Blessing of influence.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the fact that people are the most valuable thing in this world and it is a great joy for me that the Lord has called me to a ministry where I can spend a lot of time with people. Leadership for me has become both a joy and a challenge. Huge scale of Ukraine, 7 teams of staff, almost one and a half million students; and working with people is not always easy - one must love a lot, accept a lot and forgive a lot. And I have to admit I often act in my flesh and it is difficult for me.

However, I believe that since God brought me here, it means that He will help me accomplish this ministry by His grace and mercy. The first two months of my ministry I spent on visits and trips. I visited our teams in the Dnepr, Odessa, Lviv, Kiev. My role is to guide, equip and care for team leaders and other staff to achieve our vision and goals for Ukraine. Here are some photos from my visits to Dnepr and Odessa. 

Our team in Odessa

Women's ministry in Dnepr

After moving to Kiev, I was acutely aware of the lack of my direct influence on students. I am very glad that God uses me in a leadership role, allowing influence on His servants, our staff in CRU. But I prayed that the Lord would allow me to have a ministry "in the field." I wanted to share the Gospel with students, help them grow in knowing God, to understand where students are, what they live for and to see how God works in the hearts of unbelievers. And the Lord answered my prayer, by His grace. 

In July, at our summer project Speak Out, I had an opportunity to get acquainted with twins - Ira and Katya. The Lord opened their hearts to learn more about God and Christianity. They are very open in communication and absorb, like a sponge, knowledge about God, about Scripture. Ira and Katya study in Kiev and participate in Campus Ministry in Kiev now. Periodically, I meet with them, share with them passages from the Bible, and encourage their spiritual growth. Ira recently had a very difficult emotional period; she was depressed at a level that she was sent home for 10 days. This "desert" has become a good occasion to talk with her about what God wants from her, what He is trying to get her attention to. Please, pray for further spiritual growth of Ira and Katya.

I also want to introduce you to my new students from the Musical Academy - Julia and Marina. The girls have been living in Kiev for three year now. Earlier they participated in our movement in Kirovograd. This year, God gave me the opportunity to help them serve the students in their academy. We met with the girls to plan the ministry in their target audience - in the dormitory of the Musical Academy. I also lead a discipleship group for them using the book "How people change". This fellowship enables us to grow together in the knowledge of God and helps me invest in their spiritual growth. Both girls have two other disciples whom they help to grow and learn the skills of evangelism. I see how the principle of 2 Tim. 2: 2 works in practice.

This is their third year at school and they think about where God leads them further in terms of ministry, after graduating from the academy. Pray that they would have the strength to study, work and participate in ministry of evangelism and discipleship.

Thank you for your prayers and support. 

Together I serve with you so that: 

"Spiritual movements are built among the students of Ukraine in partnership with Christian youth"

(this is our vision)

Speak Out 2017 - God is taking us on a new level!

Another big event of our summer is over – our  major project Speak Out 2017. This is the training base for Campus Ukraine movement participants. 10 days of motivation, instructions, training and practice that will help our volunteers stay motivated and trained for the whole ministry year. In addition, Speak Out 2017 helped to mobilize the Christian youth of Vinnitsa and responded to various social needs of the city.
   Project theme: evangelism and discipleship in the modern world.
     The main paradigm of the project: discipleship begins with evangelism.
God surpassed our expectations and answered prayers in abundance.

1. We have reached the official level of organization of events in the city center, in cooperation with the authorities and other public organizations. This increased the level of trust to us among citizens, making conversations about God was much easier, advertising was more extensive and the level of stereotypes about believers was greatly reduced. There were numerous reports about us  on local television, articles on websites and in newspapers. English lessons for students coming from different parts of Ukraine, as well as for students from Vinnitsa, we spent free of charge right in the building of one of the colleges in Vinnitsa.

2. Our methods of evangelism: the Gospel through a photo test called Soularium, through art paintings of the classics, big board-test for determining your worldview, bracelet THEFOUR, massive evening activities on the square of Vinnitsa, English Camp, distribution of social packages for those in need and immigrants. To the majority of those who heard the Gospel, we offered to meet in an informal atmosphere and continue to communicate, thereby trying to establish relationships and have the opportunity for continuous influence and talks about the Gospel, thus building a paradigm that every evangelism should grow into discipleship.

In the end of the English camp, I held meetings with 5 girls, introducing them to the Bible and explaining what it means to have a close relationship with God.

Ira (in the middle) 

Pray, please, that I could continue to communicate with Ira and Olya in Kiev. Pray for Margo and Ira so that they come to the events organized by the youth in Vinnitsa. Pray that Julia will join the CAMPUS Ukraine movement in Nikolayiv.

Olya

3. Statistics from the project
We shared the Good News with 1486 people, 12 people wanted to believe, 150 contacts for follow-up meetings, 110 people went through follow up, 90 people participated in the English camp. Praise God for His work in the lives of people in Vinnitsa and in our hearts.

Here is the video about this camp

Thank you for playing your meaningful role in making all this happen!

Yes, He Can!

God is Able! He controls our universe, He is a miracle maker, He can change things that are absolutely out of our control but Himself He is unchangeable and faithful. We should never ask a question if God is capable of doing something. The question is – will I become a person who would let God use me and make me His tool. This requires a humble heart and a huge trust. Yes, He Can! – This is the topic of our Winter Bible Conference. About 230 students from different parts of Ukraine got together to worship, to have fellowship and to listen to a godly speaker, our area leader from Africa, Tariku Fufa. 

This man was saved from death on the street, healed from asthma, given a chance to receive education and now he is leading 24 countries in South-East Africa in radical life of faith, fast and prayer to make God’s name known in Africa.His testimony is something we wanted our Ukrainian students to listen to. We want them to believe that God is able to use them and change their lives in order to influence our country and lead Ukrainian people to One and Only God - Jesus. My team and I were excited to organize this event and to bring different innovations to make this event special and meaningful.

Here are some pictures of different events at the conference.

Worship time

Student TED Talks

Workshops

Prayer night

Small group discussions

And here is some feedback from students that attended “Yes, He can!” conference

Peter, graduate. God revealed himself to me as the One Who is so close to me. He knows me and understands me personally. He taught me to trust Him my future and my calling. My challenge is to devote my life to Him.

Anya Topchii, 1st year. This conference I received answers to my questions and learnt how to share my faith with other people. I also want to start fasting for my relatives and for myself. 

Elijah Korsunskii, 2nd year. God touched my heart through the speaker, workshops, fellowship with leaders and prayer night. it is important for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit and get deeper in my knowledge of God. I made a decision to focus on quality evangelism.

Lisa Mishchenko, 2nd year at this conference I was encouraged one more time that God is almighty God. I see now that I'm not the only one in my difficult obstacles and problems but there are others who fought and won with God. They can share their testimonies now. my challenge is to lead a quality prayer life.

Dima Vasiliev, 1st year I was able to strengthen my faith and realized two things: 1) I have to initiate and start a conversation and God will do the rest. 2) No matter how wonderfully we speak- evangelism without prayer is nothing. We cannot change somebody's heart but God can!

Thank you so much for praying and supporting my ministry among Ukrainian staff and students! 

Here you can watch a video about this conference