Odessa Mission
August 2007 Newsletter
Odessa News in Brief
Some of you may have read about the various protests against American
ships in Ukrainian waters over the past few years. This year's situation
concerning the Sea Breeze, an American naval vessel that is currently docked
in Odessa's port, was no different. The Sea Breeze is part of a multi-national
peace initiative organized by NATO, originally launched in 1997. When
the ship first arrived the demonstrations received a lot of attention,
especially due to the torching of American flags, among other things.
Thankfully, the Ukrainian government banned the protests in early July.
Naturally, both the U.S. Navy and the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko,
downplayed the significance of all this. But let's not be fooled here.
Police are escorting all foreign military personnel in armored buses for
their protection, just highlighting Ukraine's ongoing power struggle between
those leaning either east or west. Indeed, this recent "Cold War" lingo
applies not only to Russians in Moscow; it's very much alive in Odessa too.
Last year's Sea Breeze program was cancelled just hours before it was to begin,
most likely because of two things: 1) Yushchenko didn't get the official green
light from parliament, and 2) there were thousands of anti-NATO demonstrators
blocking the port. This year, fortunately, Yushchenko learned from his mistake.
However, that doesn't change the big picture, which shows that there's still a
very large percentage of Ukraine that fears NATO and American influence.
Arguably, the two biggest reasons for this are: 1) Russian television
stations continuing to broadcast in Ukraine, and 2) the various Orthodox
churches in Ukraine, which are actively spreading anti-American, anti-Jewish,
and anti-Protestant propaganda through their DVD's, cable channels,
and publications, among other means. And, as you could imagine,
the war in Iraq has not helped in this regard.
So please pray that God would use this troop surge to secure victory in Iraq
and change the mindset of Ukrainians who aren't sure whether we're the good
guys or the bad guys. Pray also that the Orthodox Church will lose its
powerbase and authority here, so Protestants can see more victories of their
own in Ukraine. Finally, pray that the protesters will come to realize that
the devil is their real enemy, not the west (2 Cor.4:4).
Prayer Request Updates
- In last month's list of prayer requests we mentioned Ron Hammell,
who had battled a brain tumor in the past. Ron recently went in for tests
and found out that he's been cancer free for a year and a half now. Praise the Lord!
- Linda Hammell, Ron's wife and our webmaster, is still trying to get our new
website up and running. She's just been too overwhelmed with her college
workload and other circumstances to meet the deadlines she initially set for
herself. However, now that her semester is over, she should be able to
devote more time to this pivotal ministry. Do look for the new website
sometime this month. (Btw, the URL will not change.)
- The church in Crimea has found a preacher, which means two things: 1) John
will not continue assisting them, and 2) Ira's Dad evidently does not want to
attend there now.
- In mid-August Oxonna will be taking her entrance exams at Tavrichiski Bible
Institute in Kherson, Ukraine. She plans to study by correspondence and keep
ministering at KRCC.
- Our vision for the work here in Odessa is getting clearer and more promising
by the day. We thank you for your continued prayer support.
What's Happening with the Kids' Program?
We've had two mini-VBS programs this summer. Each program was scheduled
to last for three days, but the second program only lasted for two because
nobody showed up on day one. (Actually, for day one of the first program,
we only had one boy attend and he happened to be a member of the Presbyterian Church.)
"Well," you might ask, "how did things go?" For the first VBS, besides
Oxonna's nieces and nephew, who regularly attend KRCC now, we had the
Presbyterian boy attend along with four other girls who came on days two and
three. The girls' names are Karina, two Lena's, and Vika, and they're presently
involved in our four-hour kids' program each Thursday and Saturday.
We probably had at least ten new kids attend our second VBS, but it's still
unclear as to whether or not those kids will join our children's program.
Three of them officially signed up, but time will obviously tell. We'll
sure keep you posted on those details. Please ask the Lord to bring the
increase here and pray especially that the parents will not prevent their
children from coming to KRCC, which is usually the key obstacle.
I'd also like to say that both Oxonna and Tatyana deserve many accolades for
all the work they did in helping put together an absolutely splendid VBS program.
THANKS GUYS! WE LOVE YOU LOTS! Be sure to check our website for VBS pictures!