My first day off – that is with no schedule – but a work day anyway. A day to catch up on ministry records, to prepare for teaching Friday evening; to focus in on the two remaining Churches and what God would have be say to them, to get some material and a record of our discussions ready to present to Eugene and with the other couple of hours – try to rest.
So there isn’t much to read today. It has been profitable and I am satisfied so I’ll probably spend the rest of the evening from 8-11 just relaxing – IF I can.
Thanks again for your prayers,
Dr. D.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wednesday, October 15
Marilyn is in the air from Newark to Ft. Myers as I write this. I have completed a great day of meetings that will advance the Christian educational program in Ukraine.
My meeting with Bishop Valeriy Reshetinsky of Christian Hope Center who leads 120 Churches in Ukraine and is Chairman of the Board of ICCL (International Center for Christian Leadership) can be classified as a “Meeting of Visions.” Both of us shared our vision and found out it was same for each of us. We have the same goals for elevating the Christian Educational System of Ukraine. Therefore, we will be networking our educational program with what he is now doing and taking some of his educational programs and adding them to ours so we can offer a degree in those areas – for example: Missions - Establishing Churches in Small Villages and Cities.
The Bishop has accepted our request to re-register Covenant Life University - known now as International Institute of Theology - Zoe here in Ukraine and probably to be changed to Zoe University when the documents are filed. He also offered office space and classrooms for Zoe in his facility. Exactly how all of this will look is yet to be determined, but Eugene Taits, Dean of IIT-Zoe is pleased. I am thrilled! And other pastors have offered their comments and they all confirm my evaluation of Bishop Reshetinsky: “He is a well-respected leader with high standards and ethics.”
We have requests for campus extensions from Germany, Italy, France, Georgia, Israel, Russia, and Russian speaking congregations in the United States as well. And we have many requests from Pastors who have completed our bachelor program to begin graduate courses (Masters through Doctorate).
The facility of Christian Hope Center has 12,000 square meters. For you who have forgotten how to convert from square meters to square feet, allow me to use my special converter and tell you that equals 129,167 square feet or 2.9 acres of floor space.
The original price was 5 million dollars. The pastor told them they would not pay that price. So they owners asked how much will you pay. $500,000 was the reply. The owners began to curse and finally said $1,000,000. The finally settled on $850,000 or which the Church only had less than $12,000. To shorten the story – they were to pay $100,000 immediately to which the pastor responded, we will pay you in 18 months. The day was approaching to make the payment and they were very, very short. But God led David Wilkerson to their Church service – after he had refused to minister their on that Sunday – the ushers sent word to the pastor that David was in the building. Pastor Valeriy asked him to come to the platform and David shared that God told him he was to go to Christian Hope and give them $50,000 but he did not know how to get there. God said, “Ask!” He did and found the service.
But that was not enough and on the day the payment was due a man, whose name is lost, came into their office and said that he was leaving on an airplane in a few hours but that God directed him to come and give them $100,000 from the sale of his facility – a Church. The story continues and today the building is paid for and now has a value of $40-50 million dollars!
There is much work to be done to this incomplete former sports training center – but they have a section with offices, class rooms for college and rooms for 40 students to live (10 to a room) for their 2-3 week courses of ICCL. As well they have an auditorium on the third floor that seats 1100 but during the winter they cannot use it because it lacks heat. They need approximately $150,000 to purchase the furnaces for this section. When they complete the main auditorium it will seat 3,500.
So you can see this leader is a Visionary extraordinary. How could I forget to tell you that he is a – I believe – a nuclear physicists (he has his doctorate in that field).
I wrapped up the day by spending time with Pastor Andre and Ira Ivanov (who visited us in the US in 2006). They made their requests for ministry during the coming year – a ladies seminar. That seems to be a key request now as the pastors are recognizing the need of the Ukrainian ladies. The women of Ukraine come to Christ with such enthusiasm they get their lives out of balance and many neglect their homes – children and husbands and claim they are “working for Christ,” so it is okay. But thank God some pastors are seeing the problem for what it is and want to do something about it.
It is time to crash – since I have been up now for almost 20 hours.
God bless and thank you for praying, (I teach in the College Friday, minister Saturday at New Time Church and Sunday at Victory (2 services).
Dr. D.
My meeting with Bishop Valeriy Reshetinsky of Christian Hope Center who leads 120 Churches in Ukraine and is Chairman of the Board of ICCL (International Center for Christian Leadership) can be classified as a “Meeting of Visions.” Both of us shared our vision and found out it was same for each of us. We have the same goals for elevating the Christian Educational System of Ukraine. Therefore, we will be networking our educational program with what he is now doing and taking some of his educational programs and adding them to ours so we can offer a degree in those areas – for example: Missions - Establishing Churches in Small Villages and Cities.
The Bishop has accepted our request to re-register Covenant Life University - known now as International Institute of Theology - Zoe here in Ukraine and probably to be changed to Zoe University when the documents are filed. He also offered office space and classrooms for Zoe in his facility. Exactly how all of this will look is yet to be determined, but Eugene Taits, Dean of IIT-Zoe is pleased. I am thrilled! And other pastors have offered their comments and they all confirm my evaluation of Bishop Reshetinsky: “He is a well-respected leader with high standards and ethics.”
We have requests for campus extensions from Germany, Italy, France, Georgia, Israel, Russia, and Russian speaking congregations in the United States as well. And we have many requests from Pastors who have completed our bachelor program to begin graduate courses (Masters through Doctorate).
The facility of Christian Hope Center has 12,000 square meters. For you who have forgotten how to convert from square meters to square feet, allow me to use my special converter and tell you that equals 129,167 square feet or 2.9 acres of floor space.
The original price was 5 million dollars. The pastor told them they would not pay that price. So they owners asked how much will you pay. $500,000 was the reply. The owners began to curse and finally said $1,000,000. The finally settled on $850,000 or which the Church only had less than $12,000. To shorten the story – they were to pay $100,000 immediately to which the pastor responded, we will pay you in 18 months. The day was approaching to make the payment and they were very, very short. But God led David Wilkerson to their Church service – after he had refused to minister their on that Sunday – the ushers sent word to the pastor that David was in the building. Pastor Valeriy asked him to come to the platform and David shared that God told him he was to go to Christian Hope and give them $50,000 but he did not know how to get there. God said, “Ask!” He did and found the service.
But that was not enough and on the day the payment was due a man, whose name is lost, came into their office and said that he was leaving on an airplane in a few hours but that God directed him to come and give them $100,000 from the sale of his facility – a Church. The story continues and today the building is paid for and now has a value of $40-50 million dollars!
There is much work to be done to this incomplete former sports training center – but they have a section with offices, class rooms for college and rooms for 40 students to live (10 to a room) for their 2-3 week courses of ICCL. As well they have an auditorium on the third floor that seats 1100 but during the winter they cannot use it because it lacks heat. They need approximately $150,000 to purchase the furnaces for this section. When they complete the main auditorium it will seat 3,500.
So you can see this leader is a Visionary extraordinary. How could I forget to tell you that he is a – I believe – a nuclear physicists (he has his doctorate in that field).
I wrapped up the day by spending time with Pastor Andre and Ira Ivanov (who visited us in the US in 2006). They made their requests for ministry during the coming year – a ladies seminar. That seems to be a key request now as the pastors are recognizing the need of the Ukrainian ladies. The women of Ukraine come to Christ with such enthusiasm they get their lives out of balance and many neglect their homes – children and husbands and claim they are “working for Christ,” so it is okay. But thank God some pastors are seeing the problem for what it is and want to do something about it.
It is time to crash – since I have been up now for almost 20 hours.
God bless and thank you for praying, (I teach in the College Friday, minister Saturday at New Time Church and Sunday at Victory (2 services).
Dr. D.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday - Tuesday, October 13-14
Back in Kiev!
Monday was a day off, if that is what you can call it! We got everything packed that we could before breakfast – you know I can’t believe I eat breakfast in Ukraine when I do not in the US except on special occasions – and then were taken downtown Makeevka, population 400,000 to see some sites and to stop at a Baptist printing plant.
The city was a coal mining center during the Soviet occupation. It was built around the mines and specifically for the mines and miners. The processing area covers hundreds of acres but the majority of the buildings and accompanying tracks, lifts, conveyors, etc. are in terrible condition and the majority of the facility is not being used. We are told that one hundred plus miners are killed per month in the mines. But it doesn’t make the news because it is such a regular occurrence. The sad thing is that the coal is not mined for the Ukrainians, nor is the coke made from the coal used by Ukraine, but is exported primarily to Russia.
We returned to the Church for lunch and then took a trip to downtown Donetsk which has a population of over one-million. We walked around the center area and through one of the many parks lined with outside eateries, playgrounds for children and benches filled with the “young-and-in-love”; the babushka’s (grandmothers) with their grandchildren; and many others. The city plant over one-million roses each year in the city. Can you imagine what it looks like and smells like when they are in bloom? And that is only the beginning of the many flowers and flowering plants as well as a variety of trees the fill the landscape.
Supper came too soon and we begged off with just something to drink and saved that delightful occasion for the train ride which began at 7:25 p.m. and ended at 7:01 precisely as listed in Kiev. I think we have probably mastered the time and meal changes because we both slept relatively good on the trip. Hallelujah! We were on Track #1. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but when we bring you to Ukraine and you have to take your luggage off the train with the narrow steps down and the up the equivalent of three flights of stairs, then across the walkway covering the 15 tracks and then out to the van one to two blocks away, you will appreciate that we came in on Track #1! All we had to do was walk out the gate beside the station house about one block to wait on our ride. Just think – nine (9) pieces of luggage and two ladies and ME! Come on now, have SOME mercy!
A side stop on the way to our accommodations to pick an item to take to the states for a friend along with a stop at McDonald’s for a bite of breakfast. Then a quick shower and jump in the car by 10:30 to make my twelve o’clock appointment. The traffic is horrendous at this hour and we had to go all the way to downtown Kiev and meet Vadim Uruymagov who was to be my interpreter for this meeting with Bishop Valeriy Reshetinsky to discuss the registration process of Covenant Life University way Ukraine. On our way a phone call informed us that he was called by the Mayor of Kiev to a meeting. The Mayor is a believer and often calls upon some of the pastors for assistance in various ways. It was rescheduled for Wednesday. Since we were to meet Vadim at McDonald’s (a different one from my breakfast encounter) and he had been promised a meal, we (Eugene and I) dined with him.
Meanwhile back at the ranch (I mean the flat) Marilyn was catching up on some happenings from Ira Ivanov – the pastor’s wife of Abundant Life – some of you may remember that she and her husband Andre were with us in Life Church in 2006. And she was preparing her suitcases for her early morning departure from the flat (4:00 a.m.) to meet her 6:45 a.m. departure from Kiev and schedule arrival in Ft. Myers at 6:10 p.m. with a stop in Amsterdam and Newark.
We are presently taking care of the final details and trying to determine how to get to some sleep before we ride the elevator down to the car and then travel completely through the city to the Borispol airport 10-15 miles outside the city. I will remain alone for one more week to take care of some college business and scheduled ministry.
God bless and thanks again and again for your prayers,
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Monday was a day off, if that is what you can call it! We got everything packed that we could before breakfast – you know I can’t believe I eat breakfast in Ukraine when I do not in the US except on special occasions – and then were taken downtown Makeevka, population 400,000 to see some sites and to stop at a Baptist printing plant.
The city was a coal mining center during the Soviet occupation. It was built around the mines and specifically for the mines and miners. The processing area covers hundreds of acres but the majority of the buildings and accompanying tracks, lifts, conveyors, etc. are in terrible condition and the majority of the facility is not being used. We are told that one hundred plus miners are killed per month in the mines. But it doesn’t make the news because it is such a regular occurrence. The sad thing is that the coal is not mined for the Ukrainians, nor is the coke made from the coal used by Ukraine, but is exported primarily to Russia.
We returned to the Church for lunch and then took a trip to downtown Donetsk which has a population of over one-million. We walked around the center area and through one of the many parks lined with outside eateries, playgrounds for children and benches filled with the “young-and-in-love”; the babushka’s (grandmothers) with their grandchildren; and many others. The city plant over one-million roses each year in the city. Can you imagine what it looks like and smells like when they are in bloom? And that is only the beginning of the many flowers and flowering plants as well as a variety of trees the fill the landscape.
Supper came too soon and we begged off with just something to drink and saved that delightful occasion for the train ride which began at 7:25 p.m. and ended at 7:01 precisely as listed in Kiev. I think we have probably mastered the time and meal changes because we both slept relatively good on the trip. Hallelujah! We were on Track #1. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but when we bring you to Ukraine and you have to take your luggage off the train with the narrow steps down and the up the equivalent of three flights of stairs, then across the walkway covering the 15 tracks and then out to the van one to two blocks away, you will appreciate that we came in on Track #1! All we had to do was walk out the gate beside the station house about one block to wait on our ride. Just think – nine (9) pieces of luggage and two ladies and ME! Come on now, have SOME mercy!
A side stop on the way to our accommodations to pick an item to take to the states for a friend along with a stop at McDonald’s for a bite of breakfast. Then a quick shower and jump in the car by 10:30 to make my twelve o’clock appointment. The traffic is horrendous at this hour and we had to go all the way to downtown Kiev and meet Vadim Uruymagov who was to be my interpreter for this meeting with Bishop Valeriy Reshetinsky to discuss the registration process of Covenant Life University way Ukraine. On our way a phone call informed us that he was called by the Mayor of Kiev to a meeting. The Mayor is a believer and often calls upon some of the pastors for assistance in various ways. It was rescheduled for Wednesday. Since we were to meet Vadim at McDonald’s (a different one from my breakfast encounter) and he had been promised a meal, we (Eugene and I) dined with him.
Meanwhile back at the ranch (I mean the flat) Marilyn was catching up on some happenings from Ira Ivanov – the pastor’s wife of Abundant Life – some of you may remember that she and her husband Andre were with us in Life Church in 2006. And she was preparing her suitcases for her early morning departure from the flat (4:00 a.m.) to meet her 6:45 a.m. departure from Kiev and schedule arrival in Ft. Myers at 6:10 p.m. with a stop in Amsterdam and Newark.
We are presently taking care of the final details and trying to determine how to get to some sleep before we ride the elevator down to the car and then travel completely through the city to the Borispol airport 10-15 miles outside the city. I will remain alone for one more week to take care of some college business and scheduled ministry.
God bless and thanks again and again for your prayers,
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, October 12
10:00 P.M. The day is done and we are “done in.” It has been a good but tiring day! It all began at 6:30 this morning. Get up, get ready and depart for Marinovka and the Church of Christ Savior. I was there first outside speaker and I was really outside – from the US. The Church is a daughter Church of the Church in which I was to minister in the evening.
I was joined by one of the three choirs from the Mother Church. My interpreter was a young college grad with his master’s degree in tourism hospitality. He works in the computer field. He can speak excellent English but is still “green” in the art of sermon interpretation. This was my third service with him and I must say his best yet – the other attempts had been somewhat frustrating. Now I know I am hard to interpret because of the way I phrase things, but he was still “green”. In fact, he has only been attending a Pentecostal Church for about six months. And the Pentecostal Churches in Ukraine over-all are ultra-conservative. Time and space and good sense prohibits me from explaining further. But since this was one of their own, we made it successfully.
About the time that I was ready to begin the final prayer and conclude the message, something that I thought would never happen in Ukraine DID! I got one of those “phone calls from Heaven” – you know – those that come while you are in Church and only God would call during a service. I never considered that someone would call me in Ukraine. So few people who have my Ukraine phone number speak English. But it was someone who knew me! Who? Answer: My wife. She had been told that the service was over at 10:30 when in reality it was not to be over until 11:00+. Svetlana and requested she call me to verify that we had already departed so we would be back in time to minister at 12:00 for the 11:00 service. Anyway I was able to turn the phone off, I thought, but only to discover that it blurted out the medley assigned to it again. By this time I had closed the service and requested the pastor to come.
We “flew” on top of the road back to our destination and arrived with about 20 minutes to spare before time to ascend the platform and preach. This Church is a Charismatic Church and the atmosphere provided for an easier presentation of the Word of God. One young man received Christ and many testified of receiving a healing during the prayer time.
Dinner was in our private dinning room with the Pastor Vladimir and Luda Gorbachev and Natasha, a lady who works for Svetlana here and was our driver for this occasion. I completed my meal, dismissed myself (the pastor had already taken leave) and crashed on the bed for a hour of rest before scheduled to depart for the last service of the day.
The evening assignment was in a Church pastored by Alexander and Vera (last name missing from my mind). They are the parents of thirteen (13) children. Five of them are married and they have provided eight grand-children. That means they still have eight at home or at least unmarried. Six of their children are girls and that leave seven boys. Their oldest son is the second in command. One son-in-law directs one of the their three choirs (they also have six complete worship teams). Another son-in-law was my interpreter for Saturday and for this evening. We got along good and I attribute any problems to my state of mind which was in a tired condition.
They have the nicest building in which we have ministered in all of Ukraine. The pastor spent either fifteen or sixteen years building their facility because they did not hire any professionals but did all the work themselves. It is very–very–very nice! I believe you could place to gymnasiums in it and have ample room for spectators. It has two stories with a balcony. The pastor may be from a conservative group here in Ukraine but his vision is not limited by that relationship. His son, Volodia told me that over 90% of those who attend have been born again in the Church or because of someone who led them to the Lord and brought them to Church. I would guess that there were 400 present and I know that some of them were at a special cooperative service elsewhere in town where they had been reading the Bible aloud and were completing the process.
The worship team for the evening were all youth. They had a beautiful sound and their sweetness totally overshadowed any weakness a critic may point out. After my ministry their main choir entered in their robes and filled the auditorium with some beautiful music. You can tell that many, if not all had trained voices, meaning they had been involved in some type of professional training. The arts are highly valued in the cultures of the former Soviet Union. Oh, yes! Before the choir came one lady came forward and received Jesus as a result of the message.
We closed out the evening there by joining the pastor, his wife along with Svetlana and Olga – a beautiful girl, an orphan and now a consistent believer and worker in a local bank – and is the product of Svetlana’s efforts to reach the orphaned children of Ukraine.
We finally closed out the evening by stopping by a super-market and getting some traveling foods for our journey back to Kiev on the overnight train Monday evening. But you always conclude the evening with some tea, cookies, candies, cheese or whatever you desire. We did and we finished at 10:00 p.m.
God bless and thanks for your prayers,
Dr. D. & Marilyn
I was joined by one of the three choirs from the Mother Church. My interpreter was a young college grad with his master’s degree in tourism hospitality. He works in the computer field. He can speak excellent English but is still “green” in the art of sermon interpretation. This was my third service with him and I must say his best yet – the other attempts had been somewhat frustrating. Now I know I am hard to interpret because of the way I phrase things, but he was still “green”. In fact, he has only been attending a Pentecostal Church for about six months. And the Pentecostal Churches in Ukraine over-all are ultra-conservative. Time and space and good sense prohibits me from explaining further. But since this was one of their own, we made it successfully.
About the time that I was ready to begin the final prayer and conclude the message, something that I thought would never happen in Ukraine DID! I got one of those “phone calls from Heaven” – you know – those that come while you are in Church and only God would call during a service. I never considered that someone would call me in Ukraine. So few people who have my Ukraine phone number speak English. But it was someone who knew me! Who? Answer: My wife. She had been told that the service was over at 10:30 when in reality it was not to be over until 11:00+. Svetlana and requested she call me to verify that we had already departed so we would be back in time to minister at 12:00 for the 11:00 service. Anyway I was able to turn the phone off, I thought, but only to discover that it blurted out the medley assigned to it again. By this time I had closed the service and requested the pastor to come.
We “flew” on top of the road back to our destination and arrived with about 20 minutes to spare before time to ascend the platform and preach. This Church is a Charismatic Church and the atmosphere provided for an easier presentation of the Word of God. One young man received Christ and many testified of receiving a healing during the prayer time.
Dinner was in our private dinning room with the Pastor Vladimir and Luda Gorbachev and Natasha, a lady who works for Svetlana here and was our driver for this occasion. I completed my meal, dismissed myself (the pastor had already taken leave) and crashed on the bed for a hour of rest before scheduled to depart for the last service of the day.
The evening assignment was in a Church pastored by Alexander and Vera (last name missing from my mind). They are the parents of thirteen (13) children. Five of them are married and they have provided eight grand-children. That means they still have eight at home or at least unmarried. Six of their children are girls and that leave seven boys. Their oldest son is the second in command. One son-in-law directs one of the their three choirs (they also have six complete worship teams). Another son-in-law was my interpreter for Saturday and for this evening. We got along good and I attribute any problems to my state of mind which was in a tired condition.
They have the nicest building in which we have ministered in all of Ukraine. The pastor spent either fifteen or sixteen years building their facility because they did not hire any professionals but did all the work themselves. It is very–very–very nice! I believe you could place to gymnasiums in it and have ample room for spectators. It has two stories with a balcony. The pastor may be from a conservative group here in Ukraine but his vision is not limited by that relationship. His son, Volodia told me that over 90% of those who attend have been born again in the Church or because of someone who led them to the Lord and brought them to Church. I would guess that there were 400 present and I know that some of them were at a special cooperative service elsewhere in town where they had been reading the Bible aloud and were completing the process.
The worship team for the evening were all youth. They had a beautiful sound and their sweetness totally overshadowed any weakness a critic may point out. After my ministry their main choir entered in their robes and filled the auditorium with some beautiful music. You can tell that many, if not all had trained voices, meaning they had been involved in some type of professional training. The arts are highly valued in the cultures of the former Soviet Union. Oh, yes! Before the choir came one lady came forward and received Jesus as a result of the message.
We closed out the evening there by joining the pastor, his wife along with Svetlana and Olga – a beautiful girl, an orphan and now a consistent believer and worker in a local bank – and is the product of Svetlana’s efforts to reach the orphaned children of Ukraine.
We finally closed out the evening by stopping by a super-market and getting some traveling foods for our journey back to Kiev on the overnight train Monday evening. But you always conclude the evening with some tea, cookies, candies, cheese or whatever you desire. We did and we finished at 10:00 p.m.
God bless and thanks for your prayers,
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday, October 11
Saturday began and ended. (That’s a reverse version of the statement in Genesis – “and the evening and morning were the first day.”).
Nine o’clock and we climbed into the pastor’s new Nissan mini-mini van (five seats) and headed for the location of our one day conference. Ten churches were represented with their people and pastor. I am not sure how big the crowd was, but they were crowded into the foyer of a former Lenin Cultural Center which the church in that city purchased for $5,000 (I wish I knew the name of the city – at least spell it since I would have a hard time pronouncing it.) I can only imagine what the building looked like when it was new. It is a smaller version of the building here where we are living. They have not completed the renovation of the entire building and so we were only able to use the foyer.
I toured this one on Friday and it is huge. There are three floors in the front and rooms almost too numerous to count and I probably could if I tried, since I did pass the first grade with flying colors. I’ll show you the pictures of this when we return.
Anyway, back to the conference. There were three services scheduled. When we entered I was handed a schedule for the day with every event listed and the time for each to start and finish. Now that is hard on me. But since they allotted me one hour to preach I settled in to wait for my moment. The wait was well worth it because the worship was super! The Spirit of God moved throughout the worship and I knew that God was wanting to do something special today. I did not even take time to say anything about what I do or where I am from or any such thing, I just started preaching. As they say, confession is good for the soul and so I will confess I used slightly more than my hour but the shouting and response in the latter part of my message just inspired me and moved me in such a way that if it had not been for the timer on my IPOD which I was using to record the service I might still be preaching.
Svetlana Pokhodina requested a place for us to rest while they had their seminar and took care of some networking business. The pastor – man I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about him. Driving up to the facility a tall, well dressed young man reached out and opened the door and then almost shouted, “I know you! I attended your college in Kiev. Dr. Deaton, welcome to my church.” Anyway, he took us to his apartment and allowed us to rest, drink tea and wait for his return.
Lunch was served at the orphanage he operates in a neighboring city. God also provided a miracle for him and he was able to acquire a building in which he now houses about one dozen children who were either or the streets or abandoned by their parent(s). The building is clean and neat but there is so much work to be done before. Many of us would look and the building and agree with the building department of our city and say “Close the doors now!” But you can see from the Church and the Orphanage and his home that this pastor does everything with excellence and has a vision for ministry. O - the food was simple - salanka soup, corn/potato sea-food salad, chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes and capped off with tea, lemon slices, some kiwi, banana slices, and another fruit (which I can’t remember).
A short trip returned us to the site of the conference with the service underway. Again the place was packed tight and sitting on the front row I had the worship team so close I could reach out and touch them without a hard stretch. We were all tired but as we drew to the close of the message the Spirit began to move and the healing power of God began to flow. I cannot tell you how many miracles were testified to by the raising of hands but it seemed as though everyone had their hand raised to say I received at least one healing. Praise God!
We returned to our abode (I like that word!) about 6:45 p.m. and served nourishment to our flesh which was crying out for some food.
That ends the experiences of Saturday. Except – it seems that every place we go there is someone around us that is sick with some type of virus. The pastor with whom we are staying got very sick during the first service and spent the rest of the day in his van. We are trusting the Lord to keep us well so we can continue the ministry set before us. We have two days left here in the Donetsk area. Sunday I have three services 8:00 (it is one hour from the second), 11:00 and 5:00. I will not return to the second service except in time to walk into the pulpit and share the Word. I’ve told Marilyn to be ready because I might just have to spend a lot of time praying for the people in the first service and so she would share the Word. Guess what reaction I got! Your are correct!
Anyway, God bless and thanks for your prayers!
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Nine o’clock and we climbed into the pastor’s new Nissan mini-mini van (five seats) and headed for the location of our one day conference. Ten churches were represented with their people and pastor. I am not sure how big the crowd was, but they were crowded into the foyer of a former Lenin Cultural Center which the church in that city purchased for $5,000 (I wish I knew the name of the city – at least spell it since I would have a hard time pronouncing it.) I can only imagine what the building looked like when it was new. It is a smaller version of the building here where we are living. They have not completed the renovation of the entire building and so we were only able to use the foyer.
I toured this one on Friday and it is huge. There are three floors in the front and rooms almost too numerous to count and I probably could if I tried, since I did pass the first grade with flying colors. I’ll show you the pictures of this when we return.
Anyway, back to the conference. There were three services scheduled. When we entered I was handed a schedule for the day with every event listed and the time for each to start and finish. Now that is hard on me. But since they allotted me one hour to preach I settled in to wait for my moment. The wait was well worth it because the worship was super! The Spirit of God moved throughout the worship and I knew that God was wanting to do something special today. I did not even take time to say anything about what I do or where I am from or any such thing, I just started preaching. As they say, confession is good for the soul and so I will confess I used slightly more than my hour but the shouting and response in the latter part of my message just inspired me and moved me in such a way that if it had not been for the timer on my IPOD which I was using to record the service I might still be preaching.
Svetlana Pokhodina requested a place for us to rest while they had their seminar and took care of some networking business. The pastor – man I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about him. Driving up to the facility a tall, well dressed young man reached out and opened the door and then almost shouted, “I know you! I attended your college in Kiev. Dr. Deaton, welcome to my church.” Anyway, he took us to his apartment and allowed us to rest, drink tea and wait for his return.
Lunch was served at the orphanage he operates in a neighboring city. God also provided a miracle for him and he was able to acquire a building in which he now houses about one dozen children who were either or the streets or abandoned by their parent(s). The building is clean and neat but there is so much work to be done before. Many of us would look and the building and agree with the building department of our city and say “Close the doors now!” But you can see from the Church and the Orphanage and his home that this pastor does everything with excellence and has a vision for ministry. O - the food was simple - salanka soup, corn/potato sea-food salad, chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes and capped off with tea, lemon slices, some kiwi, banana slices, and another fruit (which I can’t remember).
A short trip returned us to the site of the conference with the service underway. Again the place was packed tight and sitting on the front row I had the worship team so close I could reach out and touch them without a hard stretch. We were all tired but as we drew to the close of the message the Spirit began to move and the healing power of God began to flow. I cannot tell you how many miracles were testified to by the raising of hands but it seemed as though everyone had their hand raised to say I received at least one healing. Praise God!
We returned to our abode (I like that word!) about 6:45 p.m. and served nourishment to our flesh which was crying out for some food.
That ends the experiences of Saturday. Except – it seems that every place we go there is someone around us that is sick with some type of virus. The pastor with whom we are staying got very sick during the first service and spent the rest of the day in his van. We are trusting the Lord to keep us well so we can continue the ministry set before us. We have two days left here in the Donetsk area. Sunday I have three services 8:00 (it is one hour from the second), 11:00 and 5:00. I will not return to the second service except in time to walk into the pulpit and share the Word. I’ve told Marilyn to be ready because I might just have to spend a lot of time praying for the people in the first service and so she would share the Word. Guess what reaction I got! Your are correct!
Anyway, God bless and thanks for your prayers!
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friday, October 10
This day began too fast – too early! But the sleep was good. And it means that I have finally rounded the curve and made the adjustment to the seven hour time difference. NOW – if only my stomach will make that curve and adjust to the different eating schedule. Marilyn even said that she slept good!
Today was a heavy day, particularly for Marilyn. She had two teaching sessions. Both of us began at 11:00 and finished at 1:30. I gathered with the pastors and Marilyn with pastor’s wives.
My assignment was to share about Church Leadership and authority and then open the floor for questions. I took about 45 minutes and then after a slow start the questions began. Questions about elders and their qualifications and how to select them. Questions about the amount of authority is vested in a pastor. What position do you hold on lady pastors? How do you handle difficult “sheep? And on and on go the questions.
Marilyn only had two wives in her first session, but it was very profitable time of sharing and dealing on a more personal level about the difficulties of being a pastor’s wife and handling of the home and all the other duties that come their way. Once again, these wives have the same struggles as the wives of the pastors in the US, Peru, Belgium, Australia and on around the world. The only difference is the various pressures and difficulties of the different societies and cultures.
Lunch provided a welcome break and an opportunity to share on a different level as we all met in the youth room and were provided a nice meal – chicken (I still wonder how they get the skin so crisp and tasty – oh get off of it – my cholesterol is okay, too bad yours isn’t or you could enjoy the crispy skin and the great flavor of the meat because of the way they fry it.)
I returned to our room to complete my assignment of preparing Marilyn’s scriptures in Russian for the interpreter. It makes it much easier and smoother to hand the interpreter a list of scriptures in their language and in order of need. I discovered this the first time I preached in Ukraine. In fact, my first interpreter asked for a list of scriptures but still was too slow for me in finding the slips of paper used to mark them. So I started preparing a list. How? One of my Bible programs has over 100 Bibles of various languages and by entering the English reference it will also present the selected scripture in the desired language. Nifty!
Marilyn’s second session began at 5:00 and lasted until 7:30. There were over 70 ladies in the meeting. I slipped up at 6:15, 6:30, 6:45 and 7:15 and the action was still taking place. On the 6:45 viewing, it seemed to me that every lady in the room was talking. In fact the majority were. I suppose she made one of those statements of hers that set the Ukrainian ladies back on their heels. Apparently, from all that Marilyn told me afterwards, they knew what she said was true, but wanted to justify why they could not change and adjust to spend more time on the priorities of family and their home. When I went back the last time she was surrounded by ladies asking personal questions.
We, Svetlana, Marilyn and I, were joined about 8:30 by Pastor Validimir Luda Gorbachev for a light supper. The laughter began as the three ladies expressed the concerns of those in their session. At one time, Svetlana, had to go out on her own and tell one lady that she was asking the same question for the fourth time and if she did not want to change then give one more year and if nothing changed to leave her husband, grown children. Sounds bad? No they were already divorced but she still lived there as a slave and served vodka, beer to both her ex-husband and children. Do you know what? That lady never heard anything! She was so engrossed in self-pity she could not live without the negative, immoral behavior of her children and her ex-husband. Sad – sad – sad!
And then Marilyn was in the kitchen area talking with a pastor's wife until 10:00 p.m.
O yes! This day actually began in a very frustrating manner. When I opened my computer to check the emails my computer had deleted the Internet Provider control and I had to re-do it. In fact I have had to do it the last two mornings. Something is not right! Then of all things, the phone I used to connect to Svit-on-Line had exhausted its pre-purchased time. So I had to wait until 8:00 this evening to complete the re-installation and secure our days emails. I can handle that, but not Marilyn. She waits with great anticipation to get the three or four (average) emails that we receive. It keeps her in touch with home and those she loves. So thank all of your for helping keep her happy. By-the-way: PLEASE do not send pictures or attachments or forward emails with nice things to read and look at and listen to. I have to download through our cell phone and the speed is very slow and it takes too long. So I stop everything and close out AOL and then go back on and instead of doing Automatic AOL which is faster and easier, I do the one-step-at-a-time and then delete the picture and large attachment emails. Sorry, but it has taken over 10 minutes and even more to download some great and loving things that you send. If you need to send a document, just copy it and insert it in the email itself. It works much easier and faster. If we need something that is large, or pictures, then we will tell you who to send it to so we can then get it.
Thanks for all your help and love.
Saturday comes and then Sunday. Saturday we leave at 8:30 and will return about 7:30 (I think). I will be ministering in two services and sandwiched in-between will be lunch and a business session for the network of Churches who we are serving.
God bless!
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Today was a heavy day, particularly for Marilyn. She had two teaching sessions. Both of us began at 11:00 and finished at 1:30. I gathered with the pastors and Marilyn with pastor’s wives.
My assignment was to share about Church Leadership and authority and then open the floor for questions. I took about 45 minutes and then after a slow start the questions began. Questions about elders and their qualifications and how to select them. Questions about the amount of authority is vested in a pastor. What position do you hold on lady pastors? How do you handle difficult “sheep? And on and on go the questions.
Marilyn only had two wives in her first session, but it was very profitable time of sharing and dealing on a more personal level about the difficulties of being a pastor’s wife and handling of the home and all the other duties that come their way. Once again, these wives have the same struggles as the wives of the pastors in the US, Peru, Belgium, Australia and on around the world. The only difference is the various pressures and difficulties of the different societies and cultures.
Lunch provided a welcome break and an opportunity to share on a different level as we all met in the youth room and were provided a nice meal – chicken (I still wonder how they get the skin so crisp and tasty – oh get off of it – my cholesterol is okay, too bad yours isn’t or you could enjoy the crispy skin and the great flavor of the meat because of the way they fry it.)
I returned to our room to complete my assignment of preparing Marilyn’s scriptures in Russian for the interpreter. It makes it much easier and smoother to hand the interpreter a list of scriptures in their language and in order of need. I discovered this the first time I preached in Ukraine. In fact, my first interpreter asked for a list of scriptures but still was too slow for me in finding the slips of paper used to mark them. So I started preparing a list. How? One of my Bible programs has over 100 Bibles of various languages and by entering the English reference it will also present the selected scripture in the desired language. Nifty!
Marilyn’s second session began at 5:00 and lasted until 7:30. There were over 70 ladies in the meeting. I slipped up at 6:15, 6:30, 6:45 and 7:15 and the action was still taking place. On the 6:45 viewing, it seemed to me that every lady in the room was talking. In fact the majority were. I suppose she made one of those statements of hers that set the Ukrainian ladies back on their heels. Apparently, from all that Marilyn told me afterwards, they knew what she said was true, but wanted to justify why they could not change and adjust to spend more time on the priorities of family and their home. When I went back the last time she was surrounded by ladies asking personal questions.
We, Svetlana, Marilyn and I, were joined about 8:30 by Pastor Validimir Luda Gorbachev for a light supper. The laughter began as the three ladies expressed the concerns of those in their session. At one time, Svetlana, had to go out on her own and tell one lady that she was asking the same question for the fourth time and if she did not want to change then give one more year and if nothing changed to leave her husband, grown children. Sounds bad? No they were already divorced but she still lived there as a slave and served vodka, beer to both her ex-husband and children. Do you know what? That lady never heard anything! She was so engrossed in self-pity she could not live without the negative, immoral behavior of her children and her ex-husband. Sad – sad – sad!
And then Marilyn was in the kitchen area talking with a pastor's wife until 10:00 p.m.
O yes! This day actually began in a very frustrating manner. When I opened my computer to check the emails my computer had deleted the Internet Provider control and I had to re-do it. In fact I have had to do it the last two mornings. Something is not right! Then of all things, the phone I used to connect to Svit-on-Line had exhausted its pre-purchased time. So I had to wait until 8:00 this evening to complete the re-installation and secure our days emails. I can handle that, but not Marilyn. She waits with great anticipation to get the three or four (average) emails that we receive. It keeps her in touch with home and those she loves. So thank all of your for helping keep her happy. By-the-way: PLEASE do not send pictures or attachments or forward emails with nice things to read and look at and listen to. I have to download through our cell phone and the speed is very slow and it takes too long. So I stop everything and close out AOL and then go back on and instead of doing Automatic AOL which is faster and easier, I do the one-step-at-a-time and then delete the picture and large attachment emails. Sorry, but it has taken over 10 minutes and even more to download some great and loving things that you send. If you need to send a document, just copy it and insert it in the email itself. It works much easier and faster. If we need something that is large, or pictures, then we will tell you who to send it to so we can then get it.
Thanks for all your help and love.
Saturday comes and then Sunday. Saturday we leave at 8:30 and will return about 7:30 (I think). I will be ministering in two services and sandwiched in-between will be lunch and a business session for the network of Churches who we are serving.
God bless!
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Thursday, October 9
The journey from Kiev to Donetsk begins with getting accustomed to your “coupe.” After all luggage is stored and the stewardess comes by and takes your linens while mumbling something in Russian that you later find out means, “They are doing an inspection and I must take these to the inspectors.” As she rumbles of muttering to herself we try to order “chi” (tea) and after one hour we come to the realization that she did not hear us or chose to ignore us.
Suddenly she appears sand when translated it means, “I’ll bring your linens in a little while.” With a quick interjection the “chi” is reordered and again she rumbles of muttering to herself. But this time she reappears still muttering but with a cup of “chi” in her hand. Before arriving in Donetsk she comes with her hand out with the tab to collect the eight “hryvna” (pronounced with a “g”) for four cups of “chi” (about 18 cents per cup).
We break out the food from the sacks and indulge our flesh with some cheese on bread with butter, some water and/or “chi,” some Pringles, some yogurt and some cookies. You can tell that this was “Some Meal!”
Finally about 10:00 (that’s two and one half hours after leaving Kiev) someone suggests that we make our bunks and go to bed. Picture this: Three adults standing between two bunks - two high in a space about 24-30 inches wide and each one trying to unroll a three-inch thick bedroll, place a sheet on it and then another to cover up with. We accomplish it and then I step out so ... well-let me put it this way: Suppose I was traveling by myself and purchased a bunk in a coupe. There are four bunks in each. I have no choice as to whom my room mates would be. They could be male and they could be female; sober or drunk; old or young – but when it comes time for bed you take turns stepping into the hall while the one or two of the same sexes put on their “PJ’s” (you read that correctly: pajamas”). Back to the real story: Since I was the only male I got out into the hall and waited. Then because I slept in the clothes I had on, I was permitted back in and pulled my tired body up to the top.
What do you do now? You are supposed to sleep! But it is too early! So I watch two movies on my IPOD and then take to sleeping aids, climb down, and lead my wife, who has decided to join me, down to the end of the car to the necessary room. We return, and climb into our bunks – mine up high and shuffle the pillow around and attempt to go to sleep.
The car lunges and you hear the air brakes being applied, recognizing that we are making another stop to pick up or let off passengers. The lurching tells you that we are leaving this station and so you tell yourself that you are going to “SLEEP!” Now for a person who snores and had been told about it often - wife, son, daughter, grand kids and anyone else who had the honor of sleeping the same room or who entered the house when I was asleep on the couch – you tend to feel self-conscious. So you say with all faith -“I will not snore tonight. I don’t want to awaken our one traveling companion who is already asleep.” So either by a subconscious thought process or by the many and various sounds of the moving train over the rails or maybe by your own snoring, you awaken many times hoping that you have not been sawing the logs too loudly. In the morning almost the first thing out of your wife’s mouth is the confirmation of that which you feared. O well, that is the privilege of traveling with such a ???? – whatever.
You know? I can’t believe I have said all this when I am supposed to be telling you about what is happening.
We arrived on time and were met by the pastor’s wife, a deacon and a pastor from on of the Churches in the same Union (that’s denomination in the US). We are whisked away, luggage and all, to the Church van but not before Marilyn and I look to our right as we carry our luggage down on set of stairs and the rest turn to their left. Suddenly we find ourselves all alone. Strangers all around and not one familiar face. We stand still – that is after I have moved more than she wants me to. In a few moments a familiar face heads our way and we move in that direction and continue our way to the van.
One hour later we pull up to what was at one time a fabulous building – a Cultural Center in honor of Lenin. It is now the home of Rhema Church. Thank God for the Lenin and Stalin. Without them the Church in Ukraine would not have any buildings. They built them for themselves they thought BUT GOD had other plans.
We climb the semicircular stairs to the second floor, enter a double set of doors and traverse down the hall to our room. Excellent! Perfecto! (Oops that last word is Spanish – I think). Since it is just 8:30, we are told that in one hour we will have breakfast. We unpack everything and hang up our dress clothes so the wrinkles will fall out.
Breakfast is served - oatmeal, ham, cheese, bread, some sweets, some candy, of course - tea (I mean Chi). We get acquainted with Ludmilla, the pastor’s wife and are informed about the course of the services –ladies’ service that is and so I make my exit to get some sleep before lunch which will be at 1:30. Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z – I got it!
As we eat lunch Pastor Gorbachev arrives and we share our life history and listen to his – that is after we each asked for it. Plans are made for the coming days and we head back to room to prepare for departure for the Rehabilitation Center at 5:00 and service at 6:00. The drug-rehab center is government sponsored but Bible based - and is the only one like it in Ukraine with a constant population of sixty male or female combinations.
Marilyn and I enjoy their worship, share the Word and as they depart everyone comes by to greet you and give you a hug. One lady hands her Bible to me and indicates she wants me to autograph it. I do and that causes a snow-effect. And so I oblige with my name and the title of the message for the evening – both have the same initials – D D – Dig Deep and they begin to ask Svetlana (Anya’s Mother) what it means – she asks me about the big scribbled D’s and the little words inside them and then tells them. They write it all down in Russian and proceed to depart.
We depart and head back to our room, stop to purchase some food and return to eat it before setting down to get ready for Friday. Marilyn’s assignment is to minister at 11:00 to Pastor’s wives and answer questions while I to the Pastors and then she will speak to the ladies - Pastor’s wives, leaders’s wives and whomever is invited at 5:00. I think I have it free the rest of the day but face two long seminar sessions on Saturday and three sermons on Sunday.
God bless you for your prayers.
Dr. D. & Marilyn
Suddenly she appears sand when translated it means, “I’ll bring your linens in a little while.” With a quick interjection the “chi” is reordered and again she rumbles of muttering to herself. But this time she reappears still muttering but with a cup of “chi” in her hand. Before arriving in Donetsk she comes with her hand out with the tab to collect the eight “hryvna” (pronounced with a “g”) for four cups of “chi” (about 18 cents per cup).
We break out the food from the sacks and indulge our flesh with some cheese on bread with butter, some water and/or “chi,” some Pringles, some yogurt and some cookies. You can tell that this was “Some Meal!”
Finally about 10:00 (that’s two and one half hours after leaving Kiev) someone suggests that we make our bunks and go to bed. Picture this: Three adults standing between two bunks - two high in a space about 24-30 inches wide and each one trying to unroll a three-inch thick bedroll, place a sheet on it and then another to cover up with. We accomplish it and then I step out so ... well-let me put it this way: Suppose I was traveling by myself and purchased a bunk in a coupe. There are four bunks in each. I have no choice as to whom my room mates would be. They could be male and they could be female; sober or drunk; old or young – but when it comes time for bed you take turns stepping into the hall while the one or two of the same sexes put on their “PJ’s” (you read that correctly: pajamas”). Back to the real story: Since I was the only male I got out into the hall and waited. Then because I slept in the clothes I had on, I was permitted back in and pulled my tired body up to the top.
What do you do now? You are supposed to sleep! But it is too early! So I watch two movies on my IPOD and then take to sleeping aids, climb down, and lead my wife, who has decided to join me, down to the end of the car to the necessary room. We return, and climb into our bunks – mine up high and shuffle the pillow around and attempt to go to sleep.
The car lunges and you hear the air brakes being applied, recognizing that we are making another stop to pick up or let off passengers. The lurching tells you that we are leaving this station and so you tell yourself that you are going to “SLEEP!” Now for a person who snores and had been told about it often - wife, son, daughter, grand kids and anyone else who had the honor of sleeping the same room or who entered the house when I was asleep on the couch – you tend to feel self-conscious. So you say with all faith -“I will not snore tonight. I don’t want to awaken our one traveling companion who is already asleep.” So either by a subconscious thought process or by the many and various sounds of the moving train over the rails or maybe by your own snoring, you awaken many times hoping that you have not been sawing the logs too loudly. In the morning almost the first thing out of your wife’s mouth is the confirmation of that which you feared. O well, that is the privilege of traveling with such a ???? – whatever.
You know? I can’t believe I have said all this when I am supposed to be telling you about what is happening.
We arrived on time and were met by the pastor’s wife, a deacon and a pastor from on of the Churches in the same Union (that’s denomination in the US). We are whisked away, luggage and all, to the Church van but not before Marilyn and I look to our right as we carry our luggage down on set of stairs and the rest turn to their left. Suddenly we find ourselves all alone. Strangers all around and not one familiar face. We stand still – that is after I have moved more than she wants me to. In a few moments a familiar face heads our way and we move in that direction and continue our way to the van.
One hour later we pull up to what was at one time a fabulous building – a Cultural Center in honor of Lenin. It is now the home of Rhema Church. Thank God for the Lenin and Stalin. Without them the Church in Ukraine would not have any buildings. They built them for themselves they thought BUT GOD had other plans.
We climb the semicircular stairs to the second floor, enter a double set of doors and traverse down the hall to our room. Excellent! Perfecto! (Oops that last word is Spanish – I think). Since it is just 8:30, we are told that in one hour we will have breakfast. We unpack everything and hang up our dress clothes so the wrinkles will fall out.
Breakfast is served - oatmeal, ham, cheese, bread, some sweets, some candy, of course - tea (I mean Chi). We get acquainted with Ludmilla, the pastor’s wife and are informed about the course of the services –ladies’ service that is and so I make my exit to get some sleep before lunch which will be at 1:30. Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z – I got it!
As we eat lunch Pastor Gorbachev arrives and we share our life history and listen to his – that is after we each asked for it. Plans are made for the coming days and we head back to room to prepare for departure for the Rehabilitation Center at 5:00 and service at 6:00. The drug-rehab center is government sponsored but Bible based - and is the only one like it in Ukraine with a constant population of sixty male or female combinations.
Marilyn and I enjoy their worship, share the Word and as they depart everyone comes by to greet you and give you a hug. One lady hands her Bible to me and indicates she wants me to autograph it. I do and that causes a snow-effect. And so I oblige with my name and the title of the message for the evening – both have the same initials – D D – Dig Deep and they begin to ask Svetlana (Anya’s Mother) what it means – she asks me about the big scribbled D’s and the little words inside them and then tells them. They write it all down in Russian and proceed to depart.
We depart and head back to our room, stop to purchase some food and return to eat it before setting down to get ready for Friday. Marilyn’s assignment is to minister at 11:00 to Pastor’s wives and answer questions while I to the Pastors and then she will speak to the ladies - Pastor’s wives, leaders’s wives and whomever is invited at 5:00. I think I have it free the rest of the day but face two long seminar sessions on Saturday and three sermons on Sunday.
God bless you for your prayers.
Dr. D. & Marilyn
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