June 29, 2013

It has been a while since you have heard from us because....we've moved!  Yes.  You read it correctly. We have moved once again!  This is the sixth place in which we have lived in Ukraine.  Why did we move?  We moved to be closer to school.  In our previous housing situation Kim and the children were spending 3 hours a day in a van going to and from school.  We were also spending more than 500 dollars a month carpooling with other families from the area.  This was becoming too much for the family.  So, we moved closer to the school (now just 10 minutes away). Moving takes time and energy.  The time spent in packing up belongings, moving to a new location, and setting up again takes a minimum of a couple of months.  The process is more complicated while maintaining your current job and ministry responsibilities.  Being a pastor you cannot simply lay aside preaching, teaching Sunday school, English club outreach, Wednesday evening Bible studies, discipleship groups, and other ministries.  Life goes on.  In addition, moving in a foreign country is somewhat more challenging than doing so in the States.  Here, you often move into situations where there are no kitchen cabinets, built-in closets, bathroom fixtures, etc.  Preparing a place to be livable (assembling/hanging kitchen cabinets, sink, stove, oven, etc.) takes more time than in the States where those items are already assembled and installed. 

We had a successful end of semester program for our English club.  About 38 were in attendance.  The theme of the program was on how to live a spiritually successful life throughout the decades of life.  Each smaller group was responsible to sing a karaoke song from a different decade - i.e. 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.  The sermon was about Daniel who had a spiritually successful experience throughout the decades of his life.  Daniel was able to do this because he maintained God as his first priority.  After the program several commented that they really appreciated the sermon.  There were even a couple of Muslim background people who attended our English program this semester.  Pray God will produce even more spiritual fruit through our English outreach ministry.

During the summers many evangelical churches in Ukraine take ministry breaks. However, our church adds  ministries.  In June we started up our summer Wednesday night Bible study series.  This year we are going through the book of James.  We usually have about 10 in attendance.  It has been a blessing to see God impact the Ukrainians' daily situations with His Word.  We ask for your prayers that the Lord would bless those attending this summer's Bible study series.

In addition, plans are moving forward for our summer local mission project.  In July a team of 15 from Kim's home church in Pennsylvania will come to Ukraine to do three simultaneous mission projects.  In one local church, they are going to hold English clubs, one for children and another for adults.  In another local church they are going to help with the construction needs.  During this time, four churches will partner together to strengthen the outreach ministries that impact the left side of Kiev.  Pray for all involved in the various projects (those from Palmyra Church, from Transformation Church, from Ascension Church and from Living Vine Church.)  Pray for those who will attend the English camps for the Lord to demonstrate His love for them.  Pray for the construction team workers' safety.  Pray that everyone would have a safe, spiritual fruitful and fun time!  Regarding "fun time" pray that we would have a good time taking the team on a tour of Kiev.

In addition to these activities and ministries both Kim and David have been engaged in serving by teaching others English as a second language.  Kim has been teaching English to some prospective students of Kiev Christian Academy.  David has been teaching English to some businessmen as a means to build relationships for sharing the gospel.  Austin, too, will start tutoring current KCA students. So, pray these extra side ministries will have an impact on individuals and society too.

With the latest news from here, you will be able to pray more specifically for the coming weeks. Thank you so much for partnering with us. With moving issues almost over, we hope to write more often.

Blessings from the Spireks!