Our Call to Ukraine

 

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few:  pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."  Luke 10:2

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  2 Peter 3:9

 

We believe that we have a divine call from God to go and share the Gospel with the Ukrainian people.  We are in Ukraine we want to be obedient to God and desire to be in His perfect and divine will and want to bring Him honor and glory.

Our journey to Ukraine began back in the Fall of 2004 when Brother David P Smith, who at the time was working with Macedonian Missionary Service and was over seeing their ministry "STEAM."  He knew that both Debra and I had travelled overseas several times with the Air Force Reserves.  He wanted us to get a taste of "Eastern European Culture."  Since Debra had been his secretary she had access to different videos and photos from his missionary trips and we viewed his trip to Ukraine.  We prayed about it.  We did not have any of the funds for this trip.  If we went, we were going to be stepping out in faith and trusting God.  We had also just been introduced to Faith Promise at this time.  I felt that the Lord wanted us to go, so I told Him that He was going to have to provide the way.  We filled out our applications and we were committed to go to Ukraine as one of the four team leaders that was needed for this trip.  My testimony to you, the reader, is that God provided every penny that was needed for that trip.  We held a variety of fundraisers and did a mail campaign.  He provided through people that we don't even know.

We knew when we got back that God wanted us back in Ukraine the next summer.  We decided that this time we were going to step out on a different kind of faith - no fundraisers.  We wanted to trust that God would provide all our needs and show us His great and glorious power.  We knew that God was working in our hearts about these people in this country that they call Ukraine.  But, if we could not trust in Him totally here in the states then it would be impossible to trust Him totally in a foreign country.  When we left on July 29, 2006 for Ukraine, we had $1800 more than what we had needed for our summer mission trip.  We put God to the test and God never fails.  To Him we give all the honor and glory for all things. 

 

 

The Oblast of Zhytomyr, Ukraine has a population of 1.3 million people who live in approximately 1700 villages in which many do not even have any form of a church whatsoever.  Many of these villages have a cross and the people will gather around that cross at Christmas and Easter, but they have no idea why or what the cross represents.  It is our desire to take the Good News, the Gospel that God sent His only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for their sins.  Ukrainians are dying everyday without Jesus and are going to hell.  In order to bring honor and glory to God, we must tell these people about the love of Jesus and what He did for them on the cross where they will not spend eternity in hell.

 

The Ukrainian people are looking for faith, hope, and love.  They have been under the rule of so many different corrupt governments.  Now that they are an Independant Nation and free to make their own choices, "the fields are white unto harvest" in Ukraine.  When they hear the Gospel of Jesus, they find that faith, hope, and love they are looking for.  It is a great joy and peace to know that this is where God wants us.