(Above photo: The Dalraida mission team is given a send-off at the Ivano-Frankivsk airport at a very EARLY time in Ukraine (6:00 a.m. Saturday which is 10:00 pm Friday CST. They will be traveling all night and day and will return to Montgomery, AL at 10:45 p.m. Saturday.)
The Dalraida mission team ended its work in Ivano-Frankivsk and has left on its return flight for Montgomery, AL. It was an early morning and will be an exhausting day of travel and then the struggles to readjust to the 8 hours time difference. Their work has been a tremendous boost! Great good has been accomplished that will be seen into the future years.
The Dalraida church of Christ is the overseeing congregation of this mission effort and the team will return with valuable insights and reports on the successes of this mission point.
I learned yesterday that Ivan has secured support from local businessmen to come to the USA and report to those current supporters and meet with potential new supporters. He will bring Sveta and Tanya will come as the translator. They are to arrive in Memphis on November 3 and then depart to return to Ukraine on November 22. Johnny is coordinating the contact scheduling. Those interested in having Ivan come and report on the progress of the gospel can email Johnny at jlkiii@hotmail.com. Right now the tentative schedule has the group traveling to Montgomery, AL; various locations in Mississippi; Nashville, TN; Lenoir City, TN; Cincinnati, OH and then return to Memphis and return to Ukraine.
With the departure of the Dalraida group the activity here has become the quietest since I arrived. This trip has been filled with three objectives: Come in with David and Howell to assess the possibility for the beginning of the World Bible Institute extension in Ivano-Frankivsk; work with the group led by Dr. Gary Jerkins and impact Starry Lysets 600th Village Day and teach leadership classes to the men and teacher training for children’s Bible classes to the women; work with Dalraida in the first outreach efforts in Starry Lysets. Now that all three groups have come and gone, it is relatively quite.
Today (Saturday) we saw the Dalraida group off at the airport and then our day began. There were appointments at 9:00, 11:00 and 2:00 that were confirmed. There are still some appointments pending. So although the day will be quieter it will not be less busy.
Tomorrow the only Americans that will be in the worshipping assembly for the first time in the last three-four weeks will be myself and John Durham. Both of us are in-country for another week and will both leave to return to the USA next Saturday (John leaves from Lviv and I from Kyiv).
Early Monday morning I will take the flight to Kyiv where my last week will be spent in meetings and on-site visitation to locations where pour shipments have been distributed.
As I sit and reflect over the last weeks here are some of the more memorable thoughts…
A receptive environment for WBI
We have long yearned for an in-depth accredited Bible school in this area that will award diplomas that are recognized in Ukraine, Europe and the USA. This is what our current structure for WBI-Ivano-Frankivsk will do! It will fill a void in western Ukraine and eventually in neighboring nations. There is eagerness within the congregation for this school and they are committed to supporting and attending it. One family has already committed to relocate to a town about 40 kilometers from here to establish the Lord’s Church. I am thankful that WBI will be in total control and administration of this school. They will do an exceptional job of training evangelists who are financially self-reliant and willing to leave the city and go into the neighboring areas.
A wonderful response to the children’s teacher training & men’s leadership classes
Joel and Joy Campbell deserve special commendation, although neither would think such is necessary. They did a wonderful job and I appreciate their desire to see the Lord’s Church mature. Their lessons were well attended and these lessons set out some of the most basic and elementary points and will need further teaching. But maturity is step-by-step and it will happen.
Encouraging steps to complete the first phase of construction
I had hoped the first phase of construction would have been completed and we could have had the first assembly in the new building. But it did not happen. One of the main problems is the access drive about which I discussed in an earlier email. This is being addressed and I am told that hopefully (if the weather remains good) they hope to have the access road finished during November. Once this drive is completed and inspection is passed, then a sign can be posted and the building used for storage of humanitarian aid and assemblying as we have planned.
Fantastic work from the Dalraida team
I cannot write the superlatives describing the efforts, energies, and results of the Dalraida mission team this week. I hope you will reread the reports I sent and then read the daily jottings of the group members. Things could not have gone any better but they said it would have been good to live in the village, or at least all be lodged in the same house.
A wonderful reception in Starry Lysets
This trip has made me appreciate Starry Lysets even more than before! What a wonderful, delightful village. Its citizens are amazing. The school visits and the evening classes went beyond any anticipation. I wish you could hear the bubbling excitement of the team’s conversations and see the exuberance of those attending the evening Bible classes!
And so this trip for me is two-thirds completed. It has been a wonderful success in many ways. Of course there are many challenges that have arisen. There have been some irritations. There are still those not associated with the congregation who seek to operate covertly and will tell you lies to your face in their efforts to compromise this congregation. But overall things have gone very well. Undeniably, God has blessed the work in many ways.
It was good for the Dalraida team to be present as they saw firsthand a number of issues facing the congregation and have seen the wonderful dynamics of the congregational members that make this such a special place. It is a good thing that the team will go and report to the elders on all they saw and heard about the Lord’s work in Ivano-Frankivsk.
I am looking forward to meeting together with the Lord’s Family in Ivano-Frankivsk in worship tomorrow!
Pray for our efforts as we continue this trip!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
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