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Blessings in Ukraine
November 8 2007 / ShareHim in Ukraine, Sep. 28 - Oct. 14 '07 #227by Linda Tsibulsky
Campaign Site Narrative from Boyarka, Boyarka in Ukraine. The speaker assigned to this site was Travis Park.
On September 25, 2007, orientation began at the Humanities Institute in Ukraine for some meetings put on by ShareHim and Quiet Hour. Fifty groups of people, mostly from North America came together to prepare for evangelistic meetings in 50 different locations. One of those locations was Boyarka where I got to do health talks before the sermons. What a wonderful experience that was!
About six years ago, I met a Korean/American couple here in Kiev. Their names were Travis and Justine Park. They had come here to adopt two three-year-old Ukrainian children. In September, they returned to Kiev with those children, Adam and Juliann. This was the family I stayed with and worked with in Boyarka. Justine led the children's program. She did such a great job! There's no way I could come up with the crafts and activities she shared with the children there.
Justine also had helpers from the local church. One young man, Pavel, was there every night, helping her lead out with dramas and song service for the kids. He also took care of setting up computers and sound system, along with other guys from the church. Of course, there was a lot of help from church members with the equipment, greeting people, and sharing music, and a wonderfully faithful prayer group was on hand every night. The church had been giving Bible studies since spring and preparing for the meetings. They have a young, energetic, sweet, dedicated pastor, Vitaly. It was his first series of meetings, and he seemed to be everywhere doing any and everything.
My precious friend, Larisa, translated for Justine and me. She came out from Kiev every night after work to do it and was really appreciated.
When Travis first asked me to do health or family talks, my thought was, "How do I do either?" I'm not married and don't have any children nor do I have any kind of medical background. I found an address on the ShareHim website and ordered health talks. I've heard most of the material many, many times but having to practice it and present it really helped me think about it and determine to put it into use.
Travis, our speaker, was also doing this for the first time. He did such a good job! He had a translator named Vova who looked like a pastor when he translated. Even Adam and Juliann contributed, singing some of the appeal songs.
One of the best things about being there was staying with the Park family. Travis would lead out with family devotions every morning. Their eating habits were so much more structured than mine. I tend to just grab something whenever, but while living with them, at least for those two weeks, my schedule was so much better than at home. I even started going to bed earlier. One neat thing Travis and Justine did was enroll their kids in public school while they were there. They studied a little Ukrainian in school and had their classes in Ukrainian, so probably didn't learn a lot academically, but the cultural experience is one I'm sure they will remember.
At the end of the meetings, four people were baptized into the little Boyarka church, and I understand there were about 300 throughout Ukraine. God is so good! I definitely want to do this again and hope to be in South Africa next October, God willing.
About six years ago, I met a Korean/American couple here in Kiev. Their names were Travis and Justine Park. They had come here to adopt two three-year-old Ukrainian children. In September, they returned to Kiev with those children, Adam and Juliann. This was the family I stayed with and worked with in Boyarka. Justine led the children's program. She did such a great job! There's no way I could come up with the crafts and activities she shared with the children there.
Justine also had helpers from the local church. One young man, Pavel, was there every night, helping her lead out with dramas and song service for the kids. He also took care of setting up computers and sound system, along with other guys from the church. Of course, there was a lot of help from church members with the equipment, greeting people, and sharing music, and a wonderfully faithful prayer group was on hand every night. The church had been giving Bible studies since spring and preparing for the meetings. They have a young, energetic, sweet, dedicated pastor, Vitaly. It was his first series of meetings, and he seemed to be everywhere doing any and everything.
My precious friend, Larisa, translated for Justine and me. She came out from Kiev every night after work to do it and was really appreciated.
When Travis first asked me to do health or family talks, my thought was, "How do I do either?" I'm not married and don't have any children nor do I have any kind of medical background. I found an address on the ShareHim website and ordered health talks. I've heard most of the material many, many times but having to practice it and present it really helped me think about it and determine to put it into use.
Travis, our speaker, was also doing this for the first time. He did such a good job! He had a translator named Vova who looked like a pastor when he translated. Even Adam and Juliann contributed, singing some of the appeal songs.
One of the best things about being there was staying with the Park family. Travis would lead out with family devotions every morning. Their eating habits were so much more structured than mine. I tend to just grab something whenever, but while living with them, at least for those two weeks, my schedule was so much better than at home. I even started going to bed earlier. One neat thing Travis and Justine did was enroll their kids in public school while they were there. They studied a little Ukrainian in school and had their classes in Ukrainian, so probably didn't learn a lot academically, but the cultural experience is one I'm sure they will remember.
At the end of the meetings, four people were baptized into the little Boyarka church, and I understand there were about 300 throughout Ukraine. God is so good! I definitely want to do this again and hope to be in South Africa next October, God willing.