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Winter 2018-2019 Update
The weather here is finally getting warm again. We had a longer and snowier winter than usual and while it was pretty, we're very glad spring is here. Despite the cold and snow, we still had plenty going on. We'll share about some of our winter events below. Please don't forget to pray for the prayer requests at the end of the newsletter. We are so blessed by all of you who partner with us in the work here through prayer, encouragement and financial support. Thank you!
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Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk
We celebrated Christmas here on Januray 7th (the date the Eastern Orthodox church celebrates in some countries). We had a wonderful, festive time with many guests and a full house and our traditional Christmas feast after service (pictured above). After the holidays, we returned back to our study through Matthew and are now about halfway through the book. We're planning to finish sometime near the end of this year.
We mentioned in our last newsletter that one of our key leaders in the church and his family moved away in the fall. This was sad news for us, but the Lord is faithful and very recently we've had an addition to our leadership team. Kostya is a young man who has been involved in teaching children's ministry for a couple years now, though he himself is only 18. Recently God put on his heart to begin a pre-teen fellowship for our 10-13 year olds who will then transition into youth group (Kostya is pictured below left with some of the kids, though a number were sick that week). Kostya is taking the kids through the New City Catechism to discuss big theological questions with them. It's been a great time and the kids who go (including ours) look forward to it every week.
Kostya is also going to be taking over leadership of the youth group come next fall. Our current youth leader, Oleg (pictured below right with his wife, Ira), has faithfully served in this role for many years and has been a great blessing to the church. He will remain in leadership in the church, but as his own oldest son will be entering youth group next fall, he feels it is time to pass on the responsibilities. Please pray also for God's direction for Oleg in how exactly the Lord would want to use him after transitioning out of the youth leader role.
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City to City Ukraine
Training of church planters and preachers through City to City Ukraine continues. We are nearing the end of the first year of our two-year Incubator program for urban church planters (pictures from our session in February below, more here). Due to various life circumstances, a couple planters of the original group have had to drop out. We hope they will end up church-planting one day, but their circumstances didn't allow them to continue their plants at this time. On the flip side, it's exciting to see the progress with many of the other church plants as the planters progress through the program. We are in the recruiting stage for another group of planters to begin this fall, though whether we do a second group at this time will depend how many are wanting to enter the program.
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I've been introducing you to one of our Incubator church planters each newsletter and asking you to pray for them. Meet Igor (pictured below with his cat). Igor is planting a church in Kiev. Their core group is very involved in mercy ministry to the elderly, a segment of Ukraine's population that is very often forgotten and horribly treated. I've had the opportunity to attend a couple preview services at Igor's church. The atmosphere is very hospitable and welcoming. Here's what Igor had to say about how City to City Ukraine has influenced him and a few prayer requests from him:
"Taking part in the Incubator has helped direct me in one of my greatest life-goals: planting a network of Gospel-centered congregations in the Kiev  region. It has helped me to see the needs of the city and how to not just invite people to our thing, but to go out to people with the Gospel. I'm working with our leadership group on applying what I've learned. It's helped us in learning to expose and convict the idols in our society and show our neighbors how the Gospel fulfills our greatest needs."
A couple prayer requests from Igor:
- For God to make me bolder in networking and building new relationships with people as it's not one of my natural strengths.
- For the Lord to provide another full-time missionary to be part of our church planting team.
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CCX Ukraine (IFES/InterVarsity)
This January I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the CCX Ukraine national conference called "Salt" (that's what the the big white letters in the picture spell in Ukrainian). The topic I was asked to speak on over the course of the three main sessions was "The Gospel as a Lifestyle". We first looked at the meaning of the Gospel for the Christian life as the power not just for conversion but also for Christian growth. The second day we studied how the Gospel affects our jobs and how our work is part of our worship of God. The last session was devoted to how the Gospel influences our approach to politics. This was particularly timely as Ukraine's presidential elections are coming up at the end of March. You can read a little more about the conference on the CCX site here.
There are a number of changes happening right now in the organization. At our last board meeting we elected a new national director as well as a new chairman of the board. Prayers for CCX during this period of transition are much appreciated.
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Building Update
Things with the building are moving along. During the winter all external work was halted, but work inside the building continued. We are finishing up the walls and in some of the rooms they are already prepped for painting (pictured above and below). It's amazing to see the building coming together and we are hopeful that we'll be able to move in and begin using it this year.
God has been faithful in providing for our building project through those of you who have partnered with us! Thank you! We still need to raise around $12,000 to get things to the point where we can move in. Our desire and prayer is to move into the building this year, so please PRAY! And please consider making a donation to help us meet this goal! All donations are tax-deductible and 100% goes to the building project.
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Family — Coming to America Summer 2019
This winter we celebrated Isaac's entry into the double-digits. We can't believe how fast both he and Abby are growing up! We also celebrated what we decided to dub Lena's "21st birthday" (both pictured above). We enjoyed our time together this winter getting out and playing in the abundant snow we got.
As we mentioned in the last newsletter, we are planning a trip back to the States in summer 2019. If you are interested in us coming to share about the work the Lord is doing in Ukraine at your church, small group or just over coffee, please let us know! We'll be back for the majority of the summer but don't have exact dates for where we'll be yet. Some of that depends on what speaking invitations we receive. We try to lock things in as early as possible as our schedule tends to fill up fast, so please write us if you are interested.
Thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers! Please consider becoming a partner with us in the work here and donating to our ministry using the button below, either as a one time gift or as a regular partner. May Jesus fill your hearts with the eternal hope we have in Him!
in our Papa,
Benjamin, Lena, Abby and Isaac
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Prayer Requests:
- For Ukraine: for God’s peace and order to come, an end to bloodshed and war, an end to systemic corruption, people to turn to Jesus and for His kingdom to come, new churches to be planted in the conflict zone!
- Pray for the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine (March 31st and then a run-off between the top 2 candidates in April if there's no majority winner the first round). Pray that God would put in office whomever He wants and that this person would seek to sincerely end corruption in Ukraine.
- For our church building: Pray that God provides the rest of the funds necessary to finish construction and move in in 2019. We still need $12,000 to make that happen. If you feel led of God to donate to our building fund, you can do so at: http://bit.ly/ccbuilding
- For God to raise up more leaders in our church, especially teachers. Pray for Kostya who has begun leading our pre-teen group and will soon take over leading the youth group. Pray for Oleg for God's direction in ministry after he transitions out of youth group.
- For City to City Ukraine: that God would continue to draw church planters and pastors who have a desire for training in Gospel-centered ministry, especially for enough planters for another Incubator group by April 1st if this is God's time for it. Pray for the church planters participating in the Incubator already, and especially for Igor and the requests mentioned above.
- For God's provision for our family. We still need to raise another $800 in monthly support to reach our long-term goal. If you'd like to become a partner in giving, click the donation link: http://bit.ly/ccsvitlo-give
- For the name of Jesus to be glorified in our city and the lost to come to Jesus both here and across Ukraine!
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If you would prefer to donate via check, please make it out to:
“Horizon Ministries”
Leave the memo line on the check blank with a separate note enclosed: either “for the Morrisons”, or "Svitlovodsk Building Fund" depending on where you would like your donation to be directed.
Send to:
Horizon Ministries
7702 Indian Lake rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46236
All donations are tax-deductible and 100% of your donation goes to us!
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