Olga Kovalenko
Ukraine October 2013
UKRAINE A Rich Christian Heritage
kraine came into existence in the ninth century and was the centre of the original Russian state. It was dominated and fought over for centuries by a succession of powerful entities. When the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917, the ensuing freedom was short-lived as The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) dominated Ukraine’s countryside in 1921. Joseph Stalin’s policies led to ravaging famines that saw more than eight million Ukrainians perish while others fell beneath the ordered purges. During World War II the Nazis killed five million more.
the people of Ukraine a glimmer of hope; it seems that in the midst of this disaster was the beginning of the end of the USSR. Finally, political freedom came with independence in 1991. Today as Ukraine sits sandwiched between Russia and Europe, it remains a divided nation. Those living in the western part of the country seek closer friendship with Europe; others wish to establish closer ties with Russia, which supplies most of Ukraine’s industrial energy needs. Politically, there remains to this day a small but powerful Communist base.
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Ukraine is a land of wide, fertile agricultural plains with large pockets of heavy industry in the east. A significant minority of the population are Russians or use Russian as their first language. The Chernobyl incident alarmed the entire world. About eight percent of Ukraine’s territory was contaminated from the accident. Millions have suffered as a result from long-term radiation poisoning. The first president upon independence, Leonid Kravchuk, served during a period of economic decline and runaway inflation. Discontent has continued under subsequent There was no relief as Ukraine languished for leadership. four decades after the war under the harsh rule of the Soviets. The meltdown of the Ukraine has a strong Christian legacy with nuclear power plant Chernobyl in 1986 gave Slavic Christianity born in Kiev 1,000 years
ago. Known as the “Bible Belt” during the Soviet era, churches here suffered greatly until the nation’s independence. Evangelicals emerged stronger and more numerous after 130 years of sustained persecution in which millions of Christians were killed. Freedom of religion prevails; however, there is no official law that assures that will remain in effect. Living in a key nation bridging east and west, most Ukrainians are part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church comprised of several different factions. Leadership training is likely the primary need for the church today. Twenty years of sustained growth has created thousands of new congregations requiring trained leadership. There are also tens of thousands of street children, with over 100,000 living in orphanages and others
very specific and detailed vision for Ukraine. Summed up in a simple statement, Toli’s plan is this: to reach every home at least once every five years. His motto is simple: “It needs to be done. It can be done. Lord willing, it will be done!”
Brother Toli compares it to eating an elephant, one bite at a time. Here’s that plan broken down into the “one bite at a time” making it possible to reach every home once every five years: 46,000,000 people with 4 people per home = 11,500,000 families (homes) to reach = 2,300,000 families to reach per year for five years. There are 25 regions in Ukraine = 92,000 families per region per year to reach = 7,700 families per region per month to reach. Toli also has a goal in mind to double EHC’s evangelism efforts of home-to-home literature distribution every year. Here is what that looks like in a five-year time span:
VLukas
2,302,235 pieces of literature
“It needs to be done. It can be done. Lord willing, it will be done!” Reaching every home in ukraine once every five years
1,151,118 pieces of literature
in precarious living situations. Many of these suffer health complications from Chernobyl. In 1991 along with this indentured population, Every Home for Christ celebrated Ukraine’s independence and the sweet taste of freedom. EHC has remained steadfast these past 22 years desiring to see every home in this nation reached with the Gospel. In 2009 EHC appointed Anatoliy (Toli) Kushnir as National Director. Toli is committed and motivated to see his nation reached with the Good News of Jesus Christ. This brother has a
659,955 pieces of literature
242,300 pieces of literature 111,050 pieces of literature 2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
CONTINUE TO REMEMBER THE POOR GALATIANS 2:10 In Galatians chapter 2 James, Peter and John recognised that Paul had been entrusted with the task of preaching the Gospel to the gentiles and they agreed he should go and preach to the gentiles. In verse 10 it says...
In Malawi and Zambia Every Home for Christ gives seed, tools, equipment and training for people to grow their own food, teaching them to save seed for the next year so in the future they will have food even if they don't get help.
"All they asked was that he should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" Paul said.
We also have training in health, hygiene and nutrition.
So at Every Home for Christ we have adopted this strategy too. We are going house-tohouse with the Gospel and we "continue to remember the poor" as in Galatians 2:10. The next pages will tell you something of what we are doing but in summary Every Home for Christ/Global concern has schools in Bangladesh and India and sewing classes, personal hygiene and nutrition training for adults. Every Home for Christ has a rickshaw project in Bangladesh helping men to buy their own rickshaw at a reduced price and training them how to manage their own business so they have funds to send their children to school and buy their own house.
In the Amazon, Brazil, malaria is a killer and this year we will distribute mosquito nets , have health, hygiene and nutrition training. In Togo there is an Every Home for Christ medical clinic and in addition to this there are 100 volunteers who go to the villages to help the sick and train others in medicine so they can too. In Ethiopia we assist with prison work headed up by Set Befekadu, teaching prisoners how to grow food while they are in prison as well as after they leave prison and also training them in other manual work. This is a brief outline and on the next pages and in the months ahead we will tell you more.
"For God so loved the world He gave ..." John 3:16
Every Home Global Concern
Helping the poorest of the poor, healing the sick and educating for a better life
The power of choice... I woke up this morning with a spring in my step, the kids slept in, the sunshine is up and I started getting ready for work... I opened the cupboard to have brekkie, put my shoes on, brushed my teeth, said goodbye to the kids and off I went for the train...
And it dawned on me... everything I have done this morning has been a choice. I chose what to wear to work, what to have for brekkie (toast, weet-bix, cornflakes, porridge); which milk (lite milk, rice milk or full cream); what shoes to wear to work (I had a number to choose from), what toothbrush (my electric or hand-held)... I left my kids in safety with their dad knowing they will be well cared for (and not made to go to work). I even chose to walk or drive to the train station & then decided whether to pay for my ticket with cash or card... and that’s just in 1 hour! I live a life of choice. Probably my children also will live a life of choice, for the simple reason – they were born into an educated family in Australia. My 3 year old often says “It’s not fair!!” And he is right – it isn’t. It isn’t fair that we get to make so many choices in a day, when others do not. But we all have choices that unite us... we can choose what we believe, what we think, what our attitude will be, and whether or not we will take the opportunities that are in front of us. Our hope for the India village children of Annupampattu and the slum schools in Bangladesh (as pictured on the opposite page), is that they will be empowered to choose. To choose to believe in themselves, to think intellectually, to come with a good attitude each day, to learn and to embrace the opportunities that are in front of them. While these children may not have been born into an educated family, it is possible their own children may be.
By supporting children to have a primary education, you are not just providing schooling, you are providing poor children with possibilities they may otherwise never have had. As they embrace the opportunity of education that you are giving them... they may just change their own lives as well as that of the next generation. Their own children may be born into a family where they have “a choice”. The definition of Choice is simply:“An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.” You are giving children the option to choose something other than poverty. Thank you.
- Katherine Franks
Its Harry's 5th birthday! And what does he want? 100 mozzie nets to help kids in Africa! "We have to get the kids healthy" Harry says "They are getting sick and dying from getting a mozzie bite!" Harry is talking about the 1 child every 30 seconds that dies from the mosquito borne disease - malaria. Malaria is a leading cause of death and mortality in Africa, it prevents people from working their farms, children from attending school, the disease leaves many children orphaned, and leaves many parents without children. It is "that"serious. The majority of these children live in Sub-Sahara Africa and this is where Every Home Global Concern is working to decrease the incidence of Malaria. We work with local partners to distribute mosquito nets to poor village subsistence farmers who are involved in our Food Security Projects. So far it is working, mortality is decreasing in these areas and work productivity increasing. So Harry wants to keep helping! Harry first heard about malaria when his mum read the Every Home Global Concern newsletter and told him that there are kids who have so little, but that we can actually help them. She told him how a mozzie net could help Harry Sampson placing the last stickers them, and Harry decided that is what they should do!
"I have a chart on my wall and every time I get $10 I put a sticker on, were going to buy 100 nets!" Harry says.
on his rocket chart which counted the number of mosquito nets he had raised money for.
Harry says excitedly "I also want a Gup for my birthday (a toy from a kids TV show Octonauts) but I can have both! A Gup to play with and I can give mozzie nets to other kids too!" Already Harry has reached his birthday goal of 100 nets to 100 families at $10 each but if you want to join in and encourage your own kids to buy nets for children who need them in Africa, you can give a gift using the enclosed reply slip. If you want to join in and encourage your own kids to buy nets for children who need them in Africa and would like to know how Harry did this please contact us. Tell us about it too!
Thailand Poised for Breakthrough!
Land of Smiles, Land of the Free The Kingdom of Thailand has long been a haven of stability and freedom in the troubled region of Southeast Asia. Thailand means “Land of the Free” because it is the only Southeast Asian nation that has never been overtaken by a European power, and in many ways this name is an accurate reflection of the nation and people of Thailand. This country often called the “Land of Smiles,” with its lush landscape, a tropical climate, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, can certainly appear to be a ray of hope for true freedom in Asia. However, the Thai people have not always enjoyed the benefits of freedom—and even now, hundreds of thousands remain in spiritual bondage. While relatively stable today, Thailand has experienced its share of political upheaval in recent years. Thailand is a predominately Buddhist nation (84.1 percent of the population is Buddhist), but certain provinces in the south are home to Muslim majorities. The radicalization of Islam in this region has resulted in extreme violence, and thousands have been killed and wounded in the clashes over the past nine years. Both political and religious concerns continue to drive this conflict today. An Open Door for a Move of God!
Despite these challenges, many Christian leaders familiar with the nation believe Thailand is poised for a breakthrough in the advance of the Gospel! With freedom of religion guaranteed by Thailand’s constitution, there is an open door for a move of God in this country. We very well could see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and rapid multiplication of the Church in coming years in Thailand! Every Home for Christ in Thailand EHC in Thailand is already seeing salvation come to the Thai—in fact, we have been experiencing the power of the Lord at work in this nation for many years! Since 1971, EHC Thailand has laboured to reach every home in the country with a clear presentation of the Gospel, one home at a time. When literature evangelism results in responses to the Gospel, those responses are followed-up with EHC’s Bible correspondence course. New believers are connected with a local church or, in areas where no churches existed previously, Christ Groups are planted. To date, 136,363 responses to the Gospel have been received and followed-up in the EHC Thailand office, and 122 Christ Groups have been planted throughout the nation!
A historically unstable political scene and violence in the south make ministry in Thailand difficult. While there has been a Christian presence in Thailand for many decades, church growth has long been stunted by its syncretizing with Buddhist beliefs and high rates of backsliding, and churches have been concentrated in Creative Strategies Bangkok and the north due largely to the In addition to home-to-home evangelism, southern Muslim majority.
EHC Asia-Pacific Regional Director Manasa Kolivuso (far left) shares the Gospel with a Buddhist monk in Thailand.
the EHC Thailand team is using creative strategies that reach nontraditional homes and declare the Good News to as many Thai as possible. For example, teams have carried out special outreaches in prisons for people whose homes are cells. Buakab reports, “There are 143 prisons in Thailand. So far we have ministered in over 20 of them, personally presenting the Gospel to each inmate. During special seasons we have also been allowed to send gospel literature into about 40 more prisons. We plan to work in all prisons in the near future!” Other creative ministry strategies include outreaches to children, a special project to reach Buddhist monks, and radio ministry. EHC Thailand teams work with schools for special ministry to children. Many schools welcome the teams, allowing them to present the Gospel to their entire student bodies in school auditoriums.
Buakab estimates at least 500 children were saved through these school presentations in 2012! EHC teams in Thailand have also seen great success in a special project aimed at reaching Buddhist monks, who are often genuine and honest seekers of truth ready to hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. After personally presenting the testimony of Christ, EHC workers spend time in conversation with the monks and then offer them Bibles and Bible courses. In a recent six-month period, 128 monks received Bibles and Bible courses, and many have shown great interest in the Gospel of Jesus! Praise Him! Raised from the Dead! EHC Thailand is also spreading the gospel message on radio programs—a strategy that is especially helpful in areas that are not as friendly to believers. Buakab tells us over 20 radio stations are currently airing the EHC program.
One Thai father listened to the EHC radio program just after the death of his son. Hearing about a God who could heal the sick and bring the dead back to life, the man called the pastor of a local church. He said to the pastor, “I heard the program from EHC, and I know your God can heal the sick and raise the dead. Please come to my home and pray that my son will come back to life!” The pastor, unable to refuse, went to the man’s house and cried out to God for the life of the son. As soon as the pastor finished praying, the son began moving his fingers slowly, then coughing, and finally he woke up, alive again! An EHC team travelled to the area just one week later and found the father and son were already doing their job—they were witnessing to everyone and eight people had already received the Lord! Pray for Thailand Through every home-tohome evangelism, EHC is reaching Thailand for Christ!