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Ministering in the Midst of War in Ukraine

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Earlier this month, I, along with Pastor Michael Payne and two other leaders from White Fields Church, travelled to Ukraine to be part of a retreat for Calvary Chapel churches there, sponsored by Calvary Global Network and Cross Culture Missions.

The purpose of the retreat was to give some respite to those who have been ministering to others since the beginning of the war, which began over a year ago now.

At the retreat, Mike and I taught Bible studies in the evening, other pastors led workshops and met with people one-on-one, and we were also joined by a team of Christian counselors who taught and met with people. The goal was to have a retreat that served people spiritually, mentally, and physically.

The location was a beautiful spot in Western Ukraine, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, in a resort hotel, where people could have good meals, a beautiful and safe location, and fun activities for the whole family to have a break and recharge together and with friends.

Below are some pictures from our time there:

Also, while I was there, I was able to record interviews with some of those in our Calvary Chapel family of churches who have been serving others.

This interview, which I recorded for the Mission & Methods Podcast, is with Zhenya Chekushkin, the leader of Calvary Chapel in Ukraine (something which was made official at the conference). He talks about what the Calvary Chapel churches throughout Ukraine have been doing to serve people and minister in Jesus’ name since the start of the war:

Bonus Episode: How Calvary Chapel Churches are Ministering in the Midst of War in Ukraine – The CGN Podcast

In this bonus episode, Nick Cady speaks with Zhenya Chekushkin, the leader of the Calvary Chapel network of churches in Ukraine. Calvary Chapel has had a presence in Ukraine since the early 1990’s, and currently has around 20 churches in different cities throughout the country. Recently a group of CGN leaders travelled to Western Ukraine to encourage those in the Calvary network who have been ministering to others in their country since the full scale invasion in February 2022. This retreat provided an opportunity to recharge physically and spiritually. In this episode, Zhenya shares about some of the ways Calvary Chapel churches have been serving people, and how God has been working, even in the midst of these difficult circumstances. We’d love to hear feedback from you on these episodes. You can email us at CGN@calvarychapel.com

Also, make sure to check out this video from the Calvary Chapel in Svitlovodsk, Ukraine, which shows how the gospel is moving forward even now in Ukraine, and how God is using these terrible circumstances to bring people to a saving knowledge of Him:

We are also preparing a special podcast featuring four interviews with people, recorded at this conference, telling about their stories of what happened to them in the early days of the war, and what life looks like for them now, as they minister and serve others in Jesus’ name.

Stay tuned for that!

If you’d like to support the ministry in Ukraine, you can do so by giving to the Ukraine Relief Funds of White Fields Church or Calvary Global Network.

The US Election and Some Reasons to be Hopeful

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This past weekend I went with the elders of White Fields Church to Allenspark, where we had a marathon of meetings, but in such a beautiful spot that we could also enjoy some hiking and the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

Tight Squeeze into the “Hidden Room”
The “Hidden Room”

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Sunrise on Mt. Meeker

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We happened upon this mama bear and her 2 cubs in a tree near Lyons

We had a great time together, but I was surprised how exhausted I felt at the end of it. However, I feel very encouraged about where our church is at and where we are going.

Speaking of exhaustion and encouragement: the US election is coming up in 3 days.

I’m exhausted by the campaigns, by the division it causes, I’m exhausted because both of the major party candidates have major character flaws and neither of them are someone I can be excited to vote for.

However, I am also hopeful. Yesterday I ran across an article by Carey Nieuwhof that was a breath of fresh air. True, he’s a Canadian, so he doesn’t really have any skin in the game, but then on the other hand, they have Justin Trudeau and pretty much all of the things conservative Americans are concerned about happening in the US have already happened in Canada – so maybe a Canadian is the exact person who can speak into our situation.

Here’s the article: Despairing about the US Presidential election? 5 predictions that point toward hope.

Here are the 5 predictions he gives:

  1. There will be renewed interest in the sovereignty of God
  2. The church will look to Christ more and to the state less
  3. Living out your values will become more important than ever
  4. The tone of public discourse will get worse…or better
  5. The work of the local church will be more important than ever

Carey expounds on each of these in his post – it’s worth reading, but the tone of what he is saying is something I have found curiously lacking from Christian leaders during this election season.

I, for one, cannot lose hope – because as a Christian I know that 1) God is sovereign and 2) the best is yet to come.

Peaked Out Weekend

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This past weekend was a busy one for us, full of many good things.

It began on Saturday with the Longmont Sunrise Stampede. My wife and 8 year old son ran the 2 mile race, and I ran the 10k. On the one hand, we were excited to run a race here in Longmont, but an added bonus was that the race went to support a great cause: proceeds went to help fund special education in the St Vrain Valley School District.

I was proud of my son for finishing his first race, and getting a time he could be proud of.

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Before the 2 mile race

I finished my 10k race in 54:51 which was a personal record time for that distance and even better than I had hoped to do.

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At 9.5 km of the 10k race which ended at Silver Creek HS

We then went up to Bailey, to a picnic for pastors and their families put on by Crossroads Church of Denver, my old church which sent me to Hungary.

We then went to Denver for the Lego BrickFest, which our kids loved, and then finished the day by having dinner with family and friends.

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On Sunday we had church. I taught on Colossians 3:1-11 in a message titled “A New You”, about which I got a surprising amount of positive feedback. One of the key concepts I discussed was the “Already… but Not Yet” nature of the gospel. If you’d like to listen to it, you can find the audio of that message here.

I got an email after church that a couple from Texas had been at church that day, and that they had come because they read this blog and were in the area! That encouraged me to be writing here more.

Right after church at White Fields, we went down to Littleton, where the Colorado Hungarian community was having their annual picnic for Szent István (St. Stephen) Day. István was the first king of Hungary, who after converting to Christianity as an adult, established Hungary as a Christian kingdom in 1000. He was declared a saint on August 20, 1083 and because of that, August 20 is the national holiday of Hungary.

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Hungarian language church service in Littleton

At this picnic, I lead a church service in Hungarian for the Hungarian Reformed Church of Denver, at which I preached on one of my favorite scriptures, Matthew 13:44 – “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” I really enjoyed preaching in Hungarian again! I get to do it sometimes when I visit Hungary, but felt great to do it here in Colorado.

On Sunday night, I left home at 11pm with two friends from church to climb Longs Peak.

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My wife took this picture of Longs Peak and Mt Meeker as we drove into Longmont Saturday evening. We love when the light highlights the layers in the mountains.

It was the 2nd time I’ve climbed it, and it was just as beautiful and difficult of a climb as I remember it being! It’s a 15 mile round trip hike, with 5100 feet of elevation gain. The most difficult part of the hike, mentally, is the last 2.5 miles, when you descend back into the forest and it feels like it will never end. The most technically difficult part is probably “The Trough.” Here’s a description of the route.

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The view from the top of Longs Peak looking South-West towards the Indian Peaks. The lake on the left is Barker Reservoir in Nederland.

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The Twin Peaks – Longs and Meeker, from the split off to Chasm Lake

Today the kids went back to school, which is bittersweet for us as parents. On the one hand, we are going to miss having them around, but on the other hand, it was a lot of work keeping them occupied and on task at home, and we see how good it is for them to be with the other kids and learning.

We took a trip last week up to the Mount Evans as a family to celebrate the end of summer vacation. It was my wife and kids’ first time up above 14,000 feet.

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Mt Evans summit (14,270 ft)

I can’t get enough of these Rocky Mountains…

 

Finishing Up the Trip

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Yesterday was our final full day in Ukraine. We spent the day running errands and going around with Ben to look at different properties the church in Svitlovodsk has their eye on to purchase.

Svitlovodsk, with the Dniper river in the background

As part of our support of the ministry there, White Fields donated towards their building project. They currently meet in a 50 square meter (500 square foot) space in an office building, with a few extra rooms for children’s ministry. They estimate that for 60,000 USD they should be able to either buy land and build something from scratch or buy and refurbish a building. Pray for them in this regard.
In the evening we held part 2 of the Work as Worship seminar. Travis taught and then he and I fielded questions on the topic. It went really well and I think that we could easily fine tune this seminar and present it elsewhere. It is a topic which affects all people but something evangelical Christians fail to teach on enough – or to give a comprehensive enough vision for. I look forward to how we might be able to bring this teaching to our church in Longmont.

Travis teaching Work as Worship seminar: part 2 at Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk

Right after the seminar ended, Levi, the assistant pastor and worship leader, drove Travis and I to Boryspil, where we stayed at a hotel near the airport, and then at 3:30 we woke up and got to the airport by 4:00am.

We had a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt, so we took atvantage of the great public transport here and went into the city. If you’ve been to Frankfurt, you know that there’s not a whole lot to see, so that was plenty of time.

Right now we are in the airport waiting for our flight to Denver. It’s been an extremely fruitful trip, but it will be great to be home.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today:

The first rule of cross fit: always talk about cross fit. Apartment building in Ukraine.

Glorious Soviet Air Force Jet in Svitlovodsk

Downtown Frankfurt

…always talk about Crossfit. Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Frankfurt City

 

 

Work as Worship Seminar in Svitlovodsk

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Today we spent the day in Kremenchug and then in the evening we did our first session of the Work as Worship seminar at Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk.

The seminar was well attended and the Q&A drew many thoughtful questions.

Tomorrow night Travis will teach part 2.

I am looking forward to seeing how this seminar, as well as the one on Christocentrisity which Ben and I taught at the Pastors and Leaders Conference in Kyiv, can be shared in other places, including our church in Longmont.

Teaching the Work as Worship seminar at CC Svitlovodsk, with Ben Morrison translating into Russian

 

Calvary Chapel Ukraine Pastors and Leaders Conference and Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk

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The past few days have flown by in a blur. On Friday Jani and Tünde arrived to Kyiv from Eger and then we headed out the the Calvary Chapel Ukraine Pastors and Leaders conference which was held at a very nice Christian conference center in Irpen, just North-West of Kyiv. There were also pastors in attendance from Belarus and Moldova, almost 40 in total.
Ben Morrison and I taught the conference on the topic of Christocentric preaching, and our focus was on explaining why it's important to preach that way and how to do it. Let's just say, the weekend and the material was nothing short of revolutionary for these pastors, and I can see how God is going to use this approach to shape this movement going forward. It was so good that I plan to make sharing this approach a priority in the US and wherever else I will have the opportunity to do so.
One of the pastors in Ukraine, in the city of Kharkiv, is the nephew of a lady at White Fields, so it was great to connect. Additionally, the pastor who came up from Moldova is an old friend of my wife and I, and it was great to catch up with him and hear what the Lord is doing there.
After the conference, Travis and I drove with Ben and Levi to Svitlovodsk, and this morning I taught at their church service. The people are very open and responsive to the Gospel and I was able to see many of the people I had met on my trip last year.
In the evening we did a men's fellowship at the Banya (Russian sauna) and had a great time.
Tomorrow evening and the following evening Travis and I will be teaching a seminar on Work as Worship, so please pray that goes well.
Here are some photos of the conference and church today:

Me teaching at the CC Ukraine Pastors and Leaders Conference with Victor Fisin translating. Victor is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Kharkov, Ukraine
Ben Morrison teaching at the conference
Teaching the morning at Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk with Ben translating to Russian
CC Svitlovodsk

 

Photos From Our Trip So Far

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Preaching at Golgota Debrecen with my friend Jancsi translating. The church is biligual and does all services in Hungarian and English.

Refugee Bible study in Budapest with Farsi translation. They use “Simply Jesus” to teach the Gospel through movement which requires minimal translation.

Many of these Iranian and Afghan refugees recently became Christians

Pastor Jani of Golgota Eger representing for Longmont City!

Elegáns Eger

This is how we got around in Debrecen in Bodi’s tiny car…

Bodi bácsival a Békástónál

 

Family Get-away to Steamboat Springs

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This past weekend I took my family (all except 1, who had to work) to Steamboat Springs for a short holiday.

I’d always wanted to go to Steamboat; apparently it is the place where I took my first steps when my parents were visiting my aunt who lived there, but of course, I don’t remember that, so it was all new to me.

On the way up, we stopped in Kremmling to see a bit of my family’s history. My Great Grand Uncle (my Grandmother’s uncle) was the town blacksmith for Kremmling until the 1970’s when he died. His old shop still stands in the center of town, with his name still painted on it.

The building is a historical building here in Colorado. Here’s a picture of it from the Denver Public Library’s archives.

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In Steamboat we took our baby for her first hike, then went to the outdoor hot springs at Strawberry Park. I have been to a lot of natural hot springs in Europe, but I have to say that I have never been to one with this much character anywhere in the world. As we were there, an elk came down to drink from the spring. It was a great experience.

 

The next day we went downtown to see the Yampa River, and as we were walking we could smell sulphur, and realized that there were a bunch of natural springs coming right out of the ground, just about everywhere. Some of them were marked, some of them weren’t.

We found a great coffee shop: The Ristretto Lounge, which we would recommend to anyone going to Steamboat to check out.

 

East German Trabant car in Longmont

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I spotted this Trabant car on Hover street in Longmont today.
If you aren’t familiar with the Trabant, it is a masterpiece of East German engeneering, still common on the roads of Eastern Europe. The Trabant was the true “people’s car” for those in the eastern block.
This is only the second time I’ve seen one in the US, and the first one I saw didn’t run – this one seemed to run well and had Colorado plates – and a DDR sticker on it. I’d be curious to know the story behind how this guy got it over here.

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