We just got home from Ukraine and had an amazing trip! Our time there always goes fast, and we are going non-stop. These experiences are always hard to capture and put into words to share with others about what we have experienced, but I will try my best.
Our trip in May was recapped but summarizing “But God”. We heard about the impact of the war and the challenges that people faced, but God always showed up in a powerful way. To capture this trip in a title it would be “God is Working”! The spirit in the people we met with this trip has changed. There was a reality that the war was going to be with them for a long time and that they must get on with life the best that they can. There are still humanitarian needs, but the spiritual needs are what the groups we are working with are trying to address. Because of the war, and the impact it has had on so many lives, almost everyone knows somebody who has been killed or injured in the war. Many people are asking “Where is God in this?” Young leaders have sensed a calling from God to start churches and minister to their friends who face being called to fight and wonder what their future is. There is a new energy around the need to reach people for Jesus and to work together to accomplish this mission.
Our trip had five main objectives. First was the training of new church planters. We had a conference with 21 couples who are in the process of starting churches. We talked about dreaming God-sized dreams, how to develop a vision for their church and how to create churches that are “Come and See” places where people can find Jesus. This time was the first of three gatherings we will have with these couples. We spend time learning their stories and try to encourage and help them in their work. Beth had the opportunity to meet separately with the wives and talk about the joys and challenges of being a church planters’ wife. By the end of our time together, we always feel like we have found 42 new friends to pray for and support.
I also had the opportunity to share at a gathering of church planting teams at a M4 church planting workshop. I taught on how to create values for your church. It was fun to see these teams working on their visions together.
Our second objective was participating at a retreat for leaders of Children’s Ministries from 22 regions across Ukraine. Over 100 leaders gathered to learn, be encouraged, and work together to make children’s ministries more impactful in churches across Ukraine. The children often experience the most trauma from the effects of war and the leaders want churches that are places were kids can come and find peace, rest, joy and Jesus. Beth was able to speak at the conference and get to know many of the leaders. Potential Endeavors provides the resources to pay for this retreat and enable these leaders to get a rest from the stresses of their jobs. We heard many stories after the conference that leaders were burned out and thinking of leaving the ministry, but after this retreat they have felt renewed and energized for the future.
One of move moving parts of the conference was a message shared by Roman. He was one of the leaders of the committee who planned this retreat but was also in the military. Three weeks before the retreat, he was killed in the war. Just before his death, he shared this message with the leader of Children’s Ministries:
Olya, Hello! I wanted to write you some of my thoughts on children’s and teen ministry! Just a thought…might by useful. Thought to myself that we as children’s ministers should think strategically about what’s ahead! And there are a large number of children who lost their father. A mass of sons whose fathers won’t teach how to be a man, and daughters who will seek attention from men from an early adolescence, simply because they didn’t get that attention from their father (because he is gone early) We need to prepare ministers – men who will be ready to take responsibility to teach boys to be a man who loves, respects, knows and can do something with this hands, who will be a leader in the family, who will then teach his children… And leaders who are women who can teach girls not to lose themselves, nor to lose themselves in the search for attention. Otherwise we will lose two generations. Thinking what is needed… start preparing for “rebuilding the country” only in our understanding. There is so much work it is scary, but we have to do it, and I think it is time to prepare…”
Our third objective was working with the Temple of Peace church in Kyiv. This church is in the center of Kyiv and is a beautiful church. Its leaders want it to grow and asked us to come and work with them to help it develop a plan on how to reach its community for Jesus. We had two days of meetings, and we are excited to see how God will use this time to help them make the changes they need to make.
Our fourth objective was to connect with pastors that we have worked with over the years. We try to follow up with them and see how they are doing. Every trip we try to visit one of these churches on a Sunday and see their church in action. This trip we were able to visit the House of Salvation in Korsun. The pastor is Yan and his wife is Lyuda. Yan and Lyuda were in our first training group 5 years ago. I remembered the dreams he had back then and it fun to see their dreams becoming a reality. Their church has grown from 30 people to over 100 people and they are out of room. The Sunday we visited the room was full and people were standing along the walls. After the service, Yan showed us the new room they are making to expand their seating capacity. This will make room for 150 chairs. They also have space in their building to build an even bigger room as they keep growing. Yan shared the need to raise $20,000 to complete the project. This is to buy the chairs, flooring, ceiling and a second entrance. They want to complete this by the end of the year to have room for Christmas services.
In addition, the church has added space to provide rooms for addiction recovery. This is part of Yan’s dreams to make an impact in their community. If you would like to help with funds for this church, you can donate to our donate page and just note Yan on the donation and all funds given will go to help complete this building project.
Our fifth and final objective of this trip was to meet and listen to as many ministry leaders as possible. We like to hear their stories and see how God is working. This is a time to encourage them, thank them for their work and listen to their needs. We never know how God will use these meetings, but we also try to stay open and listen to God’s promptings if there is a something that God wants us to help with.
We are so thankful for the opportunity to be used in Ukraine. We heard over and over how thankful people were that we were visiting and how much they are encouraged by our visits and from the prayers and support that they receive from people in the United States. One thing we heard on this trip was the need to go closer to the war zone to meet and encourage the ministry leaders who continue to work in these areas. The work in the war zones is needed, but few are visiting to encourage and support them. We are praying that God will guide and direct us in this area when we visit again in the spring.
We are thankful for all of you who have supported us in our ministry. We could not do what we do without the financial and prayer support that we receive. We are going to be doing a fund raiser this fall for our ministry expenses. We have plans for 3 trips to Ukraine next year to continue our work with church planters, children’s ministry leaders and Temple of Peace church, plus to hold meetings in the war zones of Ukraine. If you would like to support our ministry, donations can be made to our website at:
https://www.potentialendeavors.com/donate
If you would like to meet to discuss being involved in partnering with a church planter and helping to support them financially, we would be happy to meet or have a call. Just send a note to rick.post@potentialendeavors.com.