Odessa Mission
April 2008 Newsletter
Politics As Usual
Many of you know that I used to work as a missionary on the Crimean Peninsula
in southern Ukraine. Luckily, I got out of there just in time. Last week they
were burning the American flag again on the main square, right next to the
Lenin statue. By the same token, though, there were also demonstrations here
in Odessa. "What was all the excitement about?" you ask. Well, Ukraine's
president and prime minister are still adamant about Ukraine's quest to join
NATO despite overwhelming grassroots' opposition. Much of western Ukraine
would love to go in that direction but the eastern part (where we live) is
still very loyal to Russia.
Of course, I'm certainly in favor of Ukraine joining NATO but I also understand
the apprehension of some because Ukraine relies on Russia for its oil and natural
gas, among other things. Prices here are just skyrocketing. In fact, the
cost of living immediately shot up 20% on New Year's Day and inflation just
doesn't seem to be letting up at all. So if the price of Russia's oil and
natural gas reaches European levels then Ukraine could be headed for some very
cold winters despite all the talk about global warming these days. And the
new Russian president recently made it very clear that Ukraine would pay
dearly if it tried to defect, so there's a lot to pray about at the moment.
And, although George Bush had a great visit with Victor Yuschenko this past
month, Ukraine, for now, still remains a neutral player in world politics.
KRCC Kids
Lately, Nastya, Nadya (with her mother Lyuba), Zhana, and Andre have been wading
through Rick Warren's book The Purpose-Driven Life with Oxonna and there seem
to have been some positive developments as of late. Oxonna has even begun
delegating certain ministry-related tasks to our youth and has generally gotten
favorable responses. Nadya's in charge of washing the dishes at church.
Andre makes sure that everyone cleans up after themselves and he also sets up
and takes down the chairs. Zhana sweeps the office clean. Lyuba does the
mopping after Zhana. And then there's Polina, an eight-year old girl at KRCC,
who regularly takes out the trash with style. Naturally, some of the kids
need a little reminder once in while but it's still encouraging to see the
results.
Nadya's Rise and Fall
When Nadya told Oxonna that she wanted to be baptized I was a bit skeptical to
say the least. To be honest, her family strikes me as extremely volatile and
rather unstable in many ways. Their family has left our church three times in
the last four months and has returned as if nothing ever happened, usually because
Mom simply misunderstood something that someone might have said and then later
learned otherwise. Nadya's mother, Lyuba, is especially difficult to work with
because she's frequently overly sensitive and inclined toward jumping to
conclusions, especially when they're the wrong ones. And it's certainly no
secret to anyone here that Nadya idolizes her Mom. But Nadya evidently gave
Oxonna some pretty good reasons for wanting to be immersed. Thus, needless
to say, I also decided to meet with Nadya myself. "If we were talking
percentages here," I prodded, "how sure are you that you want to give your
life to Christ?" "At least two hundred percent!" she declared. "No!" she
added. "Make that a million percent!" Well, after about forty-five minutes
with Nadya, I too was convinced that she was serious, confident, and ready.
She had all the right answers, the right disposition, and succeeded in
making a good overall impression. Of course, what sealed the deal for her
was the fact that she was holding one of my former theology professor's
books in her hand during our entire conversation, which was Jack Cottrell's
book: Baptism: A Biblical Study.
Nadya was baptized in March and Oxonna was especially elated because Nadya was
really a result of her efforts more than anyone else's. Even several of Nadya's
unbelieving friends, who recently began attending KRCC, were present to witness
the event, which followed a magnificent children's pageant at KRCC that Sunday
morning. The atmosphere was just electric, which is somewhat noticeable in the
new video clip we posted on our website.
Just before the baptism, I again reiterated the fact that there would probably
be imminent spiritual attacks, similar to the ones Jesus faced in the wilderness
after His baptism. So I encouraged Nadya to brace herself and stay strong.
Well, sure enough, the Devil wasted no time at all. Nadya had hoped to sing a
solo in our upcoming Easter program on April 20th but she was told that Nastya
would be the one to do that. To make a long story short, Nadya's feelings
were inadvertently hurt and her mother immediately started throwing out unfair
accusations . . . and, well, you get the picture. So their family is again
at odds with KRCC and there's just no telling what will happen at this point.
So please be praying about the situation. Nadya has even forbidden all
of her friends to ever step foot in our doors and Lyuba has already gone
around spreading lies about our congregation. Dasha is another girl
whose mother recently prohibited her from attending. And we almost lost
Zhana and Andre in the process because Lyuba went to their mother and
complained. Fortunately, their parents came to our church to speak with
us about everything and subsequently left satisfied. In any case, we
need your continued prayers.
Stateside Visit
On April 23rd, Ira, Stefan, and I will be flying to America. My religious
visa has finally expired, which means that I'll need to go to the Embassy
of Ukraine in Washington D.C. to get it renewed. I'll also be staying in
the U.S. for close to a month in order to help Ira file all of her paperwork
for the purpose of receiving her U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately, Ira and
Stefan will need to be in the states until January 2009 for the process
to be complete.
"Why is this important for the Odessa Mission?" one might ask. Well, the fact
is that Ira is only allowed outside the U.S. for 364 days at a time until she
becomes an American citizen. Once she gets her passport, she'll be able to stay
overseas for as long as she needs to, which will obviously save our mission a
considerable amount of money over the long haul. So please be praying for
success in this regard as well as for our family during this extended separation.
Ira and I have endured long separations before and we promised each other
never to do that again, but . . . never say never.
!
We Love You All, John, Ira, and Stefan
The Odessa Mission, Odessa, Ukraine