Dear brothers, families and churches!
We have very unusual weather in Ukraine this fall. It’s very cold and rainy. Usually this kind of weather is more typical for the end of October and beginning of November. Nevertheless, classes at the school proceed as usual, and the Lord continues blessing us abundantly.
Politically, Ukraine is standing at the point of making a decision. We have an opportunity to join European Free Trade Association or to continue working with Russia. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. If we join Europe, we will be influenced by materialism and liberalism even more. Prices will grow, and we will stay in the same condition as we are now. We will be in an economical and political vacuum. Most likely, we’ll have to give our worries to the Lord. We will be content with whatever is the best for the church.
At the beginning of September, we had Howell Ferguson, Albert Bagdasaryan, Victor Semikoz and Andrew Zhuravlyov teaching at the school. In the middle of the month, Jim Sherman came to teach. He is our faithful brother, who has been working in Ukraine since 1989. Also our brother Terry Harmon teaches Greek via Polycom system. I’m grateful for all these brothers who participate in this ministry and give us an opportunity to learn God’s word and to grow spiritually.
In September, I visited churches we have a good brotherly relationship with. Among them there are churches of Christ in Lugansk, Kramatorsk and Donetsk. Our graduates minister in Kramatorsk and Donetsk and continue to preach sound doctrine.
Also we are sending our school journal “Sound Doctrine,” and we try to spread the right doctrine via printed materials.
There are six students in the first-year class. Two of them joined our program in the second half of September. Vladimir is from Ochakov, and Sergey is from Dzerzhinsk. At the moment, they are proving themselves to be diligent students of the Bible, but their age is their biggest obstacle. They both are about 50 years old, and they never educated themselves before. We hope that the Lord will give them wisdom to grow spiritually.
When we look at the map of Ukraine, we see that we have students from all parts of our country. Many people know about our institute. Now it’s the time to look at Russia. In October, I plan to visit Syktyvkar (Northern part of Russia), the capital of Komi Republic. There will be an annual seminar, which will be attended by Christians from all parts of Russia. I want to tell them about our school and the work that we do here. We had only one student from Russia, Julia Kudelina, who decided to stay in Gorlovka and help the Institute in its work. Please pray for us to have more influence in Russia too, so that we could find faithful men willing to study God’s Word and become leaders in local congregations.
In September we had several interesting events with the students. We gathered to have fellowship and to celebrate birthdays; some students invited their friends and used these opportunities for personal evangelism.
In October, we plan to have a one-day youth conference and invite all local churches of Christ. Last time, we had 60 people in attendance. Such events help to encourage and strengthen young Christians and allow them to see that they are not alone, even though local churches are usually not very big.
We are thankful for those people who support our ministry in Ukraine. I don’t have enough words to express gratitude of our teachers and students for your financial support. We continue training preachers and ministers, who will be ready to spread the Gospel even in the most difficult circumstances.
If you have any questions, I will be glad to answer them.
Your brother and co-worker for the Lord’s cause,
Dennis Sopelnik
To see Dennis’ report with pictures, please click here.