John White - Developing Church Leadership in the Russian Speaking World
c/o Eric Yodis, Postal Box 3644, Donetsk 83076, UKRAINE   December 2001
jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu                http://www.marucheck.net/jw/

Different Perspectives

As Thanksgiving has come and Christmas is coming soon, I have been thinking about where God has brought me and what He is doing. As in many things, it depends upon your perspective. In trying to figure out how to say this in Russian and I got, ironically, different perspectives from Ukrainians. How true it is...

On the one hand, I could look at this past year as a very difficult one. The terrorist bombings and resulting war in Afghanistan have left people all around the world mourning. My CBI teammates here in Ukraine have had a rough year, with one family (the Waldrops) having to move away at least temporarily because of a severe medical condition in one of their children, and another family (the Hoehners) recently having their brand new apartment broken into while they were away. Personally, I've had a rough year in gaining and then losing some relationships, most recently my friend Sergei who led the Bible study at my house. After struggling academically and personally at Donetsk Christian University (DCU), Sergei finally decided to quit and move back home. And I continue to struggle through learning the language, which has often made me feel like I have regressed to childhood but have this vague memory of being able to interact and even help others in the adult world. It's frustrating to not be able to communicate or minister like I used to be able to and like I know is so needed here!

But on the other hand, God has been working this past year. I know that the Lord has turned a lot of people's hearts towards Him in the wake of the tragedy in the US. God continues to protect our team physically, as the Waldrops' son Jackson has been fine so far in their new location and the Hoehners have been kept safe. I've been able to visit a Project 250 conference and meet some new Ukrainian pastors and church planters. It was encouraging to see how God's church is growing and being led. I've been blessed by participating in a weekly Bible study and weekly Campus Crusade meetings, which have helped me develop some new friendships and continue to make language progress. Although there are a myriad of things I still wish I could say in Russian, I do have to admit that God has brought me a long, long way this last year. I am thankful to be able to live fairly comfortably using Russian and to begin learning directly how the church works and what the needs are here in Ukraine. And most importantly, God has been teaching me lessons about my fears, faith, and patience. Praise God for His patience and plan, which is foggy to me but clear to Him. Perhaps you sometimes feel the same way.

I decided this month to give you some pictures for prayer instead of my normal list-I hope this helps you see and even feel some of the needs and blessings in Ukraine.

Picture of our Bible study group celebrating Sergei's birthday (Sergei is sitting next to me, and don't worry, Yura (front) survived the party!)

• Please pray for our Bible study group (Wed. nights), which has had a huge turnover rate (over 20 different people have come, but only four consistently)
• Pray for Sergei, that God would guide his future
• Pray for our new leader Pyotr (a DCU student), and for my Russian teacher Galina who sometimes comes

Picture of Project 250 Seminar (Pastor Nikolai on left shares with brothers Andrei and Sergei)

• Pray for Project 250 and teachers like Nikolai as they train church planters to work in Ukraine and Russia
• Pray for Sergei and Andrei as they plant a new church in Constantinovka, that God would bless them
• Pray that God would raise up more Western sponsors for Ukrainian church planters (e-mail me if you'd like to learn more!)

Leaning on Him,

John

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