Teaching Ministries Intl Sept 2014 news
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Transcript of Teaching Ministries Intl Sept 2014 news
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Teaching Ministries Interna onal PO Box 1483 Snellville, GA 30078 770-972-2205 USA
[email protected] [email protected] (LaVerne)
September 5, 2014
S imfe ropol Crimea Ukraine
Our Mission To open their eyes and turn them from dark-‐ness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanc-‐fied by faith. (Acts 26:18 NIV)
September 1 is the tradi onal first day of classes from Kindergarten through graduate school in the republics of the former Soviet Union. Our staff has been planning for the new school year even before our retreat in Kiev in June. On Saturday, August 30th, they welcomed the new and returning residence of our guest house. To build community and get the rooms in p-top shape and train the students how to care for their floor, everyone was instructed by our team leader. Olya, a true teacher of the 21st Century, used PowerPoint to instruct the stu-‐dents! Olya writes:
We had the most busy, produc ve, resome and awesome day today. The whole house was like a hive full of bees -- everyone buzzing and working. Everything went really well. The majority of the new students were there today. Three boys came to help with moving sofas and heavy things to clean the floor beneath them. We deep cleaned two floors where the students live. Everything is squeaky clean now.
Can you catch the energy and enthusiasm even in this event?! There is much more excitement about the clas-‐ses and events planned for residents and other students.
The Center classes start a er the first two weeks of uni-‐versity classes. Shannon is preparing for her “English & Bible” course; Olya is planning English and Chris an Doc-‐trine classes two evenings a week. The team is planning community building, discipling and outreach events.
The CIU Center
Our Summer
Report!
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Meanwhile, we have faced some unexpected hurdles. Though Crimea is now governed by the laws of the Rus-‐sian Federa on, there is a lot of lawlessness. So called ‘self-defense’ units have considerable authority but minimal supervision. When a busload of these camouflaged, bala-‐clava clad ‘mili a’ raided our college building, they claimed to have come on a mission at the direc on of the head of Crimea’s government. They could have been put up to it by our old nemesis. Our staff is trying to find out the truth so that we know how to proceed. (It is prudent that I do not share here what we know, what we have done and will do to seek to recover our property.) The chances of ge ng our building back are probably non-existent, but we will try and hope to at least get some to-‐ken compensa on.
Allegedly, one of the jus fica ons for taking it is that we are a sect and our ac vi es are illegal. According to Rus-‐sian law, as was the case with Ukrainian law, there is free-‐dom of religion. In prac ce, the Russian Orthodox Church enjoys the status of a state church.
We are s ll trying to discover the laws we need to comply with before we can be charged with non-compliance. The general climate is s ll that a lot of people who should be
Summer Time and the Living is (not) Easy
We had far fewer camps than usual, but we are thankful for the ones we could serve in. Russian laws are much more re-‐stric ve on camps than Ukrainian laws. Even so, it was easier to have one of the damps in Russia than in Crimea - for one thing, easier for the foreign leaders to get visas.
Summary
Natalka spoke at a Union of Chris an Students conference in Simferopol, then went to Russia to facilitate a camp for
French language students (which is usually in Cri-‐mea).
Shannon par cipated in a camp led by and for Crime-‐an Tatars.
Olya a ended a great leadership seminar and Bible and Culture classes near Berlin.
Viktoria went to mainland Ukraine to get a new Ukrainian passport and to visit some of our former team members.
in the know do not know the applicable laws. Na-‐talka was told that she could only be in Crimea for 90 days and then would have to leave for 90 days before being able to return for another 90 days. But now, ‘they’ say that a er 90 days she only has to cross the border of Crimea and then she can re-‐turn for another 90 days. Natalka is about to test that ‘law’.
CIU and TMI are no longer able to work under the non-profit organiza on that we set up in Crimea, nor the two for-profit organiza ons we previously had to set up; now we must create yet one more for-profit business!
I share these “meanwhile, back at the ranch” issues for you to understand what the staff is working through for the sake of the gospel, for the oppor-‐tunity to be used by God’s word and Spirit to reach students with the Good News and to help believers be be er equipped to serve the Lord no ma er what their occupa on.
Please pray regularly for me and our staff and the complica ons we face. Pray that God will con nue to use or dwindling team to touch lives to his glory.
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Anastasia worked in a children’s camp on mainland Ukraine.
The staff conducted a Summer English Camp a er every-‐one was back in Simferopol.
Keep praying for the team and their outreach to students, including orphans.
Natalka’s CCX camp report The con nuing CCX (Union of Chris an Students) is a fruit of our ministry as well as a fruit of CCX’s na onal ministry. Just observe who was there. Vitalik, one of our constant English and Bible students; he was one of the main organizers. Alyona, our key Bible student, was a leader of a small group. Katya, our dorm resident, was a cook and helped with everything. Ira, another one of our English and Bible students, was a par cipant. And I was a speaker for two days.
I taught about what it means to serve God. I tried to show the main point of ministry, which is to receive ministry from God and to have Him as a source of our ministry. My main goal was to encourage students to a deeper rela onship with God and because of that to be used by Him in His ministry for His glory. Students seemed to be very open and recep ve. I really have hope that the CCX ministry will con nue and with coopera on with our ministry will bring lots of fruits among the students.
Natalka’s French camp report from Teberda, Russia It was a good camp, although shorter than when we have it along the Black Sea. More days were needed for travel. Ben said my mission was to save his money :). It means managing finances and communica on with the hotel. To that I would add my usual mission - to observe the stu-‐dents and communicate the Gospel when I see their ears open. As me was short, not much of the mission was accomplished, although I had a few talks about spiritual ma ers. One thing I have no ced, Russian students have some spiritual hunger and are looking for sa sfying it in the Orthodox Church. Also this year there was another the third mission for me and it was to understand Russian students, to love them and to speak to them from my Ukrainian heart. Due to the poli cal situa on it was not easy to be in Russia... especially when people in Russia have lots of misunder-‐standing and disinforma on of what is going on in Ukraine. Quite a few talks were about that topic. Person-‐ally for me it was the experience of figh ng within my soul to forgive the na on which is now at war with my country. It was painful to talk to Russians about poli cs... but anyway it was good in some way to open their eyes to some things.
We cooperate with French without Borders to reach Rus-‐sian speaking university students who study French.
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Shannon’s Crimean Tatar camp report from Crimea
I was put with the youngest group of kids to assist two main leaders. The kids were around the ages of 10 and 11, and we had about 20 in our group. So I tried to help maintain; helped with projects such as cra s; played games; sang songs, assisted as dorm mom, etc.
This was a Chris an camp specifically for Crimean Tatar kids. Most of the kids were not from believing families. Sev-‐eral of them were returning for a second or third me, be-‐cause they really love this camp.
During morning sessions they were taught Bible stories and had to memorize Bible verses in both Russian and Crimean Tatar. In evening sessions they learned Chris an songs in Tatar, played compe ve games on the stage, and listened to lessons by various leaders, such as why smoking is dan-‐gerous and why we can’t live a whole day without sinning. A ernoons consisted of usually swimming in a nearby lake or going hiking in the mountains or playing sports games and compe ons. On the last day, we passed out Tatar children’s reading materials to those who promised to read them. These reading materials were translated by PBT.
And all went away with knowing Bible verses and Chris an songs. Seeds were definitely planted this week!
I personally made two new adult friends, both Crimean Tatar.
Summer English Program at the Center
We had seven students; four of them said they would like to con nue coming to Shannon's classes in the fall. Shannon taught on various themes, including the vocabulary and prac ce of cooking!
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An interes ng hinge of history:
Russia could have been economically greater than US [except that…]
We have completed one full year in what we call the CIU Center (and what students call the House on the Hill). In that year we have con-‐sistently and periodically interacted with over 100 different students. Some are in English classes, some in Bible Classes, and others are in English classes that use the Bible in hopes of reaching unbelievers. Addi onally, we have held conferences, seminars, retreats and other events at the Center which are not counted in the 100+. The center has been a mee ng place for various local ministries, including at least one orphanage outreach ministry and the Un-‐ion of Chris an Students in Ukraine. Our ‘Guest House’ residents have been impacted for Christ as we seek to create a Chris an community in our House. It is a community designed to make unbelievers not only welcome but a racted to what we have to offer.
In spite of obstacles, with faith in God, we have great expecta ons for this new academic year.
Olya’s two leadership/educa onal experiences near Berlin
IFES has sponsored several of our staff for leadership develop-‐ment and Bible study and teaching mentoring seminars.
This summer Olya a ended two separate events near Berlin (for those who like specifics and use maps, the IFES center is at Woltersdorf near Rahnsdorf). One is the leadership program sponsored by Crosscurrents . The other is IFES’s famed Bible and Culture course, which students can take in segments or all at one me at the center.
These programs enhance Olya’s leadership and teaching skills. We are blessed that Olya and Natalka have been chosen for several different programs that are fully funded by IFES.
Some of our graduates work with IFES in Ukraine, where it called by its Russian ini als, CCX (Union of Chris an Students)
Commonwealth Interna onal University’s
Center in Ukraine is a
Disciple-making student ministry
Bible degree gran ng school
Ministry & outreach center
Send dona ons to TMI, PO Box 1483, Snellville, GA 30078. TMI is a non-profit 501(c)3 which quarterly provides tax deduc ble receipts. Make check payable to TMI. Some contributors have their monthly gi automa -‐cally sent by their bank; if you prefer that, let us know and we can tell you how to do it. [email protected]
For a collec on of our videos, click here.
We hope to have a video of the life and work of TMI/CIU in Simferopol next month.
See TMI/Carillets' Newsle ers and Reports
A story from CIU’s new students
Three students from Sevastopol are now residents of our CIU House on the Hill. They were enrolled in a mod-‐ern college which actually forbade the common system of bribery to get in and bribery to get good grades. Fur-‐thermore, their dorm had nice rooms and furnishings with private bathrooms (maybe between two rooms). The facili es in Sevastopol were owned (and probably founded) by a bank (sorry, do not know the na onality of the bank) but it was raided and taken over by “Russians” and will be used for other purposes. The students had to enroll in a Simferopol university and face bribery. They checked out dorms and were shocked with how sub-‐standard they are. They are pleased with our rooms, but they do not compare to the ‘state of the art’ rooms of their sacked Sevastopol school. These three girls are very outgoing and like to be engaged in life, so the staff is ex-‐cited about their addi on to the House. Pray that they will be drawn into the student Bible studies and find Christ at our House on the Hill.
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Anastasia’s Chidren’s camp report from Poltava, Ukraine
The EEM (Eastern European Mission) camp, team “Mayak” (“Lighthouse”) worked at a camp in the Pol-‐tava region of Ukraine this year. The team of 20 members (10 Americans and 10 na onals) worked with around 150 children. But these are just the num-‐bers.
It is always hard to start telling about a camp. Any camp is more than just numbers; it is even more than telling children about Christ. Every camp is pre y much the same, but at the same me, it is always different. A camp is always sharing one’s life with oth-‐ers; it is always about rela onships and bonding. To know a child’s name and his/her story is always more important and precious than any ac vi es you do to-‐gether or gi s you bring with you. It is always about every single child. And it is always children that make the whole difference.
This year camp was excep onal. The team we had, the ac vi es we did and the children we worked with were just wonderful.
In order to connect with each other more, we gath-‐ered as a team two days prior to the camp. We dis-‐cussed the lessons, played games and said prayers about the coming camp.
When we finally met the children we were more than ready and so excited. This year I worked with “home” kids. These were the children from mul -child fami-‐lies. At first I was afraid they would be naughty and not willing to do anything, but later it turned out they were the children any teacher could only dream about. We arrived to the camp on Saturday; the kids would follow us everywhere asking just one ques on, “When do we start our classes?” That was a com-‐pletely new experience for me. We started the camp program on Monday. The children would gladly learn the Bible verse of the day; they enjoyed our simple cra s and they did not want us to leave when our program was over.
One of EEM’s missions is distribu ng Bibles and Chris-‐an literature all over the world free of charge. So
they brought Bibles and several different books of Bible stories for children to the camp. The children
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were so happy to get the books! You see, it is to orphans that we abundantly pour out Chris an liter-‐ature, but home children do not have such an opportunity. So our kids were grateful for the gi s and during the nap me I could o en see some of them reading their books of Bible stories for children. And every day before the class started they would tell about a sto-‐ry they had read earlier, inter-‐rup ng each other.
Several words about the war and the children. The war could be felt in every day of our life at camp. There was a girl in my group, Kira, who wanted me to teach her some words and phrases in English. She easily coped with “Hello,” “My name is Kira” and “I am from Ukraine.” But at some point she asked me what was the word for “war” in English. I asked her why she would need to know such word. The answer of the 8 year old girl struke me, “I need to know the word because there is war in Ukraine.” Simply so.
Now and then I could hear the boys playing war be-‐tween separa sts and Ukrainian armies. If our cra involved pain ng or drawing, those would be mostly blue and yellow - the na onal colors of Ukraine. We did e-dye, the first two dyes we ran out of were… again blue and yellow.
Once we made a flag of Ukraine out of beads on safety pins as a cra . At some point, when everyone was absorbed in the process of making their own flag, one of the boys started singing the anthem of Ukraine. Other kids joined
him. 8 year old children knew the anthem of their country! (When I was 8, I only knew how to find the Princess in “Super Mario.”) We sang the anthem twice. I was holding back tears while feeling ngles down my spine.
I am grateful to the Lord for this me and connec on. The people on the team made those weeks special. But it is the children I’ve met that made those weeks unforge able. As our team leader once said, “Our kids made a huge impact in our lives. They taught us more than we taught them. They were open and real in everything we discussed and did.”