Odessa Mission
Letter to Odessa Mission
Happy Thanksgiving!
In Christ,
Lena Osipchuk
This is a letter from Lena Osipchuk, who happens to be one of
John's former students at Crimean-American College in Simferopol, Ukraine.
Although she was an agnostic during his short tenure there, she has since
accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, has even earned her MA from
Kentucky Christian College in New Testament studies, and has sung at KRCC's
first Christian conference in October 2004. She's currently teaching at
Crimean-American College and ministering to many folks in Simferopol.
The following is her monthly newsletter and it is included here because it
especially spoke to John and is a great witness. We sincerely hope that it
will speak to you too. If you'd like to contact Lena then please email her
at: macedonian_Call@hotmail.com.
Dear Friends,
If I were to give a theme for this past month of my life I would call it
"In Touch With Eternity." One may have heard a great number of sermons that
call us to "focus on Eternity" but unless something prompts us to do so, we
may constantly fail to practice what we preach.
One significant event that happened this past month was an outing with my
students. Most of the students that I got to teach this semester come from rural
areas of the Crimea, and coming to Simferopol was itself an-out-of-the-ordinary
experience, let alone studying at a Crimean-American College where the environment
is bicultural, and some of the teachers feel lost at times (including yours truly)
trying to decide which culture we are in. With this in mind, I thought it would
be necessary to show the city to the students and have some time of fellowship
with them. So, my American roommate, Sondra, and I set to do that. Even though
the weather did not seem to cooperate, we enjoyed our little chilly walk and
a great time of sharing afterwards. I had written a number of questions on
small pieces of paper for the students to draw and answer those. Some of the
questions were thought-provoking, others were rather common. I was amazed
though at the outcome of this activity. I found out that most of the students
were quite concerned with the purpose for their lives, they shared what
was important for them and asked the rest of the students about the most
important things in their lives. One of my students said that if she had
won one million USD she would share it with her family and with physically
handicapped kids. As she mentioned about the kids, she started crying,
and I knew immediately that this girl has a great heart.
I had a chance to share what I believe about life and what are the most
important things for me. Not once have I shared that a teacher has a huge
authority over the students, and if the students respect the teacher, they
will soak in whatever they hear. I have pondered over this many times. On the
one hand, I have to be careful, on the other hand, when asked, I have to tell
the truth. Then I thought of all professors-atheists who do not hesitate to
expose students to their beliefs about the absence of God, then why should I be
silent or "tolerant" to the point of not sharing the treasure with those to whom
I was called to serve? Obviously, we need to be careful and wise, but at the same
time, I thought that teaching the truth is just as important in the classroom
where I teach English.
That brings me to another sad event that I had to go through this past month,
the event that made me even more decisive in telling the Truth and sharing Christ's
Love. Two weeks ago, after my regular trip to the hospital I came home to find my
roommate, Sondra, all in tears. She told me that her Russian teacher (Olga, 28) who
had gone up to Kiev for a weekend, was hospitalized. That Sunday, October 16, Olga
was having lunch at the restaurant of the hotel where she was staying when the fire
broke out. Thinking she had to first take her things from her room, she ran
upstairs, but could not find her way out because of the smoke. The hotel where she
was staying was located on the river, so she jumped out of her window, but since
she could not see anything, she hit hard against the dock. Somehow, she swam
to the "dry land" and asked somebody for help. After the ambulance took her
she gave her parents' address and phone number in Simferopol and lost her
consciousness. When Sondra and I went to comfort Olga's mother that Sunday,
the mother was crying out to God asking to save her daughter. She borrowed
as much money as she could from the relatives and flew to Kiev the following
day. Two weeks went by. Sondra was able to go up to Kiev and try to
comfort the mother there. Olga had been in the Intensive Care, still in
coma, could not breathe on her own. The surgeons tried to sew her
internal organs back together, but could not do much about the bones,
those had been crushed.
Each morning the mother would get an update from the doctors and then go to
one of the famous Orthodox Cathedrals in Kiev to light a candle and pray for her
daughter. All of us prayed as well. This past week I found out that Olga's
situation had stabilized, she got out of the coma, but was under a great amount
of anesthetics. Saturday morning Sondra was writing an update about the
situation and I said that we should call and find out if Olga was doing any better.
When I called, her aunt answered the phone and said that Olga had died the
day before.
Today was her funeral. Sondra went there; I had to teach at the College.
Frankly speaking, I cannot handle something like that well enough. It was quite
cold today, but the sun was shining. Olga was in her casket, wearing a white
dress. Somebody commented that she had lots of cousins who would tease her
about not getting married. But everybody was still hoping to see her as a
bride at her own wedding soon. How ironic, that she got to wear her white
dress on such a day as this.
Many of my friends who knew her have shared that this story taught them to
be bold in their witness, share Christ's love even when we think that the
person is not going to respond. Everybody needs Christ's love because we were
all created for it. Why then do we hesitate to share it or try to be "proper"?
The two weeks that Olga was in coma I prayed that she would see the Lord. At
the same time, I thought that she may want to stay with Him. Today I found out
that another friend of mine had known Olga. He said that he had witnessed to
her, but she did not think that applied to her life. However, he did not give
up. The day before she left for Kiev, she called him and they chatted on the
phone. Again he shared the Good News with her, and she seemed very interested
and said that she would love to go to church when she got back from Kiev.
Death always comes so suddenly. The parents could never have thought. This
again shows how fragile this life is and encourages us to use our lives for
His Kingdom and His glory.
Once when I went to the hospital I was able to speak with one of the nurses
(Sevilia) who is a Muslim. She had gone through so much pain, and she needed
comfort. I said I would like to pray for her and I kept telling her about
Christ's love to her. She allowed me to pray for her, and the next time I saw
her she told me how much peace she had felt immediately after the prayer. I
guess, I can understand now what it means, "Today is the day of salvation."
After you read this letter, please praise the Lord
For the time of openness with my students;
For the seeds that have been sown in the hearts of the students, as well as
the doctors and nurses at the hospital;
For the seeds that have been sown in the hearts of Crimean-Tatars, the people
who are seeking the Lord with their whole hearts but sometimes deny the search;
For Olga's parents, their hearts did not seem bitter.
Please pray for
The boldness in witnessing to students, my parents, and my friends;
The health of my students (it's really cold now, seems like it may start
snowing any day)
The comfort to Olga's parents
My next "outing" with my students that is roughly set for November 26, Lord willing.
New opportunities to witness to my parents.
Thank you for your prayers and for staying in touch. Thank you for your
encouragement.
May the Lord bless us and keep us so we could spread His aroma to
those who still do not know Him.
Let us set our eyes on Jesus and let us never forget about the Eternity.
In Christ,
Lena Osipchuk