Odessa Mission
September 2006 Newsletter
Bleezhe k Domu! (Closer to Home!)
Ira and I are already stateside and looking forward to seeing many of you!
We're also looking forward to spreading the word about the Odessa Mission in
churches that haven't yet heard about us. Please be praying as we attempt to
find additional prayer partners and hopefully drum up more financial support
for our growing needs.
Following our return to the field this fall, Kind Road Christian Church is
planning to scrap/revamp some of its current programs and develop totally new ones.
We're also hoping to use more of a team approach in reaching the lost, which will
surely wind up increasing our overhead. With Ira expecting a baby, it's become
rather evident that we will have to temporarily hire additional staff if we're
to move forward. We also understand now better than ever before how exceedingly
difficult it is to advance without the benefits of a team. The problem is
finding the right people for the right roles especially in a city like Odessa
where there are no other Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. On the other
hand, God sees our needs and He will surely provide if we stay close to Him
and remain sensitive to His leading. Linking up with some new workers will
also breathe new life into our ministry and also help with regard to our
registration process which is still on hold due to the size of our church.
(It's illegal for us to do any marketing because we're not registered yet.
So this is pretty important!) Needless to say, we certainly covet your
prayers for wisdom as we move in this direction. We also ask that you
pray for open doors. It's very possible that we'll find the right
people to fill the right roles, but it's also likely that they'll be
unwilling to assist us because the Restoration Movement is something
they've never heard of before. Thankfully though, because of your
help, that's slowly starting to change.
In August, a forty-member German team visited Odessa for the purpose of doing
street evangelism. It was a Full-Gospel group (i.e. charismatic) from three
different churches who spent five full days working in various parts of the city.
They actually broke up into four self-sufficient teams, assisted by nationals
serving as leaders, interpreters, and coworkers, and they shared testimonies,
sang songs (they had at least one musician on each team), struck up conversations,
prayed for people, and invited folks to their combined outreach event each evening.
Because of my language skills, I was selected by Odessa's churches to lead one of
the German groups for three days in a row which turned out to be a great experience
overall. Every night on Odessa's main square after our dinner break, one Ukrainian
church would lead worship while the German team provided an evangelist to bring
the message. Although the crowds were smaller than expected, many wound up
confessing their sins and publicly repenting. The team was well organized and
spiritually mature. In fact, there were even teenagers laboring on their third
and fourth cross-cultural mission trips which certainly says a lot. It was truly
a blessing to fellowship with and work alongside them. It was also great for KRCC
because it gave us a chance to be directly involved in street evangelism where
Germans were inviting Ukrainians to our church without breaking any laws.
In fact, I think there were at least ten people who had publicly "repented,"
who not only received KRCC's invitation, but also said that they would come
and visit one Sunday morning. Two of them actually followed through, although
one is already an active member of a local Lutheran Church . It still remains
to be seen what effects their colossal collaborative effort will have on the
city of Odessa , but we anxiously await the results.
Ira was visiting with her folks in Crimea recently and even got her Dad to go to
church with her. Chuck Phillips started a Restoration church in her parents'
neighborhood and we've been praying that God work a few miracles. Aside from
the church being right across the street from Ira's family, it looks as though He
already is. In fact, Ira's nephew Alyosha, who is just finishing his stint in the
army there, will be enrolling at Crimean-American College (CAC), where I used to
teach some. He wants to be a translator, but he'll have to take CAC's mandatory
Bible courses before that can happen. And because there are potential scholarships
to CAC for Christian students, Chuck's new church plant is getting Alyosha's attention
too. I spoke to Ira's Dad on the phone and he said that he and Alyosha might start
going to church there on a regular basis. Praise God!
Lastly, please pray for God to meet Oxonna's needs because she chose to quit her job
recently. She was never officially on their payroll, which had always bothered her,
and she finally decided to do the right thing. Also, she was perplexed with the lack
of time she had for serving at KRCC due to her work schedule. While we commend
Oxonna for the tough choice she has made, we also ask for your prayer support so
that Christ will help her carry any potential burdens she may have as a result of
her decision. Jesus promised: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness
and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mt. 6:33 NIV). As Neil Clark
Warren puts it: "God said it; don't sweat it!" Amen!
With Love in Christ, John and Ira
Kind Road Christian Church