Hello dear brothers, families and churches.
I hope that these December holidays helped you to spend more time at home and in the church with your close friends and relatives, the circle in which you are loved and valued. In Ukraine these days are spent in this way. We are trying to be together with those people who supported us and surrounded us with warmth, attention and care all through the year. They are our family and fellow Christians.
As a rule, we start every New Year as a new page, summarizing what happened in the past year. To my mind, 2011 was a blessed period for us.
First, we were able have 5 students graduating from our school, and it was the biggest graduating class in the last 4 years. All of the graduates serve at the local churches and help their congregations.
Second, we could solve the question of registering the building of English Language University as the church property, and thus secured the future location of the Bible institute.
Third, now we have 14 students, and one more will join us in January (Eugene Tebel from Druzhkovka).
Maybe for some people these things are unimportant, but believe me, we put a lot of effort and strength to have it. God really wants to have His church in Ukraine, and we can see how He cares for it.
Because of the institute’s activity, Ukrainian brethren and visits of the missionaries the Eastern part of Ukraine has more churches of Christ than any other region of the country. The institute takes a responsibility to train preachers and support them if they need it. Every year we are organizing evangelizing campaigns, meetings of the preachers, youth meetings and regularly visit local churches to encourage them and make them stand firm in the faith. Churches of Christ in Ukraine are still relatively young and are in a great need of wise leadership. As of right now, only few churches have elders; others are guided but the brothers’ council. And for as long as we keep on training faithful ministers, knowledgeable in God’s Word, the church in Ukraine will benefit from it.
The book of Acts often tells us how people who heard God’s Word, first of all, wanted to share it with their relatives. We hope that in the next year some more churches will start functioning with the help of our students and graduates. Our student, Roman, has already started a church at his hometown, Dimitrovo. They are meeting at his house for Sunday services. His Sunday school classes are attended by children from the neighborhood. There is also an opportunity to start church in Druzhkovka and preach the Gospel there. Please pray with us for our plans.
Next year we’ll celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Bible Institute in Ukraine. Even though it is still relatively young, there are more than 70 students graduated from this Institute. Some of them are working as preachers or helping preachers in their churches. The ladies who graduated from the Institute organize and participate in ministries for ladies and children. This anniversary is not only our celebration but it’s also yours. Many of you took care of this training program for preachers and ministers for so many years. You keep us in your prayers and share our burdens. The work we are doing together is already bringing its fruits. Thank you for your support, constant prayers and your care for us. God bless you in this service.
Your brother,
Dennis
To see the report, complete with pictures, click here.