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Valerie Reddaway, head of Church planting visited Cherkassy in October and shares from her diary these helpful insights to encourage our prayers and support.
SUNDAY: Visited First Baptist Church to see the progress in building the new Sunday school, which Hope Now has been supporting financially. There is much still to be done but, as ever, it is dependent upon a good financial climate. Until the recent economic downturn, building costs have been rising so now might be a good time to see this project finished.
After lunch, I went with Sasha Perepilitsa & Svieta (translator), to visit Yasnozirya for a Harvest service. This was the first village church I was ever connected with, so I was thrilled to see how the building has been extended, and how, from being just one Christian in the village, there were now 12 attending regularly. On this afternoon there were 27. When invited, I spoke on Peace with God, following which one man came forward for repentance. After counsel and prayer he asked Christ into his life.
MONDAY: Following the Staff Prayer meeting, we had an interesting visit to Mikhailivka orphanage. After lunch I spent some time with Valentina Kurat, the secretary of the Bible School, discussing various issues for my husband David, who heads up that department. Later, discussions with the accountant, Ludmilla, revealed that the $30 per month for the pastor of Vasyutintsi had stopped because funds had dried up. This will certainly affect the functioning of the church because the pastor cannot afford to buy gasoline. Later in the afternoon I was interviewed for Cherkassy Radio, and asked to give my testimony and a message for the listeners. In the evening I was picked up by Larissa Kusin to go to a ladies meeting, where I spoke on some of the “Let Us” texts in Scripture, from Hebrews.
TUESDAY: Made an early start to the village of Mliyiv where I met the pastor who comes out from Hutory and Sasha a younger minister from Ruska Polyana. This church was closed some years ago, but re-opened 2 years ago and now is looking to extend its building by removing a connecting wall, for about $500 to make a larger area for young people. They have recently held a Baptismal service and are planning to start a club for young people in the evenings. They also hold well attended summer camps for children. They have a good relationship with the Mayor who sometimes asks the church for practical help,
and this is seen as a good witness. Later we travelled to Irdyn, which is a church of 15 –20 people with a Bible Study being held in the week. The greatest need for this church is for a car/minivan as the pastor’s car is coming to the end of its life, and people also need to be picked up for church services. In the afternoon we visited Kompas Park, and it was interesting to see the extra work that had been done, and the buildings under construction
WEDNESDAY: After breakfast, I led Staff Prayers, leading some thoughts on Psalm 1. We then left for Telepyno, picking up the area Superintendent on the way.
The pastor at this church has had some training at Kiev Theological Institute, and as a part-time occupation works in distributing of educational books, and also in construction. The church was opened in 2001 and had its first Baptism in 2007. There are 25 regular worshippers and they have 4 people on a course to teach others. Their young people take part in singing and playing instruments, and the church also wants to extend its premises and has recently took out a loan for P.A. equipment. Our next visit was to the church at Galaganivka. This church has 15 members, with a further 3 who have repented but have not been baptised, and another 5 who worship occasionally. There are 12 children in the Sunday school. The pastor Eugene has many ideas for attracting young people. One plan for last summer was to bring the young people together to walk an average of ten miles a day beside the river to visit village churches to hold evangelistic events. Unfortunately, this didn’t
take place, because the inflatable boat they would also have been using to transport gear, had its bottom torn out. They are now looking for a hard bottomed boat for next year. The pastor also has plans for a Fathers & Sons walk, and to start a ministry for women and children’s day camps. They would be interested in twinning with an overseas church when perhaps some young people could join them on their River Walk. This church is also in the midst of an extension project, but their main priority is the River project.
After lunch with the Superintendent and his family we visited pastor Stanislav at the church at Tin’ky. This church was opened in 2002 with around 25 – 30 attending. They have 13 baptized members, 14 in the Sunday school, and a Bible study on Wednesdays. The average age of attendees is 35 – 45. This encourages families to come. The pastor has a good relationship with the local school, and goes in once a week to teach on “teen issues”. The church has a weekly prayer group, and in the summer they hold open-air services. The pastor’s main concern is for the members to grow spiritually.
These visits were most interesting and informative, and I appreciated all that the pastors shared with me. All the churches have many needs, but after talking further with Misha it was felt that primarily support should be directed towards the church at Galaganivka, as they are very outgoing.
Valerie Reddaway
Hope Now England
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