Today we held a funeral for Serihy, but not in the normal sense. We brought members of our church and treated it as though it were an extended church service. We sang worship songs and preached about God's free gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. It turned out to be a great opportunity for sharing the Gospel with the villagers that attended. I was blessed to be able to share about the life we are offered once we leave this world behind. The other two pastors preached similar messages of salvation and the need to invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior before it's too late. God's Love is so great that His Word reached into this small village of mostly elderly people and began to shine light into their lives. (This happened figuratively and literally!)
A cold overcast day suddenly gave way to bright sunshine as God's Word was lovingly shared.
After we left the cemetery, we shared a meal and one last song together.
Не в тому любов, що ми полюбили Бога, а що Він полюбив нас, і послав Свого Сина вблаганням за наші гріхи. -1 Іван 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. - 1 John 4:10
You can see more photos from this day by clicking HERE.
5 comments:
How very hopeful!
When Babushka Katya's mother passed away, it was just Hubby and I, Babushka and her son. After a brief time together at Babushka's flat, we rode out to the cemetery. A soviet-style official read something. A loud tractor was nearby digging another grave. It was crass and sad. Babushka is a believer, but the small memorial was very. . . empty.
It breaks my heart to see how much of the leftover atheism and statism continues to hurt the hearts of people in Ukraine.
There are plans for an Orthodox church in the village, but currently there is no church or source of "light" other than when we visit there. Valya, Serhiy's surviving relative, wants to use the house for church events and hopefully give us more opportunities to share God's Word there. The village isn't on a main road and it's as if the world simply passed on by leaving these people to themselves. Kozhenykiy is definitely not a growing village. It is so sad. Thanks for your comment.
-Greg
Edna... this was so touching. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm going to sit down later and read some more of your posts.
Wow, it took faith a courage but oh... what a blessing! I heard before that a funeral may be an oportunity to share the gospel and now I see it relized in a practical way. Thank you for your posts! Be extremely blessed!
Linda,
Thanks for stopping by. I am glad I found your blog. Your blog posts about the unborn really touched me.
Vika,
Yes, we were praying that through the funeral, we could bring the love of Jesus to those who heard.
Edna
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