Ukraine08 is on! We thank the Lord for selecting seven New Hopers to travel to Kremenchuk, UA this summer: Catherine Cha, John Cho, Minjung Kim, Soyeun Park and Pastor Edward Kim.
From July 13-24, the U08 team will spend time with NHC at their summer camp for children & youth. At camp, the team will present dramas, join NHC's praise team in leading worship, preach & teach, and spend precious time with the Ukrainian children in attendance. The team will also spend time with members of our sister church, New Hope Church, and continue to build Christ-centered bridges of friendship and support between our two families. Finally, the team will get to tour Kiev in all its summer beauty before returning home to New York.
Please be in prayer for U08 as the team trains and grows together. Please pray for God to provide for them all of their physical, spiritual and financial needs; please pray about how you might also give prayer and financial support to members of the team, or U08 overall. Please also continue in prayer for our friends at NHC, and the citizens of Kremenchuk, that the Lord Jesus Christ would shine His light of truth, love, mercy and salvation upon them at all times.
NHC-UKRAINE UPDATES
(as of May 23, 2007)
The following is taken from a newsletter sent to us from Pastor Sasha and NHC:
"We have got your parcel by mail. Thank you for your attention, on this week the letters were distributed to children. They were very encouraged and inspired by that. Now we are thinking how we can give an answer for letters by more interesting way. Soon we are going to do it. For our church this month was very intensive. We had three wedding ceremonies almost one after another. It was excellent testimony for infidel relatives who visited a church in these days. We spent a lot of strength for preparation of the program and organization of those events. On this week we are planning to go to Kiev with all leader team on the «Global leader summit 2007» of Bill Hibills that is happening on October 11-12. Last year on this summit God spoke to our hearts very much and when we came back home the quality of our common ministry increased very much. We expect that God has prepared something especial this year too.
I send you our weekly schedule. Of course it can be changed depending on a situation.
Weekly activities of «New Hope Church»
Sunday – 12.30 is a rehearsal of worship team
14.00 - a prayer for service
15.00 – service time
15.30 - a child's service
17.00 – classes of discipleship (now we have a class of «Spiritual maturity 201», 9 persons attend)
Monday 19.00 - a rehearsal of worship team
Tuesday 9.00 – meeting for leaders
18.00 is a practicing of puppets show group
19.00 - meeting of a club team
Wednesday - 18.00 are home groups of Bible studying (6 groups)
Thursday We plan to conduct a youth club on Thursdays (an opening in 2 weeks, October 18)
Friday 19.00 is a practice of worship teach
Saturday «School for preparation of ministries» (one time per a month)
At the same time everyone participates in the group of tutorship that happen in different time. We have already prepared to conduct classes at schools but we have some obstacles from the side of authority of schools. Now we are looking for chance to meet with the higher authority to get their permission. If it does not turn out teaching at schools we will try to teach at trade schools."
Update: In September, NHF's children wrote letters and drew pictures for their counterparts, the children of NHC. We are now waiting eagerly to see what sort of special treats NHC's children will send to us in return. It is such a joy to see bridges being built between our two families in these small but significant ways, and we hope to see more similar relationships form and grow throughout the coming years.
NHC is experiencing some serious financial strain right now. We have sent them a series of monetary support checks and are praying that NHC receives the funds intact and not too diminished by bank transfer fees. We are also praying that God will multiply these funds and give NHC wisdom in using them so that His ministry and work can continue to be a light in Kremenchuk and throughout Ukraine.
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HISTORY
In January 2007, seven members of New Hope Fellowship joined with CMUR and flew to Ukraine for a ten-day short-term missions trip. The trip began inauspiciously, with a miscommunication-fueled three-hour wait at Kiev's Borispol Airport, waiting for Illya Tkachuk, our CMUR contact, to come and pick us up. A two-hour manic bus ride ensued before the U07 team -- Edward Kim, Cathy Cha, Robert Nechols, Jen Chon, Cesar Capio, Sang Yoon and Grace Cho -- arrived in Kremenchuk.
All tiredness and jet-lag faded the instant the team woke up the next morning and arrived at the local Palace of Culture (the equivalent of an American community center). We met our interpreters Dasha, Sasha, Marina, Anna, Gyena, and Oksana. We were greeted so warmly by the members of the newly-formed New Hope Church, and its staff: Pastor Sasha, Irina (Children's Ministry), Vassya (Worship Team), and Natasha (Finance). Immediately, the combined NHC-NHF team hit the streets of Kremenchuk to pass out invitations to a 3-night Ukrainian Christmas festival to be held at the Palace of Culture. Subsequent days and evenings were spent worshiping and praying together, getting to know each other and growing in friendship, and going out on home visits to meet and greet family members and friends of NHC members. Our mutual goal was to engage the community, to invite them to know Christ, and to celebrate Christmas with the locals in a special way. Other experiences included visits to a local orphanage, a tour of the outskirts of Kremenchuk, and a jaunt to the village of Nikolsko'e, where NHC would be establishing another small church presence.
It is nearly impossible to describe the great works of God that occurred over the eight days that the NHF team worked with NHC in Kremenchuk. A mere listing of "what we did" deceptively leads one to think that lots of things were done. Certainly, God's power enabled our combined team to assemble a successful 3-day Christmas outreach and hold the inaugural service of New Hope Church. His Spirit covered us in boldness and protection as we met local citizens and talked with them about NHC and the love and truth of Jesus Christ. And the Lord's grace allowed for smooth communication between Americans and Ukrainians, with or without the assistance of interpreters.
SISTERHOOD
But the most lasting memory of U07 can be summed up in one word: sisterhood. Each member of the team will testify that from the first meeting and greeting, there was an overwhelming sense of God's sovereignty and purpose in leading our two churches to meet and work together this year. It was like long-lost siblings meeting each other for the first time, and experiencing the restoration of that which had been missing for years. In our NHC counterparts, we met and came to deeply love brothers and sisters who loved Jesus with all their hearts, minds and souls, loved each other with the devotion of those united by the blood of Christ, and loved their city and their country with a fervent desire to see both covered by the power and presence of a holy and mighty God. These were loves that the members of the U07 team also carried, albeit on this side of the Ocean, and it was so easy and clearly God-led for us to join in the vision and passion of NHC-Ukraine.
It was clear to the U07 team and NHF's Missions & Outreach Ministry Team that the NHF-NHC relationship would not terminate with the end of the 10-day trip. Thus, it is New Hope's pleasure to enter into a sister relationship with New Hope-Ukraine. In this relationship, we will provide preliminary financial and prayer support as NHC-Ukraine firmly roots itself in the Kremenchuk community. In the coming months and years, NHF hopes to provide pathways through which particular segments of each church's populations can get to know each other and grow in friendship, even over the long distance. For example, the youth group and young children might send letters and gift packages to each other; the churches could exchange newsletter articles; the respective worship teams could exchange CDs of recordings and popular Christian albums. NHF will also continue to seek ways to financially and prayerfully support the ministry efforts of NHC; they are particularly devoted to youth ministry, outreach to orphans and young children, and Biblically-rooted teaching and training. And finally, we are so excited to plan annual trips to Kremenchuk, to sustain and grow the budding friendships with our brothers and sisters at NHC, and to actively partner with them in their ministry and outreach. May all of this be accomplished in accordance with our Father's leading, and for the ultimate goal of His glory.
U07 DAILY BLOG
While the U07 team was in Ukraine, it took advantage of Cesar's Blackberry to send emails and blog entries about our trip to our friends and family members in the States. To read these entries, click below:
U07 MEMBERS REMEMBER
Here are some fond reminiscences by members of the U07 team:
U07 PHOTOS
Click below to see pictures of the U07 team's time in Kremenchuk, as well as the downtime spent touring beautiful Kiev on the way back to the States: