Category: Ukraine

Yan’s Dream

This is Yan. He is a pastor in Ukraine. Yan was in our first mentoring group we started in March of 2018. Yan was a new pastor with a dream to reach the people of his community and specially to reach those who struggled with homelessness, addictions and mental health issues. When we first visited his church, it was a small building that they were renting, and he shared with us his dream to purchase the building and to purchase the buildings on either side so that he could offer transitional housing for homeless people. Yan and his wife Luida shared after our first meeting with us that they never took time to dream together and we provided that time for them. When we visited him on this trip, he showed us how his dream was becoming a reality. He has partnered with another church to open a food pantry and clothing shop to provide food and clothing to those who need it.

The current building is full on Sunday’s and they have raised the funds to purchase the building and land next door so that he can expand his church. He is renting the space on the other side and offering it as transitional housing. His church is growing, and they are reaching people for Jesus. When I asked him how we work helped him, he shared that we provided a way to challenge his thinking and unlock his potential. We provided training and coaching. We were an encouragement to him to find through the challenges and difficulties.

This is an example of what our ministry work is doing. It is hard to quantify our impact because it is often in very intangible ways, but we are seeing change. We are seeing churches reaching people for Jesus! We are seeing leaders making an impact and we have had a small part in helping them have the courage to make changes and push against the status quo.

We have been home for two weeks since our trip to Ukraine. I have been finding it hard to capture how to describe this trip. The two words that best described how I am feeling is IMPACT and OVERWHELMING. Those are big extremes but let me try to explain.

First, IMPACT! God is shifting our focus from individual pastors to the leaders of those pastors. This trip we had the opportunity to lead a training session with 13 of the Senior Pastors from Regions across Ukraine. These are the leaders of their churches from each region. In addition, we had the opportunity to speak at two churches, one seminary and travel to visit 5 regions where we met personally with the senior pastor and their wife. These meetings were opportunities to learn about their family, their challenges, and their dreams for the future.

As we reflected on these meetings, we realized what an amazing opportunity we have to help the current and future leaders of the church to learn to think differently. When we concluded our meetings, what was shared was how much they needed what we shared. What they shared in private was how hard it is to make changes. These leaders are in a difficult place. They know that they need to do different things to reach people, but they often get stuck and don’t know where to start or how to change without being criticized. It is often easier to just keep doing what they have been doing than to try and change.

We talked about the importance of having a common vision and the need to work together to ensure that young leaders are being developed with that common vision. Change starts with knowing where you want to go and then developing plans to get there. When we return in March, we will be meeting with these senior pastors again and talking about how to create goals, action plans and manage their time most effectively. They know that we are going to come back and ask them about the progress they are making. Each region is to be starting a mentoring group of 20 young leaders. We provided financial resources to help them pull these groups together. In March we hope to hear about these groups and get out a meet some of them. We are creating content that the senior pastors can use as they train these young leaders and work with existing pastors within their regions.

This leads to the second word – OVERWHELMING! This opportunity that God has presented to us seems so big and impossible to accomplish. I often wonder why God has selected us to be part of this! When I think about the task of impacting 13 regions and their leaders, I struggle to see how to accomplish this. How to connect with this many people and be part of developing them and holding them accountable to progress. The resource needs seem so big for us to find as a small non-profit. I struggle with figuring out how to tell the story of our ministry. I struggle as a fund raiser and asking people to become partners with us in this ministry. It seems so big and so impossible to change, but I know that this is where God has us! I know that my job is to follow God’s direction and lead where the doors open up, and these are the doors that God is opening. I know that God has all the resources, I just have to find a way to connect our work with those who God is preparing to partner with us. I have to overcome my fears and hesitations in asking people to join our mission of developing leaders who will lead their churches to reach people for Jesus!

When I think about what we are doing, the verse that comes to mind is Romans 12:2 – Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

For me, changing the way I think starts with getting all the obstacles out of my mind. Its about continuing to trust God for the impossible. To ask God to lead us to people we need to talk to. To trust that God will provide the resources that are needed! To not let my doubts and fears get in the way of saying YES to what God has given us the opportunity to be part of.

In closing, let me finish with this. First, thank you to those who have been faithfully supporting us with your prayers and financial gifts. We could not do what we are doing without your support. Second, if you would like to learn more about how to partner with us, I would love to sit down and have a conversation with you. I’ll even buy you a coffee. And lastly, if you have sensed that God is leading you to do something, take a step of faith and trust Him.

Ukraine

Pay It Forward

When you look back at your life, have there been people in your life who have impacted you and made a difference in who you have become? Have you ever wondered how could I do that in someone else’s life? We have an opportunity for you! This fall we are partnering with leaders in Ukraine to begin a Leadership Mentoring Group for 320 young leaders in 16 regions of Ukraine. These groups will meet 4 times a year for 3 years. Two times will be in large group gatherings and two times in smaller gatherings. The high-level overview:

Year 1 – Developing the heart and understanding the leader’s strengths, personality, and dreams.

Year 2 – Developing their vision, mission, and strategies of leadership.

Year 3 – Skill to implement their vision.

We are working with the leaders of each region to provide training and materials to help them lead these groups.

We are looking for individuals or churches who would like to sponsor each region. The investment is $1200 per year or $100 per month for three years. This investment will cover 50% of the costs and will help provide materials, lodging and meals for the gatherings. There are 24 regions in Ukraine and 16 of them have agreed to begin these meetings this fall. We will be traveling to Ukraine this fall to work with these regional leaders and help prepare them for these gatherings.

Here is a little of the history of this program. Four years ago, we visited Ukraine to see where God was leading us, as we began Potential Endeavors. We thought that we would work with one church in one community, but God had different plans for us. We met with the Vasily Furta, who was the Regional Leader of the Cherkasy Region, and he had a dream. He wanted to start a leadership mentoring group for young leaders to help them develop and was praying for someone to help him. We agreed to partner with him, and we started this group in the spring of 2018. We met with this group six times over two years and we taught three basic things:

How to dream God-sized dreams

How to develop and multiply leaders

How to help their churches to become place where people can “Come and See” who Jesus is.

At the end of the second year, Vasily Furta, was elected as a Vice President of the Baptist Union. As he started his new role, he had a dream to start groups like what we did in Cherkasy Region across all of Ukraine. In March of 2020 we started our second group in Kyiv Region and then covid hit. During the time when we could not travel, Vasily worked with Regional Leaders across Ukraine to share with them the results of these groups and encouraged them to think about starting such group themselves. When we returned to Ukraine in May of 2021 we met with people from our groups and listened to their stories. God had been working over these past three years and making big impacts. We also traveled to 3 regions and met with their leaders and shared this vision.

Now we need your help! Would you be willing to consider sponsoring one or more regions to begin these gatherings?

Let me tell you two stories of impact of two pastors that we have worked with.

First is Yan. Yan is the pastor of a church in Korsun, Ukraine. He was part of our first group in Cherkasy Region. Yan has a dream of reaching people in his city, especially those who are struggling with addictions, homelessness, and abuse. His church has been growing and making an impact. The city has seen the impact and provide a list of all the people it was aware of that needed help and the church reached out to each person and helped. Their church has outgrown their building and they are hoping to buy that building and expand it to make more room.

Our second story is of Sasha. Sasha attended our second group in Kiev Region last March. When we were doing our meetings, I shared with the group the reason why people don’t invite to church. He was challenged by what I shared but wanted to see if it was true, so he surveyed his church, and they came back with the same reason. It motivated him to begin to make changes at his church and because of that they are seeing many new people coming to their church. Just last week that set up a pool in the front of the church and they saw many people being baptized.

Getting back to our dream, we have learned our dreams for Potential Endeavors were too small. They were what we thought we could accomplish on our own. God wants us to have bold, God-sized dreams. Now we are dreaming about how we can impact leaders across Ukraine to reach people for Jesus. We have a dream of seeing over 110,000 people finding Jesus and many new churches being started. We believe that these leadership mentoring groups will be the start of developing new leaders for existing churches and to start new churches. This fall we hope to begin to impact 320 leaders – 20 from each of the 16 regions. If they can each develop 5 leaders that will be 1600 leaders and if those leaders will develop 5 leaders, we will multiply to 8000 leaders reaching people for Jesus and if each leader can help their church reach 10 people for Jesus, that would be 80,000 people.

We also need partners in one another way. We need people who will come along side of us and support the work we are doing with leaders and churches in Ukraine and in the upper Midwest. Maybe you would be willing to help provide support to assist with our travel costs and the costs of the events we lead. In October we will be bringing together these 16 Regional Leaders and their spouses for a two-day training. We cover all costs of lodging and meals plus gift packages that include notebooks, pens, and candy. Plus, we will be traveling to many regions, and we will need to cover our transportation and lodging costs as we meet with regional leaders and their teams.

We can’t do this on our own! This will only be accomplished with the help of others and God doing the impossible. If you would like to discuss more, we would be happy to meet with you. You can reach us at Rick.Post@potentialendeavors.com or Info@potentialendeavors.com

You can give directly with a credit card at Donate – Potential Endeavors or send a check to the address listed on the donate page. If it is for the leadership mentoring group, just note it in the comments section.

Ukraine

Overcoming Fear

When I first heard that we were going to visit the war zone in Ukraine, my first reaction was one of fear and uncertainty. Is it safe? How will Americans be viewed in this territory? Weren’t there other regions we could visit? One thing I have learned during our ministry work with Potential Endeavors is that we often do not understand why we are doing something, but we must trust God because he often has a plan for us that we cannot see and often understand.

So as we do in Ukraine, we responded with ok, let’s do it. Saying yes does not instantly remove the fear, but it does remove the control that I often like to have.

On Friday morning we headed off on our journey. Our first stop was in the border city of Kharkiv. We stayed in the home of the Regional Pastor of the Kharkiv region. We were close to the border of Russia, but this was not the occupied territory, so we felt safe. As we went to bed that night, we heard what sounded like gunfire off in the distance. Not sure if that was what we heard, but it certainly did not do much to calm my nerves as we prepared to head into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Serviadonesk. It is the second largest city in the Luhansk region and has become the government center since Russia has occupied the largest city of Luhansk. As we drove, we came to a military checkpoint. Ukrainian army personnel stopped all vehicles. We had to show our passports and explain our purpose in entering the region. I rolled down my window and showed the soldier my passport. When he saw it was an American passport, he got a big smile and said thank you to us. It was a small gesture, but it helped to put my mind at ease and let me know that things were going to be ok on this trip. As we drove, we saw military vehicles – tanks, personnel carriers and trucks which once again reminded me we were close to dangerous places, but I felt safe.

We arrived at the church where we were holding the meeting. This was a gathering of the Regional Pastor, his wife and 15 pastors and church leaders with their spouses. We had a time of sharing with each other and hearing about their ministry work. We heard about the challenging times since the war begin 7 years ago. We heard about the people who have left the region, joblessness, and the level of depression in the area. But we also heard how thankful they were for our visit. We were the first Americans that they had seen since the war began. It gave them hope that maybe others would begin to return and help them as they do ministry.

Those fears that I had felt when I first heard about going to this region were gone. I now saw why God had us make this trip! As we had two checkpoints on our exit, the fear was gone. This experience taught me a few things:

First, my fears can often keep me from doing the things that God wants me to do. I would not have chosen to go to this territory on my own, but I believe this was where God wanted us to be on this trip.

Second my fears are usually based around wanting to be in control. I was not in control of this trip, I just had to go where God sent us.

Third, my fears are based on what I think could happen rather than trusting that God will protect me and take care of me.

We are so thankful that we were able to make this visit. We met some great people and in a small way we were able to encourage the pastors and church leaders to look at their ministry and ask themselves if they should do things differently to reach their communities with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Ukraine

Come and See

We are Going Back!

After 15 months of dealing with the Covid restrictions, we are finally returning to Ukraine! We are so excited to return to continue our work and to see the many friends we have been missing. While we have been able to see pictures and talk on social media, there is still nothing like face to face interactions.

While we have been to Ukraine many times, after this pandemic it feels like we are starting new again. Much has changed in the world since we were in Ukraine last. Travel requires masks, Covid tests, vaccinations and possibly quarantines. Gatherings have been limited. People are encouraged to stay six feet apart. Transportation has changed as have services provided by hotels, like meals. People’s lives have changed due to sickness and deaths. And in Ukraine, worry over Russian threats has increased.

Yet, with all these changes, we are excited to return to Ukraine. We still know that even though conditions have changed, the Good News of Jesus is still the same. We know that now is the time for churches to think differently about how they connect with people. We know that people have moved to more on-line experiences and the importance of a church’s online presence has never been more important. The world has forever changed, so churches cannot go back to trying to be as they were before covid hit.

As we return this week, our theme for the trip is “Come and See”. We took this from The Chosen, which is such a great telling of the story of Jesus. As people met Jesus, they would tell others to “Come and See” what an amazing person Jesus was. Nathanial and the woman at the well, used these words as they shared with their friends, family, and neighbors about their interaction with Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus healed the sick, provided for the needs of the hungry, challenged the teaching of the religious leaders, spent time with the outcasts from society so that He could share the Good News of Living Water, Truth and Life.

Our prayer is that as we share with pastors and church leaders, we can accomplish three things:

Encourage them as they have been leading through a challenging season.
Challenge them to ask the question “Is our church and place where people can “Come and See” Jesus.
Provide them tools to help them make the changes that they need to make them relevant to this changed world.

Be praying for us as we travel. Pray that we have negative covid tests and can manage 20 hours of wearing a mask. Pray for our meetings and time with pastors and leaders that we can encourage and support them in their ministry.

Ukraine

What’s Next

We just got home from an amazing trip to Ukraine and Germany and we had so many amazing experiences. Here are four things that God taught us on this trip:

God puts people in your life every day that are easy to miss!

One of the things I learned on this trip is that God is always putting people in your life for a reason, but in my past, I too often was so busy with my own agenda that I missed people that were on God’s agenda for me. One example of this. When we were on the train from Kiev to Lviv on our way to participate in English camps with Campus Ukraine, we were sitting next to two women. Our train left very early so people slept most of the way, but as we started to pull into Lviv, our friend Dima struck up a conversation with the two women next to us. One of them was a university student, so he introduced us as Americans who were on our way to Lviv to work in the English camp. He invited her to camp, told her when it was and where. She responded with a familiar response – I think I am busy. Well when the camp started on Tuesday night, who walked into our class – the girl from the train. This began a new friendship that I believe God will use in a powerful way.

God has plans for you, if you are patient enough to wait for His timing!

We went on our trip to Ukraine to explore ministry opportunities for the future. We knew that God was leading us to work in Ukraine, but as we left for this trip we had no idea what those opportunities would be. Throughout our trip we met with many different teams and learned about their ministry and what their needs were and how could we help them. As we completed our trip, we had come up with ten different opportunities that were presented to us. One of these opportunities was one that we never expected. We met with a church leader over churches in the Cherkasy region. We went into the meeting not expecting any ministry opportunities to come from it, but God had other plans. It turns out that our meeting was an answer to his prayers. He had been praying for a year that someone would come to help him work with the churches in his region to help them make the changes needed to reach those who need Jesus in their region. I believe this was the very meeting that God had prepared for us to show us what He had planned for us. It is amazing how God puts all the pieces together in His timing!

Take time to listen and ask how you can pray for people!

One of the best parts of this trip was the number of meetings we had with different people from cities across Ukraine. We had meetings with people from Lviv, Kiev, Cherkasy, Chigirin and Odessa. Even though we live 5000+ miles away and speak a different language, we still serve the same God! There are opportunities across the world to share the love of Christ to those who need and are searching for it. While in Lviv, we stayed in a hostel that had a common area that was used as a lunchroom. Each evening after working in the English camps we would sit in the common area and talk. Each night God would bring new people to the table from across the world and we would have an opportunity to talk with them. During our time in Lviv, we had the opportunity to share God’s love and plan for salvation with a man from China, who spoke no English or Ukrainian, but we shared through Google Translate; an atheist from Belgium who was backpacking across Eastern Europe and an American from Philadelphia who was traveling across Europe before starting graduate school. We also had many meetings with ministry leaders working in Ukraine. We could hear their story, listen to their needs and challenges, provide encouragement and then pray for them. It was incredibly powerful to see how God is working through the lives of so many people.

Take the time for that one additional conversation!

On our last day working in Ukraine, we had the opportunity to share with Campus Ukraine Catalytic team from Kiev. We had a fun afternoon of sharing stories, discussing time management and team dynamics. As the day ended and people were off to other commitments, one couple stayed behind because they wanted to ask us something. Their friends were encouraging them to get to the car as they had a train to catch, but they wanted to talk. It turns out that they live in the Odessa area and they work with Campus Ukraine, military families and pastor a church that is striving to reach their community. They wanted to talk because they wanted to ask if we would be willing to meet with them to help them in their ministry. We said yes and gave them our contact information. We have already had one meeting, and I believe that God is going to use this family to make a big impact in their community.

God is so good! We are so excited to begin making plans for ministry with Ukraine in the years to come. We still have many obstacles – like approval of our non-profit from the IRS – but I believe that we know where God wants us to take the next step and continue to remember to TRUST HIM!

Ukraine

Undiscovered Roads

We are super excited to be heading to Ukraine next week. We have meetings with many people and groups and we are praying that God will use this trip to reveal to us where He wants us to be working next.

This is a very different trip for us. We do not have a defined purpose other than to listen to God’s direction. For me this is probably the hardest part. I am not used to doing things without a defined plan and clear outcomes. We have no idea what will come next after this trip.

During this trip, we will be visiting three cities, meeting leaders of three different international ministries, meeting with some church leaders and spending some time with friends. We will be attending an English camp and experiencing a week of what that type of ministry could look like. We are going into each meeting and experience with these two simple questions:

What could we do to help you in your ministry?
Is this where God wants us to give our time and energy?

We do not know what the answer to these questions will be. If this trip is anything like our past seven months, the answer will probably be very different from what we would think or expect. God has a way of surprising us with answers that are very different from what our thoughts or expectations are. We are praying that God will reveal to us His plans in His timing and that we would continue to be faithful and walk through each door as He opens them, no matter what they may be.

We know that this trip is part of His plan and we feel confident that ministry in Ukraine is part of what God has for us. We have no idea what that ministry or work will be. That makes this both very exciting as well as very scary. Learning to be faithful and truly trust God is a journey. Each turn of the road provides another opportunity to challenge our faith and willingness to allow God to lead us.

Here are our prayer requests for this trip:
• That God will reveal to us His plans for Potential Endeavors.
• That we will be faithful to walk through doors that He opens.
• That we will trust God and not try to figure it out based on our own wishes and ideas.
• That we will be used by God to encourage and support others.

Thank you for going along with us on this journey through your prayers and thoughts!