Which Christmas?

Edna overseeing crafts

Today we had church at the Invalid Center again. It’s the same place where we have English Club on Wednesdays. We had a great time with the children and have started teaching them some of the Ukrainian worship songs we got from Calvary Chapel Kyiv. Ukrainian children love to sing and it wasn’t long before they were singing better than us. We are working on putting together some kind of performance for Christmas. This is where the confusion began. We weren’t sure which Christmas to celebrate.

In the 17th century most European countries adopted the Gregorian calendar, but Russia (later to become the Soviet Union) used the Julian calendar until 1918. Most holidays are thus celebrated 13 days later according to Orthodox tradition. We assumed that our church would celebrate Christmas on January 7th and had made plans to be in Chernihiv on December 25th. We found out tonight that Western Ukraine and most people here in Bila Tserkva celebrate Christmas on December 25th. It was decided that since we would be out of town then that the church would instead celebrate Christmas on January 7th so that we would be here to put on a children’s performance. We’re happy, but still a little surprised that we can choose which Christmas to celebrate.

You can check out how our Thanksgiving went by going to Danny Foote’s blog. (Why blog when someone already has and has done a much better job. Thanks Danny. )

English Club

Maxime, Sasha, Greg, Yura, Sveta, Katya, Oksana, and Edna

God put it on our hearts to look into the possibility of someday starting an English club as a way of sharing the Gospel in our own language. When we showed up at the invalid center here in Bila Tserkva last Wednesday with the intention of getting a tour of the facility, we were introduced to six young people who wanted to speak English with us. We thought we were only going to see what goes on at the facility and see how we might help out in the future. We weren’t expecting to immediately begin teaching English, which we did for an hour before getting a tour.

The invalid center treats infants, children, and young adults for all types of mental and physical disabilities. We were impressed by all the different types of physical therapy that they offer and the expansions of the facility that are underway. The director invited us to have dinner at his house and asked if we would consider working with some of the other groups of children at the center. The director is a Christian and is very open to any type of Bible teaching that we might want to do with the children there. This is a huge open door that we didn’t see coming.

We had only been thinking about the possibility of an English club for a little over a week when God seems to have directed us to one. We weren’t prepared to start one, but we could hardly say no to agreeing to return each Wednesday from 10:30am to 12:00pm. We were so blessed at how eager the six young men and women were to have two native English speakers to talk to and learn from. Their ages range from 17 to 25 years old. They each suffer from some type of mental or physical disability, but that hasn’t deterred them from meeting together for the last two years. I asked them if they considered themselves an English club already and they said no, that they just meet once a week to learn and practice speaking English together. I said that sounded like an English club to me, so from now on, we are an English club. Please keep this new development in your prayers.

One Body

Last Sunday our church, Дім Милосердя (House of Mercy), couldn't meet in the usual place due to the national elections going on. Instead, we met together with two other churches (one from Bila Tserkva and one from the town of Fastiv) at the Invalid Center across the street. We had a combined service with lots of different worship and the sharing of testimonies to the Glory of God. The service was held on the second floor so we needed to carry the people in wheelchairs up the stairs. It was encouraging to see how God is working here among the Ukrainian people to foster a true sense of community and brotherly love for each other.

A husband and wife from Fastiv


Maria's mom playing a bandura, a traditional Ukrainian instrument

After the service, the head of the Bila Tserkva City Association of the Children-Invalids and Their Parents, asked if I would be interested in getting involved with the children they work with. I'm looking forward to setting up a time to meet with him and see how I could be a blessing and more importantly, encouraging other Ukrainians to help serve God's children. In a place where so much darkness and hopelessness seems to hang in the air, it's a true blessing to witness God's church advancing as One Body.

Dominic & Joshua enjoying tea and cookies after the service

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12