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.