и верующий в Пославшего Меня имеет жизнь вечную, и на суд не приходит, но перешел от смерти в жизнь. Истинно, истинно говорю вам: наступает время, и настало уже, когда мертвые услышат глас Сына Божия и, услышав, оживут. Ибо, как Отец имеет жизнь в Самом Себе, так и Сыну дал иметь жизнь в Самом Себе».

Во-первых, у Иисуса есть сила и власть дать вечную жизнь. Тут Иисус говорит о чуде, которое не может совершить человек, но только Бог: это воскресение мертвых. В Евангелиях описано 3 случая, когда Иисус воскресил мертвых: воскрешение сына вдовы в Наине, воскрешение дочери Иаира, воскрешение Лазаря. Были и другие воскрешения. Это было свидетельство, что Иисус — Сын Бога. В 21 стихе сказано: «Ибо, как Отец воскрешает мертвых и оживляет, так и Сын оживляет, кого хочет». Бог дал Иисусу власть и силу оживлять мертвых. Оживить кого-то — это добрая воля Иисуса, Он оживляет того, кого захочет. И, Слава Богу, Иисус Хочет оживлять мертвых. Более того, жизнь, которую дает Иисус — это не просто временное оживление, как после реанимации, но настоящее воскрешение, так что смерть больше не имеет власти. Конечно, мы еще состаримся и умрем, но это не вечная смерть, а переход в новый мир, в новое тело, которое больше не будет стариться и болеть, не будет больше умирать. Такое тело получил Иисус Христос после воскресения из мертвых. А сейчас, в этом мире мы живем полноценно и свободно, как дети Бога.

Во-вторых, Кто обретает вечную жизнь. Стих 24 говорит: «Истинно, истинно говорю вам: слушающий слово Мое и верующий в Пославшего Меня имеет жизнь вечную, и на суд не приходит, но перешел от смерти в жизнь». Для того, чтобы иметь жизнь вечную, нужны две вещи: слушать слово Иисуса (это раз) и веровать в Пославшего Иисуса (это два). Что это значит?

Первое условие – слушать слова Иисуса. Это значит не только, чтобы ухо уловило какие-то колебания воздуха, не только понять, что говорил Иисус, но и принять Слова Иисуса и жить так, как Он учит. Хороший пример человека, который слушал слова Бога — это Авраам. Когда Бог сказал ему пойти из земли своей, из дома отца своего в землю, которую Он укажет, то он не просто услышал и понял, что Бог хочет, но он встал, взял все свое имущество и пошел, как ему сказал Бог. Часто христиане не слушают слов Иисуса, даже не потому, что не хотят подчиняться, а просто потому, что не слушают. Включил на плеере или мобилке аудиобиблию, проповедь или христианскую музыку, поставил затычки в уши и идешь по своим делам, а в голове свои мысли, что нужно сделать то, то и то. Конечно, это лучше, чем вообще не слушать слова Бога, но без размышления о слове Бога, без того, чтобы попытаться принять его, это не очень полезно. Мы читаем Библию. Библия – интересная книга, мне, например, читать ее нравится больше, чем «Войну и мир» или «Войну миров». Но мы читаем Библию не потому, что это интересно, а потому что в Библии есть голос Бога. Бог говорит нам в Библии, дает слово, которое предназначено только для нас, но надо услышать слово Иисуса, понять, что Он хочет сказать и послушаться. Это значит «слушать слово Иисуса».

Второе условие — это веровать в пославшего Иисуса Христа, то есть в Бога. Почти все люди верят, что Бог есть. Я в Украине не видел убежденных атеистов, для которых вопрос самозарождения жизни и большого взрыва был бы вопросом жизни и смерти. Практически каждый может ответить: «да, что-то там есть». Но это не значит верить в Бога. Здесь сказано: «веровать в пославшего Меня». То, что Бог послал Иисуса многое говорит о Боге. Бог не хотел, чтобы люди умирали, поэтому отдал Своего возлюбленного Сына на страдания и смерть, чтобы осудить грех, и не осуждать грешника. Бог хотел общаться с человеком, поэтому послал Иисуса, чтобы Он обитал с нами, знал наши трудности. Если я хочу иметь отношения со своим сыном, то интересуюсь его жизнью, хочу разделить его проблемы, хочу проводить с ним время. Все это сделал Бог в Иисусе Христе для нас. Бог добрый, любящий, верный и лучшее доказательство этому — то, что Иисус пришел в мир. Поэтому мы должны верить.

Авраам верил в такого Бога. Однажды, Авраам сидел в своем шатре и жаловался на Бога: «вот, мне уже 84 года, я послушался Тебя и пошел из своей земли, а Ты не дал мне даже одного сына». Тогда Бог вывел его вон из палатки и сказал: «Посмотри на небо и сосчитай звезды, если ты можешь счесть их. Столько будет у тебя потомков». Далее сказано: «поверил Авраам Господу и это вменилось ему в праведность». Это вера. Вера — это значит я верю, что Бог добрый, Он не обманывает, Он защищает, не хочет использовать, но хочет благословить. Хотя я не вижу исполнения Его обещаний, я верю, что Он исполняет, потому что Он обещал. Хотя я не вижу, но не сомневаюсь в Его силе. На самом деле нам верить значительно легче, чем Аврааму. Он был первым верующим. Тогда не было многих подтверждений силы и доброты Бога. Но он поверил. Потому и мы должны верить. Верить, что Бог любит меня, потому что Он послал Иисуса. Верить, что Он добрый к нашей стране, к нашему народу. Даже если у меня нет детей, но не сомневаюсь, что Бог добрый и Он благословляет детьми. Он благословляет родственников поверить в Иисуса. Ему можно доверять женитьбу и замужество, обеспечение будущего, доверять и в жизни и в смерти.

В-третьих, перешел от смерти в жизнь. Еще раз посмотрите на стих 24: «Истинно, истинно говорю вам: слушающий слово Мое и верующий в Пославшего Меня имеет жизнь вечную, и на суд не приходит, но перешел от смерти в жизнь». Тут сказано: имеет жизнь вечную, и на суд не приходит, но перешел от смерти в жизнь. Здесь мы видим суть вечной жизни. Вечная жизнь — это не очень долгая жизнь. Это не то чтобы после 70 лет наступает 100 лет, зубов становится еще меньше, а артрит и радикулит еще больше. После ста лет наступает двести, тогда уже не можешь ходить даже с палочкой, нужно передвигаться на инвалидном кресле, вместо того, чтобы жевать вареники, шашлыки и другую вкусную и полезную пищу тебя кормят какими-то безвкусным детским питанием. А после двухсот лет есть еще триста, пятьсот, тысяча и дальше до бесконечности. Никто не захочет так существовать до бесконечности. Но вечная жизнь — это не просто длинная жизнь, а состояние жизни. По отношению к жизни есть два состояния: смерть или жизнь. В пятницу я смотрел видео, как вырастить коллоидный сад водорослей. Это кристаллы медного и железного купороса растут в растворе обычного канцелярского клея. Получается очень похоже на подводный сад водорослей. Но, хотя эти кристаллические водоросли похожи на живые, но они мертвые. Так и в нашем мире. Любой ребенок, который рождается в мир, получает жизнь. Но он вырастет, состарится и, в конце концов, умрет. По сути наша жизнь — это долгое умирание. Все люди принадлежат смерти. Но Иисус говорит, что есть жизнь. Когда мы слушаем слов Иисуса и верим в Бога, то имеет отношение с Богом и соединяемся с Его жизнью. В стихе 26 сказано: «Ибо, как Отец имеет жизнь в Самом Себе, так и Сыну дал иметь жизнь в Самом Себе». Люди не имеют в себе жизни, поэтому стареют и умирают. Но Иисус имеет. Соединяясь с Иисусом Христом мы соединяемся и с Его жизнью. Это как садовник прививает деревья (если я неправильно что-то говорю, то пускай меня п. Дима поправит): берет маленькую веточку от одного дерева и прививает на место большой ветки у другого дерева. Тогда маленькая ветка становится частью дерева и получит его жизнь. Но и дерево, чтобы дать жизнь привитой ветке должно перенести страдание: у нее отрезают большую ветку, чтобы на ее место привить привой. Так и Иисус: чтобы дать нам соединиться с Богом и жить той вечной жизнью, которая есть в Боге, Иисус должен был пострадать и умереть на кресте и потом воскреснуть.

Для того, чтобы немного продлить жизнь, люди едят качественные продукты, избегают опасностей, завещают заморозить себя после смерти в жидком азоте и ищут «ген старости». Но чтобы обрести вечную жизнь нужно другое: подойти к Иисусу и соединиться с Ним в вере. Тогда его жизнь будет течь в нас.

В-третьих, Иисус — праведный судья.

В 22, 23 стихах, в стихах с 27 по 30, и в стихах 45, 46 Иисус говорит о суде. «Ибо Отец и не судит никого, но весь суд отдал Сыну, дабы все чтили Сына, как чтут Отца. Кто не чтит Сына, тот не чтит и Отца, пославшего Его». «И дал Ему власть производить и суд, потому что Он есть Сын Человеческий. Не дивитесь сему; ибо наступает время, в которое все, находящиеся в гробах, услышат глас Сына Божия; и изыдут творившие добро в воскресение жизни, а делавшие зло — в воскресение осуждения. Я ничего не могу творить Сам от Себя. Как слышу, так и сужу, и суд Мой праведен; ибо не ищу Моей воли, но воли пославшего Меня Отца», «Не думайте, что Я буду обвинять вас пред Отцем: есть на вас обвинитель Моисей, на которого вы уповаете. Ибо если бы вы верили Моисею, то поверили бы и Мне, потому что он писал о Мне». Здесь мы видим, что Бог отдал Иисусу право судить. Суд Иисуса праведен, потому что Он не ищет своей воли, но во всем исполняет волю Отца. Суд Иисуса очень серьезный, потому что от этого зависит вечная жизнь или вечное осуждение. В чем состоит суд? Суд состоит в нашем отношении к Иисусу. Если мы верим в Иисуса, верим, что Он – Сын Бога, Спаситель, если приходим к Нему, то соединяемся с Ним и Его жизнь становится нашей жизнью. Тогда смерть и осуждение не властны над нами. Но если не верим, или отвергаем милость Иисуса, то остаемся при своих: смерть и суд все так же властвуют над нами, а вечная жизнь Бога не имеет к нам никакого отношения. Иисус не осуждает нас, но предупреждает: если не будете веровать, то вы не можете избавиться от суда.

В-четвертых, Свидетельства об Иисусе.

Итак, вечная жизнь и вечное осуждение зависит от того как мы воспринимаем Иисуса. Кто Иисус? Во все времена личность Иисуса вызывала много споров и разногласий. Одни считали Иисуса пророком, другие — тем, кто искушает и развращает народ. Петр исповедовал Иисуса Христом, Сыном Бога Живого, а фарисеи и первосвященники считали Его богохульником и воплощением дьявола, поэтому предали Его не страдания и смерть. Сейчас то же самое: люди по-разному воспринимают Иисуса. Кто такой Иисус — это вопрос и для нас, от которого зависит наша жизнь и смерть. Каким образом мы можем правильно ответить на него? К сожалению, нельзя просто выучить ответ на этот вопрос, тут нужна личная вера. Поэтому нам нужно подтверждение, свидетельство об Иисусе. В стихах с 31 по 47 Иисус говорит о свидетельствах о Себе.

Во-первых, Иисус Сам засвидетельствовал о Себе. Он сказал о Себе: Я — Сын Бога, Я даю вечную жизнь. Конечно, такое свидетельство не имеет большой силы в суде, и не всегда люди, которые говорят подобные вещи, говорят правду. Но это не значит, что Иисус лгал о Себе. Конечно, есть много людей, которые считают себя Богом, Наполеоном, или императором галактической империи. Есть даже книга: «как управлять галактикой, не привлекая внимания санитаров». Но Иисус не был сумасшедший. Также Иисус не был руководителем секты, как то «Мария-Деви-Христос» или Муни. Мы должны рассмотреть, кем был Иисус в жизни и в служении и решить, можно ли доверять словам Иисуса. Я лично доверяю им.

Во-вторых, Иисус привел свидетельство Иоанна Крестителя. Иисус не нуждается в свидетельстве человека, но привел это свидетельство, чтобы кто-то уверовал и спасся. Мы тоже иногда рассказываем агнцам свое жизненное свидетельство. Мы делаем это для того, чтобы они уверовали и спаслись. Даже если не уверовали, то хотя бы заинтересовались, кто такой Иисус.

Третье свидетельство — это свидетельство дел. Посмотрите стих 36: «Я же имею свидетельство больше Иоаннова: ибо дела, которые Отец дал Мне совершить, самые дела сии, Мною творимые, свидетельствуют о Мне, что Отец послал Меня». Иисус совершил множество чудес, которые невозможно совершить человеку. Когда Иоанн Креститель, будучи в тюрьме, посылал учеников к Иисусу, то Иисус сказал им: «пойдите, скажите Иоанну, что вы видели и слышали: слепые прозревают, хромые ходят, прокаженные очищаются, глухие слышат, мертвые воскресают, нищие благовествуют; и блажен, кто не соблазнится о Мне!». Иисус и сейчас не перестает работать. Он и сейчас спасает, исцеляет, прощает грехи, воскрешает мертвых. Мы много обращаем внимания на курсы валют, на новые гаджеты, на моду и так далее. Но чтобы наша вера росла, нам надо обращать внимание на работу Бога, которая происходит сейчас, в нашей церкви, среди наших агнцах. Есть много примеров, но хочу привести только один: раньше с. Алена когда смотрела на свое будущее, всегда говорила: ой, это я никогда не смогу сделать, это у меня не получится, я этого не умею. Сейчас она говорит такое раз в 10 реже. Это небольшое, но явное чудо Бога в ее жизни. И мы должны обращать внимания на такие чудеса, тогда наша вера растет. Поэтому так важно писать свидетельства и делиться ими. Мы видели Его работу в своих жизнях и в жизнях других людей. Поэтому мы возвещаем эти чудесные дела Иисуса, чтобы другие узнали и поверили.

Четвертое свидетельство – это свидетельство Отца. Стихи 37,38 говорят: «И пославший Меня Отец Сам засвидетельствовал о Мне. А вы ни гласа Его никогда не слышали, ни лица Его не видели; и не имеете слова Его пребывающего в вас, потому что вы не веруете Тому, Которого Он послал». Если мы уверуем в Иисуса, то Бог посылает нам Святого Духа, Который подтверждает и свидетельствует об Иисусе. Поэтому, чтобы слышать голос Святого Духа нам нужно обращать внимание на свою молитвенную жизнь: не только просить, но славить, благодарить Бога, раскаиваться и слушать Его наставление.

Пятое свидетельство – это свидетельство слова Бога. Посмотрите на стих 39: «Исследуйте Писания, ибо вы думаете чрез них иметь жизнь вечную; а они свидетельствуют о Мне». Писание говорит и свидетельствует об Иисусе. За много столетий до прихода Иисуса Христа Бог в Библии написал, где придет Мессия, когда, какая Его миссия, что Он будет делать, какие признаки, что Он пришел. Лично я тоже поверил в Иисуса Христа через свидетельство Библии, через 53 главу пророка Исаии. Иисус говорит иудеям: «встаньте от духовной лени, рассмотрите Библию. Вы хотите через Библию получить жизнь вечную, и Библия говорит как: веровать в Меня. Я есть именно тот Мессия, о котором написано Моисеем, там есть признаки, сравните и увидите, что это Я. Придите ко Мне и будете иметь жизнь».

Почему люди не принимали Иисуса? Об этом сказано в стихах 42-44 и 46,47: «но знаю вас: вы не имеете в себе любви к Богу. Я пришел во имя Отца Моего, и не принимаете Меня; а если иной придет во имя свое, его примете. Как вы можете веровать, когда друг от друга принимаете славу, а славы, которая от Единого Бога, не ищете?… Ибо если бы вы верили Моисею, то поверили бы и Мне, потому что он писал о Мне. Если же его писаниям не верите, как поверите Моим словам?» Главная причина, почему люди не верят — это потому что не любят Бога. Любят себя, свое служение, свое положение, авторитет, но не Бога. Поэтому не ищут славы от Бога, но от людей. Поэтому не принимают ни слов Иисуса, ни писания Моисея.

Мы все, по крайней мере большинство из нас, свидетели силы Иисуса воскресить мертвых. Мы все (тут уже не большинство, а абсолютно все) были умершими в грехах, не имели отношений с Богом, были отрезаны от Его вечной жизни и погибали от греха. Но когда Иисус принял нас, то дал нам Его жизнь. Мы можем свидетельствовать: Иисус оживил меня. Большинство людей, которых мы видим вокруг себя все еще мертвые. Поэтому мы можем им засвидетельствовать: придите к Иисусу и будете иметь жизнь. На самом деле вечная жизнь — это главный и практически единственный вопрос каждого человека. И есть только одно решение — Иисус Христос, живой Сын Бога.

Давайте вернемся к самому началу сегодняшнего слова. Зачем Иисус вообще стал спорить с иудеями и говорил с ними? Кажется, гораздо проще было уйти от них и не ввязываться в спор. Это действительно так. Но Иисус разговаривал с ними, потому что хотел спасти их. Существует единственный путь спасения — это Иисус Христос. Если веруем в Него и принимаем Его слово, если признаем Его Сыном Бога, то соединяемся с Ним и Его жизнь становится нашей жизнью. Это значит мы перешли из смерти в жизнь. Если не веруем, то остались в смерти, остались под гневом Бога и, в конце концов, попадем на суд и в вечную погибель. Ключ к вере – это Сам Иисус Христос. Чтобы мы уверовали, Он предлагает нам множество свидетельств: это и свидетельства уверовавших, и подтверждение Святого Духа, и множество дел, которые совершил и совершает Иисус, и свидетельство пророчеств Библии. Даже Сам Иисус свидетельствует о Себе: это действительно Я. Поэтому сейчас верой примите Иисуса, и Его жизнь станет вашей.

(п. Авраам)

ВЕРА, ПОБЕЖДАЮЩАЯ МИР

Доклад о миссии Харьковского UBF в 2006 г.

ВЕРА, ПОБЕЖДАЮЩАЯ МИР

Ключевой стих 1Ин.5:4

«Ибо всякий, рожденный от Бога, побеждает мир; и сия есть победа, победившая мир, вера наша».

Этот стих был ключевым нашего центра и моим в 2006-ом году. Я взял его, чтобы победить безбожную атмосферу на работе и в общежитиях. На работе я встретился с сквернословием, обманом, эгоизмом и грубостью. В общежитиях мы нашли аморальность, духовное равнодушие и обман. Бог дал мне стих 1 Ин.5:4 чтобы я не боялся дела сатаны, но чтобы я имел дух воина и боролся с сатаной верою. Бог учил меня побеждать свой страх, мирскую обстановку и неверный род верою и в таком месте приносить плод Богу.

1. Слово Бога и агнцы

В прошлом году мы изучали Евангелие от Марка и 1-е послание Иоанна. Я благодарю Господа за Его благословение готовить проповеди, благодаря которым размышлял над Его словом и переводил свой взгляд от своих проблем к слову Бога. Бог верен, и Он укреплял нас каждый раз через воскресные богослужения, собрания свидетельств и изучения Библии, давал Свою силу, мир и направление.

Бог послал нам двоих верных сестер – с. Свету Зелинскую (социология, 1) и с. Олю Пикун (социология, 5). С. Света пришла к Иисусу, будучи замужем за неверующим мужем. Он доставлял ей много страданий в прошлом году, унижая ее, и не пуская на изучения Библии и Богослужения. Мы не знали, что делать. Но мы молились Господу и Он помог с. Свете через слово Ин.13:34: «Заповедь новую даю вам, да любите друг друга; как Я возлюбил вас, так и вы да любите друг друга». Она решила вести духовную борьбу с собой, своей ненавистью и горечью и любить своего мужа. Наконец, он признал, что духовно она сильнее его. Это была важная победа в ее жизни. Теперь она может свободно приходить на изучения Библии 1:1 и на Богослужения. Также Бог дал ей желание учиться в институте для Его славы, и в этом году она поступила на 1-ый курс факультета социологии. Мы молимся, чтобы Бог поставил ее добрым пастырем для студентов Харькова.

С. Оля изучает Библию больше двух лет – практически с самого начала нашего служения в Харькове. На весенней конференции она немного открыла свое сердце для Иисуса, но все равно туда не проникло ни одно слово Бога. В ее жизни сейчас происходит сильная духовная борьба. Без слова Бога она не может побороть свои человеческие желания и часто поступает как хочет. С другой стороны, она не хочет жить в грехе, а хочет жить счастливо и создать христианскую семью. В этом году она заканчивает университет. Мы молимся за нее, чтобы она приняла слово Бога и чтобы поручила свою жизнь Иисусу.

Мы молились еще за 2-их новых братьев и 2-их новых сестер. Осенью Бог ответил частично на нашу молитву и через академию послал нам двоих молодых агнцев – б. Володю (биол., 2) и с. Надю (машиност.1). Мы благодарим Господа, Который поручил нам Своих агнцев.

2. Конференции

Весной мы участвовали на конференции, которую проводил киевский UBF. Тема конференции была «Вот, Я делаю новое!» На этой конференции Бог сильно работал в сердце с. Светы, где она смело прочитала свое жизненное, исповедала свои грехи и нашла небесную радость в своей жизни. Она пришла к Иисусу через п. Руфь, и затем их семья переехала в Харьков. Бог продолжает работать в ее жизни и растит источником благословения для студентов на Украине.

Осенью мы проводили нашу 2-ую Библейскую Академию на тему «Следуй за Мною!» В прошлом году на нашу академию мы пригласили только двух агнцев, поэтому я боялся проводить академию в этом году. Но на собрании мы решили учиться ответственности за студентов Харькова и трудиться. На протяжении 2-х недель мы собирались вместе и молились. Бог привел 10 участников их Харькова, 4 из Днепропетровска и 15 гостей из Киева. Через эту Академию Бог растил с. Свету верным помощником в деле Евангелия в Харькове. Он был с нами Святыми Духом и благословил академию Своим присутствием, словом и наполнил нас радостью. Бог работал в сердцах нескольких молодых агнцев – б. Семена (Днепропетровский UBF), б. Володи, с. Нади (Харьковский UBF), б. Максима (Киевский UBF) и даровал им духовное желание последовать за Иисусом. Я учился через эту академию сердцу Бога, Который призывает грешников в Царство Бога. Я понял, что не могу заставить студентов прийти изучать Библию и на Богослужения. Я понял, что Бог не принуждает людей становится учениками Иисуса и прийти в Его Царство. Быть учеником и членом семьи Бога – величайшая привилегия, и Бог с пастырским сердцем зовет туда грешников. Я раскаялся в том, что мало учился сердцу Иисуса, а хотел достичь только видимого результата участников на Богослужении и изучений Библии 1:1. Я нашел, что Бог воспитывает меня и учит иметь Его сердце, чтобы призывать студентов. Тогда Он использует меня, чтобы делать Его дело в Харькове.

Также в прошлом году Бог благословил меня участвовать в деле мировой миссии через участие на WMR в Корее и на конференции в Турции. Через WMR Бог расширил мое сердце. Я увидел, какое большое UBF Кореи. Я увидел, как сильно Бог благословляет церковь, которая любит Его слово и повинуется приказу мировой миссии. Несмотря на небольшую историю христианства, в Корее жило много героев веры, влияние которых осталось до этого времени. Я понял, что должен жить с чувством истории в своей стране. Благодарю за проповедь м. Сарры Бери «Царство священников и народ святой», за служение пастырей корейского UBF.

Бог также благословил меня посетить семью м. Поинта, который стоит на переднем фронте евангельского дела в Турции. Там практически запрещена открытая проповедь Евангелия, и страна пропитана влиянием мусульманства. Однако Бог работает там через семью м. Поинта и привел нескольких турецких агнцев. Я учился его духу миссионера. В Харькове я опускал руки, когда в общежития не пускали и запрещали проповедовать Евангелие, но через эту конференцию раскаялся и решил копать глубже в Евангелие Иисуса, чтобы сила Бога могла действовать через меня. Также благодарю Господа за чудесную экскурсию по историческим местам христианства Каппадокии и по катакомбам.

3. Самообеспечение

Я продолжаю работать в международной телекоммуникационной компании, что позволяет обеспечивать семью и миссию. В 2006-ом году мы переехали на другую 2-х комнатную квартиру, где проводим Богослужения и изучаем Библию. П. Жанна д'Арк работает в небольшой компании с частичной занятостью, чтобы учиться жить активно и деятельно. Мы также молимся, чтобы Господь даровал нам детей в Его время.

4. Направление на 2007 г.

В прошлом году я страдал с агнцами. С. Оля более 2-х лет изучала Библию, но так и не приняла ни одного слова, поэтому поступала, как хотела. Б. Володя несколько раз изучал Библию с духовным желанием, но потом пропал. С. Надя участвовала на осенней академии и захотела изучать Библию, но потом ее духовное желание так же быстро растаяло. Через таких агнцев я нашел свою духовную проблему – я стал духовно ленивым и не хочу платить цену ученичества. Я часто просыпал дух. хлеб, мало проповедовал, много смотрел телевизор и не молился. Я не отвергать себя, но хотел достичь результата без страдания. В новом году я хочу учиться вере, которой могу сердечно молиться и отвергать свои человеческие желания для дела Бога. С такой верой я хочу преодолеть свои грехи и немощи, найти новых агнцев, хотя не пускают в общежития, хранить видение. Мой ключевой стих (а также нашего центра) на 2007 год – Мк.9:23: «Иисус сказал ему: если сколько-нибудь можешь веровать, все возможно верующему».

Наши главные темы молитвы на 2007 год такие:

1.Изучение книги Бытие. Слово Бога для п. Иакова для подготовки проповедей, чтобы он готовил глубокие, живые, радостные проповеди. Регулярный дух. хлеб с агнцами в 6.30.

2.Чтобы с. Света Зелинская росла духовно и стала пастырем. Чтобы с. Оля Пикун приняла слово и чтобы оно изменило ее жизнь.

3.1 Авраам и 1 Сарра веры в ХГУ им. Каразина, 12 изучений Библии 1:1, 12 участников на Богослужении. До 2015 г., завоевать молодежь главных ВУЗов Харькова для Иисуса и собрать 120 участников на конференции.

Philippines Mission Report

Philippines Mission Report

12-27-07 to 1-7-07

Exodus 3:10

“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

On December 26 our family left Kyiv, Ukraine and flew to the Philippines Islands. My family came to Philippines to study Exodus and encourage the co-workers there, but in the course of our visit we were greatly encouraged by them. We want to thank Chicago UBF for sponsoring our trip to the Philippines. Philippines UBF was pioneered in 1985 when my brother came as a medical student. Dr. Samuel caught him and commissioned him as a missionary from Chicago. In Philippines he met a medical student William Altobar, who faithfully studied the Bible with him. Later Shepherdess Sarah Mina also began to study the Bible. But after graduating from Medical School in 1989 my brother left the mission field for personal reasons. Dr. William was at a lost but he decided to remain and take care of the sheep that was left. He delivered Sunday messages based on Dr. Samuel Lee’s manuscripts. He also did Daily Bread faithfully. One year later he established his house church with Shepherdess Sarah Mina. He also attended international conferences in America and after the conferences he studied the Bible with Dr. Ben Toh. Because there were no missionaries in the Philippines, God became his shepherd and the word of God his guiding light. Philippine UBF is self-supported by his salary. He makes a low salary working as a medical doctor in a public clinic. Though the pay is low he is free to carry out the work of God. God gave his family three children but one son died at the age of three because of heart malformation. Though their family is not rich, they adopted two more children who were abandoned in his clinic. Shepherdess Sarah had a hard time to take them but one day while doing daily bread she was convicted by the one word, “every soul is precious to God.”

Not only did they adopt physical children as their own, they also adopted and shepherded college students as their spiritual children. Sometimes Dr. William even paid for their tuition and allowed them to live with his family. Many of them are medical and nursing students. Because Philippines is an English speaking nation, many of these medical and nursing students go aboard working as doctors and nurses in English speaking countries. One such example is Dr. Jacob Canales. He was the top medical student but could not overcome his homosexual desires. But through one to one Bible study God healed him and he could establish a house church with Lady Sarah and now they have three children. They also went out as a missionary family to London. There he passed his medical board exam and is actively participating in London UBF. He feeds many native English students and even takes turns delivering the Sunday Worship Service message. Another family that was sent out to England is Matthew and Best Sumbicay. Misn. Best grew up as an ugly duckling among her 4 talented and beautiful sisters. But through Bible study, Dr. William gave her the name “Best” because before God she was the best in her family and in the whole country. Now among her sibling, she alone has an intact family while they are all divorce. The Sumbicay have an independent chapter two hours away from London UBF. They are both nurses and they have four children. They are very active in the work of God there. When they joined London UBF for conference Misn. Moses Yoon rebuked the Korean missionaries to serve others like Misn. Best Sumbicay. Then there is Misn. Faith Montefalcon. When she came to Bible study she was a very dangerous Samaritan woman because she was so beautiful. But through Bible study God healed her. Shepherdess Sarah said she was the most diligent and hard working woman she ever met. She became a Rebekah and decided to marry Shepherd Rene Montefalcon who was in the past a homosexual. He is the ancestor of faith in UAE, United Arabs of the Emirates in the Middle East. Now they have one son and she is working as a nurse there. Most recently Misn. Mark and Hannah Calalang were sent out to Cleveland, Ohio. Misn. Mark is a nurse and Misn. Hannah is studying to take her nursing board exam. They are an active members in the ministry. Soon their chapter director will be leaving and Misn. Paul Hong of Toledo is encouraging them to be an independent chapter. It seemed to me too premature and I voiced my opinion to Dr. William and he said, “I thought I was premature to be the Philippine director when your brother left. But God helped me and he will do the same with Misn. Mark’s family.” Amen. May God do so.

Now in Philippine UBF remains three house churches, Dr. William Altobar, Shepherd Timothy Ipapo and Shepherd Jonathan Reytos, and one missionary from Chicago, Misn. Susan San Marcos. Shepherd Timothy and Esther Ipapo have three children. One of their daughter contracted liver cancer three years ago and was very critical. But through the prayers of God’s servants their daughter is now normal and healthy. They have many sheep in the best university in the country, the University of the Philippines and at Medical Central Manila where Shepherd Timothy works as a nursing instructor. Shepherd Jonathan and Grace Reytos have three children. Shepherdess Grace has been coming to Philippine UBF since she was 10 years old in CBF. She is the niece of Shepherdess Sarah. When she became a young lady she had a boyfriend. Shepherdess Sarah challenged her to either give up her boyfriend or Bible study. She began to cry so much that Shepherdess Sarah thought it was because she couldn’t give up her boyfriend. But later Shepherdess Grace said that the thought of not having Bible study anymore brought her such great sorrow. When she gave up her boyfriend, he became faithful and became a good shepherd and in God’s time they established a house church. Now Shep. William is praying to send him to Lebanon as a care giver for Shepherd Teddy Hembekides’ father and as a missionary. Misn. Susan San Marcos lived and worked illegally in Chicago for many years to send money to her family in the Philippines. But through Bible Study in UBF she was convicted that this was not right before God and decided to return to the Philippines to be united with her family and serve Philippine UBF. She is Dr. William’s most loyal prayer mother and supporter. In every issue she always backs up Dr. William and accepts his direction. When he told her to dance for the Christmas conference she did so even though she is a middle aged woman. When Dr. William gave her direction to have two more children, she adopted two more sons. She has been a source of comfort to Philippine UBF and an active Bible teacher and fisher of men.

There are many more heart moving stories among the sheep and shepherds there. Philippine UBF is a manger ministry. They own no land or center. They rent a small termite infested building. They have their worship service with an attendance of 30-40 people in the courtyard because they have no room inside. On the outside Philippine UBF looks so small and poor but inside is the life of God because she has shepherds who live by the living word of God. Through Exodus Bible study we learned, God heard the groaning of his people in the bondage of Egypt. God wanted to free them. How did he do it? He sent them one man, Moses who as a baby was destined to a watery grave, but God drew him out of the water to be the deliverer of his people. The Philippine Islands is surrounded by water. She is called the paradise of Asia. My family saw beautiful waterfalls, volcanoes, lush tropical forest, endless clear water beaches and colorful coral reefs. But her people are suffering from poverty and sin. There are 80 million people and because of the instability of the government, the Moslem religion and pseudo Christian religion, like Inglesia Christos, which do not believe in the deity of Jesus, are growing. But through the shepherd life of Dr. William and Sarah Mina there is a great hope for Philippines to be a kingdom of Priest and a holy nation. It only takes one man to change a nation. May God protect and bless Dr. William to be the Moses of the Philippines. Amen.

ONE WORD: I am sending you to bring my people out.

Доклад (Киев UBF, M.Пётр Ким)


Доклад (Киев UBF, M.Пётр Ким)

"ПРЕЖДЕ ДОЛЖНО БЫТЬ ПРОПОВЕДАНО ЕВАНГЕЛИЕ"

Ключевой стих: Марка 13:10

"И во всех народах прежде должно быть проповедано Евангелие "

В 2006 году Киевский UBF прежде всего хотел служить мировой миссии и делу воспитания учеников на основании слова Мар.13:10. Мы планировали построить новое здание для церкви, поэтому была опасность потерять силу занявшись только строительством. Чтобы прежде всего участвовать в мировой миссии по направлению всего UBF, мы взяли ключевым стихом Мар.13:10. Мы благодарим Бога за то, что Он провел нас в этом году по этому ключевому стиху.

1. Мировая миссия

1) М. Джон Пис, миссионер из Чикаго UBF, был приглашен в Америку на конференцию лидеров и читал там свой доклад миссии. Он оставил обеспеченную жизнь в Америке и приехал с четырьмя детьми миссионером на Украину, уповая на стих Бытие 12:1,2. Вначале он встретил трудности с изучением языка и неприязнью детей к новой атмосфере. Но когда он крепко уповал на слово обещания Бога и хранил свою миссию, Бог дал ему победу.

2) В августе прошлого года мы вместе со Стамбул UBF открыли 1-ю Летнюю Библейскую Конференцию в Каппадокии, Турция. Семью М. Поинта выгнали из дома, который они снимали, и им пришлось жить в Интернет-кафе. Но, не смотря на это, они всем сердцем постарались хранить свою веру и миссию. Чтобы продлевать визу они 1 раз в 2 месяца должны были ездить в другую страну. Но в таких трудностях они проповедовали студентам, изучали 1:1 и воспитывали б. Николая сотрудником для евангельской работы. Они жили, как настоящие герои веры и ученики Иисуса. Смотря на них, мы сильно благодарили Бога и открыли 1-ю Библейскую конференцию в катакомбах, чтобы учиться вере ранних христиан и укрепить наших миссионеров. Чтобы поддержать нашу конференцию из Чикаго UBF приехали п. Эмми Стасинос и п. Адам Крамарчук. Всего приняло участие 27 человек, 16 из которых были из Украины. Мы вместе укрепляли наши миссионеров и молились за Турцию. Бог принял нашу личную молитву и помог М. Поинту поступить в Босфорский университет и дал ему вид на жительство, решив таким образом проблему с визой. Через это мы учились, что Бог обязательно открывает дверь тому, кто всем сердцем верит, ищет и стучит.

3) 1-й Всеукраинский Отчет Мировой Миссии: 22 мая киевский и одесский центр UBF совместно открыли 1-й в истории Всеукраинский Отчет Мировой Миссии. Он был основан на слове Исаия 43:19. Для участия в нем приехали М. Анастасия и п. Джейсон Пэрри из Нью Джерси UBF, которые пионеризировали Принстон университет. Также из Турции приехали М. Поинт и Ревекка, вместе с б. Николем. Также приехали пионеры: п. Иаков и Жанна д'Арк из Харькова, и п. Авраам и Сарра Жертвенные из Днепропетровска. Все они читали свои отчеты миссии. Мы старались организовать эту конференцию верой 5-ти хлебов и 2-ух рыбок, но Бог обильно благословил эту конференцию и показал нам видение, что пошлет 1000 миссионеров через Украина UBF до 2041 года. Я благодарю и прославляю Господа Бога.

4) Отчет мировой миссии в Сеуле.

Его открытие было 28 мая. Из Киев UBF в нем приняли участие: М. Петр, п. Катя Бэрри, п. Лариса и п. Руфь. Через главную проповедь М. Сарры Бэрри, мы обновились в призвании, быть святым царственным священством. п. Катя Бэрри, которая хотела жить комфортной жизнью, приняла решение ехать миссионером в мусульманскую страну. М. Петр Ким читал один из главных докладов и обновил видение о самообеспечении миссии. После этого он участвовал в конференции миссионеров и учился Божьей работе.

5) С 26 декабря по 8 января этого года при поддержке Чикаго UBF семья М. Джона Писа посетила Филиппины Манила UBF, чтобы укреплять братьев и сестер там.

2. Воспитание учеников

1) Работа слова Бога и рост проповедников.

В прошлом году мы изучали Евангелие от Матфея. Проповедниками на Богослужении были М. Петр Ким, п. Авраам Влад, п. Андрей Шпагин и п. Александр Ной. Хотя все они были заняты на работе, но они усердно изучали слово и готовили проповедь на Богослужения. Те, кто готовили проповедь, в субботу собирались с другими проповедниками и помогали друг другу. Эти тренировки были очень полезны для духовного роста проповедников. На собрания по четвергам проповеди книге Бытия читали: п. Сарра Мария, п. Катя Бэри, п. Лариса, п. Руфь и п. Слово Ханна. Все они читали очень благодатные и радостные проповеди. На утренних собраниях по очереди читали проповеди: п. Самурай, п. Дима, п. Ура Саша, п. Стас, п. Владимир Попельнух и п. Олена. Через это они могли расти в фундаментальный образ слуг слова Бога и получить укрепление для воспитания учеников.

2) Работа фронтов.

Чтобы учиться самостоятельному служению, мы разделили церковь на фронты с домашней церковью во главе каждого. Среди них большой прогресс веры в этом году совершил фронт п. Андрея Шпагина, который служит в Университете им. Т.Г.Шевченко, и фронт п. Ионафана, который служит в КПИ. П. Андрей Шпагин, хотя он был очень занят на работе, а также содержал большую семью (жена, бабушка, мама и 2 детей), но он жил жертвенной пастырской жизнью и совершил пробуждение в своем фронте. Я благодарю Господа за его хорошее влияние. П. Ионафан, хотя учился в аспирантуре, но верно служил интерн-пастырем и хорошо исполнял всякие большие и маленькие дела, которые никто не хотел делать. Он усердно работал для пионеризации КПИ и хорошо воспитывал в своем фронте сестер Иру, Аню и Наташу. Я благодарю за Бога за его труд. Также п. Давид со своей женой п. Викторией служил в своем фронте изо всех сил и всем сердцем. Я благодарю Бога за их большой духовный рост. М. Хана Чой, хотя провела всего 2 года миссионерской жизни, но имела ясное решение жить как миссионер и учила украинский язык изо всех сил, а также много служила для музыкального служения. Через жертвенную жизнь М. Ханны и М. Есфирь Бог сильно растил музыкальные способности братьев и сестер киевского UBF, и мы получили видение открыть полномасштабную музыкальную конференцию в этом году. Мы благодарим Бога за то, что Он помог нам совершать 150 изучений Библии 1:1 и собирать 70 участников на Богослужении каждую неделю. Я благодарен руководителям фронтов, которые усердно трудились в течении этого года: п. Андрею Шпагину, М. Есфирь, п. Давиду, п. Ионафану, п. Аврааму, п. Стасу и п. Ною. Молюсь, чтобы они росли добрыми пастыря, учителями Библии и воспитателями учеников.

3) 19-21 мая проходила Весенняя Библейская Конференция, а также 27-29 октября – Осенняя Библейская Конференция.

3. Строительство здания церкви

Поскольку наш центр, который мы снимаем в аренду, находится на 1-м этаже многоэтажного здания, у нас всегда была проблема с тем, чтобы собираться и проводить музыкальное служение. Каждый год мы получали известие, что нас собираются выгонять. В этом году нас тоже собирались выгнать, но мы смогли продлить наш договор только до мая этого года при условии, что это последний срок нашего пребывания. Поэтому, уповая на Бога, который называет несуществующее, как существующее (Рим.4:17), и на слово Зах.3:6,7, мы начали строительство нового здания для центра. Бог, как и обещал, вел нас и совершал это дело. Таким образом, мы уже завершили строительство основной части здания, включая крышу. Мы хотим полностью завершить строительство здания до конца июля. п. Стас много трудился, в качестве председателя строительства, а также п. Сара Мария хорошо работала, в качестве финансового директора. Я благодарю Бога за их преданность. Благодарю за доктора Джона Джана и многих сотрудников, которые молились за это дело. Пусть Бог принимает нашу веру 5-ти хлебов и 2-ух рыбок и слушает молитву всех сотрудников, чтобы использовать этот центр для воспитания учеников Иисуса Христа среди украинских студентов, а также поставит его авангардом для направления миссионеров в мусульманские страны.

4. Чему я учился и направление для нового года

В начале 2006 года я чувствовал тяжесть в своем сердце из-за того, что не растил нашу миссию последних 2-3 года. Мы попробовали изменить многое в надежде на рост нашей церкви. Но в конце концов я пришел к выводу, что, если я не изменяюсь, то ничего не изменится коренным образом. Прежде всего я должен быть хорошим учеником Иисуса. Также я учился, что если нет пионерского духа, чтобы непрерывно двигаться вперед, и усердного труда, то я обязательно получу влияние закваски этого времени. Чтобы быть хорошим слугой Бога, я должен иметь чувство истории и думать о следующем поколении, а также иметь видение и сердце благодарить за все. Хотя я постарался отдавать себя, чтобы угодить Господу и расширить царство Бога, но спустя время я нашел в себе много грехов и немощей и сильно раскаялся. Также каюсь, что не создал ни одной домашней церкви в прошлом году, так как потерял отцовское сердце. Также каюсь, что не послал ни одного миссионера в прошлом году. Смотря на прошлый год, я могу исповедовать, что все происходило только по благодати Бога. Я сердечно благодарю Бога за то, что Он был с нами, как и обещал, и все исполнил, когда мы верили и искали Его в своих нуждах. Благодарю Бога за то, что мы смогли прожить это год в радости и благодарении. Я благодарю за всех сотрудников евангельской работы, которые из всех сил трудились со мной, покрывая мои немощи и слабости.

Ключевым стихом 2007 года для Киев UBF и для меня мы выбрали Марка 3:13,14, чтобы подражать Иисусу, который воспитывал учеников. Мы сердечно молимся, что воспитать 12 учеников в регионе Университета Т.Г.Шевченко и 12 в регионе КПИ. Я молюсь, чтобы мы глубоко изучали слово Бога, имели чистую и молитвенную жизнь, а также совершили 160 изучений Библии 1:1 и собирали 120 участников на Богослужении. Молюсь, чтобы Бог помог нам завершать строительство здания церкви.

Темы молитвы:

Ключевые стихи Мар.3:13,14.

1. Хранить чистое сердце, всем сердцем изучать слово Бога и молиться.

2. 160 1:1, 120 SWS, воспитание учителей Библии.

3. До конца июля завершить строительство здания церкви и переезд.

темы молитвы


by Dr. Peter Kim

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us” – Matthew 1:23

Merry Christmas! I wish all coworkers a Merry Christmas and an upcoming happy New Year. I wish the grace of Immanuel God to be with you. Thanks for all your prayers, love and concern which you showed in 2006 year. We are great debtors to you for your great love and support. I pray that God may continue his salvation work and his discipleship work through our 5 loves and 2 fish faith in 2007 year.

I want to share our latest prayer topics with you briefly:

1. Kiev UBF Christmas worship service will be on the 24th of December. The Christmas message will be “Immanuel God Is With Us” based on Matthew 1:18-25. We would like to remember the great love through the incarnation of God, who became flesh to be with us. Also, we want to thank Jesus for being with us this year. When I remember all the things of this year, I find that I was not faithful and sincere, and remained weak and faced shortcomings. But Immanuel Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever was always with me and he poured His mercy on me. So, I just confess that I am what I am, and everything is God’s one-sided grace. I thank Immanuel God wholeheartedly. I pray that Immanuel Jesus may receive glory and praise through our Christmas worship celebration.

2. We are now studying Hebrews every week. We are praying to know the deep meaning of the forgiving sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ through Hebrews Bible study. We pray that spiritual revival may come in this land through our one to one Bible study. We are praying continually for a disciple making ministry and to raise up 120 good Christian soldiers & excellent Bible teachers.

3. Kiev UBF center construction is going very well by God’s one-sided grace. Now, the center building is about 60% finished, but work has stopped because of the cold winter season. We want to continue in the spring of next year and finish by the end of July. If God’s grace is granted, we want to have a center dedication ceremony in August and then open the Summer Bible Conference in Kiev. All Kiev UBF coworkers are so thankful for world mission coworkers’ prayer support. We are great debtors for your prayers and love.

4. Missionary John Peace’s family will visit Philippine UBF from December 26 for about 10 days. M. John Peace’s first daughter, Maria Joy is praying to enter B. University of Istanbul, Turkey for study and to cowork with M. V.P’s family. Her faith and decision is great. God blessed her faith and granted her the blessing to visit the Philippines, her mother country. M. Maria Peace wants to study Exodus with te Philippine UBF coworkers. Thank you very much for the sincere prayer support from Chicago UBF for this family. May God bless them to bring joy and blessings to the Philippine coworkers, especially for Dr. William Altobar’s family.

5. We are going to hold the New Year Leaders’ Conference the 12th and 13th of January, 2007 in the suburb of Kiev. We want to study Mark 1-3 (the purpose of Jesus’ disciple training), Mark 4-8 (the method of Jesus’ disciple training) and to have clear direction and focus for a disciple making ministry in the 2007.

Thank you very much again for your prayers. May God strengthen all precious world mission coworkers and give new spirit and vision in the upcoming New Year.

WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH

WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH

NJ Rutgers/Princeton Fall Bible Academy’06

M.Anastasia Perry

Joh 1:41

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ)

Heavenly Father! Thank you for blessing our Fall Bible Academy, especially for your word and your work of the Holy Spirit in students. Thank you for answering our prayers and helping our Bible students to bring their five loaves and two fish and participate practically. May you bless Steven, Rana, Chris, Lei, Jessica, Dan and Dr Huang to grow as disciples of Jesus in Princeton and Steve, Maya, Heather in Rutgers. Help me to give thanks to God remembering all that you have done and have a clear word of God and prayer topic to serve Princeton discipleship ministry. I pray in Jesus name. Amen,

I praise and thank God for his hope and vision I could see through this Bible Academy. I was personally a little bit sad and ashamed for not bringing even one sheep, but I thank God for helping me to pray and go fishing more faithfully to meet new possible Bible students.

Also I thank God that through preparing Multimedia on the UBF history I could learn our ancestors faith and sprit and renew my own calling and vision. Also God gave me wisdom to invite Amanda Joyce as narrator. In this way even though she could not attend the Bible Academy, she could participate with her 5 loaves and 2 fish. Most of all she was moved by Mother Barry’s life and UBF history. She opened her heart and agreed to study the Bible. May God help her to be a mother of prayer and her house church to be our coworkers for Princeton mission. Her husband Dan, who is a staff at Princeton, came to preside and made a joyful and open atmosphere. He also brought his sheep from his church and he was very thankful for sh Jason’s message that touched Brad’s heart.

God blessed the first two nights at Rutgers. Especially I was moved by the word of God through reviewing the first 12 chapters of Genesis. I could see that God’s history continues through faithful man, who walk with God. Even though we seem minority in this world, but God uses us in our generation to carry out his blessing and knowledge. Yjaml God for Sh David and Sh Steve rodan as powerful messages. Especially Sh Steve delivered his message on the evening before his GRE. He really learned practical faith to seek God’s kingdom first. May God use him as a man of faith and raise him as a shepherd for Rutgers students and North Korea as he prays one day. Shs Maya shared her gracious testimony. I was refreshed to see the salvation work of God in one soul. She had a broken family and lived an immoral life because of thirst for man’s love/ But Jesus found her through our missionaries. She confessed Jesus as her true husband and God as her true Father. Now she is full of grace and she faithfully drives 3 hours every week to keep Friday meeting and SWS. Aslo thank God for beinging Heather as a great sing spiration leader and women report leader, for s Kathie, S.Jacky, B Doje, Anber, Nathan who came. May God raise 7000 Bible teachers and missionaries from Rutgers.

In Princeton we had a great struggle to serve this Bible Academy. It is hard to invite students even to give 2 hours, but God challenged us to invite them on Sunday to New Brunswick. It seemed impossible, but when we decided to overcome our humanism and unbelief, God reveled his glory. Br Steve Farais shared a powerful message on Jn 1 “We have found the Messiah.“ He is senior in Princeotn and have been studying the Bible with M Moses for the past 3 years faithfully. However he never made any decision and remained as a cultural catholic Christian. This time the word of God challenge him to seek Jesus as the true Messiah who is worthy of all our worship and love and also testify to Jesus as his witness. Br Rana prepared a special report on Erick Liddle. He got the point and learned that God is faithful to those who honor his word and keep the Sabbath Day Holy. He made a decision to Keep Sunday WS. Br Chris testified that Bble study brought him to know God more personally/ He confessed that as a n average Princeotn student he was never interested seriously in God and it is hard to be a disciple of Jesus. Yet he was thankful for the chance to study the Bible and come to know Jesus.

Br Lei Chen shared a very heartmoving story about Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor had faith in the Living God so he could become a very fruitful missionary in China. I realized as a missionary I also have to have such absolute faith and not depend on human situation and atmosphere. Although the atmosphere in America is getting worse and as Br Steve said Princeton students and all young intellectuals are taught not to take any view seriously but be open for all religions and debates. So it is very hard to teach the word of God when people don’t take the word of God as an authority. Yet like Hudson Taylor I can have a successful ministry when I believ the Living God and love God’s sheep. Br Lei has been faithfully studying the Bible for the past year. Yet as a literature major PhD student he always did not get the point to believe in Jesus but just like d to talk about knowledge. His heart had opened more since he got to live a common life with us for a month, when he had no apartment, even though we did not have an extra room either. We pray that God may open his spiritual eyes to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and God. Thank God s Jessica came as the only girl student from Princeotn. She is a 2nd gen of Dr Pottenger. Yet as many 2nd gen she has lots of knowledge but not apersonal faith. This tiem she confessed that Bibelk study with M Miriam made her think more deeply on Genesis and learn from the word of GOD. She is a typical Princeton girl student, full of ambition, energy and self – confidence. If she is changed we have hope to raise up 12 mother of prayer.

I personally thank God for Sh Jason’s message. The word of God was so sweet to my. Jn 1;,2 “IN the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John proclaims from the beginning that The Word of God, Jesus is God and he was from the beginning. Jesus us the Creator God who became flesh so that we all may come back to our Father and become children of God. IN our tiem many people talk about many gods and many ways to God. But through Jesus we can come to know God personally and have his light and life in us. All our Bible study should lead us to Jesus, because this is the only way to know God. We have to study the written word so that we may know the Living Word. In Jn 5:39 Jesus said: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” Last month I was distressed when our sheep Michele and Nathan with whom Sh Jason and I studied the Bible for more than 6 month decided to stop. Their main argument was that we are too fundamentalist, believe the word of God literally. They wanted to have more open discussion and liked their church pastor who approves gay marriages. At first I wanted to argue with them. However I really realized the terrible reality when people reject Jesus. My heart became more broken for American students who have all the blessing to know the word of God but refuse to come to Jesus. I was doubting how I can serve this relativistic generation. Apostle John encourages me through his gospel not to cease to preach that JESUS is GOD. He is the Word of God. I must study the Bible continually for myself until my faith grows into living faith in Living God and grow in his image. I must teach the Bible as the Living Word believing its power to save. If I believe that Jesus is the Living God I will not doubt and feel fatalistic because of my family and many sicknesses but believe his good plan and promise of salvation for them.

I thank God for using sh Jason to teach the Bible even to Princeton exchange professor in Philosophy from China, Dr Huang. He attended the first day of BA and was very thankful. I saw the great hope that God would raise up many influential spiritual leaders through Princeton again in our generation. May God bless Princeton to raise up 1000 professor shepherds and send missionaries to the whole world. I pray for all our sheep who participated not to forget the grace of God but put the word of God into practice. My God make America into a Kingdom of Priests and a holy Nation.

O.W. Jesus is God

THE GIFT OF GOD

THE GIFT OF GOD

shs.Amy Stasinos Chicago UBF

Romans 6:23b

“…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Merhaba! Praise and thank God for his glorious work through the first Bible conference in our Turkey! Our God surely blessed our conference from the beginning to the end. I am so thankful for the opportunity to attend this conference and can only thank and praise God from the bottom of my heart.

First, Our Turkey

Shepherd Adam Kramarczyk and I arrived in our Turkey to the greeting of Msn. V.P. and Dr. Peter Kim. We prayed that the name of Jesus might be above all names in Turkey and we kissed the ground there in the airport. As we traveled to Msn V.P’s flat, the land was very spacious and full of houses and buildings. There are 75 million people in Turkey with 20 million in Istanbul alone. Istanbul is in both the continent of Europe and Asia. From Bosphorus University one can see both sides of the city and the connection of only two bridges. The thing that stood out the most was the amount of mosques throughout the land. In America we can always tell the churches by their steeples, but in Turkey, the mosques are recognized by their domed roof and the minarets. Most mosques had 1-2 minarets and they had bullhorns on the outside to announce the time of prayer throughout the day.

Two blocks from Msn V.P’s home there was a mosque and one could hear the cry to prayer five times a day. In order to get to Msn V.P’s home, we had to travel down a narrow and steep hill. He shared that the sisters would climb this hill at least two times a day to go to the Bible House and then to campus. It was great diet training and exercise for us! We had a delicious lunch of red lentil soup which is similar to what Esau sold his birthright for. His home was located on the sixth floor, we climbed the spiral staircase into his spacious new flat. God provided the best place for their family. The first place they lived they lost because the landlord was scared because they were Christians and had people coming in and out and they sang too joyfully. But this new flat was very spacious with a large kitchen, living room area that was converted into the worship service area, a closed in balcony that could also be used for storage, two bedrooms, a large bathroom and a small room for the European style toilet. They had a beautiful view of the city. God even provided them this new flat at the same price as the previous place and the landlord did not live in the building. This allowed them to be freer in worship but they still needed to be careful since they were on the top floor and there were five Muslim families living in the building.

Here I want to share a little about Msn V.P and R. Due to the living situation of trying to find a new place to live they had been separated for the past four months. Rebekah first arrived with our Ukrainian coworkers and saw the flat for the first time. They thought that their family would only be separated for 2 weeks but it took 4 months. Msn VP and brother Nikolay had lived above the internet caf? during that time of separation and grew as good coworkers. Msn VP shared that initially he thought Turkey was strange with no heat and crazy drivers. But then he fell in love with Turkey and saw that the people were simple and beautiful. He also shared that the church in Turkey had not grown in the last 20 years—as people joined, the same number left the church. It has been stagnant, but God has great hope for our Turkey! Msn VP said that we should call it our Turkey because we should love this country with all our hear and pray for our Turkey to be a kingdom of priests!

I also had a chance to talk and pray with Msn R. She shared that she had a difficult time to accept VP’s prayer and direction to go to Turkey at first. She would often cry and even thought that Msn VP did not need her because he could do everything because he is so able and can help sheep find their life problems and overcome. But God has completely changed her heart over the year, especially over the past four months. She accepted Turkey as their mission field and prays to serve the flock of God, VP and her daughters as Jesus loved and served her.

God has blessed their family and has provided for all their needs. Msn VP was able to find a job teaching English. Not only did God use this to improve his English and provide for his family, but it helped him to serve Bosphorus University students who spoke Turkish and English. And the week of the conference we learned that Msn. VP was accepted into the English education program. God has answered our prayers—it was almost impossible but God provided a way that he was only one of five foreigners chosen for the program. Because he was accepted, he could have permanent residency while in school. HE said that he would study poorly so that he could remain on campus longer—like 8 years like S. Adam.

Second, The conference

The day S. Adam and I arrived we left that evening for Cappadocia, an 11 hour bus ride southeast of Istanbul, on the Asian side of Turkey called Anatolia. Cappadocia has a few small towns and houses scattered throughout the land. It had many different rock formations throughout which were a result of 3 different volcanoes that erupted at different times in their history.

We had 27 attend the conference: 15 from Kiev, 1 from Kharkov, 2 from US, and 9 from Turkey. From Turkey we had Msn VP and R, brother Nikolay and sister Hande, Minal, who was a self-professed atheist, Yilmaz and Necat who are a part of the Turkish church, and Ira, who used to study with Msn Maria Peace in Ukraine and her Muslim husband Ocon. Sister Dilek was not able to come because when she went home, her Muslim parents refused to let her go back to Bosphorus. They were even considering sending her to another university so she would not be influenced by the church any longer. We prayed for her to overcome her fear and follow Jesus alone, even if it meant forsaking all for the cross of Jesus.

On Saturday, the first day of the conference we checked into our hotel called Otel Kral—which was beautiful, like a king’s residence. We had a wonderful breakfast of loives, feta, bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry and strawberry preserves and chocolate spread.

Then we went sight seeing on our way to hear our first message. The land was dry but full of many beautiful rock formations. We saw the famous fairy chimneys that had the father, mother with child, and the grandparents. We also saw rock formations that look like a camel, rabbit, the Virgin Mary and Napoleon’s hat. Then we went to visit a church that was cut into the rock. When we climbed inside we sang the Lord’s prayer, it was wonderful. Then we saw a village that was cut into the rock. There was a mosque dug along with homes that had a living room area, winery, and bedrooms. There were also tombs cut into the rock. It was steep and dangerous, with many narrow paths and air ventilation shafts cut into the ground. I could not imagine living there and trying to raise a family.

We then went to a castle—high up on a mountain top to have our first message. It was absolutely breathtaking. We could see all of Cappadocia below us and it was there that we sang praises to Jesus and Nikolay shared his message on 1Peter 1:1-9, The Living Hope. It took on a whole new meaning as we were in Cappadocia, one of the regions Peter was writing to in his letter to the scattered church. While we were singing we drew a crowd of curious onlookers. I was able to talk to two of them with the help of Yilmaz and pray with them and 2 others. The first, I did not catch her name, was an older woman whose heart was opened through our singing. When I prayed for her, her daughter Oficer was moved and asked that I pray for her and Yilmaz translated. It was beautiful. Then one other couple, Norgid and Alnor were listening in and left before Nikolay was finished, but I prayed for them to meet Jesus and be missionaries to their own families and people, and God will surely raise up our Turkey to be a kingdom of priests.

In Nikolay’s message we learned about Yasayan Umut—living hope. We learned that we need to get rid of our dead hopes in this world and have our living hope in Jesus alone. And we should experience real joy because our sins are forgiven in Jesus and our salvation is protected for us in heaven, so there is no need to fear or be anxious. Nikolay shared that he used to be a man without joy, hardly smiling and playing with others. He also use to be on antidepressants, but Jesus entered into his heart and now he was a man with joy in his life and had no need for antidepressants. He prays to live and serve others with thanks to God! We prayed that our Turkey may be a kingdom of priests and a source of blessing for all the world when we have living hope.

Next we went back to the hotel and had the rest of our evening program. S. Adam Kramarczyk delivered the message on 1Peter 4:12-19, Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ. S. Adam has grown into a clear messenger. He learned that day before we left that his message changed and as we left for Turkey he had not written the message. But on the plane and bus ride he wrote a clear and pointful message. God will surely raise him as a messenger of his word—even for our next international conference. He shared about the sufferings of Christ—he was blamed, had to deal with arrogant people, denial and even separation from God. And Peter wrote to the early Christians and to us that we must rejoice that we participate in the sufferings of Christ. Why rejoice? It is because ultimately Jesus has the final victory and when we suffer we bear the name of Jesus. Turkey has been disowned and ridiculed especially now that it is a Muslim nation. But we pray that God may restore Our Turkey as a Christian nation. And we may commit ourselves to our faithful creator and continue to do good and share the name of Jesus into all nations.

Later that evening we had our world mission night—four from Kiev shared their life testimonies: Marie Mazan, Olena Chuse who is Msn Maria Peace’s student and is praying to go to Turkey as a missionary, Maria Joy shared her testimony and prayer to go to Boshorus University next year, and Andrew Shpagin. Blessing Hande from Turkey shared her testimony. She was blind from birth and has a Muslim background. She shared how she accepted John 9:1-12 kv3 that her blindness is not from anyone’s sin, but so that the work of God might be displayed in her life. She prays to serve God with all that she has and share love with others. Also she prays to use her beautiful singing voice to bring glory to God. I thank God that I was also able to share my testimony. There was a drama from the Kiev team about the early Christians—one Christian who repents of fear and dead hopes in this world and one nonbeliever who accepted Jesus. Msn Maria Peace prepared a great musical drama. That night we prayed for Sister Dilek to overcome fear and follow Jesus alone. We also prayed to repent of our hatred, complaining, pride, love of money and convenience and to know Jesus more and love one soul to the end.

That night I thank God for the opportunity to work with Msn Jacob Vladimir who pioneered Kharkov on his message on Romans 6 and English pronunciation. I thank God that I could support his message and pray for him and Joan of Arc as they pioneer. They pray for sister Olga and for God to grant them a child.

Sunday morning the English speaking delegates had Bible study with Dr. Peter Kim and the Turkish speaking team had Bible study with Msn VP. Our Sunday message was delivered with great spirit from Msn Jacob from Romans 6—The Gift of God, Tanri’nin armagani. He took this difficult passage that he said was equivalent to a nuclear physics course and made it clear and simple. He shared that Jesus took all our sins through his death on the cross and when we accept Jesus we not only just die to sin, but we have a new life in Jesus. This is the gift of God—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. I learned that we need to train our minds that we died to sin and we are now alive to God. We need to see our body as a living sacrifice to God and offer the parts of our body as instruments of righteousness.

We also had 6 testimonies from Ruth Ushimirski, Samuri, sister Minal from Turkey, Jonathan, Daniel and Joseph Kim. Hande sang Turkey’s national anthem which moved our hearts. And the Kiev team prepared a wonderful Cantata.

Msn VP delivered the closing message on John 17:1-5, Eternal Life. We learned Jesus prayer to depend on God and to glorify God through his life. We learned that we can have eternal life when we know Jesus as Christ and we can glorify God by completing our mission from God. We need to live as people with eternal life and we prayed to go back to our mission fields to glorify God. We prayed, “Father your kingdom come into our Turkey” and “Use my life to glorify your name.”

After a wonderful Turkish lunch we went to the catacombs to learn the early Christians’ faith. The first floor of the catacombs we entered were made initially by the Hitites and later the Christians added the 2nd through the 8th floor. The catacombs were made of soft rock so as they dug past the outside which was harder because it was in contact with the air, it would crumble like dust and sand. The Christians used these catacomb during the Byzantine time period because they could hide from the Romans and later the Arabs. They lived above ground in their houses but the catacombs had many entrances, so when their was trouble they would go down below. The first floor had a stable for the animals to keep the smell from coming down below. The second floor had a church with an altar facing Jerusalem and a baptism stone. There was even a cross dug into the baptism stone and the wall. The deeper tunnels were used as living quarters, food storage, kitchen and winery. The tunnels were narrow to prevent military from attacking and they even had a huge millstone that could be moved to block the passageway. Near the millstone they had holes in the wall used for a lookout and for spears when they were being attacked. The temperature inside was the same year-round. They guess that up to 2000 people could live inside. The maximum amount of time that one could live there was 2 months due to the air condition and also it was not healthy for the psyche.

Down on the fourth floor, which was the lowest level open to the public, we gathered around and brother Nikolay delivered his message a second time. It held so much meaning as this letter was written to Christians living in similar catacombs. We learned that we should leave all our dead hopes in the catacombs and live each day with living hope. Dr. Peter reminded us that the Chrisian’s faith in the catacombs was our hometown faith—it was where our faith stemmed from. We prayed for our Turkey and to give our life for one sheep.

Later that day we traveled to a great valley where St. Basil started a monastery. We walked and saw churches and homes built into the rock. Some of the young men in our group climbed a giant cliff and the rest of us went to the water and washed our feet.

It was wonderful being on the castle and looking out over the land of Cappadocia nad experiencing the catacombs. We were on top of the world and in the depths of the earth which is what our Christian forefathers experienced. May God help us to grow in the spirit of the early church and conquer all Muslim nations with the gospel of Christ Jesus. May God change Turkey into a Christian nation once again.

Third, Universities

I learned that there are not many universities in Turkey because the educational system is not very advanced. As we went throughout Istanbul to do some sightseeing and visit the universities, we saw a very large line of men standing outside. When we asked about it we learned that this was the line to enroll in the military. It was very prestigious to go into the military because it was a way to be considered a real man. The military service is 15 months.

We walked through the largest covered Bazaar or market in Istanbul. Then we visited the Soltanakmed—the Blue Mosque which has six minarets instead of the normal 1-2. It is similar to the one in Jerusalem and is highly regarded.

We visited 3 universities—Bosphorus or Bogazici University, Istanbul University and Istanbul Technical Institute. Istanbul University has economics, management and law on the main campus and all the classes are taught in Turkish. This is one of the oldest and biggest universities in Turkey. We read Mark 11:22-25—Have faith in God. Mother Barry had prayed on the opposite side of the courtyard from where we where and prayed about sending one family to Turkey. God answered her prayer and Msn VP’s family was sent out. S. Jonathan gave an impromptu message on the passage and we learned that God can send our missionaries when we pray and believe, love one student to the end, and forgive others. God will hear our prayer and make our Turkey a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We pray that God may raise up one missionary to serve Istanbul University through VP’s family and 12 disciples of Jesus may be raised.

Istanbul Technical University is where the most prominent engineers graduate from. It’s called ITU for short and all classes are in Turkish. Tuition is not expensive, only $500 per year. We read and had impromptu messages on Mt 22:37-39 and Jn 4:34-35. We learned that because this country did not serve God with everything this country became a hated and Muslim country. The Turkish people must lift their eyes and head to God and grow in righteousness. We need to be open to God’s will and love God with and through our acts. Through Jn 4 we learned that Turkey is waiting for gospel coworkers. We learned that God shows his will and heart for Turkey and he will give us a burning heart to preach the gospel to students at this university. We prayed that God could use Msn VP’s family to raise up one missionary to pioneer this campus and raise up 12 disciples of Jesus. We also prayed for Msn VP’s Turkish message each week. Dr. Peter Kim went and met one Christian woman teacher and prayed for her on the campus. They also met one young man and prayed for him as well.

The final university is Bogazici—Bosphorus University. We visited and prayed for this university on the first day. It was founded by American missionaries then later given to the Turkish government. A lot of prime ministers and international delegates have graduated from there. This is an international school and it the only university in Turkey that is taught only in English. It is a beautiful campus, about 5-10 minute walk from Msn VP’s home. The tuition is only $600 per year, but it only takes a few foreign students per year, like 5 in the English department this year. As we gathered on the campus lawn we prayed to lift up Jesus’ name above all names in Turkey; for Turkey to be freed from deception and become a source of blessing to all Muslim nations; raise up 1 Abraham and 12 disciples; create sister’s common life; Msn VP and R to master the Turkish language, especially Msn VP to prepare the message in Turkish; and their family to be good shepherds for one student. We also had one prayer topic that was answered before the conference—since Msn VP received entrance into Bosphorus and their family received permanent residency in Turkey. Praise and Thank God!

Fourth, One Word

I just want to praise and thank my God that I was able to attend this historic conference in Turkey. I learned that I need to give up my dead hopes within this world—like the comfortable life and live each day with living hope. I also thought about the gift of God that God offered to me in Christ Jesus, that I have a new life because Jesus died for me and in the same way, I must die to my sin and live each day as if it was new life. I learned that I need to train myself/my mind that I am dead to sin and I am alive to God alone. May God help me to complete my mission from God—to be a wife of noble character and to love one student to the end. In this way, God may use our family to serve our fellowship and one Muslim nation in his right time.

One Word: The gift of God is I am dead to sin and alive to God!!

FOLLOW ME!

FOLLOW ME!

Dr.Jacob Patriyuk Kharkov UBF

Mark 2:14

"As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him."

I thank God who was with us during our Bible Academy which we held on November 4-5 and blessed it by his word and presence. In the beginning we needed to decide whether to participle in Kiev UBF conference or to hold our own. Personally I want to participate in the Kiev UBF one, because it was more easy. I remembered how hard was to serve our Academy last year, which I prepared only with my wife with no helper from Kharkiv UBF. But this time we had 2 faithful sisters and during the preparation meeting Sveta, Olya and Shs. Joan of Arc said they wanted to hold our own conference and promised to be good helpers. They wanted to learn the sense of responsibility and the spirit of serving. We also wanted to invite some new sheep, which is more easy if we held our own Kharkiv conference, than to invite them to Kiev. So I repented my fear before difficulties and decided to serve sacrificially with a pioneering spirit the Kharkiv Academy. We were going to have a small Academy with some sheep from Kharkiv and 5 guests from Kiev. But Dnepropetrovsk UBF decided to participate with us and Kiev center sent not 5 but 15 persons. I learned that our God is the great God. He sent from Kharkiv 10, Dnepropetrovsk 4 and Kiev 15 – a total 29 participants.

Our Fall Academy last year was titled "Vision and hope" and was held mainly for us, so we may renew our vision and hope for our land of mission because during the last one and half years we had only one faithful sheep. But this Academy we decided to hold our meeting for new sheep and titled it "Follow me!" to help them to decide to follow Jesus. I thank and praise God for brothers Volodymyr, Simeon, Maxim and sister Nadya who received the word of God and decided to study the Bible 1:1 faithfully.

During 2 weeks we gathered together for prayer meetings and Academy preparation. God sent 2 new sheep – br. Volodymyr, and then miraculously s. Sveta. The messages were: "Repent and Believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:1-15, Shs. Joan of Arc, Kharkiv), "Follow Me" (Mark 2:13-17, Sh. Jacob, Kharkiv), "The Love of the Heavenly Father" (Luke 15:11-32, Sh. Abraham, Dnepropetrovsk), "Go and Change Your Life" (Gen.12:1-4, Sh. Volodymyr Popelnukh, Kiev) and "Blessed man" (Psalm 1:1-3, Sh. Jonathan, Kiev).The first four messages are about the invitation to the Kingdom of God, to be Jesus' disciples, the love of the Heavenly Father and to the blessed life. The last lecture gave us clear direction of what we should do after receiving God's calling – to study Bible faithfully.

Through my message "Follow me!" I heard Jesuss calling personally for me. I have realized God called not only new sheep, but also me to follow him. I worried about fruits, but I need to follow Jesus and to continue to receive His training and grow spiritually. I often lost my spirit because of student's indifferences to Bible study, by their lies and unfaithfulness. Jesus teaches me to understand and love them and to have faith in God who can change and use them. God also teaches me to have compassion upon them. They pretend to be independent and all-sufficient, but in reality they are unhappy and suffer inside too much. They need God's grace. S. Olya has been studying the Bible two and half years without visible change. If she doesn't want to come to SWS, she simply writes SMS 5 minutes before: "I will not come." Yet, she always comes because she thirsts for God's grace. We pray her to be the Sarah of faith in Karazin Kharkov National University.

The Saturday night message was delivered by Sh. Abraham from Dnepropetrovsk UBF. They suffered to bring even one sheep to the Academy, but God blessed them and b. Simeon had come. They are happy to serve God's mission, because they know the grace of God. We were moved by their gracious testimonies about God's work in their lives.

S. Sveta is growing spiritually. Her Black Sea is her unbelieving husband, who strongly opposes her faith. But because of this problem she is learning to pray and depend on God. She has not found love from both parents and husband, but she has found love in God in full. In this year she entered the 1st course of sociology faculty at one Kharkiv institute. Her spiritual thirst and thirst of knowledge are great. I thank God for s. Sveta heartily.

I have known b. Volodymyr durring the last one and half years, yet it was his first Bible Academy. He was really touched by the word of God and sincere testimonies of brothers and sisters. He liked Bible study and Christian fellowship. He also realized himself to be a sinner and wrote short testimonies, where he confessed his decision to follow Jesus. His short testimonies were sincere and touched our hearts.

Through Academy preparation I learned to depend on God. The night before the Academy snowfall began, so I was afraid all roads would be blocked up and we would not be able to go to the Academy place. The day before the Academy br. Volodymyr called saying he urgently needed to go home and was not able to participate. The husband of s. Sveta did not let her participate. My head was split because of these and other problem. But we gathered together and prayed to depend on God. Then God held this Academy in the best way, destroying all the obstacles, giving us beautiful sunny weather and brought b. Volodymyr and s. Sveta. He was with us by the Holy Spirit and worked in our hearts.

I thank God for Kiev UBF and their heart to participate in pioneering Gospel work in Kharkiv, for their labor and prayers. They are not rich materially and one week ago held their own conference, but 15 persons came to our Academy. Their messages, testimonies, performance, fellowship comforted us greatly. I thank God for M. Rebecca's coming and delivering her life testimony. We saw her God who led and blessed her missionary life in Turkey.

Our prayer topic:

1. 1 Abraham and 1 Sarah of faith in Karazin Kharkiv National University.

2. 12 1:1 Bible Studies, 12 SWS.

3. S. Sveta, s. Olia, s. Nadia, br. Volodymyr to grow as disciples of Jesus.

My Missionary Life In Kiev

My Missionary Life In Kiev

by M. John Peace

Genesis 12:1,2

"The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing."

Part I How God helped me make a decision to go to Ukraine as a missionary

It all began with Dr. Samuel Lee's prayer topic for UBF to send missionaries to the former Soviet Union in 1985. It was in obedience to Jesus' command in Mark 13:10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Along with all Chicago coworkers I participated in the prayer to send missionaries there–not knowing at that time that I was going to be one of them. Then, in 1999 God began to lead me in that direction. Our fellowship prepared a skit on Dr. Peter Kim's missionary life in Kiev, Ukraine. I was moved by his shepherd heart and sacrificial life to remain as a missionary in Ukraine. Many of his sheep ran away or stole valuables from his apartment. All of his fellow missionary coworkers went back to Korea. But he remained and established God's work among Ukrainian students. Then in 2002 I was invited to attend the Easter Bible conference in Kiev with two others. I was blessed to deliver a message on "Abram's Call" based on Genesis 12:1-2, "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.'" While preparing this message God moved my heart to leave America as a missionary to the land of Ukraine. So as a conclusion of my message I made a decision to go out as a missionary in 2003.

When my father-in-law heard that I wanted to take my family to Ukraine as a missionary family he said to my wife, "You are stupid! Ukrainians want to come to America and you want to go to Ukraine." We had good jobs, I was in my 7th year as a teacher in the Chicago Public School, and my wife a nurse in her 16th year. We owned a house near downtown Chicago, and our 4 children all went to magnet schools and got top educations in the city for free. We had the American dream. Why leave? But I heard God's calling "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." After one year on July 31, 2003 Chicago UBF sent me out as a permanent American missionary to Ukraine. This was an answer to Dr. Samuel Lee's prayer, coworkers' prayer and my prayer to make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Part 2 God's provisions for the lay-missionary life

One of the first hurdles a missionary must overcome is finding a means of self-support. I just held on to Matthew 6:33 in my heart, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." My coworker and I decided while I looked for a job in Kiev she would support me working full-time as a nurse in Chicago. I went to "Kiev International School," which hired American and Canadian teachers. At first the principal said there was no position for me but after 2 weeks he called me back and offered me a position because of the increased enrollment. After talking with him I got down on my knees to thank God for granting me a proper job to be a self-supporting missionary after only two weeks. I called my coworker and told her the good news. She immediately gave her two weeks resignation letter and started making preparations for our children to come to Kiev. Then in October, 2003 my coworker and children were commissioned as missionaries and our family was united in Kiev. God also provided a good Christian school for my children. I thank God who keeps his promises and provided everything for my family to live as self-supporting missionaries in Ukraine.

Part 3 Overcoming some difficulties in the mission field

By God's grace our family could buy land and build a new house. After moving to our new house in December of 2005, so that shepherdesses could have our old apartment, we faced some difficulties. We had no gas but we had a fireplace and an electric furnace and radiators. But on the first week we realized our electricity was not sufficient to run our electric furnace, also our fireplace was very smoky. We just prayed that God would be with us. We decided to heat only one bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. In one bedroom we had two full size beds, 3 of us slept on one bed and the other 3 slept on the other bed, using our body heat to keep warm. We realized that Msn. Maria also had to work to survive. She got a part-time substitute teacher position at my school but they never called her. Then really cold weather hit us. For one week it was -10 F or more below zero. Also our car needed to be heated every two hours so that it would work the next day. So Msn. Maria and I took four hour shifts all through the night to keep our car going. We wondered why God would give us such severe weather. Then the next week the school called us. They needed Msn. Maria to work the whole week to administer the IOWA's examination because many children missed it during the cold weather. We thanked God for the wonderful cold weather. With the money she received from work we bought an infra red electric heater that is very hot and uses very little electricity. We felt like normal people again. God blessed the school enrollment to increase so that they offered Msn. Maria a permanent position. In all these struggles to live in our house my children complained very little. Even when we had to eat bones and grits often they were not picky. We were so thankful we could eat and keep warm.

Another great difficulty we had to face is the language problem. In Kiev more than 50 % of the people speak Russian. But the national language is Ukrainian, so all the billboards, news and legal documents are in the Ukrainian language. There was also a movement towards more independence from Russia and so many college students preferred to speak in Ukrainian. When we first arrived we took Russian courses since our worship service is in Russian. But when we met Mother Sarah Barry in 2004 at the MSU conference she encouraged us to learn Ukrainian. Therefore, we had to learn 2 languages at the same time because the people of our mission field speak them both. Please pray for us. When we speak it is a combination of Russian-Ukrainian with a little tinge of English. But amazingly our church members understand us quite well.

Satan attacked us in many ways in our mission field. The most difficult attack to bear was when he attacked us through our daughter's depression. After arriving in Kiev our eldest daughter, Maria Joy, began to face the reality of missionary life. She had to leave everything behind almost immediately to go out as a second generation missionary and she had some difficulties assimilating into the new culture. She was even suicidal. She used to cry to her mother once a week, asking why we left America. Msn. Maria and I prayed for her everyday and God began to work in her heart. Recently, Maria Joy told her mother that coming to Ukraine as missionaries was the best move we had ever made. She reads her Bible often and earnestly writes testimonies and is preparing to enter Bosporus University in Turkey. She has a burning desire to enter the University not just to leave her parents but she wants to help Msn. Point pioneer Turkey and evangelize Muslim countries. Please pray for her to enter Bosporus University.

Part 4 How God has used my family in the mission field

At first, my coworker and I really didn't know how we could serve Kiev UBF. However, God enabled us to serve God's work as English Bible teachers. Many Kiev brothers and sisters were interested in English Bible study. My coworker and I could have 5 or more 1-1's each week and be a blessing to Kiev coworkers in the course of working full time and native language study. God also enabled my three daughters Maria Joy, Christine Good and Sarah to be orchestra members. God has also been raising them as English Bible teachers. Among Msn. Maria's sheep, Olena, has grown to be a Bible teacher and mother of prayer for Kiev ministry. English is an international language and many students are very interested in learning English. When we invite students to Bible Study and they hear our English they easily want to talk to us. Shepherdess Olena told my wife she would not have come to Bible study if English Bible study taught by Americans had not been offered to her. Many students are curious about the American culture. They watch American movies translated in their own language and even listen to American music in English even though they don't understand the words. Sadly many countries get the bad effects of the American culture. But there is another culture of America that is very good. It is our Christian heritage. Now is the right time for America to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation by sending out permanent missionaries to the ends of the world.

Part 5 Vision for America

This past summer we had our first historical mini Ukrainian World Mission meeting. We invited one Ukrainian Pastor Anitoli to give the message based on Isaiah 43:19a, "See, I am doing something new." He said there are two kinds of churches. One is a self-centered church which focuses only on her own problems and the other is a world wide centered church which focuses on the needs of the world. He said a church that doesn't send out missionaries is not a world wide centered church. We were very encouraged by his message and Kiev UBF wants to be a world wide center church which focuses on sending missionaries to the world especially the Muslim world. Then our missionaries and pioneers from Ukraine gave their testimonies. It was an amazing night. Before this Ukrainian World Mission report Dr. Peter told us in a prayer meeting that Korea and the US shouldn't be the only ones giving world mission report meetings. After the meeting Msn. Maria corrected him saying that America UBF never had a world mission report meeting, only Korea. Nicolae and Hande who are sheep from Turkey asked us why our American UBF is not sending out many permanent missionaries. We told them that we send out many short term missionaries. But in our hearts we were sorry that Ukraine had a World Mission Report meeting before America UBF. Are Americans afraid to go out as permanent missionaries? We too were afraid to lose our securities. But we just obeyed God's call and left Chicago with only God's promises in our hearts. God made my family a great nation by raising disciples in America and Ukraine and our children as well. He has blessed us in a foreign land and made us a blessing. Our family are not special people. But when we simply believed God's promises he made us special people. Let's take him up on his promises and make decisions of faith to go out as permanent missionaries. Amen.

ONE WORD: PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL NATIONS

GOD GAVE ME HIS WORD

OUT OF DISCOURAGEMENT I WANTED TO DROWN MYSELF, BUT GOD GAVE ME HIS WORD

"If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord, So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. "(Rol4:8)

1.1 was a monk candidate

I was born in 1962 in the countryside as the second of three brothers and four sisters. There was a famous monk in our town and he often gathered children around himself and told us stories. He told me that I could become a great monk. So I decided to be a monk when I grew up. After finishing my second year in college, I went to the obligatory military service. But contrary to my hope of finishing the service with little suffering, I was assigned to the Marine Corps. During the time of my service, I despaired deeply at the hopelessness of the world and wanted to be a monk as soon as possible.

But God called such a hopeless sinner like me to be a campus shepherd. One day, when I was passing through the university's back door, I saw a poster with the title, "Young man! Have a great vision!" And while I was still trying to figure out what that was for, I was invited to a conference on the spot. Through the conference, I could receive one word of God from 1 Peter 1:3-4, "New Hope," which expelled all the darkness that had overshadowed my life. The word of God tasted sweet like honey and quenched my soul. God helped me to be born again by the word of God and raised my wretched life to lead a beautiful life as a campus shepherd. God also established my house church with the beautiful woman of God, Msn. Sarah Kim, who had been praying to be a missionary, and sent us to the Soviet Union as pioneering missionaries. Thank God who called a monk candidate to lead a blessed and beautiful life as a missionary.

2. Missionary life in the ex-Soviet Union

When I arrived in Moscow in October 1990,1 didn't even know the Russian alphabet. So it did not make sense that I had to deliver a message, study the Bible 1:1, and write a Ph.D. paper in Russian. However, through prayer, I held on to Hebrew 11:29, "By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land," and went to the admissions office at Moscow University. I asked them to arrange an appointment with the most famous professor in the field. Then they thought I was also an excellent student and introduced me to professor Tung-kin who was considered the father of international law in the Soviet Union. I was afraid that my true ability and poor qualification might be revealed. However, I held on to the key verse again and thought. "Have I ever been able to live by my own ability? No! So I can only live by faith!" With this simple faith, I explained why I came to the Soviet Union and why I had to be his student. Then the old professor looked at me for a while silently and said, "I am glad to meet a Korean. I was an ambassador to North Korea in the 1950s. I will accept you; just make sure you work hard." God blessed my simple faith and led me to pass the Red Sea as on dry land. God also blessed me to speak fluent Russian and to finish my Ph.D. in international law. Thank God who gave us victory when we held on to the word of God and challenged the situation by simple faith.

In the beginning, my wife Msn. Sarah Kim remained in Korea working as a teacher and supported my ministry financially. At that time, I was a student missionary in the Soviet Union. When the Kiev pioneering ministry began, Msn. Sarah came to the mission field. We had to pray for self support as lay missionaries. I went to the Daewoo branch office that had just opened and asked by faith. "Please hire me. I can guarantee that I can work harder than I get paid." The manager's heart was moved by my bold request and he served me well with a big lunch. Then he submitted my resume to the headquarters office. However, all of the hiring managers in the headquarters, including the director, rejected it saying, "We cannot hire one who is working as a missionary." However, the manager ignored even his supervisor's opinion and went directly to the CEO and received the permission to hire me. Later I asked the manager, "Why did you try so hard to hire me, knowing the possible risks?" He answered, "I do not know why I pushed myself so hard at that time. But I felt I needed to do something good when I thought of your beautiful life."

I was moved by this and worked very hard to be a good worker for the company. Later, I got a new job at Samsung. But as time went on, I realized that working in a big corporate company required too much time and energy, and was not suitable for a UBF pioneering director like me. Particularly, since I had to go on business trips and take care of those who came on business trips too often, it was too difficult for me to focus on preparing messages and discipleship ministry. One day, my wife got so upset at the

situation, she did not open the door when I came back from work late at night. So I decided to focus on the pioneering ministry and quit the job.

After quitting the job, God trained us to depend on God only in practical matters. Also, the discipleship ministry made a big progress. I became free of money matters and could seek God's kingdom and his righteousness first with all my heart. Then another famous Korean company offered me a business deal. They asked me to be an agent for their company that provided materials for plastic products to Ukraine. I did not have to put down any money to start the business. Moreover, I needed to work only two to four hours a day and still the business was very stable and successful. Through this business, I could focus on serving the work of God while supporting the family financially as a self-supporting lay missionary. When I gave my heart to serving God and making disciples over money matters, God opened the best way for me to serve God's work freely as a self-supporting lay missionary. I thank God who provided everything I needed when I put God's mission first in my life, even though there was nothing I could depend on humanly.

3. Discipleship ministry and vision

When we came to Kiev, several things amazed us. The most amazing thing was that Kiev students loved to sleep. During the holidays, dormitories looked like caves where polar bears were hibernating. We had Sunday worship service at eleven o'clock. However, students did not come because they were sleeping. So we had to go and wake them up. We could not begin Sunday worship service on time. Therefore, we challenged students through early morning prayer with the motto, "Those who wake up early will be victorious in life." This early morning prayer meeting has been the most important key in our discipleship ministry over the last ten years. Many beautiful brothers and sisters woke up early in the morning, knelt before God, and cried out for world mission. Whenever I see them praying like this, I cannot but thank God with many tears for his merciful work in them.

I believe that all mission fields face many difficulties in order to raise disciples. We also have had many difficulties. From the beginning, we served God's flock with love and tears. But during the first three to four years, again and again, students came and went like the undulating waves. At that time, the Russian Federation collapsed and with it, the Ukrainian economy also collapsed. People could not even buy a piece of bread. Most Ukrainians also lived in constant fear because of the radioactive fallout from the explosion in the Chernobyl nuclear plant. More personally, my wife had three miscarriages over six years, multiple kidney infections, and several other medical problems requiring frequent hospitalizations.

These unbearably difficult situations compelled several coworkers to return to Korea. Only my family remained, and our family alone has served Ukraine ministry during the last seven years. Satan kept trying to accuse us of being a failure and tried to make us feel abandoned by people. Satan tempted us to give up the cross of mission. One day, I even thought about killing myself by jumping into the Denevro River. However, I could not do it because I was afraid that the news would report that a missionary had drowned. I was full of despair, at the lowest point both physically and spiritually. I could not but cry out, kneeling by the riverside, "If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord." Then my Lord came to me through his word from Isaiah 43:1-2, "But now this is what the Lord says-he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine…'" Jesus also said to me, "You give them something to eat." The word of God came into my heart and helped me to make a decision to live by faith. Then a shepherd's heart overflowed from within me. I could say to myself, "I should not think of what I do not have or what I cannot do. Rather, I must look for

what I have and what I can do. My five loaves and two fish look poor and useless if they are in my hands. But in God's hands, they can be used for his great purpose." Indeed, faith in offering five loaves and two fish to God gives life, creativity, and happiness. Since we discovered the faith of five loaves and two fish, we live happier than ever. When the cup of joy and gratitude overflowed, then our discipleship ministry also flourished. Now, by God's grace, there are seven shepherd house churches, and two additional international shepherd house churches. We have sent out four missionaries from Kiev. Sending missionaries from the Ukraine has an important meaning. Through sending missionaries, we can awaken the Russian Orthodox Church that has been sleeping for the last one thousand years. Now, the frozen Russian continent is being melted by the gospel of Jesus. Please pray for us. We are praying that we may send out one thousand lay missionaries by 2041.

I believe that beautiful blonde Ukraine shepherdesses can be used to evangelize the Muslim world by helping the Muslim women take off their veils and wiping their tears of sorrow. Then there will be a spiritual revival in the Muslim world. For this purpose, about thirty devoted shepherds are serving the gospel work with a willing and eager attitude that is ready to go to the Muslim world. They frequently shout, "Bible Ukraine, Muslim evangelism!" In Turkey, Msn. V.P. is securing a base for the conquering of the Muslim world with the attitude, "If we die, we die." I pray that God may bless our faith of five loaves and two fish and use Ukraine as the center for world mission and Islam evangelism like the Antioch church. I praise and thank God who has used such a terrible sinner like me as a lay missionary here in Ukraine.

A HOLY NATION PEOPLE

A HOLY NATION PEOPLE

1 Peter 2:4-25

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. " (lPe 2:9)

During this visit, I have seen many beautiful buildings in Seoul. Last Sunday, I visited Yon Hee UBF and saw their beautiful new center. On my previous visit, I saw Kwan Ak, Kyung Sung, Nam San and Han Yang centers. Their buildings are so beautiful and memorable. In l Peter 2 we find that God who created heaven and earth is also building a house. His house is a spiritual house. Spiritual sacrifices are made there by holy priests.

Let's read l Peter 2:4-5. "As you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." God's house is made of living stones. These living stones are very precious. We are these living stones. We are living stones chosen by God to build his spiritual house. Jesus is the cornerstone and capstone of God's house. God lives in his house. So it is full of love and righteousness. There is peace and joy there. God's purpose in building his house is to bring people who are living in darkness and misery into his wonderful light. Read verse 9. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." These are words given to us, the living stones of God's building.

First, a royal priesthood.

The duty of a priest is to lead people to God. In the Old Testament, the duty of the priest was to pray and to offer sacrifices to God. He was the mediator between God and God's people. Jesus is our great high priest. Jesus shed his precious blood. By his blood we receive forgiveness and cleansing from sin. Jesus rose from the dead. He is our great high priest. He intercedes for us at the right hand of God.

Why is Jesus called a royal priest or a kingly priest? Jesus is not of the line of Levi, the priestly line. He is a priest and king after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 7). Because we belong to King Jesus, we are royal priests. It is our priestly duty to proclaim the love and forgiveness of God in Jesus to people who do not know God. Our priestly duty is to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Shepherds and missionaries and Bible teachers who teach the word of God 1:1 are all royal priests.

We must live a sacrificial life in order to fulfill this priestly duty. Read lPeter 2:20,21. "…But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."

God sent the incarnate Jesus as the first missionary. He came and lived in a dark and sinful world. To be with us, he laid aside the glory of heaven and came to this world to live with us. We who are missionaries must follow the incarnate Jesus. Msn. Peter and Monica Park of Nigeria lived in a comfortable embassy house. They moved from the compound to the village so that they could be friends with the students. God blessed their ministry and made it fruitful. They still suffer.

Last year I visited India. I met three beautiful women missionaries. They were graduates of top universities in Korea. They gave their marriages to God and went to India to marry Indian shepherds and establish missionary homes. The Indian shepherds gave their families to God and they work together to bring the gospel to Indian students. UBF lay missionaries are scattered all over the world. They are all royal priests.

Second, a holy nation people.

Holy nation people love God. They love others and they love each other. They are different from the people of the world. Holy nation people can't follow the world. They must obey Jesus. What did Jesus command? Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations.

Jesus commanded his disciples to love each other. When we try to love each other, Satan uses every means to stop us. We are not naturally holy. In our hearts are hidden anger, jealousy and hatred. We can't love some people. And if someone doesn't repent, we can't forgive him. But Jesus commanded us to love one another and to forgive one another. He did not mention any excuses or conditions for not doing so. We struggle to defeat these sinful desires in our hearts.

Sometimes we fail. It is easy to become discouraged, to give in—and give up. If we are determined to struggle in our own strength, we will surely fail. This failure is the fruit of pride. We cannot struggle with our own strength. We struggle by faith in Jesus. So we must pray. We must read the Bible, study the Bible, and think about the passage so that we may fight our spiritual battle with the sword of God's word.

Jesus took our burden of sin. He died to make us holy. By his mercy, he clothes us in his holiness and forgives our sins. He pulls out of our hearts roots of anger and hatred. We should forgive others even if they don't repent. We should love them even if they hate us. By God's grace alone, we become a holy nation people. We can love God and love one another. We can know God's heart for the world. We do not live for our own happiness. We live for the glory of God. Then, real happiness follows. It is absolutely necessary that we become a holy nation people.

After visiting Kazakhstan, I was curious about the Ugar people. So I asked Msn. Grace Kang about them. I was surprised by her answer. They were once all Nestorian Christians. The word Ugar means Christian. But they all became Muslims. When I thought about why this had happened I realized that the Christians of the 6th and 7th centuries did not love each other. They were busy hating each other, looking for heresy, playing politics, burning heretics at the stake. They did not obey Jesus' command to love one another.

This year I visited Jerusalem. Jerusalem was once a Christian city. But in the 12th Century the Muslim general, Saladin, conquered Jerusalem. He did so easily because Christians were fighting among themselves. We must not only obey Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations. We must also obey his command to love our enemies, to love our neighbors and most of all, to love one another.

He chose his people so that he could use them to penetrate the darkest places of men's hearts and the darkest places of the world with the wonderful, life-giving light and life of God. Let us hear God's call. Let us be a holy nation people. Let us pray for our missionaries who are living stones. May God call all of us to join them in the task of world mission. May God continue to work in the hearts of Muslim people as our missionaries pray and work in Muslim lands. May he open the heart of General Kim Jung II of North Korea to allow the gospel to be preached in Kim II Sung University. This is the 100-year anniversary of the great revival in Korea. May God again pour out his Spirit on the church of Korea. May God bless the Korean church to send out many missionaries. May UBF around the world send out 100,000 missionaries by the year 2041. May God make us a kingdom of priests. May he help us be a holy nation people.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

My only Friend Was a Gray Cat—Until JESUS FOUND ME

By Larisa Khokhlova, Kiev, Ukraine DBF

My only Friend Was a Gray Cat—Until JESUS FOUND ME

1. Life without direction

My name is Larisa Khokhlova. I'm a student of the first course of Kiev National University. I was born in 1984 in a small town in Ukraine. In my childhood, on sunny days I liked to hide in the grass and see the sky through the blades. I grew up as a joyful and cheerful child. My birth was like a miracle because my parents often quarreled and my mother had many abortions. My father never recognized me as his daughter. Once he drank too much and hit my mother. She received a severe skull injury. She was hospitalized for a long time. Now she's an invalid. She had to relearn how to read and write. I was just a little child when this happened and this event influenced me badly. My mother had several operations and I was afraid that she would die. I had the fear of death, pity for my mother and hatred toward my father. I could never forget what my father did to her. Our family moved to different places many times. I changed schools four times and I tried to study hard in order to fill the emptiness of my life and receive attention from my parents. I felt lonely. I had no friends and I had no affection from my family. In my inner heart grew anger, unforgiveness and irritation. It showed up when I lived with my sister's family. From the first day I could not have a good relationship with her husband. We fought and threatened each other. In the end my father kicked them out of the house. They had to live in another town with their little child. My sister said to me that with my character I will be a curse to those around me. In reality I made my grandmother cry many times and my parents quarrel. I hated and couldn't change myself. I thought my life was an accident. I couldn't see any purpose and meaning in my life. I was in deep depression. I complained about my destiny. Because of my sins, my only friend was a gray cat.

After graduation from my school I felt no sense of victory or satisfaction in spite of achieving the highest grade. My last hope was to enter the university. In 2001, I graduated from a special academic high school and entered the Physics Department at Kiev National University. My roommates were very different from me. Our room was the center of dormitory life. We had many new friends, a new environment, a discotheque, and corrupt companies. I started to meet with my boyfriend. I had romantic feelings and wrote poetry. Once early in the morning my boyfriend came to me and I started to seduce him. But my mother came at this time to my room. She looked at me like I was a stranger. I felt dirty. I despaired in my studies more and more. Then I fell deeply into my own world.

2. Jesus is the way, truth and life

At this time I began to read the Bible. John 1:4, "In him was life and that life was the light of man," touched my heart. I saw that in Jesus there is light that can drive away the darkness and despair in my life and he can grant me his light and his joy. Through the message on the cross of Jesus at the 2002 Moscow Conference, I understood that Jesus died because of my anger, selfishness and fatalism. When I came back from this conference, my grandmother died. I felt that part of my soul left me and I had an empty dark hole in my heart. This was Satan's beating on me and I suffered under the power of death. I suffered because death took from me my favorite people. I wandered in darkness. I was only existing, not living. In despair, I cried to God with tears in order for him to have mercy on me, listen to me and answer me. God answered my prayer. He gave me new direction through 2 Corinthians 5:20b, "Be reconciled to God." I felt that God was near.

After a short time God allowed me to live in common life. This helped me grow spiritually and God gave me much grace through living with many sisters. My parents were against this. My mother said with tears that she could never come to me if I lived in common life. But I overcame this and learned faithfulness. I came to all the meetings in church and Sunday worship service and grew in a personal relationship with Jesus.

Through the study of Isaiah 1:18, '"Come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool,'" I understood that I was a sinner and very dirty before God and I was not worthy. I cannot stand before God with my strength and self-righteousness because God is holy. Only his forgiveness enables me to come to him. God helped me to repent and gave me the grace of forgiveness. I saw a great vision of God for my life. Through me the Lord can raise up Ukraine as a source of blessing for the world. God encouraged me and helped me to stand firmly. I became a shepherd for Ukrainian students and served them. I began to preach to my classmates and have Bible study with them. They left me but through this God taught me to serve and pray with tears for one soul. God taught me to depend on him and wait on him for sheep. Soon God gave me Sister Lena. In the beginning she asked so many questions that Bible study lasted three to four hours. God taught me to have patience and humbleness, and to love her. Through helping her God trained and helped me to be a good shepherd for one soul.

This summer God taught me to have absolute faith in the resurrection. Unexpectedly, my mother became sick. She needed an operation. Later my uncle died unexpectedly and soon after my grandfather. A few days later my brother-in-law was taken by ambulance from his job. Satan tried to conquer me with the power of death. Before, after the death of my grandmother, he succeeded but now I know that in Jesus there is no death. Jesus is risen. He conquered death and Satan lost.

God showed me that the worldly value system is stupid. I understood that Jesus for me is very important. He became for me the way, truth and life. He gave me his life. Only through him I can come to God. I received the kingdom of God like an heir and also eternal life. I understood that I need to give 100 percent of my life to Jesus and use my life in order to save many dying souls from sin. I want to know Jesus deeply and personally and value Jesus as my greatest treasure and live for his glory. Jesus became my Savior and true friend. I pray that God may use me as his instrument to make disciples of Jesus Christ in Ukraine. I pray that God may raise up two mothers of prayers through me and in his time send me as a missionary to a Muslim country. I pray God may raise Ukraine as a source of blessing for the whole world.

I Was Moved That They Hugged Me And Called Me “BROTHER DIMA”

By Dima Salyuk, Kiev UBF

I Was Moved That They Hugged Me And Called Me "BROTHER DIMA"

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Mt 6:10)

1. Losing the meaning of life

My name is Dima Salyuk. I was born in Vinnitsa, Ukraine in 1984. Currently I am in my third year of studying Physics at Kiev National University, which is named after Taras Shevchenko. I was the youngest son in my family so I received a lot of love and care from my parents. I grew up as a selfish person, taking the best for myself, and whenever I was not given something, I would cry in hysteria. But still we were a good family and I especially liked the moments when my brother and I were sent for a whole summer to the village where my grandpa lived. There we would help him with household chores, run about in the forest and fields, play war games, hold campfires and catch fish. The power of death entered my life from childhood. When my grandpa died I sat next to his dead body all day long. I prayed that he may come back to life, but he was really dead. Then the power of death overcame me. I understood that one day I too would die and so I lost the meaning of life and began to seek for pleasures. I became a slave of flesh desires. I could not look at girls without temptation. When my parents went to the village, I would watch pornographic films at night. If they stayed at home, I would wait until everybody fell asleep and went to the TV-room to sin. After that I would pray before God and promise to start a new life the next day. But the next day I did the same thing. I hated myself but could not do anything about my habit. I could not see any meaning for my life. With such a life surely I could not get to heaven. Once I asked my mom about the meaning of our lives. She answered, "We live to leave behind us our successors." This answer did not satisfy me. Does it really matter who will live after me if I will not be there to rejoice about the fruit that I have? Without God it was meaningless to live.

2. The word of God healed my soul

My brother entered Kiev University. I also dreamed to go to Kiev to have freedom from my parents' control. My brother also started to go to church, which frightened my parents. They told me not to follow his ways. In the autumn of 2001 I visited my brother so that he would show me around Kiev. But instead of doing that he brought me to church. I was a little afraid, but I still came. One shepherd hugged me and sisters called me "Brother Dima". I was moved by this. After Sunday worship service I began to think about God and read the New Testament. Later, at the spring conference I heard the testimonies of brothers. I was shocked at how they fearlessly confessed their sins. They had similar problems like me but God changed them wonderfully. I saw myself as a sinner and realized the boundless love of Jesus. "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." I was still afraid to repent of my sins; I thought people would condemn me. But the word of God started to work in me. After that there were two more conferences. Through the message "What is your name?" I accepted Jesus' love toward one demon-possessed sinner. I repented my lust of the flesh, after which I found the great joy of forgiveness. Then a great stone fell off my heart. I could feel that the Lord accepted me into his family.

3. Your will be done

After learning Jesus' love, I wanted to share it with others so I started to invite my friends to church. I would rush to everyone to ask if he believed in Jesus. I also liked the word "shepherd" even though I didn't know what it meant yet. In reality, in order to feed sheep I had to sacrifice my time. I also had to go to the dormitories and look at sour and displeasing faces; but I must have a joyful face even when I didn't have joy. Sometimes I forgot my first meeting with Jesus. And Bible study became a cross to me. Thank Jesus that he fed me at this time. Through Bible study I saw God's personal love for me. He accepted me as I am. Also I saw that sheep needed not only a friend, but a shepherd and a father. I also needed not only a friend to talk nonsense with, but a shepherd who could help me to see vision and to pray with a sincere heart. I prayed to be a shepherd like this to Brother Lonia. I pray also to help sheep enter deeply into the spiritual world and deeply know Jesus. This summer was a time of struggling with temptations for me. I looked too much at one sister. I had shame to confess my sins because I wanted to be respected in the church and I thought of myself as an elder in the church. Especially, it was hard for me to rebuke sheep regarding lust. I felt myself like a liar and a hypocrite. I thank Jesus that he had mercy on me. Jesus had pity on me and by his blood washed me. He did not punish me, but saved me. Jesus accepted me so that I would not live in sin, but in God's purity. God rebuked me through one shepherd. I had to pray and understood that God knew all things. I struggled and decided sincerely to recognize my sins. I decided to dedicate my heart to Jesus through Mark 14:3, "While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head." To overcome lust I decided to look at sisters with a father's heart. I want to have in my heart God's desire, "your kingdom come," and with all my heart reach the kingdom of God and his righteousness. If there is God's desire in my heart, then I can look at sisters as daughters and can sacrifice my life and be a good shepherd for many sheep. I can clearly testify to Jesus to my department without fear that somebody will look down at me. For this I decided to pray everyday for my department after my lessons with the Bible in hand, "Our Father, may your kingdom come to my department."

Lord, let your kingdom come and your will be done. Father, help me to fulfill your desires so that your will becomes my will, and that I may live for your glory like a jar ready to be used.

JESUS, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

2005 European/CIS International Summer Bible Conferences By Mother Barry, DBF General Director

JESUS, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

"Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6)

Mother Barry delivered the opening message at the European ISBC and a key verse address at the CIS ISBC. These messages were virtually the same. The following is the key verse address she delivered at the CIS ISBC.

We have come here from the countries of the CIS and from all over the world. Our brothers and sisters from Astana traveled 60 hours by train to get here. When we leave, we will scatter all over the world. Our presence here affirms of truth. They think that commitment to

that there exists among us a bond of oneness in Jesus. He is the vine, we are the branches. Our Lord prayed that we might be one. He gave us a common mission and a common prayer topic. He prayed that God's kingdom might come on think briefly about Jesus, who is the way earth as it is in heaven. He sent his disciples out to make disciples of all nations. We have come here to affirm the good news that the truth sets us free. In these times, which some people refer to as postmodern, we are surprised to find that there are people who deny the existence truth makes them slaves. But denying the existence of truth does not remove the reality of truth. And truth does not make us slaves. Truth sets us free. As we begin this CIS Summer Bible Conference let us think briefly about Jesus, who is the way and the truth and the life.

1. Jesus is the way to God

Several weeks ago I read in Newsweek an interview with a Muslim terrorist. This young man said that he was a terrorist and that he had volunteered to be a suicide bomber, and that he had been accepted. He was waiting for his specific assignment. He hoped that he would be assigned a crowded place with a lot of Americans around so that he could kill as many as possible when he blew himself up. He was convinced that this way was the sure way to heaven and to God. This young man, and many like him, was seduced by the devil, who is a liar and a murderer. Jesus is the only way to God. He is the only way to heaven. He came from heaven. He returned to heaven. He knows the way. He is the way. He is the way because he is the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. We are forgiven and cleansed of sin and guilt and shame by the blood of the Lamb. He rose to life and ascended to the Father. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, has come to make his home in hearts that have been cleansed by the blood. He leads us on our pilgrimage to the heavenly kingdom. We are not righteous or good. We can do no good work that will qualify us for heaven. On the other hand, no sin or shame is so great that his blood cannot cleanse it. He only asks that we believe in him, that we entrust ourselves to him in obedient faith.

2. Jesus is the way to God because he is the truth

Truth is universal; it is unchanging; it is absolute. Only God the Creator of all things is unchanging and absolute. The plan of salvation which he made and worked out on the stage of history is universal. It is for all people. "The true light that gives light to all men was coming into the world." (Jn 1:9) The true light is Jesus.

God's promises are true. The gospel of Jesus rests on the promises of God. The devil is a liar. There is no truth in him. Jesus is the truth because he fulfills God's promises. He fulfilled the promise God gave Abraham and David. He keeps the promise to forgive our sins and give us eternal life. He keeps his promise to give us the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the truth. Jesus told the truth about man. All people are sinners. Jesus told the truth about God. God is the Creator of all things. He is Holy and Righteous. He is love. He loves the world and sent Jesus to save us from sin and death and give us life. In North Korea people believe the lie that Kim II Sung is eternal. They believe that Kim Jung II can save them. This is a lie. Because of this lie, many people have died and are dying. The devil is indeed a liar and a murderer, but people without God in their lives desperately grasp such lies. Jesus is the truth. He is the only way to God.

3. Jesus is the only way to the Father because he is the life

"Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men." Jesus is the Creator of life. We are dead in sin because sin cuts us off from the Creator God, the life source. We are like dead men walking. But Jesus came to give life. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (Jn 5:24)

I believe and know that Jesus is the only way to God because by his death and resurrection he saved a proud and useless sinner like me. He led me to the Scriptures and through searching the Scriptures I could come to the One about whom they are written, and find life. He is my life. He is my love. He is the one whom I worship. He is my Savior and my Friend. I am never lonely because he walks with me. He is the way and the truth and the life.

May each of us meet Jesus through his word and know the truth that sets us free. May God give us the Spirit of truth to show us the way in this wilderness-like world. May he bless this conference and equip us to go to the campuses of the world with the good news that the truth sets us free. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.

DISCIPLE-MAKING MINISTRY THROUGH 1:1

DISCIPLE-MAKING MINISTRY THROUGH 1:1

By Dr. Peter Kim, Ukraine UBF Director

"'Ifyou can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes. "(Mk9:23)

Ukraine is located in central Europe with 50 million people and is the second largest territory after Russia. Recently, Ukraine got a new president who is very pro-West; in fact, his wife is American. He also promises freedom of religion. Many people are happy to have this new president. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, was the first capital of ancient Russia and is a center of politics, culture and economics. In 1990 I went to Moscow as a missionary. In 1991 I went to pioneer Kiev, Ukraine, and Msn. Sarah Kim joined me from Korea after several months. There are two more missionary families and one single missionary, Hanna Choi, in Kiev. Msn. Esther Kim came to Kiev as a student and studied the Bible with Msn. Sarah Kim and became a good missionary coworker; she established a house church with Msn. Mark Kim in 2003. Msn. John and Maria Peace from Chicago came in 2003. They have clear mission spirit to join the remaining suffering of Jesus Christ. God blessed their simple faith and decision to become missionaries together with four children. God gave Msn. John a very good job within one month after coming to Kiev, blessing his faith like Abraham. Msn. John works in Kiev International School as a teacher and supports his family and UBF with materials sacrificially. His children study in a missionary school with my three children. They enjoy being in school with many missionaries' children. With Msn. Maria Peace's coming, suddenly, our Kiev UBF became a very loud center because of Msn. Maria's laughing and funny Ukrainian language in which she repeats, "Da, da, slava Bogu". Frankly speaking, at first, I was a little bit afraid of her because she looked like an army field commander; but I soon learned that she is very mild and humble. Especially, she likes and respects Msn. Sarah Kim and coworks with her very well like a best friend in Jesus. Msn. Maria is raising one sister "Olena" as a disciple of Jesus. Olena is a very able sister and speaks English very fluently. If Msn. Maria has a rabbit's spirit, Msn. John Peace has a turtle's spirit. Msn. John is very patient and sincere. Our brothers like him very much. He studies the Bible with his sheep, brother Pasha. Msn. John Peace's family became a blessing for us and they are an exemplary missionary family.

From Kiev UBF we sent Anastasiya to New Jersey in 2003 and she established a blessed house church with Shp. Jason Perry; together their family is serving Princeton pioneering ministry. Shp. Jacob and Joan of Arc's family was sent to pioneer Markov, the second largest city in Ukraine. Shp. Vladimir Point and Rebekah's family was sent to Istanbul Turkey to pioneer Bosporus University, the top university in Turkey. Another family— Heart-moving Noah and Anna are preparing to also go to Turkey to pioneer Istanbul University. From Odessa Ukraine UBF, Shp. Abraham and Sarah were sent to Dneprpetrovsk, the third largest city in Ukraine. Our Kiev UBF has about 130 l:ls each week and there are about 35 committed disciples who are praying to go out as missionaries any time God calls them. This year we are praying to send out three missionaries, and to send 1000 missionaries by 2041. I want to report how God has done disciple-making ministry through 1-1 Bible studies.

First, early morning prayer. In the beginning of Kiev ministry I prayed two things: first, that God may bless our disciple-making ministry and make it a UBF model of the third world country ministry; second, to live a missionary life with early morning prayer, with joy and willingness in any situation. I thank God who established a beautiful early morning prayer meeting with 35 disciples. Psalm 57:8 says, "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." When David wrote this, he was a fugitive in a cave. David had faith to thank and praise God in any kind of adverse situation. He had a decision and vision to awaken the dawn and overcome the darkness. The world cannot do anything to a man of prayer who prays in the early morning with praise and decision.

I have survived spiritually until now because of early morning prayer. One sheep said to come to early morning prayer meeting was like overcoming the Great Wall of China. Many leaders who came to the morning prayer meeting learned sincerity and hardworking spirit. Also their mentality was not complicated in the early morning and we could meet everyday. It has been the most effective way to have daily Bible study and very useful for training in godliness as disciples of Jesus. Also, leaders take turns to prepare breakfast. This is very useful for leaders to learn practical serving and have good eating fellowship everyday.

Second, all things are possible for him who believes. Mark 9:23 says, "'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.1" With Jesus' power the evil spirit in a demon-possessed man was driven out. Jesus' power can be manifested through those who believe in Jesus' power. If we have faith, God reveals his power to us. I had to be healed of my unbelief and have absolute faith. When I wanted to serve discipleship ministry, the main enemy was unbelief. Satan continually tempted me so that I might despair and fall into unbelief. I struggled to serve disciple-ship ministry, invite sheep day and night, stay at the center from early morning to late evening, and to serve sheep with God's word and food. I thought that after two or three years our discipleship ministry would have a strong foundation. But every sheep ran away, one by one, when we did not raise them based on the word of God. The sheep we had hope for, all ran away. One sheep who had lived with us ran away during a meeting and took expensive things from our house.

My coworker experienced much stress because of the poor conditions of Ukraine. For six years she had several miscarriages. When sheep ran away, the other four missionaries also got very grumpy and went back to Korea. After three years of pioneering, my house church was the only one left. And nobody paid attention to us for eight years. In such a situation, to serve the disciple-making ministry alone was like digging a hole in the ground with my forehead (so I lost many hairs). I thought to serve world mission was in vain. I was so discouraged that I lost my spirit. I often prayed, "Lord, I cannot serve world mission anymore if you won't ask others to serve world mission; I can't do it by myself." But every time, God rebuked my unbelief: "If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." I never thought that the problem was my faith. But Jesus said, "Everything is possible for him who believes." The reason I could not raise up disciples was my unbelief. I cried out like the father, "I believe, help my unbelief!" I could accept that this was the way to be healed of my unbelief. When I practically repented of my unbelief and believed in the Almighty God, God began to work.

The first disciple was Shp. Abraham Vlad. After his mother died he was lost in fear and got very sick. When we first visited him in his dormitory, he was like the dead son of the widow in Luke 7. God gave him new life through common life with my family and Bible study from Isaiah 53:4,5, and raised him as an Abraham of faith. Shps. Sarah Maria was like the Samaritan woman because of her deep thirst for love. She was bound by the power of sinful desire and nobody could put hope in her. But the word of God had power. She was born again through John 4, and she established the first house church with Shp. Abraham, and has co-worked with us wholeheartedly for 12 years.

Dr. Vladimir Jacob was very proud. He is very sharp and has a hardworking spirit. He graduated from Radiophysics in Kiev University with the highest GPA. Through Bible study, he accepted John 1:4 and confessed that Jesus is his Lord and Christ. But it was very hard to change his inner mind because he tried to live the shepherd life with his own ability and will. When we played soccer, there was always fighting because of his sense of competition. He ignored other brothers who couldn't feed sheep and despised them. So I helped him to memorize Romans so that he could open his spiritual eyes to God's love and his one-sided grace. Though this training he accepted

Rom 6:11, "In the same way count yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus", and he solved his deep-rooted sin problem. He miraculously changed and became an excellent Bible teacher. He went with his wife Joan of Arc to pioneer Harkov last March as an exemplary missionary.

When we held on to this word, "All things are possible for him who believes," and kept faith and believed in God who is almighty and alive and who works through believers, God began to do his great work through us. Through this I learned that it is most important in disciple-making ministry that a leader have immovable faith. But often our faith is moveable and changeable. When can we have immovable faith? Only when we believe that the Bible is the word of the living God and the master key for all problems. If we have such faith we can resolve all kinds of problems for everyone. So our hearts must always burn with passion that God resolves all problems through the power of his word. With confidence in the word of God and a burning heart for raising disciples, there will absolutely be fruit. That is why disciple-makers must be courageous. How can we be courageous? When we believe the word of God is the word of God; when we believe absolutely in the cross of Jesus and the gospel of the resurrection; and when we have clear faith in the kingdom of God. When I have faith, I can preach the gospel and raise disciples of Jesus and die knowing that the kingdom of God is waiting for me. Then I can teach sheep the word of God without compromise and raise them as disciples who have absolute faith.

Third, "Five loaves and two fish" faith. John 6:9 says, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" We call this, "five loaves and two fish" faith or "Andrew's faith." Humanly speaking, such a faith is ridiculous. But through this faith, we can overcome any difficult situation and make disciples. When we first came to Kiev, we had nearly nothing; a lack of language, materials and food. Because of the fall of the USSR we had a hard time even to buy food. In order to buy bread we had to wait for one or two hours, but after waiting for two hours they often said that there was no bread left. When a foreign shepherd visited us, we served him until there was nothing left for us to eat. He asked us why he had to eat alone and we answered, "We already ate."

Most of all, people were afraid and desperate because of the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, one of the greatest world disasters. It occurred 110 miles from Kiev in 1986. I wondered why I had to suffer in the cold, hungry and desolate situation, and I became sorrowful. At that time, God helped me to hear Jesus' voice, "You give them something to eat." Andrew's faith encouraged me and gave me the direction, "Okay, I must not think about what I don't have but think about what I do have. With that I can come to Jesus and please him." God blessed us to begin the discipleship ministry. When we thought about what we didn't have and looked for excuses, we were always sorrowful. When we wanted to obey God's word and learn "five loaves and two fish" faith, we could experience how fruitful our life of faith could be.

Shp. Andrey Shpagin was a well-paid salary man. But he kept his money to himself. But when he accepted "five loaves and two fish" faith, he became a man who serves God's ministry most sacrificially. At every conference he pays for those who cannot afford the conference fee. At every international conference, he supported a poor shepherd by buying his airplane ticket.

We also became confident that we could feed and join world mission. We could be self- supporting and send out missionaries and support them. Last year we decided to build a Bible center. God worked in the hearts of the disciples and we could buy 1,000 square meters of land without any support from other chapters. Ukra-nians were accustomed to receive freely because of communism. They wouldn't pay conference fees. They had the spirit of no paying. They think they cannot because they have no money. In reality, they had many things. The problem was their beggar mentality. Therefore we continued to teach them not to think of what they did not have, but to find what they have and give it to the Lord. In reality, third world country missionaries lack material resources so there is no opportunity to help others. They usually begin from nothing in a foreign country and struggle to establish a self- supporting ministry. Sometimes they feel to live in a foreign land with a self-supporting ministry is impossible. I learned that to give and to feed sheep by five loaves and two fish faith in any situation is the most fundamental element for disciple-making. Nothing will happen if missionaries despair because of reality. Sheep want to see the sacrificial life of shepherds. Sometimes sheep want to see sweat, tears, even the blood of shepherds. Sheep follow their shepherd when the shepherd lives a sacrificial shepherd's life. For a disciple-maker there are many crosses. He must work to be self-supporting, deliver the message, raise disciples, and care for children and family. But when we have the five loaves and two fish faith, we can live a happy shepherd's life. When we can confess everyday, "I am the happiest shepherd", in faith and in the gospel there will be a disciple-making ministry. And we can live the life of a wedding banquet. There is a proverb, "For Buddha's disciples everyday is a funeral ceremony. For Confucius' disciples, everyday is a formal offering. For, Jesus' disciples, everyday is a banquet. If the shepherd's life is sacrificial and joyful, then sheep will trust the shepherd and also will grow to be sacrificial. God's work is through "five loaves and two fish" faith.

Fourth, faith in the God of vision and hope. God trained Israel to overcome their slave mentality in order to change them into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation according to God's hope. When we studied Ukrainian history, we learned that the problem of her people was that they did not have good shepherds who would bear the pain of the sheep with God's hope and vision and lead them on the right way. Although the present situation might be difficult, there is hope and vision when there is a spiritual leader. God planted Exodus 19:5,6 in our hearts, and through this word he revealed his hope. Although there was nothing that we could see directly, we prayed at every meeting with God's hope and vision to bless us to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: Ukraine, a shepherd nation and a missionary-sending nation. We prayed and prayed with this vision day and night.

This vision of God challenged us and gave us strong holy desire. Although our situation might be hopeless, God is training us so that we can see that God will use Ukraine in the 21st century as a Zion of the gospel and as a shepherd nation. We made many spiritual slogans, shouting, "You give them something to eat"; "It is more blessed to give than to receive"; "We are not beggars but a royal priesthood"; "We are working for God's business which is worth millions of dollars. How can we be afraid of losing several hundred dollars?" We often shout a lot at the airport, "Lord, make this airport 100 times bigger, so that many nations may come and visit us!" We pray to pioneer 24 regions in the Ukraine and to send out shepherds as pioneers in God's time. God has answered our prayer and he raised many servants of God for Ukraine. God blessed our vision and our prayer and sent out several missionaries. Shps. Anastasia's inner mind was beautiful and she was an honest woman with a sacrificial mind. She was a pillar of Kiev UBF. I prayed for her to establish a house church for Ukraine mission. But God reminded me of my family's vow. We made a vow that if God raised disciples by his grace in this land we would give the most excellent disciple to the altar of world mission. Although she has some material problems, I heard that she keeps 12 1:1 Bible studies every week and serves dawn prayer meeting at 5:00 a.m.

If there was Anastasia among our sisters, then there is Vladimir Point among our brothers. He is a gentleman now but he was like a Gerasene demoniac before. He came to the center with his hair in a ponytail, wearing a leather jacket and pants, a cowboy hat and boots with a guitar on his shoulder. He was a professional guitarist; so often when he came to the center, he gathered sisters and played romantic music. Sisters lost their senses and stared at him blankly. One time in a conference he acted like this and one senior missionary rebuked me, "Why didn't you drive out such a person?" Anyway, he disappeared for two years and appeared again with one Samaritan girlfriend. He said, "If this girl changes in UBF, I will give my life for UBF mission." It was a very strange request and vow, but I answered, "OK, I agree. Let's begin." By God's grace this sister changed through Bible study and later became Vladimir Point's coworker and mother of their two daughters. The change and spiritual growth of Shp. Vladimir Point is amazing. He has a great passion to give his life for Jesus with an absolute attitude to the word of God. He has a spirit like Apostle Paul. He wrote all the name of students who lived in the dormitory to visit them and then analyzed their interests and revisited those who had potential to study the Bible. In this way he raised many disciples. Especially he was able to help sisters grow spiritually and raised several shepherdesses. I wanted him to take over Kiev UBF after me in the future. For this I wanted to send him as a pioneer so that he may taste all kinds of sufferings and after suffering, glory. First I prayed for him to go to Slovakia. He immediately obeyed this direction and quit his job and tried to go as a missionary to Slovakia. But strangely the Holy Spirit did not open the way. Then after the 2004 MSU conference God gave him the vision to go to a Muslim nation and God opened the door for Turkey mission which is the main door for Muslim nations. He has a three-year old daughter Lydia and two-month old daughter Vera. He completed a two-story house beside the future center so that he could live with his family and sheep. But when he received the mission to go to a Muslim country, he immediately denied himself and gave up a comfortable life and went to Istanbul. He accepted the word of God, "Come to Macedonia and help us", and "Do you truly love me? Feed my sheep." May God bless his faith and obedience and raise him as a good shepherd and disciple-maker for Muslim nations through Turkey and make Turkey a shepherd nation and missionary-sending nation. Also, after him Shp. Heart-Moving Noah and Ana are praying to go to Turkey.

We prayed and thought about what we can do to change Ukraine into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, a shepherd nation and missionary-sending nation. Then God revealed his vision to raise beautiful Ukrainian shepherdesses as disciples of Jesus and send them out into the whole world. We could have the vision to send out 1,000 missionaries by 2041 and to raise 24 spiritual leaders for the 24 regions of Ukraine. When we prayed with this hope in our hearts faithfully, God led many shepherdesses to us and raised them up as missionary-candidates. God answered our prayer so that 150 sheep attended the last Ukraine Fall Bible conference together with Mother Sarah Barry, entitled, "Your will be done." They learned the Lord's prayer and Jesus' discipleship, and made decisions to be used as spiritual leaders at any cost. We have learned that God blesses our hope and fulfills it, although it looks very small at the beginning. I thank God that he gave us his vision to serve world campus mission and to pioneer the whole world with the gospel.

Many times we feel human limitation to raise disciples. Especially, we are self-supporting missionaries who must take up three to four crosses at the same time. Also, sheep and disciples are in the same situation. In the beginning they enjoy the gospel and their shepherd's love. Then we hit the limitation of disciple-raising and our prayer and Bible study loses power. We become habitual and our hearts become dry and we lose the passion for disciple-raising and serving others. I learned at this time it is crucial to help sheep change their value system through deep Bible study and to deny themselves, serve God's work and establish others. This can be done by giving them world mission vision and helping them see themselves as fathers of many nations. We must help them so that they can have the ability for spiritual reproduction. When they can find a great vision in our meetings, they can become remnants. Young men quickly lose the desire to be remnants if our vision is small and our scale is not worldwide. Therefore we must continuously encourage sheep to live a vision-centered and mission-centered life and show them clearly where our ministry is going and share our dream and vision with them. For me also, because I liked the world mission vision of UBF and the great passion of Dr. Samuel Lee for Jesus and for world mission, I too became a remnant in UBF and a missionary, though it involves suffering. Therefore it is very important for a disciple-maker to be a man of vision. He must pursue the dynamic changing power of the gospel which is not habitual or formal. Disciple-makers must comfort others with the love of Christ and fulfill the needs of sheep and challenge them through vision and give them clear direction for their lives. This means disciple-makers must keep God's hope and vision burning in their hearts. Then we can help sheep to follow Jesus with joy and we can use our spiritual leadership as disciple-makers. Of course, disciple-makers must give all the glory to God and only lift up the name of Jesus Christ. I thank God who called us to be 1:1 Bible teachers and disciple-makers. I thank God that he does not use those who are fully prepared from the beginning but those who try to overcome shortcomings and adverse situations by faith. I believe God blessed Kiev UBF with his one-sided grace because we believe that our sheep, even though their present condition is not perfect, are called by God. The reason God blessed us is because we have a co-working spirit to raise sheep up as future spiritual leaders and learn from each other. Like this we tried to do our best to please God believing that, "Everything is possible for him who believes." May God bless our 1:1 Bible study and disciple-making ministry. May God bless the USA, Canada and Ukraine to be kingdoms of priests and holy nations through 1:1 Bible study.

DISCIPLE-MAKING MINISTRY THROUGH 1:1

DISCIPLE-MAKING MINISTRY THROUGH 1:1

By Dr. Peter Kim, Ukraine UBF Director

"'Ifyou can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes. "(Mk9:23)

Ukraine is located in central Europe with 50 million people and is the second largest territory after Russia. Recently, Ukraine got a new president who is very pro-West; in fact, his wife is American. He also promises freedom of religion. Many people are happy to have this new president. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, was the first capital of ancient Russia and is a center of politics, culture and economics. In 1990 I went to Moscow as a missionary. In 1991 I went to pioneer Kiev, Ukraine, and Msn. Sarah Kim joined me from Korea after several months. There are two more missionary families and one single missionary, Hanna Choi, in Kiev. Msn. Esther Kim came to Kiev as a student and studied the Bible with Msn. Sarah Kim and became a good missionary coworker; she established a house church with Msn. Mark Kim in 2003. Msn. John and Maria Peace from Chicago came in 2003. They have clear mission spirit to join the remaining suffering of Jesus Christ. God blessed their simple faith and decision to become missionaries together with four children. God gave Msn. John a very good job within one month after coming to Kiev, blessing his faith like Abraham. Msn. John works in Kiev International School as a teacher and supports his family and UBF with materials sacrificially. His children study in a missionary school with my three children. They enjoy being in school with many missionaries' children. With Msn. Maria Peace's coming, suddenly, our Kiev UBF became a very loud center because of Msn. Maria's laughing and funny Ukrainian language in which she repeats, "Da, da, slava Bogu". Frankly speaking, at first, I was a little bit afraid of her because she looked like an army field commander; but I soon learned that she is very mild and humble. Especially, she likes and respects Msn. Sarah Kim and coworks with her very well like a best friend in Jesus. Msn. Maria is raising one sister "Olena" as a disciple of Jesus. Olena is a very able sister and speaks English very fluently. If Msn. Maria has a rabbit's spirit, Msn. John Peace has a turtle's spirit. Msn. John is very patient and sincere. Our brothers like him very much. He studies the Bible with his sheep, brother Pasha. Msn. John Peace's family became a blessing for us and they are an exemplary missionary family.

From Kiev UBF we sent Anastasiya to New Jersey in 2003 and she established a blessed house church with Shp. Jason Perry; together their family is serving Princeton pioneering ministry. Shp. Jacob and Joan of Arc's family was sent to pioneer Markov, the second largest city in Ukraine. Shp. Vladimir Point and Rebekah's family was sent to Istanbul Turkey to pioneer Bosporus University, the top university in Turkey. Another family— Heart-moving Noah and Anna are preparing to also go to Turkey to pioneer Istanbul University. From Odessa Ukraine UBF, Shp. Abraham and Sarah were sent to Dneprpetrovsk, the third largest city in Ukraine. Our Kiev UBF has about 130 l:ls each week and there are about 35 committed disciples who are praying to go out as missionaries any time God calls them. This year we are praying to send out three missionaries, and to send 1000 missionaries by 2041. I want to report how God has done disciple-making ministry through 1-1 Bible studies.

First, early morning prayer. In the beginning of Kiev ministry I prayed two things: first, that God may bless our disciple-making ministry and make it a UBF model of the third world country ministry; second, to live a missionary life with early morning prayer, with joy and willingness in any situation. I thank God who established a beautiful early morning prayer meeting with 35 disciples. Psalm 57:8 says, "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." When David wrote this, he was a fugitive in a cave. David had faith to thank and praise God in any kind of adverse situation. He had a decision and vision to awaken the dawn and overcome the darkness. The world cannot do anything to a man of prayer who prays in the early morning with praise and decision.

I have survived spiritually until now because of early morning prayer. One sheep said to come to early morning prayer meeting was like overcoming the Great Wall of China. Many leaders who came to the morning prayer meeting learned sincerity and hardworking spirit. Also their mentality was not complicated in the early morning and we could meet everyday. It has been the most effective way to have daily Bible study and very useful for training in godliness as disciples of Jesus. Also, leaders take turns to prepare breakfast. This is very useful for leaders to learn practical serving and have good eating fellowship everyday.

Second, all things are possible for him who believes. Mark 9:23 says, "'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.1" With Jesus' power the evil spirit in a demon-possessed man was driven out. Jesus' power can be manifested through those who believe in Jesus' power. If we have faith, God reveals his power to us. I had to be healed of my unbelief and have absolute faith. When I wanted to serve discipleship ministry, the main enemy was unbelief. Satan continually tempted me so that I might despair and fall into unbelief. I struggled to serve disciple-ship ministry, invite sheep day and night, stay at the center from early morning to late evening, and to serve sheep with God's word and food. I thought that after two or three years our discipleship ministry would have a strong foundation. But every sheep ran away, one by one, when we did not raise them based on the word of God. The sheep we had hope for, all ran away. One sheep who had lived with us ran away during a meeting and took expensive things from our house.

My coworker experienced much stress because of the poor conditions of Ukraine. For six years she had several miscarriages. When sheep ran away, the other four missionaries also got very grumpy and went back to Korea. After three years of pioneering, my house church was the only one left. And nobody paid attention to us for eight years. In such a situation, to serve the disciple-making ministry alone was like digging a hole in the ground with my forehead (so I lost many hairs). I thought to serve world mission was in vain. I was so discouraged that I lost my spirit. I often prayed, "Lord, I cannot serve world mission anymore if you won't ask others to serve world mission; I can't do it by myself." But every time, God rebuked my unbelief: "If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." I never thought that the problem was my faith. But Jesus said, "Everything is possible for him who believes." The reason I could not raise up disciples was my unbelief. I cried out like the father, "I believe, help my unbelief!" I could accept that this was the way to be healed of my unbelief. When I practically repented of my unbelief and believed in the Almighty God, God began to work.

The first disciple was Shp. Abraham Vlad. After his mother died he was lost in fear and got very sick. When we first visited him in his dormitory, he was like the dead son of the widow in Luke 7. God gave him new life through common life with my family and Bible study from Isaiah 53:4,5, and raised him as an Abraham of faith. Shps. Sarah Maria was like the Samaritan woman because of her deep thirst for love. She was bound by the power of sinful desire and nobody could put hope in her. But the word of God had power. She was born again through John 4, and she established the first house church with Shp. Abraham, and has co-worked with us wholeheartedly for 12 years.

Dr. Vladimir Jacob was very proud. He is very sharp and has a hardworking spirit. He graduated from Radiophysics in Kiev University with the highest GPA. Through Bible study, he accepted John 1:4 and confessed that Jesus is his Lord and Christ. But it was very hard to change his inner mind because he tried to live the shepherd life with his own ability and will. When we played soccer, there was always fighting because of his sense of competition. He ignored other brothers who couldn't feed sheep and despised them. So I helped him to memorize Romans so that he could open his spiritual eyes to God's love and his one-sided grace. Though this training he accepted

Rom 6:11, "In the same way count yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus", and he solved his deep-rooted sin problem. He miraculously changed and became an excellent Bible teacher. He went with his wife Joan of Arc to pioneer Harkov last March as an exemplary missionary.

When we held on to this word, "All things are possible for him who believes," and kept faith and believed in God who is almighty and alive and who works through believers, God began to do his great work through us. Through this I learned that it is most important in disciple-making ministry that a leader have immovable faith. But often our faith is moveable and changeable. When can we have immovable faith? Only when we believe that the Bible is the word of the living God and the master key for all problems. If we have such faith we can resolve all kinds of problems for everyone. So our hearts must always burn with passion that God resolves all problems through the power of his word. With confidence in the word of God and a burning heart for raising disciples, there will absolutely be fruit. That is why disciple-makers must be courageous. How can we be courageous? When we believe the word of God is the word of God; when we believe absolutely in the cross of Jesus and the gospel of the resurrection; and when we have clear faith in the kingdom of God. When I have faith, I can preach the gospel and raise disciples of Jesus and die knowing that the kingdom of God is waiting for me. Then I can teach sheep the word of God without compromise and raise them as disciples who have absolute faith.

Third, "Five loaves and two fish" faith. John 6:9 says, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" We call this, "five loaves and two fish" faith or "Andrew's faith." Humanly speaking, such a faith is ridiculous. But through this faith, we can overcome any difficult situation and make disciples. When we first came to Kiev, we had nearly nothing; a lack of language, materials and food. Because of the fall of the USSR we had a hard time even to buy food. In order to buy bread we had to wait for one or two hours, but after waiting for two hours they often said that there was no bread left. When a foreign shepherd visited us, we served him until there was nothing left for us to eat. He asked us why he had to eat alone and we answered, "We already ate."

Most of all, people were afraid and desperate because of the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, one of the greatest world disasters. It occurred 110 miles from Kiev in 1986. I wondered why I had to suffer in the cold, hungry and desolate situation, and I became sorrowful. At that time, God helped me to hear Jesus' voice, "You give them something to eat." Andrew's faith encouraged me and gave me the direction, "Okay, I must not think about what I don't have but think about what I do have. With that I can come to Jesus and please him." God blessed us to begin the discipleship ministry. When we thought about what we didn't have and looked for excuses, we were always sorrowful. When we wanted to obey God's word and learn "five loaves and two fish" faith, we could experience how fruitful our life of faith could be.

Shp. Andrey Shpagin was a well-paid salary man. But he kept his money to himself. But when he accepted "five loaves and two fish" faith, he became a man who serves God's ministry most sacrificially. At every conference he pays for those who cannot afford the conference fee. At every international conference, he supported a poor shepherd by buying his airplane ticket.

We also became confident that we could feed and join world mission. We could be self- supporting and send out missionaries and support them. Last year we decided to build a Bible center. God worked in the hearts of the disciples and we could buy 1,000 square meters of land without any support from other chapters. Ukra-nians were accustomed to receive freely because of communism. They wouldn't pay conference fees. They had the spirit of no paying. They think they cannot because they have no money. In reality, they had many things. The problem was their beggar mentality. Therefore we continued to teach them not to think of what they did not have, but to find what they have and give it to the Lord. In reality, third world country missionaries lack material resources so there is no opportunity to help others. They usually begin from nothing in a foreign country and struggle to establish a self- supporting ministry. Sometimes they feel to live in a foreign land with a self-supporting ministry is impossible. I learned that to give and to feed sheep by five loaves and two fish faith in any situation is the most fundamental element for disciple-making. Nothing will happen if missionaries despair because of reality. Sheep want to see the sacrificial life of shepherds. Sometimes sheep want to see sweat, tears, even the blood of shepherds. Sheep follow their shepherd when the shepherd lives a sacrificial shepherd's life. For a disciple-maker there are many crosses. He must work to be self-supporting, deliver the message, raise disciples, and care for children and family. But when we have the five loaves and two fish faith, we can live a happy shepherd's life. When we can confess everyday, "I am the happiest shepherd", in faith and in the gospel there will be a disciple-making ministry. And we can live the life of a wedding banquet. There is a proverb, "For Buddha's disciples everyday is a funeral ceremony. For Confucius' disciples, everyday is a formal offering. For, Jesus' disciples, everyday is a banquet. If the shepherd's life is sacrificial and joyful, then sheep will trust the shepherd and also will grow to be sacrificial. God's work is through "five loaves and two fish" faith.

Fourth, faith in the God of vision and hope. God trained Israel to overcome their slave mentality in order to change them into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation according to God's hope. When we studied Ukrainian history, we learned that the problem of her people was that they did not have good shepherds who would bear the pain of the sheep with God's hope and vision and lead them on the right way. Although the present situation might be difficult, there is hope and vision when there is a spiritual leader. God planted Exodus 19:5,6 in our hearts, and through this word he revealed his hope. Although there was nothing that we could see directly, we prayed at every meeting with God's hope and vision to bless us to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: Ukraine, a shepherd nation and a missionary-sending nation. We prayed and prayed with this vision day and night.

This vision of God challenged us and gave us strong holy desire. Although our situation might be hopeless, God is training us so that we can see that God will use Ukraine in the 21st century as a Zion of the gospel and as a shepherd nation. We made many spiritual slogans, shouting, "You give them something to eat"; "It is more blessed to give than to receive"; "We are not beggars but a royal priesthood"; "We are working for God's business which is worth millions of dollars. How can we be afraid of losing several hundred dollars?" We often shout a lot at the airport, "Lord, make this airport 100 times bigger, so that many nations may come and visit us!" We pray to pioneer 24 regions in the Ukraine and to send out shepherds as pioneers in God's time. God has answered our prayer and he raised many servants of God for Ukraine. God blessed our vision and our prayer and sent out several missionaries. Shps. Anastasia's inner mind was beautiful and she was an honest woman with a sacrificial mind. She was a pillar of Kiev UBF. I prayed for her to establish a house church for Ukraine mission. But God reminded me of my family's vow. We made a vow that if God raised disciples by his grace in this land we would give the most excellent disciple to the altar of world mission. Although she has some material problems, I heard that she keeps 12 1:1 Bible studies every week and serves dawn prayer meeting at 5:00 a.m.

If there was Anastasia among our sisters, then there is Vladimir Point among our brothers. He is a gentleman now but he was like a Gerasene demoniac before. He came to the center with his hair in a ponytail, wearing a leather jacket and pants, a cowboy hat and boots with a guitar on his shoulder. He was a professional guitarist; so often when he came to the center, he gathered sisters and played romantic music. Sisters lost their senses and stared at him blankly. One time in a conference he acted like this and one senior missionary rebuked me, "Why didn't you drive out such a person?" Anyway, he disappeared for two years and appeared again with one Samaritan girlfriend. He said, "If this girl changes in UBF, I will give my life for UBF mission." It was a very strange request and vow, but I answered, "OK, I agree. Let's begin." By God's grace this sister changed through Bible study and later became Vladimir Point's coworker and mother of their two daughters. The change and spiritual growth of Shp. Vladimir Point is amazing. He has a great passion to give his life for Jesus with an absolute attitude to the word of God. He has a spirit like Apostle Paul. He wrote all the name of students who lived in the dormitory to visit them and then analyzed their interests and revisited those who had potential to study the Bible. In this way he raised many disciples. Especially he was able to help sisters grow spiritually and raised several shepherdesses. I wanted him to take over Kiev UBF after me in the future. For this I wanted to send him as a pioneer so that he may taste all kinds of sufferings and after suffering, glory. First I prayed for him to go to Slovakia. He immediately obeyed this direction and quit his job and tried to go as a missionary to Slovakia. But strangely the Holy Spirit did not open the way. Then after the 2004 MSU conference God gave him the vision to go to a Muslim nation and God opened the door for Turkey mission which is the main door for Muslim nations. He has a three-year old daughter Lydia and two-month old daughter Vera. He completed a two-story house beside the future center so that he could live with his family and sheep. But when he received the mission to go to a Muslim country, he immediately denied himself and gave up a comfortable life and went to Istanbul. He accepted the word of God, "Come to Macedonia and help us", and "Do you truly love me? Feed my sheep." May God bless his faith and obedience and raise him as a good shepherd and disciple-maker for Muslim nations through Turkey and make Turkey a shepherd nation and missionary-sending nation. Also, after him Shp. Heart-Moving Noah and Ana are praying to go to Turkey.

We prayed and thought about what we can do to change Ukraine into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, a shepherd nation and missionary-sending nation. Then God revealed his vision to raise beautiful Ukrainian shepherdesses as disciples of Jesus and send them out into the whole world. We could have the vision to send out 1,000 missionaries by 2041 and to raise 24 spiritual leaders for the 24 regions of Ukraine. When we prayed with this hope in our hearts faithfully, God led many shepherdesses to us and raised them up as missionary-candidates. God answered our prayer so that 150 sheep attended the last Ukraine Fall Bible conference together with Mother Sarah Barry, entitled, "Your will be done." They learned the Lord's prayer and Jesus' discipleship, and made decisions to be used as spiritual leaders at any cost. We have learned that God blesses our hope and fulfills it, although it looks very small at the beginning. I thank God that he gave us his vision to serve world campus mission and to pioneer the whole world with the gospel.

Many times we feel human limitation to raise disciples. Especially, we are self-supporting missionaries who must take up three to four crosses at the same time. Also, sheep and disciples are in the same situation. In the beginning they enjoy the gospel and their shepherd's love. Then we hit the limitation of disciple-raising and our prayer and Bible study loses power. We become habitual and our hearts become dry and we lose the passion for disciple-raising and serving others. I learned at this time it is crucial to help sheep change their value system through deep Bible study and to deny themselves, serve God's work and establish others. This can be done by giving them world mission vision and helping them see themselves as fathers of many nations. We must help them so that they can have the ability for spiritual reproduction. When they can find a great vision in our meetings, they can become remnants. Young men quickly lose the desire to be remnants if our vision is small and our scale is not worldwide. Therefore we must continuously encourage sheep to live a vision-centered and mission-centered life and show them clearly where our ministry is going and share our dream and vision with them. For me also, because I liked the world mission vision of UBF and the great passion of Dr. Samuel Lee for Jesus and for world mission, I too became a remnant in UBF and a missionary, though it involves suffering. Therefore it is very important for a disciple-maker to be a man of vision. He must pursue the dynamic changing power of the gospel which is not habitual or formal. Disciple-makers must comfort others with the love of Christ and fulfill the needs of sheep and challenge them through vision and give them clear direction for their lives. This means disciple-makers must keep God's hope and vision burning in their hearts. Then we can help sheep to follow Jesus with joy and we can use our spiritual leadership as disciple-makers. Of course, disciple-makers must give all the glory to God and only lift up the name of Jesus Christ. I thank God who called us to be 1:1 Bible teachers and disciple-makers. I thank God that he does not use those who are fully prepared from the beginning but those who try to overcome shortcomings and adverse situations by faith. I believe God blessed Kiev UBF with his one-sided grace because we believe that our sheep, even though their present condition is not perfect, are called by God. The reason God blessed us is because we have a co-working spirit to raise sheep up as future spiritual leaders and learn from each other. Like this we tried to do our best to please God believing that, "Everything is possible for him who believes." May God bless our 1:1 Bible study and disciple-making ministry. May God bless the USA, Canada and Ukraine to be kingdoms of priests and holy nations through 1:1 Bible study.

Отчет миссии Киев

During 2004, we prayed to serve the 1:1 and discipleship ministry for Ukraine campuses and world mission based on Isaiah 2:3. God blessed our prayer. God enlarged our vision toward Muslim countries. We visited Istanbul and sent out missionaries.

1. Ukraine United Spring Conference

The Ukraine United Spring Conference was held at Odessa and was based on Mark 1:15. Through this conference we learned that believers must pursue the kingdom of God. Man repents and believes the good news only when he believes the kingdom of God and when he knows that the kingdom of God is near. Proximity of the kingdom of God leads us to the urgency of mission. Odessa UBF prepared the wonderful conference atmosphere. The conference site was near the seashore. Seagulls were flying around, and we felt as if we were like disciples in the Sea of Galilee listening to Jesus' teaching. We focused on new sheep and prepared the messages to be simple and humorous.

Most people wrote testimonies and shared. About 170 people attended and 100 sheep from Kiev took the night train to the conference place. Shp. Vladimir Jacob attended with his sheep from Kharkov. His message was powerful just like a pioneering shepherd.

2. United Autumn Conference

Our United Autumn Conference was held at Kiev and was based on Matthew 6:10, "Your will be done." Mother Barry and many other servants of God attended to support the conference. Mother Barry gave us a lecture based on the Lord's Prayer. We were greatly comforted by her. Shps. Priscilla delivered a message Good Samaritan from Luke. Her message was exceptionally good since Jesus' mercy was well expressed. She focused on the man who was mugged by robbers and portrayed modern day people excellently. On the second day, we prayed for Muslim countries. There was a presentation on Muslim countries. In that presentation, "Muslim people are not terrorists but also human beings," made us think differently toward them. After the conference, we took the prayer journey team to Turkey and prayed there. It was during the Ramadan period, and we could see Muslim traditions. We visited the Muslim conservative Istanbul University and the liberal Bos-phorus University. I stayed in Istanbul and met with missionaries from other organizations and learned about present situations and mission strategies. I repented of my laziness. I had pride as a UBF missionary, thinking that I suffered much. But there are many other self-supporting missionaries from other organizations. One missionary got his PhD from Istanbul University and produced many research papers. And he raised many disciples and established a church in Istanbul. I visited his big company of which he is the president.

He studied continually and published many books about the Bible and about mission. He made me ashamed of myself.

3. Kharkov Pioneering

Shp. Vladimir Jacob's family was sent to the second biggest city, Kharkov, as a pioneering family. He used to be very proud. He was smart and hardworking. People called him a genius. He graduated as a top student in physics from Kiev University. Though he was an honor student, he suffered from competition and physical desire. He met Jesus through John 1:4 when he was a freshman. However, his human faithfulness and willpower hindered his spiritual growth. During a soccer game, he used to fight due to his competitive mind. He despised other brothers who did not raise disciples. I helped him to memorize Romans so he could open his spiritual eyes to God's love and grace. He accepted Romans 6:11 and was changed. He became an excellent Bible teacher and raised many disciples. He and his co-worker, Shps. Joan of Arc went to Kharkov as a lay missionary family. May God pioneer 12 chapters in Ukraine by 2007.

4. Istanbul pioneering

We saw God's vision toward Turkey since two years ago when Turkey tried to join the EU. We sensed that God wants to open Muslim countries through Turkey. In August, Msn. Vladimir Point and Alexander Noah visited Istanbul. Msn. Vladimir Point delivered a message on the resurrection of Jesus at the MSU conference. With resurrection faith, he went to Turkey. He used to be a Gerasene demoniac, but he was completely changed into a sacrificial servants of Christ. Though he is a key member of Kiev UBF, I wanted him to be a lay missionary for his spiritual growth. I gave him a direction to go to Slovakia at first. He immediately obeyed, quit his job, and tried to find a way to go to Slovakia. But he couldn't go. God opened the door to Turkey instead. He has a two-year old daughter, Lyd-ia, and two-month old daughter, Vera. He just completed building a two flat house for his family and his sheep. Yet, he gave up a comfortable life and obeyed God's word from Acts 16:9, "Come and help us," and John 16:14 "Do you love me? Feed my lambs." May God bless the pioneering work in Turkey and make Turkey to be a missionary-sending nation. Please pray for Shp. Alexander Noah and Shps. Anna's family to go to Turkey also.

5. The Orange Revolution

The year 2004 was historical for Ukraine politics. During the presidential election, the political conflict became apparent. The situation nearly developed into civil war. The whole world paid close attention to our nation. This conflict ended up by electing a president who is favorable to westerners. The so-called "orange revolution" was the fruit of a peaceful civilian demonstration. Through this, our nation could find her direction rooted on democracy.

6. What I learned

We often faced our own limitation for discipleship ministry. Most of us are self-supporting lay missionaries and disciple-makers. We carry two or three crosses. Due to hardships, our zeal for discipleship ministry can grow cold. At this time, it is important to teach the value of serving life. Furthermore, it is critical to plant world mission vision so that they can pray for other nations. Young men lose interest when there is no vision and when the meeting is self-centered. I learned that we must be mission-centered and visionary. During 2004, I learned that a disciple-maker must be a man of vision.

prayer topics:

1. Live according to our 2005 key verses, Acts 16:9 and Acts 19:9

2. Love God, love God's word and pray

3. Focus on raising disciples; 170 1:1's and 120 SWS attendants

4. Support world mission, especially Muslim countries

5. Support missionaries: Msn. Vladimir Point and Rebecca (Istanbul, Turkey), Msn. Anastasiya Perry (Princeton, NJ), Shp. Jacob Vladimir and Joan of Arc (Kharkov), Shp. Abraham and Sarah from Odessa UBF (Dnepropetrovsk)

6. Send three missionaries and pioneer KPI University, Lvov.

7. New center building

8. Dr. Peter Kim's message