Wow! We sure feel blessed to have such a great team supporting our ministry. Thanks to everyone for seeing the Gospel in our vision.

We are $210 in monthly pledges from getting the needed funds. You by now know that any support pledged monthly can be paid annually, quarterly or monthly, so if you wanted to donate $500 a year and pay in quarterly installments that is an option and it changes the percent of our monthly need just like an annual pledge or a monthly pledge. The need is recurring support for the duration of our mission in Kyiv.

If you would like to start supporting OUR MINISTRY today, simply reply to this email!

Our next steps in preparation for Ukraine are in progress now. We are preparing the needed paperwork for our VISA and working with the team in Kyiv on our housing. On this side of the Atlantic we are planning our travel and working out how much shipping will cost and what we should ship. There are lots of small details to consider as we look forward to the big move. We will be making an announcement of a more specific date once we get to 100%. However, in anticipation of getting support raising completed soon, we are looking at dates about 4 to 6 weeks from now.

(Wrote this on 06/16)

Today during lunch I was standing in line at a local restaurant in Austin near my work. I usually go to lunch there to read and get in some study time. While standing in line a strange set of activities caught my eye.  When I looked up, there was one man that looked like he was (for lack of a better term) 'shaking down' another man at a table right next to the line. The conversation was loud and you could hear one man asking the other for money, "Give me $100 and I also need your phone number in case I need more." The speech was quite forceful and the man being spoken to was obviously handicapped, it looked as if he had cerebral palsy or something similar that kept him bent over at the waist and his back stiff as a board.  What could I do? What was going on? As I was looking up and and witnessing these events, the lady standing next to me said, "I wish we could help him, but I don't know what to do."  I looked around and several others were also staring at this scene but nothing was happening. I leaned over the line in front of me and asked to speak with the manager immediately. After a couple of minutes the manager came and spoke to the men, the one asking for cash left the restaurant, and the man being hassled explained to the manager that he did know the other man and this had happened before. I am sure there is a lot more to the story but this incident got me to thinking about cross cultural ministry.

When I think about this type of situation from the perspective that I will soon occupy:  a man in a foreign land, with limited language and vocabulary, and limited knowledge of culture and customs; I see how my lack of understanding of the cultural situation will have to temper my gut reaction to something like what I noticed today.  This demonstrates how working alongside local pastors, and others who have lived in the Ukrainian culture for a long time is paramount to our success.  It helps confirm to me how pastors who have grown up in a culture, and have lived and continue to live in their home culture will know how to address an issue that could be potentially acceptable in one culture and not in another.  The Gospel is the absolute truth and we all know it changes lives and will be heard by many, but the people listening might need someone who knows them a little better to share The Good News of Jesus Christ in a way that speaks most clearly to them.  I see my job as helping to equip these future pastors to reach their culture with the Gospel in ways that I, as an outsider, cannot.

Please consider partnering with us as we complete our fundraising and team building to serve at the Evangelical Reformed Seminary of Ukraine. Our final need is $210 in monthly support. 

Please pray for our family as we prepare to leave soon and continue to make the necessary adjustments during our time of transition.