Fall Trip Report #3–Worship!

Featured Photo: Following the worship assembly, the congregation went to a nearby restaurant for a fellowship meal.

The Lord’s Day is always an enjoyable gathering with the Church in Ivano-Frankivsk. The day was cloudy and at times a heavy mist. One big problem was that the annual marathon was today and that closes down streets. We were unaware of this and the parking lots for the Church bus and Valery’s van were blocked off and inaccessible. We finally told folks to grab a taxi to get to the Church building as Gif’s driving the bus was not going to happen. Surprisingly all gathered and we started on time!

We had 18 present for the assembly. There is a contrast from my visit last Fall with the current visit. The numbers are definitely down and as I thought of the lower numbers here is what I accounted for in the totals:

4 of our men are in the military
3 are refugees in the Netherlands
4 are in Canada
5 are in the USA
4 are awaiting the final approval to go to the USA
2 were out of town (Kola and Tamara)

Our numbers last year at this point were averaging 20-26. So, when factoring those who have fled, the numbers we currently have actually show an increase! In any transition there is expected loss and the numbers reflect this but the numbers also show that Gif is maintaining AND strengthening the congregation! One of the great spiritual tragedies of this war is that the Lord’s Church is being depopulated of workers who are the most mature in the Scriptures and a majority of those leaving have served as preachers. Once the worldliness of the west entices, the majority will not be returning to assist Ukraine even after the war is over. Adding to this is the historic reality that those who have left and after the war decide to return will bear the stigma of leaving when their presence was greatly needed.

Gif scheduled me to preach and I spoke on “The Trouble with Troubled Times” using Exodus 1-5 as the text. The struggles and challenges of Israel in Egyptian captivity have definite applications to Christians as we face challenging issues today. I think the lesson was well received as several thanked me for it saying they were really struggling with the war situation making everything bad.

I talked with Vova and the work on the congregational Telegram media is coming along very well. It well have a public access but then there is a restricted area only for members of the congregation. He showed me some of the folders he has included and it is looking great. This should be a great tool to reach out to the community.

After the assembly we had a brief congregational meeting. Unknown to us was the requirement that the Church needed to have congregational meetings validated by minutes that are approved by the Church. Gif has looked “high & low” for such records but cannot find any minutes. So as far as we know nothing of the sort has ever been practiced. The requirement for such is understandable. It is to make sure the Church functions with transparency and one-leader does not dictate everything. The meeting went well and regular meetings with minutes will be scheduled.

Following the congregational meeting we went to enjoy a fellowship meal at a restaurant beside the Church building.