We come through some experiences with a greater awareness and appreciation for the daily renewal of the inner man (2 Cor. 4:16). As providence would have it, this was our first time to attend a gathering of predominantly European, Eastern European and Russian Christians. Greeks and Jews, Russians and Bulgarians, Ukrainians and Americans. A number from Albania hoped to attend but their visa applications were rejected at the last minute, which opened up an opportunity for me to speak.
Though billed as the “Athens Conference,” the venue, the Kalamaki Beach Hotel, was located in Corinth. Mornings (9:00-10:30) and evenings (5:00-7:00) were set aside for periods of devotion and three daily lectures, following the theme of “Holiness.” During the adult lectures children attended well organized classes and activities for their age. The middle of the day was a time of recreation and fellowship. It was the perfect balance between recreational free time and structured teaching. The meals were good, with some choosing to eat in the open air, in full view of the sea.
A highlight was our visit to the ancient ruins of Corinth. Here we saw the location of the synagogue where Paul reasoned with the Jews (Acts 18:4). Only a few hundred yards down the street we stood at the very spot where Paul stood before Gallio, accused by the Jews, who found themselves humiliated when they were “thrown out of court” (Acts 18:14-16).
Pictured, we are at the very stone where Paul stood to give his defense. In the background is the “Bema,” or Judgment Seat, from which Gallio looked down upon Paul and his accusers. At that time the Bema was covered with marble.
Meetings with all these Christians has given me some new perspectives on how we might improve our mission work in Kiev and Ukraine! It is fascinating to me that there is a self supporting congregation of seven hundred Bulgarians --- in the city of Athens! I have also been thinking about the two Greek congregations in the city, which open their premises to Russian speaking and English speaking Christians. The English speaking congregation meet in the evenings. It does not attract Americans, but it does attract many Africans, Filipinos, and others who speak English as their second language.
This was a refreshing and eye opening experience for us. RW
Trip to Athens: We had planned on returning from Athens on Monday but were delayed until Wednesday by the Ukrainian Consulate. Because Monday was Constitution Day for UA, the consulate office was closed on Monday. The great news, however, was that we were given the highly prized five year visas! Mine was changed from a Religious to Business in that I am now officially here as a guest of Paula’s school, being a teacher’s husband. An additional benefit of Paula’s work is that her school paid for all three of our visas! We had a great time at the Athens Conference, a truly refreshing fellowship with Christians from Western and Eastern Europe, as well as Russia and others. Also, because the Consulate was closed on Monday we are able to go with the others on a one day cruise to three different islands! It was great! As many already know Dino Roussos owns a Greek Travel Agency and therefore knows all the ins and outs of Greek Tourism. He also took us to ancient Corinth and gave us his guided tour. Very interesting and I have lots of pictures!
We made lots of new friends and have several new subscribers. I was also able to meet some of my subscribers for the first time: Igor Egirev, a preacher at Rotstov-Don, Russia, and Tim Brinley, from Moscow. Tim and his wife have relocated to Athens to oversee the Harding University campus. A primary consideration for leaving Russia was the increasing difficulty of American missionaries maintaining their Russian visas. Russia now requires missionaries to return to their home countries and renew their visas every three months! This is truly changing the face of Russian missions as many missionaries are at the end of their assignments and returning to the US. Everything we have been reading in the secular media suggests that Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive against Evangelical missionaries. One article out of Russia said that the Russian Orthodox Church is now teaching the Russians to reject evangelicals because “they are the ones who crucified Christ.”
Dennis Grimes: Made a quick trip to Kiev during our absence to visit the Petrenkos and Noyes. Both of their works are sponsored by College Hill, as well as mine. He brought additional puppets and some special PVC connections so Licova can build its own big tent! We are very happy to have our elders making regular visits to Kiev!
Obolon and Harkivsky Congregations (Kiev) Propose New Congregation
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Greetings.
With God’s blessings we are announcing that the congregations of churches of Christ in Obolon and Kharkivsky areas of Kiev have initiated opening a new congregation of the church of Christ in Nikolayev. The uniqueness of this city is:
First, until the middle of 1990s it was a military-industrial city, closed to free preaching and work of missionaries, and therefore a spiritual need is strongly felt there. Also, with collapsing of the military defense industry Nikolayev has experienced a serious social and economic crisis.
Secondly, the whole Nikolayev oblast is completely deprived of the branches of the Church of Christ. Just these two factors are enough to see the need of opening a congregation in that particular region.
Thirdly, Our brother Nikolay Gagarkin, being a President of Ukrainian benevolent organization that works in prisons, has done a thorough preparation work. He makes trips to 3 prisons of Nikolayev oblast and has organized regular Christian meetings for believing prisoners in one of them. He received the general consent from leaders of several different local organizations in view of the opportunity for the future congregation to work with children, women, prisoners and other groups of the population. In particular, consent for cooperation in spiritual and educational area has already been given by the leaders of rehabilitation center for alcoholics and drug addicts “New Generation,” female organization “Orchid,”social help center “Development and Help.”
The administration of the children’s sport school “Kommunarovets” and of High school (lyceum ) #2 expressed interest in working with foreign preachers. Renting of the place for worship services may be possible in the Palace of Culture “Builders.”
The establishment and activity of the new congregation will be based on principles of Christian love and partnership with other Christian missions and denominations. Therefore readiness for support was received from “New Generation” church in Nikolayev. Negotiations with other churches are planned.
Since Nikolayev has never been “spoiled” by visits of foreign missionaries, visits and work of one or several foreign missionaries will be like a breath of fresh air for Nikolayev. We have already begun the implementation of the given project and have some original ideas about conducting an outreach campaign, etc. At present we are making a search for missionary(s) to work in that congregation, and ready to assist in that work. We began fundraising for the future congregation.
It was decided to have a special contribution during worship service on July 7 to support opening a new church of Christ in Nikolayev. We encourage you to join our initiatives and have a common prayer of all the brotherly and friendly churches to support opening of the new congregation of the church of Christ in Nikolayev and to collect donations to finance the organizing of the new congregation. We also ask you to help in these areas:
1. Spiritual help (for example, include into your prayer list a prayer for the development of the new
congregation of the church of Christ in Nikolayev).
2. Human resources (send or help search for an evangelist(s)).
3. Material resources (join in fundraising, send Gospels, Bibles, other spiritual literature, etc)
4. Other
With Christian love
Zhenna Shevchenko, Brothers of the churches of Christ at Obolon and Kharkivsky