Harvest Sunday at Grace
Harvest Sunday is a big celebration in the Ukraine. We are bringing back pictures and hopefully a finished DVD of both services. The front of the sanctuary was decorated with fruit, foliage, wheelbarrows, trees and even a bird's nest complete with Pelican. Words cannot do justice! You will have to see the pictures.
We also wish we could describe the music and choirs. Sunday morning the First Choir presented excerpts from the Psalms interspersed with the sermons (3) and the readings. On Sunday night the Youth Choir (ages 13 - 28) joined with the Teen Choir (12-17) and the Youth Orchestra to present the choir, solo and ensemble work. I didn't get a complete count but there were 35+ in the combined choirs. All we need to tell you is that we all used up our Kleenex ration for the week on one day!
It would be impossible to share all of the energy and joy that is being shared with us. We are learning about commitment to service in the Lord's work in a whole new aspect.
On Monday we went out to the Black Sea Camp with the leadership and staff of Grace. After touring the camp and learning about the plans for expanding ministry there, we broke into small groups and met one-on-one with a ministry leader and a translator. For example: Pat Wright met with Daniel Terenko, the Minister of Music; Danner Neal met with Olyissa, the Grace Church attorney and responsible head of the Children's Shelter; Gail Jenner met with the leader of small group Bible Studies and the Sunday School Director; Allan Wright met with the head of construction for the Camp; John Proctor met with Peter and Lydia to discuss the Tranistion House (place where the Shelter Children can go after they are 18 and must leave the Grace Shelter); Terri Bolt met with the Grace Youth Pastor about Youth Group ministry; KJ met with Valerie Pusanov about the Farm. Tony has spent many hours with Pastor Igor Bandura and other pastors here.
We spent almost 2 hours together, sharing about the work at both churches, learning how we are very much alike in our strengths and weaknesses, and also learning how we can be of service to one another. The Joshua Team came away with many pages of notes on new insights into ministry...they have taught us much.
This has been an awesome and overwhelming experience in many ways. Our dilemma is how to fully express to you what we have seen, heard and learned in the past week. Our God is so good and He is evidently at work here, too.
This morning Tony, John and Allan were up at 6:30 to attend the men's Prayer Time. They shared the cards written by the WHBC Men's Wednesday Morning Prayer Group with them.
We have also given your gifts to the Children's Shelter (shirts, CD's, hair decorations, vitamins, etc.) I think Gail and Terri got pictures of the boys in their T-shirts, which in Russian are called, "footballkies". The WHBC VBS materials were given to Natasha, the Grace Children's Sunday School Director and she went over every piece of paper in the package with me. We will be meeting with Dr. Yura Oceptchuk to deliver the medical supplies.
Today we are driving out to the village of Ilyinka to see the small mission church there. We are taking some of the Crayons and materials to teach the children as well as the eye glasses for the older women of the village. The young missionary pastor, Vladick Myrmyr, will not be able to go with us today. His Grandmother died yesterday just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Please keep Vladick, Leila and their boys, Kirill and Timothy, in your prayers.
After Ilyinka we will travel to the Odessa Baptist Theological Seminary for a short tour and to meet with the professors who also serve at Grace Baptist. In the afternoon, we will have our last Joshua Team meeting and then meet with Pastor Bandura and the leadership of Grace to pray together about what we have all learned this week.
As the trip winds down we will tell you that we are tired physically from all the activity, but our hearts and spirits are not tired in the least. We are writing in our Journals (even those of us who never keep one), trying to preserve the memories and things to share with each of you.
God be praised. We are truly in awe of the moving of the Holy Spirit and the outreach of one church to its community. In a country where there is so little, how can it be that there is so much being done? With the Holy Spirit....nothing is impossible!
We also wish we could describe the music and choirs. Sunday morning the First Choir presented excerpts from the Psalms interspersed with the sermons (3) and the readings. On Sunday night the Youth Choir (ages 13 - 28) joined with the Teen Choir (12-17) and the Youth Orchestra to present the choir, solo and ensemble work. I didn't get a complete count but there were 35+ in the combined choirs. All we need to tell you is that we all used up our Kleenex ration for the week on one day!
It would be impossible to share all of the energy and joy that is being shared with us. We are learning about commitment to service in the Lord's work in a whole new aspect.
On Monday we went out to the Black Sea Camp with the leadership and staff of Grace. After touring the camp and learning about the plans for expanding ministry there, we broke into small groups and met one-on-one with a ministry leader and a translator. For example: Pat Wright met with Daniel Terenko, the Minister of Music; Danner Neal met with Olyissa, the Grace Church attorney and responsible head of the Children's Shelter; Gail Jenner met with the leader of small group Bible Studies and the Sunday School Director; Allan Wright met with the head of construction for the Camp; John Proctor met with Peter and Lydia to discuss the Tranistion House (place where the Shelter Children can go after they are 18 and must leave the Grace Shelter); Terri Bolt met with the Grace Youth Pastor about Youth Group ministry; KJ met with Valerie Pusanov about the Farm. Tony has spent many hours with Pastor Igor Bandura and other pastors here.
We spent almost 2 hours together, sharing about the work at both churches, learning how we are very much alike in our strengths and weaknesses, and also learning how we can be of service to one another. The Joshua Team came away with many pages of notes on new insights into ministry...they have taught us much.
This has been an awesome and overwhelming experience in many ways. Our dilemma is how to fully express to you what we have seen, heard and learned in the past week. Our God is so good and He is evidently at work here, too.
This morning Tony, John and Allan were up at 6:30 to attend the men's Prayer Time. They shared the cards written by the WHBC Men's Wednesday Morning Prayer Group with them.
We have also given your gifts to the Children's Shelter (shirts, CD's, hair decorations, vitamins, etc.) I think Gail and Terri got pictures of the boys in their T-shirts, which in Russian are called, "footballkies". The WHBC VBS materials were given to Natasha, the Grace Children's Sunday School Director and she went over every piece of paper in the package with me. We will be meeting with Dr. Yura Oceptchuk to deliver the medical supplies.
Today we are driving out to the village of Ilyinka to see the small mission church there. We are taking some of the Crayons and materials to teach the children as well as the eye glasses for the older women of the village. The young missionary pastor, Vladick Myrmyr, will not be able to go with us today. His Grandmother died yesterday just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Please keep Vladick, Leila and their boys, Kirill and Timothy, in your prayers.
After Ilyinka we will travel to the Odessa Baptist Theological Seminary for a short tour and to meet with the professors who also serve at Grace Baptist. In the afternoon, we will have our last Joshua Team meeting and then meet with Pastor Bandura and the leadership of Grace to pray together about what we have all learned this week.
As the trip winds down we will tell you that we are tired physically from all the activity, but our hearts and spirits are not tired in the least. We are writing in our Journals (even those of us who never keep one), trying to preserve the memories and things to share with each of you.
God be praised. We are truly in awe of the moving of the Holy Spirit and the outreach of one church to its community. In a country where there is so little, how can it be that there is so much being done? With the Holy Spirit....nothing is impossible!
posted by K. J. Proctor at
1:40 AM
1 Comments:
Looking forward to everyone's sharing this wonderful journey
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Anonymous, At
September 30, 2008 8:10 PM
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