June was an exciting time for Ukraine.  For the first time in history, Ukraine's national team made it into the World Cup.  And actually won two games before being defeated by the Italians who made it to the championship round.  So I learned a bit about futboll.  The nation seemed to be on hold as often offices would close, a video projector would be set up, and everyone would enjoy the game.  Parliament shut down early one day so MPs could watch the game.

Ministry in June wasn't quite as dramatic as the World Cup but rarely is the growing and nurturing of a church very dramatic.  There are occasional moments, but mostly it's about intentional faithfulness in the week in, week out, learning to live life in the body of Christ. With so many gone for the summer and many traveling, it's been a slow summer.  In June, it also didn't feel like summer.  It seemed to rain almost every day, we rarely saw the sun, and we were almost convinced that summer would simply pass us by.

Here are some highlights as to how we found God at work among us:

We held two planning meetings for our annual Cherkassy Conference.  We will study Judges the first week of August.  More than 30 will join us for the weekend but only about half that many will be able to stay the week.  We hope, again, to be able to pay for this conference without outside help.  Praise God for how he has matured so many who are leading sessions or taking on responsibilities, and praise him for emerging generosity.

We also had several church council meetings in which we made some plans for the summer.  We also came to see that some bitterness and unforgiveness had arisen among church members.  We thus called for a Week of Forgiveness.  Everyone was asked to deal with all the interpersonal conflict or unforgiveness among church members.  Many conversations were held and multiple prayers voiced.  It made us stronger.  We are also now meeting together for one morning assembly on Sunday.  So for the first time in about 10 years, I am going to church in the morning on Sunday!!

Lena and I have also been trying to be a part of the prayer ministry that meets every Saturday morning.  We hosted it one Saturday in June even though I was sick with a cold, half asleep in the other room.  We had about 14 and they shared, prayed, and fellowshipped for several hours.  This ministry continues even through the summer.  It's so wonderful that a prayer ministry has come to life and remains vigorous.  We actually had nothing to do with starting it and are very blessed by it.

June 16th we hosted the Craig and Leslee Altrock family for dinner and a tour of the UEC.  This couple work as staff members for Let's Start Talking.  During our experiences with LST in the past, I had emailed both of them often and wanted to get to know them better and see their lively boys.  I was thankful Craig initiated the meeting and was glad we were able to enjoy some chicken cacciatore together.

June 21st was the last day of work for the UEC manager, Sergiy Lyakh. We had a little party for him that night and about 30 people came from church to bid him farewell.  We wish him all the best as he begins an MBA program at Pepperdine.  Vitaly Samodin has now taken over some of his responsibilities and Lera has taken the rest.

After finding an unbelievably cheap deal, Lena and I left for our summer vacation to Egypt on June 29th.  We stayed on the Red Sea in a hotel with about 150 Italians, 40 or so Germans, about the same number of Ukrainians and a handful each of Brits, Poles, Byelorussians, and even a couple of French people.  Oh yeah, there were also two Egyptian families.  The Sinai is being overrun by Europeans looking for cheap vacations.  It was a good time of rest and reading and being with my favorite person, my dear wife!

Thank you to all who continue to pray and partner with us through
financial gifts.  We are very grateful.  Please keep up with us at our blog www.kyivmission.blogspot.com