Saturday, October 20, 2007

OUR FIRST CONFERENCE IN KYIV



Our first marriage conference here in Kyiv went great. There were 3 Ukrainian couples speaking on God's Plan for the family, a gospel presentation, and Intimacy in the marriage. They did such a great job!

We praise God for the attentiveness of all the couples, it was so neat seeing these men really listening and engaging their wives in conversation during the projects and when they went to write love letters to their wives, priceless!




The husbands were given roses to give to their wives at the end of the conference as they had a romantic dessert. It was astonishing how excited they were to find their wives to give them the rose. Giving these men a practical example of how to show love and appreciation for their wives and to see them as God's precious gift to them was an important part of the conference. It was an exciting sight to see these couples leaving holding hands. Pray this ministry will deter the Ukrainian divorce rate of over 70% and will multiply godly families in Ukraine!

We were convinced more than ever when we saw these people and thought about the impact they could have on their children, their churches, their parents, their friends and their communites for Christ, that this ministry is a powerful way to share the gospel and begin deeply discipling Ukrainians. Soon we will begin calling people to offer them to become part of a Bible study and to encourage them to become apart of a local church if they are not already. Mark has also had alot of great conversations with pastors in Kyiv to have conferences and Marriage studies in their churches. Many pastors from other areas of Ukraine traveled far to attend the conference and Mark is excited to work with them to get conferences and Marriage studies in other areas of Ukraine. The Family is in deed a powerful vehicle for the Gospel. Pray those who attended these conferences would continue to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful to hear how God has used ya'll!

Gina said...

It was so wonderful to talk to you last Sunday! It's great to see photos of this conference. J, I can't believe you didn't get up at 3a.m. with him to talk to us!! (kidding!!)

We love you and miss you!

Anonymous said...

I'm so excited about the ministry that the Lord is doing through your family in Kyiv! The marriage conference seems to have been a huge blessing in these families' lives! The pictures are a great peak into what it was like! It was amazing to hear from you during Care Group as we all sat in our circle with Skip holding out his cell phone! I look forward to hearing more about your lives there! Offering up prayers for you from LR!

Anonymous said...

Great to hear about and 'see' your work there....and how God continues to use you....
with warm regards..
Sheri B