John White - Developing Church Leadership in the Russian Speaking World c/o Eric Yodis, Postal Box 3644, Donetsk 83076, UKRAINE February 2002 jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu http://www.marucheck.net/jw/
Sometimes in life you have time to plan for important events, and sometimes you just have to take steps of faith. I am now taking my first steps teaching in Russian, and they seem to be a little bit of both.
First came some steps of faith. In early December I was asked to teach at a Campus Crusade meeting on "Gray Areas." This was a talk aimed to address issues that aren't black and white in Scripture, such as drinking, dancing, smoking, and dating. I was particularly asked to look at 1 Corinthians 6 and 10 which both begin, "Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial..." As you might imagine, this was a very difficult topic but a very important one, especially for college students. So, having about five days to prepare I agreed to do it - if I could do some of it in Russian!
After a hectic few days of writing and rewriting in Russian, getting help from three different Ukrainians, and fighting through sickness I gave the talk - about 10-15 minutes in Russian and then about 20-25 minutes in English with translation. I read the Russian part word for word from my notes laying down the general principles I would use and explaining why they were important from Scripture. I then moved to English where I applied the principles to different gray areas and handed out a sheet with questions to think about and Bible verses to look up. I was very nervous, but all in all it seemed to go quite well. I was even complimented on my Russian, so God was certainly at work!
I've now left these gray areas behind and am working on my next project: a sermon for church. I was asked to preach at Hope Church on February 24 and may get the chance to preach at another church soon. So, now is my chance to plan and prepare to teach entirely in Russian, and it seemed appropriate to start with one of my favorite Psalms, #130. Martin Luther wrote a hymn based on this Psalm and entitled it "From Depths of Woe" (you can read this hymn on my website). The Psalm is a cry to God for deliverance from the depths of sin and grief. Luther called the Psalm "Pauline" because of its focus on redemption from sin, and I'd appreciate your prayers that God would use it to help people struggling to have faith in Him.
Personally, it's been a powerful Psalm to me in my time in Ukraine. God has stretched my faith to wait upon Him for so many things: ability to speak, comfort in loneliness, forgiveness of sin, and direction for the future. Please pray that God would give me the ability to learn this sermon well, both the Russian of it and the lesson of it. For, "all of our theology must eventually become biography" (Tim Hansel).
In His love and grace,
John