Odessa Mission
May 2004 Newsletter
Etot mesets drewzya! Etot mesets!
(This is the month my friends! This is the month!)
In answer to your prayers, on April 18th, I returned from Warsaw with a
religious visa in my hand. PTL!!! So our first worship service is scheduled
for May 23rd. On the day after my arrival from Warsaw, I spoke with the president
of a local university here, Dr. Rostislav Kryzhanovsky, about the possibility of
guest lecturing in their foreign languages department. They have agreed and
are presently arranging the first lecture, which will hopefully provide
meaningful discussion and interaction with the students. Naturally, I'm
planning to center our discussions on moral issues that would pertain to them
as students while introducing them to a variety of practical Biblical solutions.
Apologetics (i.e., theology concerned with the defense of Christianity)
will be a key part since most of the students are nominal believers at best.
We're excited to announce that The Odessa Mission is finally on the worldwide
web thanks to a volunteer who did a tremendous job in designing and loading
our site. He's planning to update it regularly, so please visit us and
spread the word so that more and more people will be lifting our ministry
up in prayer. The site is located at: www.odessamission.com. Many thanks
also go to all the individuals involved who provided information, approved
links to their Christian sites, and helped to bring this ministry to a
whole new level. We currently have a few links and plan to have many
more links to/from other Christian organizations and supporting churches
so we can increase the awareness of our mission. Therefore, we would
be thrilled about any input any of you could provide.
My new book A Dumb American in a Strange Country is currently being
translated into Russian and will, hopefully, be ready for the printing press
by July or August. In addition, I've also been getting some requests for
a re-printing of my work Answers in the Book, which is an evangelistic
tool that's designed for use in the Muslim world. We're presently considering
options and will certainly keep you posted on any new developments there.
Our main goal is getting that book into the hands of as many Muslims as
possible, so we have decided to post it on our new website as an attached file.
Please feel free to use Answers in the Book in any way you so choose.
On April 19th, I met Rick Deighton, a graduate of Boise Bible College and a
member of Victory Christian Church in Nampa, Idaho. Rick happened to be
speaking with Dr. Kryzhanovsky near the university and it was then that I was
introduced to him for the first time. Since he's from the Restoration Movement,
we had a lot to talk about right off the bat. The amazing thing is that neither
of us knew about each other. Rick actually travels to Ukraine twice a year to
minister in several Ukrainian cities, usually by lecturing on Christian evidences.
He also brings encouragement and teaching materials to our missionaries here.
We're very grateful to Rick and Della Deighton for their ministry here and
look forward to his teaching a series at our church in October. We're also
thankful for the materials they donated to our work, including seven
videocassettes by Kent Hovind which will greatly enhance the effectiveness
of our church library.
In 1999, I taught a semester on the life of Christ, in English, at
Crimean-American College in Sevastopol, Ukraine. Crimean-American College is
a school for interpreters and offers various Bible courses in English for the
more advanced students. One of my sharpest (and favorite) students happened
to be a very polite-mannered skeptic named Lena Osipchuk. Although she got
straight "A's", she hardly believed much of what was being taught, but by
the end of the semester, she was becoming rather skeptical of her skepticism.
About a year later, Lena wrote me the following note:
"I just wanted to thank you for praying for me and for the lectures that
you gave us though at that time I was so against Christianity and the
people who talked so much about that. I don't know what to say except
praise the Lord, our Master, our Shepherd, Who can change our hearts in
such a way that we can never comprehend! I'll tell you something about
my life as a Christian. As you might know, my parents would not let
me go to church for nine months... but God is great! He taught me so
much during that time. Then I started going to church and helped
with the worship (I played the keyboard and sang). So, God really
blessed me in that way. Then I got baptized and my parents still
don't know, but that doesn't bother me much the only thing that
matters is my relationship with Jesus and my desire to serve Him and
to worship Him with all my heart, mind, and soul! Isn't it great to
worship our LORD? I'm in Simferopol now - a third year student at
Crimean-American College. Now, I can read the Bible whenever I want to.
At home I would always hide it somewhere under my pillow because my parents
couldn't bear that. I can go to church freely and stay there as long as
I wish. All I want to say now is that I love Jesus and I praise Him
for your work at our college. Keep on sowing the seed and God will grow it.
I always thank God for you. God bless you!"
Your sister in Christ, Lena
On April 21, 2004, Lena called me here in Odessa though I hadn't talked to her
in years. Why? Well, it turns out that she actually happens to be Rick Deighton's
interpreter whenever he's in Crimea. I had just met Rick in Odessa the night
before and he apparently said something to her in an email about me, totally
unaware that we even knew each other. She immediately fired an email at him
saying: "John Murphy? Wow, he really influenced me before my conversion.
Do you happen to have his phone number? There's just so much I want to tell him!"
Well, I am so happy to say that Lena is finishing her MA program in New
Testament studies from Kentucky Christian College (by correspondence) and
is also teaching a few classes at Crimean-American College. Moreover, she's a
brand new contemporary Christian artist in Ukraine whose first album has
just been released. She wrote all of the music as well as the songs and it's
supposedly getting great reviews too. There's even one song in English on the CD,
which was professionally produced in a reputable studio. In fact, she's already
tentatively scheduled to put on a concert for our new congregation in early July.
Covered by His Love, John and Ira (The Odessa Mission)