Kremenchuk updates from the summer of 2002:
(Submitted by Brian Gould)

Greetings, I hope it was helpful to read about what was happening in Ukraine, soon after the events took place.  If you haven't heard the story, read on!

I plan to (eventually) expand my thoughts into one (more concise) story.

    We were nearing the end of our four week lessons, but with that comes the big finish (the Finale). Today and tomorrow will prove to be a greater task then ever before ~ we have combined the younger and older classes and have been incorporating the lessons, skits, and also Puppets, in an effort to reach out in many ways. I taught the lesson today ~ speaking of Struggles and pain from the N.T. I didn't have much prepared but this was good due to the time constraints. I wanted to relate those stories to some of my own but there wasn't much time for that. Tomorrow will be very exciting (and tiring as well), not only will we be doing a puppet show, songs, and skits, but a TV news crew will be there to interview us. This is very important for our work here. Can you imagine the kind of exposure we could get? It is my prayer that this will draw countless others to be a part of these lessons. Perhaps we'll have so much to do that we won't have the time for it all. It's all right, Doug Berry will have his hands full.
After tomorrow we set our course for the Crimean Mountains. We're excited about this too but some joke that we won't be able to handle it. :-) Pray for us, we want to see the sights but stay focused on the purpose. Since we'll be away for a while, I won't be able to make any entries 'till after I get back... You can expect a summary after We get back. We'll have a few days here in Kremenchuk after we get back.

    Sometimes in teaching the Bible, more active approaches are necessary. For us this means talking more and more about our lives and how this relates to the passages we read. As we have been doing lessons every day, it can be very hard to keep things interesting; we now take a step back and re-focus. Today we taught with our lives ~ this has made all the difference. Yesterday we went to Kiev and while I've got a million stories about that, one of the biggest on my mind is when I spoke to Lilya; I spoke of my life struggles (major events in my life such as my baptism). I didn't realize just how much I needed that! We have come here to be examples of Christ - telling them what's most important in our lives. Why wasn't I feeding the Spiritual Fire through my lessons as I wanted to?
We're nearing the end of our four weeks of lessons, but the message doesn't stop there ~~~> we still have the trip to Crimea. It'll be like camping so maybe we can bring a touch of our Camps with us. I know that a bit of Flaming Pine will be there!
Pray for us - we want to be the examples that we've been sent here to be. May God grant us the words to speak, the actions, and of course everything in it's own time. I don't want to sing when what they need is Prayer, nor do I wish to speak about God when what they need is comfort. This is a very important work for us and we're excited being here.
<< Thanks for your Prayers >>

    We are making copies of songs from my songbook, the students are learning the songs, life lessons and of course wisdom from the Bible. Some of the most recent happenings include going to the prison (on Sun. it was my turn to teach). The first time we went to the prison we were asked how to believe the Bible to be true. I chose my lesson on the prophecies because I felt that would give greater trust in the words found in the Bible. They asked about the different churches and what we believed on Baptism. The question was not do I have to be baptized if I've already been as a child, but that of: If I wasn't baptized as a child - can I be? This brought me to Acts 2 & Gal. 3. We told them that we believe that because repentance is required for salvation, one couldn't be baptized as a child. After our lesson, we played Soccer with the prisoners! Yes, that's right ~ I said we played Soccer with the prisoners... I take great comfort not knowing what they had done to be deserving of prison. Perhaps a kindle of a Fire for God was started that day? We may not see the effects of this but it is my prayer that they will come to a greater understanding of God. It is very expensive to call from here, but I did (finally) find a way to make a call to Mary (who is in Vienna). It's going to cost ~ 50 Grevna's for every 10 min. but it's worth it. I suppose I could also say that being without Her this long (while it's very hard) is also very worth it for the work going on here.
Pray for us!

    I have many new friends from the last time I wrote. We’ve been able to explore a bit more of Kremenchuk, as well as some of the villages in the general area. Personal 1-on-1 bible studies are one of our goals but while we've done a bit of this (with Ruslan & a few others) it is not to the full extent of my plans. It is my hope that we will find still others who are interested - one question might be, where is the time? Where will I find all the time for such Bible studies? I pray every day that the hope and Faith I have in God will also be extended to these people. Some of my new friends have come because of our lessons but also because of our devotionals. At the end of each class, we now lead some songs. While they can be hard to learn under a 2nd language, they try (some of them very hard) and much progress has been seen. I have taken on a role of Song leader: my goal is (and always will be) to teach the songs of Faith that lead us to a stronger desire to know the Truth. These songs are intended to encourage and uplift, to praise and thank God for all that He does.

    I wish I had time to fill you in on the most resent turn of events ~ but as I don't have much time, I will be brief.
    The Last Bell Ceremony went really well though it was hard to be at both School #11 for Natalie and School #10 for Anna. After attending the Last Bell Ceremony for School #11, we then headed to School #10 to meet up with Anna (Anya). She invited us to join some of her friends who graduate this year. We went to a park and had a BBQ. We Sang songs, one of which (Kumba yah) caught on really fast. We played many sports (Soccer, Football, Volleyball, etc...) One of my goals is to have regular Devotionals with these people to draw them in to the songs, as well as to the study of Bible.

    The Lessons are going very well but there is much to be done. Some of them aren’t all that interested but a far greater number are eager to learn ~ and better still are the few that ask questions. Some of these questions are very challenging but it is very important that they ask such questions. These types of questions have forced us to think hard about the message we teach. I know (mostly from my experiences) that I have had to expand my lessons as well as branch off from my lesson (a bit) to address a question. While these questions can be very hard to answer, the answers do come.
    There are a few people in particular I would like you to pray for ~ 1st on my list would have to be my host brother Rusolan. He speaks English to a fair degree and has what I feel to be a strong desire to learn about God and of the Bible. What he doesn't know in English he makes up for in actions (don't we all?) Another student who also speaks a bit of English who seems to be seeking the Truth is named Andrew. They are both in 11th form, which means they are in the graduating class.
I'm learning a few words in Russian but I'm not very good at it :-)~ Pray also for Mary (My Girlfriend), She will be in Austria for 10 weeks and needs plenty of prayers. For those that know Her know this is a huge investment because of the pain involved with Her eyes. They cause her a lot of grief but Lord willing that's all it will be.

    We've arrived here in Kremenchuk, it was a long trip but well worth it. I'm already making friends with the people here. My host family changed ~ the person I'm staying with is named Ruslan. His family is very friendly and welcomes me into their home. We lost quite a bit of luggage when we came looking for it in Kiev. Just this morning (at about 3am) I signed off for my bags. What's interesting is while I get to try out Ukrainian food (Ex. Borsch) Ruslan and his family have now tried Dr. Pepper!
    Our Bible Classes are much more unorganized than we anticipated; this week's Schedule will be a crazy one as we will have to conform to the School system's schedule. Natalie tells us that next week (and the following weeks) will be more consistent (8-9, 9-10, 10-11, etc...). We will not be teaching one class but more like 4-6 classes per day. We will be able to stick to our plan of the guys teaching the older grades while the girls on our team teaching the younger grades, it's just that for today that means guys teach 7th form, girls teach 6th form; tomorrow guys teach 11th form while girls 6th & 7th. Next week us guys will be teaching 10th & 11th form (which will be the norm.)
Because we will be teaching so much more than anticipated, we may need to expand our lessons but is continued study a torture? There are many avenues of study and the people here are really interested ~ this is something I don't see very often in the states: those that are not only interested in reading the bible, but also seek it. These next four weeks will be really good for them... and for us. Like I said before, with all these extra opportunities to study with these people, we gain the benefits of the extra planning.

© 2002 Brian Gould