On September 7th, God allowed my wife Alena and me to visit Ukraine. After eight years since my previous visit to Kiev, I was pleasantly surprised by the external changes, as well as internal transformations in different aspects of the city life. More importantly, Ukraine is currently experiencing total religious freedom and opportunities of open preaching of the Gospel. True reforms of the country begin with the change of every individual heart, as well as spiritual rebirth of the entire society. Many residents of Kiev spend their weekends and days on the Plaza of Independence. It is not just a place of the past events, but also a place where the preaching of the Gospel can presently be heard.
On Sunday morning, God allowed me to visit a central Baptist church in Kiev, “House of the Gospel”. It was at this church that I ministered for ten years as the conductor of choir and orchestra up until my emigration to the U.S. It is one of the biggest Baptist churches of Kiev. That morning I was joyously serving in various ministries: performing solo, conducting the choir, and preaching the Word. After the service, there was an opportunity to fellowship with church leaders as well as break the bread together. There was a good discussion about the life and ministry of the local church in Kiev, as well as about the life of the Slavic emigration in the U.S.
On Tuesday, September 12, I attended a joint meeting of the elders of the ECB of Ukraine which took place in the new, spacious, and comfortable headquarters located in the city of Irpine. I had an opportunity to share the Word of God, as well as about the ministry of PCSBA in America. Igor Bandura who is the vice-chairman of the ECB union hold a seminar with a theme of “Pastoral Responsibility and Accountability in the ministry of ECB churches”. After lunch, there was a second seminar on the theme of “Pastoral Role in the Development of Ministry in the Local Church: Structure and Budget of the Church” which was prepared by V.V.Nesteruk. The meeting was concluded by the seminar “Challenges of Pastoral Ministry in ECB Churches of Ukraine” by the chairman of the Union of ECB Baptists of Ukraine, Valeriy Antonyuk. I liked the relevance of the presented topics, the transparency of sharing and discussions, as well as mutual desire to improve the effectiveness in the ministry of churches, and finding answers to the pressing questions of the ECB churches of Ukraine. It was a great blessing for me to have an opportunity to get to know and fellowship with many pastors from different regions of Ukraine.
God allowed my wife and me to reconnect with my classmates with whom I was studying in the Music School. That served as an opportunity to share my faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior.
The downtown of Kiev impressed upon me the beauty of historical church buildings, monuments, old streets, as well as a variety of comfortable café shops and restaurants. There was always an opportunity to “pass by” the local McDonalds and taste the “Ukrainian food” in “House with Belly” or “Two Geese” restaurants. That option is a lot more appealing to the guests coming from overseas.
Departing to Moldova, I regretted that I did not have the opportunity to be a part of the Thanksgiving celebration in downtown of Kiev which was attended by about 150,000 people on September 17th. The central street Khreshchatyk became a place of worship to God, singing, music, prayer, and preaching the Gospel. One of the main preachers at the celebration was Nick Vunich. Praise God that despite all the difficulties, economic and political distress, the church continues with its purpose taking advantage of the “open doors” in proclaiming the Gospel which is so necessary for all the residents of Ukraine!
Ivan Mileyev
KIEV IN PHOTOS
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