PIONEERING PODIL IN KYIV

John 4:35, "Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."

Hello!! My name is Maria Peace from Kyiv, Ukraine. My family and I have moved to Ukraine seven years ago as permanent layman missionaries for UBF. Misn. John works in an international school as a teacher. Thank you for all your prayers and support for our family.

Misn. Peter Kim is our chapter director of Kyiv UBF and the CIS director. We have 4 chapters in Ukraine: Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. In the fall of this year we will open up a 2nd chapter in Kyiv the capital of Ukraine through our family.

God has blessed Ukraine as a Missionary sending nation. Our chapter has sent out missionaries to three countries. To the US we sent out M. Anastasiya Perry to New Jersey and M. Ruth Usomirsky to Chicago. To the Muslim country we sent out M. Point Levisky and his family to Istanbul Turkey. Recently to Europe we sent out Misn. Anton Ibramnovich to Milan, Italy as a student missionary. As God establish Philippine UBF through a student missionary may God do the same for Italy UBF. May God raise M. Anton as a faithful man of God. Please pray for him to keep his faith there.

Misn. Anton, who studied Bible with Shepherd Noah was an active participant of our English Club at the main Kyiv UBF Center. He joined because he needed to speak English for his studies in Italy. He knew English but he could not speak because of his lack of practice. Our English Club has about 15-20 members. We sing praise songs in English and study Bible passages and have lively discussions. We finished studying the Book of James and Nehemiah. In the Fall we will begin the study of Philippians. We have Movie night and excursions. Before coming to the US we just had our English Club camping trip in which we had 15 attendants and had 4 messages on John 3:16 in English and translated into Ukrainian. Many students are very interested in learning English. Shepherdess Olena was not interested to study the Bible but when she heard there was an American missionary who teaches Bible in English she began to study the Bible. Through six years of English Bible study she has grown to be a Bible teacher and her English has improved. Many of our students think that she is an American and are shock to find out that she really is a Ukrainian. Olena is a top Phd student in the Ukrainian language. She recently married to Shepherd Sasha who is now the leader of our fellowship. Olena's Bible student, Tamara came to our church because she also wanted to improve her English. She is an excellent student and has just received her Bachelor degree in French, German and English language. She is fluent in French and English. She is committed to our SWS and BS and growing in her personal relationship with Jesus. Oksana also came to study the Bible in English. She just graduated from High School and will enter a Language University in this Fall. She has been faithful to our SWS and she is our Music servant for our English Club. Misn. John also began an English Club in KPI(Kyiv Politechnical Institute) and several students have been attending there. When we go fishing we don't take down students phone numbers but just give them our calling cards. We just stop students and ask them, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" If they know English they will usually say, "yes, I do." and then they will stop for a conversation. The top students usually speak English and are motivated to improve their English. So these are the students that will call back and come to our English Club.

This fall our family will begin a new chapter near downtown Kyiv called Podil. There the University of Kyiv Mohylanska Academy, known as the Princeton of Ukraine is located. Students there all speak English and Ukrainian. Our service will be held in English and translated in Ukrainian. Two Filipina teachers from Philippine UBF will join our ministry. Their names are M. Gemma and M. Minda. They found jobs in a Christian School in Kyiv. Shepherd Sasha, Olena, Tamara and Oksana will continue our English club in the Main Kyiv Center as well as in KPI with other coworkers who speaks English. There are many students eager to know God but don't know how. God has used our English Bible studies and English club to open up their hearts to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God has raised top student leaders in Ukraine. But because of the financial crises many churches are cutting down in sending out missionaries. I take Ukrainian classes in a ministry dedicated in language training for Missionaries. The director told me that they may have to cut down on classes this fall because there are not many missionaries coming to the CIS. Even in the Christian School which receive their teachers as missionaries are having difficulty finding teachers from America because of lack of support. How can we send out Missionaries from America? The answer is Layman missionaries. We layman missionaries don't need support. In fact we support our church in the mission field. I heard that many teachers are being laid off in many major cities in America. This is good. God is opening the way for them to go out as international teachers to many countries especially in Muslim countries and in China and eastern Europe. In our school if one is hired abroad they will pay for the flight tickets to the country, and then back again for Christmas and again in the summer. They pay for housing, insurance, visas and necessary documents. International teachers only work 180 days in a year and get paid in American salary and usually are not required to pay taxes. Teachers have more time to serve God in the mission fields than jobs requiring long hours. May God make America a Kingdom of Priests and Holy nation by sending out many layman missionaries through UBF. Amen. One Word: "Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Therefore, come."

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