On June 30, 2007, I will join a team from my church in a unique mission opportunity to Ukraine. Half of the team will do Children’s Camps in a some small villages two hours away from Kiev called Andrushiuka and Yaropovychi. The other half of the team will host an UPWARD Basketball camp in Glevaha.
The locations where we will serve are particularly important. They are small, outlying villages where evacuees from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster were relocated. The residents of these villages live on a regular government stipend, but are largely overlooked by the Ukrainian government or any other aid agencies. In the depressed environment of these villages, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, childhood neglect, and mental illness are tragic realities. Even sadder is the absence of any sort of church in these three villages. There is no Christian witness to tell these people that God loves them and longs to bring meaning and purpose to their lives.
Our team is part of a larger effort to bring light to these dark villages. A nearby Ukrainian Baptist church has committed to planting three churches, one in each village.
A city government leader in one village told the mission representative who organized our trip, “I am not a believer in Jesus like you are, but I believe that there is a God. If there is something in your Bible that will bring hope to my village, please come and tell us about it.” Clearly, God has prepared the way for this mission project, and I am confident that God will reveal His life-changing power to these desperate people.
I hope you will consider praying for the team. I am completely out of my comfort zone on this one because Mike is not coming along. However, I know God is calling me to this and I know He will be with me.
Thanks for your prayers.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
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