I am grateful for the opportunity to travel to Ukraine this past July and to minister there for the 20th time! I never would have imagined that God would give me such an opportunity as this. The friends I have made . . . the memories forged in my mind and heart . . . the evidence of God’s powerful hand, are all things that are still marking my life and will mark it forever. This summer, we had an incredible team of 19 people representing 3 of our Converge MidAtlantic churches who traveled to western Ukraine for 13 days. In addition, teams from 3 other Converge MidAtlantic churches ministered in the eastern/central region of Ukraine this summer. While I haven’t heard all of the stories yet, here’s a brief summary of what I saw and had the privilege to be involved with! It really was powerful and special.
- Encouraging and ministering to the Leadership Team of the Baptist Confernce of Western Ukraine (Rivne region). I was able to encourage this team of 6 leaders from God’s Word. We were able to pray together. And I spent quite of bit of informal time talking about ministry and life with them. I believe this was a great blessing to them, as it was to me!
- Preaching God’s Word at the First Baptist Church of Rivne. This church is the “mothership” church there in western Ukraine. They have been involved in planting multiple daughter churches. I was able, however, to challenge them to continue to leave an even greater legacy as an “Antioch” church in that part of the world.
- Learning about a Christ-centered Ukrainian organization that is ministering to orphans in Ukraine. This organization, called Agape, may be a ministry that our churches could partner with. They are seeking to minister to orphans through leading Bible studies in orphanages across Ukraine, and also by encouraging Ukrainian believers to consider adopting orphans.
Personally visited 3 of our sister church settings, and saw firsthand
the impact of our Converge MidAtlantic ministry in Ukraine. First
Baptist Church
of Glenarden touched nearly 200 children and youth in their week long English
camp in Dubrovitsa. Pastor Ron Crawford
and Natasha Parker from New Vision ministered to nearly 100 children and youth
in a week long camp setting in Kuznetsovsk.
And Jan Lawrence and Sharon Pellow from Lakeshore
Community Church
in Rochester, NY ministered to nearly 80 children and
youth in Nitishin and in the camp program there. Seeing the impact of each of these sister
church settings was incredible!
- Discussed together with Ukrainian leadership and made preliminary plans for 2 trips in 2012. We are exploring brining a smaller team in the Spring of 2012 – potentially a small group of Converge Pastors who would minister to Ukrainian Pastors, and a possible small medical team from our area who may explore partnerships and joint work with Ukrainian doctors and medical clinics. We are also looking at the Summer of 2012 and the opportunity to focus on sister church ministry in Ukrainian churches. We believe our emphasis will be English camps and classes and sports ministry, as these 2 venues have a great impact for outreach there in Ukraine. Be watching for dates for 2012 trips in the near future!
- Gave children’s Bibles to at least 60 children and youth who had no Bible in their home. Through the gifts of Converge MidAtlantic individuals and churches, we were able to provide Bibles for children there in Ukraine. What a blessing this was!
In reflecting on my
involvement in Love Lift Ukraine,
I continue to be amazed at how God works when his people move out of their
comfort zone, when they are fully dependant on Him, and when they pray. This was my experience again in Ukraine
this summer. Thanks to many of you who
prayed for me and our teams. You can
also check out our Converge MidAtlantic website for more info on this years
trip and also check out our Facebook page for additional stories and
pictures. God is moving in Ukraine,
and I am so grateful for the opportunity to partner with Him in His great
redemptive work around the world!
With gratitude,
Dan Peterson, Executive Minister
Note: Add any other appropriate pics from this years trip as needed