The Above Photo: The Lord’s Church begins its worshiping assembly April 14, 2019 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
The Lord’s Day has been a good day of rest and the encouragement from the assembles and fellowship with one anther have been eagerly embraced. When you deal with the evils of the world and are battered and bruised you often lose perspective of the Christian’s inevitable victory. It is good that God designed His Church to assemble on a regular schedule so the painful existence can be properly balanced.
We began the worship assembly with 25-30 of the regular members present. We have a number (approx 10) who continue struggling with illnesses. The low numbers at the beginning were due to the fact that the group that Vova and Julia usually bring remained in Lysets for worship today. They have been coming because there are no toilet facilities inside where they assemble and the bitter winter cold and treacherous walking on ice and snow is a peril that can be avoided. But it has warmed up some and the group hopes they can begin regular assemblies in the rented room. Another factor for the low number at the beginning was that sessions of the Medical Seminar were on-going and several were involved in that good work.
After the first hour had passed the room was filled full with those coming from the Medical Seminar. They had a break in the schedule and took opportunity to come to worship. They arrived as Ivan was discussing the Lord’s Supper.
Following the worship Ivan made a number of announcements that highlighted the work that is constant.
An aside…When I see the constancy and scope of the Lord’s work being done by this congregation and then witness the evil opposition, I am reminded of the narrative of Acts 19:23-29. This narrative is being played out in real-time in many locations where the Lord’s Church is recognized as doing great things but fierce opposition arises because someone is going to lose money! No clearer communication could be made than asking you to read the Acts’ narrative and underscore the real evil demonstrated in these points: no small disturbance arose from the Church’s actions; false religious businesses were being protected as the Church was vilified; the emotions were stirred to further Satan’s agenda; conversion to the truth was viewed with hatred; rage and malice were openly shown; confusion resulted; faithful brethren were targeted and harmed. These are not theoretical elements but portray evil’s scheme to destroy God’s Church. The Lord’s caution in Luke 8:18 was for His disciples to listen carefully to what was communicated and “hear” what was being said. This is applicable in your reading Acts 19:23-29.
Today has marked the beginning of the final week on this trip. The Medical Seminar participants will leave Tuesday evening on the “fast train” to Kyiv. John Durham remains for three weeks and will be teaching English at the Law Institute. I will leave Ivano-Frankivsk Wednesday morning arriving in Kyiv one-hour later beginning a series of meetings addressing the issue of corruption.
Continue praying for all aspects of our efforts!
John L. Kachelman, Jr. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
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